Hoist your highlighters high and pour out a cup of paperclips. These are the waning days of the full-time receptionist.
An increasing number of businesses are opting for virtual professionals to field their calls, schedule their appointments, handle their orders and shipments, and much, much more.
If you’re a small business owner currently sifting through resumes and trying to find a clean corner of the office to fit a desk and a human being, put everything on hold momentarily. Here are four reasons you should reconsider.
- Cost. This is the big one, isn’t it? An entry level receptionist will set your company back a cool $30K per year in salary to start with, and that’s not even counting the considerable resources you will devote to advertising the position, screening prospects, and making the hire to begin with. Don’t forget to tack on health insurance costs and 401(K) plans in perpetuity, not to mention other tangibles such as office supplies and accouterments, and watch the costs begin to skyrocket.
- Productivity. So now you have a new full-time receptionist, but how long will it take this new hire to acclimate to your company culture and needs? One month? Two? A year?! When you outsource your telephone answering needs to a call center, seasoned representatives hit the ground running, saving your business precious hours that would otherwise be devoted to training and hand-holding a new employee.
- Reliability/Availability. Outsourced telephone answering services have one tremendous advantage over an on-site receptionist: 24-hour availability. Even the best full-time receptionists can only do so much. When duty calls your receptionist away from his or her desk to perform other tasks, or when call volumes are particularly high, calls can inadvertently be sent to the wastelands of voicemail – or worse – missed altogether. In-house employees will also require sick days on occasion, in addition to vacation time – leaving the rest of your team scrambling to pick up the slack. By outsourcing your telecommunication needs, your company is sure to receive its messages regardless of the hour or the day.
- Professionalism. We’re not suggesting that in-house, full-time receptionists are unprofessional – but occasionally, both life and day-to-day business can get stressful and exhausting. When your staff is attempting to juggle 800 things at one time, they can get beleaguered and harried, giving customers who walk through the front doors an impression of discord and disorganization. Your team of virtual receptionists, working off-site, are able to handle all calls with poise and professionalism, which fosters an image of a calm and capable workplace around the clock.
Focus Telecommunications can help your business save money, save face, and deliver winning customer service with 24-hour telephone answering services. Reach out to us today at 800-783-1972 or request a quote online.