Your Receptionist Should Be Virtual

2024-01-02

You’ve likely been in business long enough to know when you need help.  Experience has proven there simply isn’t any way to answer all of your calls and get any work done — it can be a struggle to grow your business when you’re fielding all aspects of the work. It's time for a receptionist — someone that can handle the calls while making sure you hear about the important ones. But can you afford to hire help?

Many small businesses lack receptionists because they are expensive. The average receptionist salary starts around $25,000, but often pushes upwards of $50,000.  And that doesn’t include the other employment costs you’d have to pay — benefits, vacation time, etc.  With the average small business in the US taking in barely over that amount in revenue per year, that is unthinkable overhead. While the majority of these businesses would benefit from a receptionist, it is easy to see why a large number of them can’t afford them, and as a result, continue to be bogged down and interrupted by calls throughout the day.

There is a Solution

A receptionist located outside of your office could save you thousands of dollars. Today’s technology lets receptionists work from anywhere while giving the impression that they are in your office.  Using the best technology from their home office, a virtual receptionist can solve real business problems and focus on your clients – something we are passionate about at Smith.ai.

The benefits of a virtual receptionist service:

  • Smith.ai has simple pay-per-call monthly plans, with no annual contracts. If you’re in between hiring a full-time receptionist, you can use our temporary answering service to fill the gap in the meantime.
  • Have pros answer your phone. Smith.ai hires only the best North America-based professionals.
  • We follow your criteria to qualify leads, and then schedule their consultation with you.
  • Eliminate spam and sales calls. Smith.ai's technology filters 20 million known spammers and blocks intrusive salespeople based on your preferences.
  • An in-house receptionist can only handle one call at a time, whereas all of our receptionists are available to you.

Plus, with Smith.ai you have the added benefit of technology that integrates with your existing systems, like your CRM, calendar, business management tools, billing software, marketing automation software, and more.

For example, Smith.ai can book new-client appointments directly on your calendar, where they can add new events based on your directions, but not alter your existing events or settings.

Or, after every call, you can not only receive a complete call summary via email or text, but also have Smith.ai automatically log this information in your CRM, so that new client records are created and the call notes are logged as a new communication with that potential client. We can update existing client records, too.

Real Receptionists. Real Customers

Entrusting your receptionist work to an answering service company like Smith.ai will save you money (as compared to hiring an in-house receptionist and to spending your own highly valuable time answering calls), but you won’t have to sacrifice quality. Our receptionists are US-based professionals with customer-service and hospitality backgrounds, carefully screened and thoroughly tested before they answer their first call for a Smith.ai client.

Machine intelligence, At Your Service

When used effectively, technology can help deliver superior results. Smith.ai's machine intelligence stands alone in its ability to screen and prioritize calls, block spam, and route VIP calls to you directly, so you know whenever your phone rings, it's relevant and worthy of an interruption. Now, your already-professional and friendly virtual receptionists start to look superhuman, because they are.

How Much Is Your Time Worth?

Your receptionist’s job is to filter and manage your calls so that you can get work done. The fact is, in an ever-increasing age of searchable phone numbers, auto-dialers, and well-meaning telephone solicitations, you cannot afford to answer the phone every time it rings. These types of interruptions can extend your workday by up to 60%, plus you’re twice as likely to make mistakes after a distraction. A virtual receptionist, on the other hand, is looking forward to taking that call for you; and if they're working for you through Smith.ai, they’ll do far more than simply answer the call.

Get Started Today

Starting at just $285/month, you can run a more professional, productive, and profitable business. Sign up for a free consultation with our team or get started risk-free with our 14-day money-back guarantee. Let us show you what our receptionists can do for you, your leads, and your clients.

Tags:
Virtual Receptionists
24/7 Call Answering
Written by Jenn Marie

Jenn Marie is the founder of Jenn Marie Writing & Marketing, LLC, which provides content writing, blog posting, and social media management services.

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Take the faster path to growth.
Get Smith.ai today.

Affordable plans for every budget.