Reason #7 – Why choose an off-site receptionist to answer your business telephone calls? Enhance your professional image.
February 26, 2009
Reason #7 – Why choose an off-site receptionist to answer your business telephone calls?
Enhance your professional image.
By Victor Mataraso, M.B.A.
Enhance your professional image. We’ve all heard the sayings, “Image is everything,” and, “You never get a second chance to make good first impression.” In business, perception is reality and if you don’t inspire confidence in your callers when they contact you, you run the risk of missing an opportunity.
As an example, there is a societal expectation that certain professionals do not answer their own phone. When you phone your doctor, an attorney or any other professional who bills out their time at hundreds of dollars per hour, it would not inspire your confidence in their practice if they were to answer their own phone. The expectation is that a receptionist will be available to assist you or schedule your appointment. In fact, it can present a somewhat awkward moment if the professional should answer their own phone, as one may feel they are interrupting.
Clients want to do business with stable and established businesses and greeting your callers with a voicemail can make you seem small. An automated attendent may seem more impressive, but customers are increasingly frustrated with these systems, and will press “0″ looking for a receptionist some 80% of the time. If you can’t afford to hire a dedicated receptionist for your business, an off-site receptionist (sometimes called a remote receptionist or virtual receptionist) can present a great solution that will solve this dilemma and enhance your professional image.
Reason #8 – Why choose an off-site receptionist to answer your business telephone calls?
February 19, 2009
Reason #8 – Why choose an off-site receptionist to answer your business telephone calls?
Privately announced calls and “back and forth” messaging help manage your workload.
By Victor Mataraso, M.B.A.
Privately announced calls and “back and forth” messaging help manage your workload. Aside from the enhanced professional image for your business, an off-site receptionist can help you manage your workload more effectively in a number of ways. Having calls privately announced let’s you decide which calls to take and which to defer until later. Additionally, “back and forth” messaging refers to the ability of your receptionist to connect to you privately while your caller holds the line, take direction from you, then relay a message back to your caller without actually connecting the call. This allows you to work in a most efficient and productive manner by concentrating on the project at hand instead of being pulled of task by the whims of those to happen to call.
Reason #9 – Why choose an off-site receptionist to answer your business telephone calls?
February 12, 2009
Reason #9 – Why choose an off-site receptionist to answer your business telephone calls?
All the benefits of a traditional telephone receptionist without hiring an employee.
By Victor Mataraso, M.B.A.
All the benefits of a traditional telephone receptionist without hiring an employee. A modern-day, off-site receptionist can answer your business telephone call live, assist callers as you’ve trained them to do, then privately announce and seamlessly connect the calls you want in real-time to you on any phone number. They are trained to be professional, efficient and knowledgeable about your business.
For all the benefits they provide, you don’t have to hire your receptionist as an employee. An off-site receptionist is typically a vendor and therefore, you don’t need to pay out a salary, benefits, payroll taxes or worry about lunch breaks, sick days, vacation, turnover, and the other administrative headaches that can come with employees.
Reason #10 – Why choose an off-site Receptionist to answer your telephone?
February 5, 2009
Reason #10 – Why choose an off-site Receptionist to answer your telephone?
Seamless, real-time call connections.
By Victor Mataraso, M.B.A.
Seamless, real-time call connections. One of the primary differences between a modern day off-site or remote receptionist and a traditional telephone answering service is the ability to connect calls seamlessly in real-time to any phone number. What the answering service used to refer to as call patching, has evolved into seamless, real-time call connecting and two-way communication with clients. This is evident in the technology used to connect calls as well as the manner in which live call connections are billed to the client.
Traditionally, for a telephone answering service to connect calls to their clients in real-time was a somewhat awkward process involving conferencing the parties together through the answering service phone system. This procedure typically made it evident to the caller that the Receptionist was an off-site, third party. Furthermore, due to the resources being used on the answering service phone system, connected calls would be billed to the client at a steep per-minute rate for the duration of the conversation.
A modern day off-site receptionist is equipped with the technology to make call connections as seamless as an on-site receptionist would. For example, the call is answered live at the receptionist service location, the caller is assisted, then briefly put on hold with music while the receptionist connects out to the client to privately announce the call. If the client accepts the call, the caller comes off hold and is connected to the client. If the client declines the call, the receptionist can return to the caller, relay a message or redirect the call to a colleague or private voicemail box. The process works so seamlessly, the caller doesn’t even realize the recepionist is at a different location. Furthermore, the client is only billed for the Receptionists time, regardless of how long they remain on the phone with their caller.
