6 Simple Ways to Use a Canadian Virtual Receptionist to Improve Customer Satisfaction

Customer satisfaction is a key part of your business. Happy customers are more likely to return to your business–and they’ll spread the word to their friends and family members, letting them know that your business will provide them with the goods or services they need. Is your customer service top-notch? Using a Canadian virtual receptionist can help keep your customers happier and provide a higher level of customer service. Whether you’re considering a virtual receptionist or you already have one, there are several simple ways you can use a virtual receptionist to keep your customers happier.

1. Make Sure You Have 24/7 Customer Support

Managing your customer support needs in-house quickly becomes expensive, especially if you attempt to offer 24/7 customer support. You don’t have the funds to keep someone on the clock all the time, especially if you have a relatively small number of customers. Your customers, on the other hand, expect to be able to contact you when it’s convenient for them, not necessarily when it’s convenient for you! They don’t want to call during work hours, when they’re at work or handling other responsibilities. Often, they want to call either early or late–and you need a service that will allow you to provide that critical support. With a business receptionist, you can ensure that you’ll always be on hand to provide customer support when your customers need it most.

2. Quickly Scale Your Needs During Busy Seasons

Do you offer phone ordering or call-out services? Do your customers need to call you in order to make a purchase or schedule services? If they’re constantly getting a busy signal, even repeat customers may choose another provider for their needs. New customers who get a busy signal may immediately call one of your competitors.

During some seasons, busy signals are a comparatively rare problem for your business. During your busy seasons, on the other hand, you may find yourself struggling to keep those lines open for your customers. With a virtual receptionist, you don’t have to worry that you’re missing out on important phone calls. Instead, your receptionist will quickly and easily scale based on the number of calls you have calling in. You won’t have to increase your staff or buy more phone lines. Your receptionist will handle those tasks for you.

3. Provide That Personal Touch

When customers call into your business after hours, they’re hoping to talk to a person, just like they would be if they called in the middle of your business day. Unfortunately, that’s not always possible. You want to provide a personal touch any time your customers call in. When they get voice mail, whether because your lines are overloaded or because you aren’t available, they may be less likely to leave a message and, therefore, more likely to turn to a competitor–or to become dissatisfied with your customer service. With a virtual receptionist, on the other hand, you can provide that personal touch to each customer, no matter when they call in. Even if you need to return a customer’s call later, a good call answering professional will leave them feeling as though you genuinely care about their needs.

4. Free Up Employees’ Time

When employees are busy, the last thing they want to do is answer the ringing phone. Unfortunately, failing to answer that phone can lead to frustrated customers who are convinced your business doesn’t really care about them or their needs. The ideal solution? A virtual receptionist. A call receptionist can answer calls as they come in without taking vital time away from other tasks. That means that your customers will spend less time waiting on hold or hoping that someone will answer your call, and your employees will have to take less time away from their jobs on the floor. If your employees do need to personally handle calls, they can return those calls at a preset time, when it’s convenient for them–and they can give more focus to the customer when it’s needed.

5. Handle Basic Scheduling with Ease

Do you have basic tasks that can be taken care of by anyone, not necessarily someone within your organization? This might, for example, include scheduling appointments or sending technicians to a customer’s home. You don’t need to take care of those tasks personally–and outsourcing them with a virtual receptionist will free up your time and leave your customers feeling less rushed at the same time. Try using a virtual receptionist to take care of scheduling. They’ll connect personally with your customers and put together your schedule for you, all without draining your time or attention.

6. Create Scripts for Specific Scenarios

The needs you have for your virtual receptionist may change based on the specific time of day or your current scenario. After hours, for example, you may need your virtual receptionist to let customers know that you’re available to call them back during business hours. It can be helpful to ask for the time when it would be most convenient for you to call, since some customers will have varying availability. For a customer that calls in the middle of the business day, on the other hand, your virtual answering service may need to let them know that you’re in a meeting, that your lines are full, or that you will call them back as soon as possible. As you’re preparing to work with your virtual receptionist, take the time to prepare those key scripts for specific scenarios. You’ll discover that this will make it easier for you to manage different scenarios. You can alter your scripts as needed to reflect your business’s changing needs–and to ensure that you’re providing high-quality customer service regardless of when or how customers choose to connect with your business.

Do you need an amazing virtual receptionist service?  We can help! If you want to deliver high-quality customer service with a virtual receptionist offer that will more effectively handle your customers’ needs, contact us today to learn how we can help you grow your business.