You’ve heard the old expression “first Impressions matter” when you meet someone. The same applies to your callers. Customers and prospects form an impression of you and your business within 7 seconds of initial contact, and 87% state that the tone of voice highly impacts their experience.
Though we see many improvements in customer service technology, customers still prefer to connect with a human being.
Having a friendly and professional person answering your phone creates a great experience for callers, opens a personal connection, builds trust, and increases the likelihood of repeat business. A virtual assistant can transfer calls to you wherever you are, and take messages when you can’t or don’t want to be reached. Your callers get the attention they deserve, you save on hiring a full-time employee and you get the freedom to do more with your business.
A top notch virtual assistant service will know how to handle prospects, current clients, solicitors, vendors and family/personal. These calls can be prioritized (e.g. create specific instructions for certain types of calls) and based on your schedule (there are times when you don’t want to take calls or only calls from certain people or companies).
What else can a Virtual Assistant do?
- Gather caller information and send intake forms to you or your staff.
- Send the call to your voicemail.
- Give callers a description of your services or answer basic questions.
- Schedule appointments and make reminder calls.
Remember, first caller impressions count for a lot!
