Customer service is the forefront of any business, it’s what causes a first impression, and 
carries a lot of weight on how your business is perceived by the masses. If your customers
aren’t happy with your service, you’ll notice a decline in your business, and no business owner
wishes to be at the end of such a decline. A big role on keeping customers happy lies in the
person answering the calls.

PR Newswire (2019) specifies that almost three-fourths of people (72%) prefer to speak to a live receptionist
after encountering an automated menu, these results come from a survey of around 500
individuals. They put in perspective most people find listening to options that aren’t relevant to
their query frustrating. Followed by the inability to describe their issue, and finally, general lack
of human interaction is frowned upon by the general consumer.

Though it can be tantalizing to rely on automation of services, it comes as a double edge sword,
especially in the customer service sector. Consumers, in general, wish to communicate, Vonage
(2019) had a press release explaining people, in general, don’t enjoy interacting with robots. These results come
from a survey of around 2,010 individuals who were asked if they enjoyed engaging with
interactive voice response (IVR) services, and 85% of the respondents said they had
abandoned the call after reaching such a platform.

What this all puts into perspective is, though automation can be necessary and even practical in
different fields when it comes to general customer service, it gets messy and most people are
just not going to be happy about it. A large part of keeping clients happy is having a person
answering phone calls. Talking to a machine can result in bad business and dissatisfied
customers.

When it comes to how efficiently a virtual receptionist can be used, it goes down to the tasks
they can handle for your business. Virtual receptionists, like those from Team by the Minute, can
forward calls to you or the necessary personnel when you are out of the office. On the other
hand, if you and your staff are not able to be on a call, our receptionists will take a message
from your customer and have it in your inbox instantly. Therefore, you will not be out of the loop
if you subscribe to services provided by a virtual receptionist team.

No matter how you use a virtual reception team, you are guaranteed to have a better impression
on customers, all while skipping the hassle automation can cause when it comes to providing a
satisfactory customer service experience.

Since we are used to dealing with quantifiable numbers and objectives, the abstract concept of self-actualization is hard to label with a KPI. Nevertheless, what if we establish a weekly goal as a sort of metric: “Work on switching your goodbye statement’ or “Work on active listening” and while the calls are screened throughout the week Team leaders approach individuals to give positive feedback. It’s a Task-Based Weekly strategy that causes engagement. In turn, it builds
trust and establishes positive patterns of communication. It becomes a weekly routine, and in
turn, it yields a stronger work culture.

 

 

 

~F. Hernandez