Congratulations, your business is growing!

But you’re starting to get overwhelmed with nuisance and general information calls at all hours of the day. Your administrative assistant spends all their time answering the phone instead of taking care of your clients and assisting you. And you’re missing many of the really important calls.

Does any of this sound familiar? This post will discuss a topic we’re very familiar with: 

You know it’s time for a virtual assistant when… 

Small and medium-sized businesses are the backbone of our economy. And small business owners know every customer counts. Life in a small business can get hectic, and business leaders understand that every lost call or message can mean lost revenue. 

Handling a small business enterprise’s high volume of phone calls and messages can be challenging. 

But there is good news. There are purpose-built, customizable communications platforms that can help you manage your unique communications and messaging needs. Virtual assistant services are one of those solutions.   

And at Voice Link of Columbus, we have the technology and solutions that business owners and their teams need. Call us today, and let’s streamline your business communications together. 

In this post, we’ll discuss the five critical signs that it’s time to consider hiring a virtual assistant.

Here’s what we’re going to cover: 

• Your business is growing, and you and your team are spending too much of your valuable time, money, and human resources trying to manage phone calls
• You’re getting overwhelmed by unnecessary calls
• Your customer service and dispatch systems are not in sync
• You’re missing too many business-critical calls (opportunity costs)
• You, your customers, and your team need two-way, synchronous communications

But first, let’s get started with the basics.

What exactly is a virtual assistant, and how can the technology help you as a business owner? 

Will technologies based on human intelligence and virtual assistant technologies be relevant in 2023? As we point out in a previous post, the answer to that question is an emphatic “yes!” 

The virtual office technology experts at Power Home Biz summarized it in a recent article: 

One of the most significant advantages of hiring an answering service is that it allows you to reduce your operation costs. Hiring and training employees can be costly, especially if you’re a small business with no prior experience in such matters. Answering service providers have already done this for you, which means that all you have to do is pay them for their services and enjoy the benefits.

Well said. And since your business is growing, we want to help you manage and continue that growth trend.

Virtual receptionists are your business’s extended human resources that use human intelligence and leading-edge technologies to interact with your customers, employees, vendors, and business partners. 

These trained professionals are available on a 24×7 basis, on your schedule. They’ll pick up the phone and provide live customer service, create trouble tickets, dispatch service techs, route critical information appropriately, provide general information, and more. 

There’s a lot more to virtual assistant technology than most people think.  

That’s why we also offer integrated technology solutions like virtual receptionists and secure, encrypted messaging. Technology and human resources together provide an end-to-end business communications platform. And the various components in that platform need to be user selectable based on specific requirements.     

So let’s get started with the top five signs that it’s time to hire a virtual assistant.

Your business is growing, and you and your team are spending too much of your valuable time, money, and resources trying to manage phone calls. 

Is answering phones a core competency for your business? You probably answered no to that question. If so, virtual assistant technology will probably be an excellent investment for you.

You and your team need to be working on your business, not in your business. Virtual assistants can handle the repetitive and mundane, yet crucial, tasks that make your business run but that don’t require your immediate attention.

Here’s how.

Stop losing valuable time because you and your team are getting overwhelmed by unnecessary calls. 

How many calls from potential new, and repeat, customers are you missing per week, month, or year? How many service calls are being mishandled? Compare that to the number of informational and logistical calls you and your team are taking that could be handled more effectively by a virtual assistant.

Look at it like this, if the information being requested by a caller is anywhere on your website, or doesn’t require special knowledge, your virtual assistant should be answering the call.

Your customer service and dispatch systems are not in sync.

Customer service can be one of the most critical, expensive, and complex business systems to manage. Let’s simplify it.

Do you have a trouble ticket or service ticket system? Whether it’s entirely manual, people-based, app-based, or a combination of both, you can take advantage of virtual assistant technology to integrate your customer service infrastructure.

Virtual assistants can competently and efficiently provide the comprehensive messaging components connecting the first customer support or service request to an escalation process, dispatch, and ultimately to issue resolution. The result? Happy, repeat customers.

You and you’re team are missing too many business-critical calls (opportunity costs).

You and your team don’t need to be answering frequently asked business questions, managing low/medium-priority service requests, booking sales calls, etc.

Your virtual assistants will confidently answer general questions about your products and services, relay customer inquiries quickly and efficiently, generate and escalate service requests and tickets, and book appointments for you and your team. 

These invaluable resources can be the glue that gives you a competitive advantage going into 2023.

Your customers, management, and staff need integrated, synchronous communications.

Here’s a simple, hypothetical example of harmful asynchronous communications. The owner of a plumbing company misses a critical service call, or misinterprets the urgency in a voicemail, from an important client. The client ends up with water damage that could have easily been prevented.

At worst the client ends up with some disputed property damages, and at best, the plumbing company loses a valuable customer. 

What’s the alternative? A live, well-trained virtual assistant, trained in your customer service policies and procedures takes the call. The issue is logged, recorded, escalated, and followed up on based on your documented policy. It’s like having your own staff of trained Customer Service Receptionists.

This simple example illustrates the synchronous communications you and your team need.

So what’s the bottom line?

No matter the size and scope of your business, you can benefit from virtual assistant technology solutions. 

Our clients include everything from contractors and home repair specialists, to hospitals, physician practices, and law firms, and everything in between.

Our solutions are flexible and integrated to fit your unique business. 

We also offer solutions designed for regulatory compliance environments. Virtual receptionists are trained in HIPAA, PCI, and other compliance frameworks. All compliance-related apps and communications are encrypted. Receptionists are also trained on how to handle urgent and non-urgent calls, your office and staff’s schedules and availability, and other crucial business metrics as necessary. 

We provide automation with a human touch.

And it’s not just us saying it. When online technology ranking giant Gartner Group says “nothing can replace a human on the other end of the line”, business owners and leaders take notice. 

So how much does it cost and how do you implement the technology?

That’s the easy part, and you’re halfway there. It’s as easy as 1-2-3:

1. Schedule a Consultation Today
2. Build a Custom-Tailored Plan While You’re On the Call
3. Launch Your Service

Still, have a few questions. Let’s talk.

There’s a good chance that virtual assistant technology might be just the right choice for your growing business.

When you have a growing business every phone call needs to be answered and handled properly. 

We understand the demands and challenges business owners face daily. Voice Link’s virtual assistant solutions can help. Whether you need to improve your customer service or don’t want to miss any more incoming calls, Voice Link is the go-to communications service business that owners love and trust.

At Voice Link, we help organizations just like yours find their perfect communications solution every day.

Call us today at (800) 262-2799, or get in touch with us online. Our experts are waiting for your call.