Why Hire a Virtual Receptionist for Your Small Business

Solopreneurs and small business owners have a lot on their plates. Even under the best of circumstances, many struggle to keep pace with all of the meetings, emails, phone calls, customer service, marketing, business development, and administrative work that must be done. 

Business Pressures Increase

Yet, as the pandemic eases and restrictions are lifted, the push for more of the above will only intensify; the pressures felt over the past 15 months will burgeon. Indeed, most of the business requirements implemented during the pandemic will remain, while additional workflows and activities will accumulate as in-person workspaces and meetings become permissible. 

Some of you may turn to permanent administrative assistants, but these are expensive. Even part-time administrative assistants will cost a business $30,000 or more annually. A full-time administrative assistant with experience can cost upwards of $60,000. And if your business takes a downturn or the hire fails to perform as expected, laying off the headcount will accrue more overhead. 

Reasons to Hire a Virtual Assistant

Virtual assistants are gaining significant attention as a valuable resource and service for small businesses and solopreneurs. Virtual assistants work remotely, as independent freelancers/contractors or via on-demand services such as Davinci Live Receptionists. Depending on the virtual assistant service in question, monthly hours can be bundled together in incremental amounts or even per project. 

Following are some of the reasons you should hire a virtual receptionist:

1. Stop the Interruptions and Lost Productivity

Minutes often count when you’re a small business or solopreneur. Just a few interruptions every day can add up to days or weeks of lost productivity every year. Research shows that it takes 20 minutes for a professional to get back on track after being interrupted. Having a virtual assistant available to screen incoming phone calls, emails, and texts—determining which ones can wait (pushing calls into your voice mail and flagging texts and emails for your later attention) and prioritizing those that cannot wait can be a critical enabler.

2. Recapture Lost Time, Focus on Business Priorities

Small businesses and solopreneurs can struggle to manage everything on their plate—incoming calls, scheduling, email responses, and managing live web chat. There is simply not enough time to get everything done. Virtual assistants can enable business leaders and solopreneurs to focus on what is most important to their businesses and recapture time wasted on nonessential business tasks. 

3. Improve Professionalism and Brand Impression

First impressions count. Small businesses and solopreneurs are busy, and incoming phone calls, emails, texts, and live web chats often don’t arrive at the most opportune moments. You may not have sufficient time to deal with the questions and problems a customer has for you. When you give them short shrift because you have too many tasks to do, this can degrade your professional brand—or create poor first impressions. Virtual assistants can provide professional communications that enable businesses and solopreneurs to deliver experiences customers, prospects, and third-party vendors expect. 

4. Better Customer Experiences and Service

Building on the above point, businesses and solopreneurs simply cannot deliver the experiences and services their customers demand—rapid responses, professional and knowledgeable guidance, and seamless workflows that ensure questions are answered and problems are resolved. Virtual assistants can manage your varied communication channels—voice, text, email, and live web chat—and ensure your customers receive great communication experiences. Part of this process requires seamless omnichannel coverage, where customers can move between and across each channel and between different virtual assistants. This is where virtual assistant services like Davinci Live Receptionists make a tangible difference. 

5. Convert Incoming Calls, Text, Emails, and Live Web Chats

Interactions with customers—whether via voice or over digital channels like texts, emails, and live web chat—provide businesses with an opportunity to capture new revenue and grow revenue from existing accounts. However, these interactions often end up being lost opportunities for too many businesses. Virtual assistants focus on business outcomes that can be measured, turning  lost opportunities into new and expanded revenue streams.

6. Transform Your Web Experiences

Research shows a majority of visitors to websites expect to have live web chat as an option. They also expect service 24/7 and virtual real-time responses when they initiate a live web chat. Nearly two-thirds of visitors are more likely to return to a website that has live web chat. One study found that live web chat interactions result in an average of $249. Virtual assistants, such as Davinci Live Web Chat, can staff live web chat 24/7 and are measured based on business outcomes—new revenue, better customer satisfaction, and more. 

7. Avoid the Distraction of Administrative Work

Administrative work can consume valuable time that needs to be spent with customers—from selling to project execution. Virtual Assistants give businesses and solopreneurs the chance to outsource scheduling, calendar management, faxing, mail receipt and forwarding, and other administrative functions that can detract business owners and solopreneurs from customer-facing activities. 

8. Go on Vacation With No Worries

For many small business leaders and solopreneurs, unhooking and going on vacation for several days or a week is a mirage. You simply cannot do so because you’re worried about who will answer your incoming calls, texts, and emails. You may even have concerns about who will schedule a list of meetings that need to be put on the calendar, faxes that need to be sent, and administrative work that needs to be done. Virtual assistants give you the ability to manage each of these and other functions—and know they will get done correctly—when you’re traveling and on vacation.

Using Virtual Assistants for Tangible Business Outcomes

The demands on today’s small business and solopreneurs are under unprecedented pressure. Customers demand real-time responses to their communications, want to communicate with businesses using the channel of their choice, experience seamless transitions between each channel, and 24/7 access to businesses. Virtual assistants, and specifically on-demand services like Davinci Live Receptionists, give you the ability to scale your businesses, tap previous lost revenue opportunities, deliver unparalleled customer experiences, and become more efficient.