5 Ways to Run a Better IT Consulting Business with Virtual Receptionists

The virtual receptionists at Smith.ai serve as first-line phone support for many industries, but IT firms and technology consultants are among those who find our live answering services most useful. In the IT industry, we can serve as a first line of defense to help you resolve problems more efficiently and provide information to prospective customers and existing clients.

No matter what category of services you provide – desktop support, infrastructure, software, or services exclusively for Apple or Microsoft users – your clients will need to contact your company with questions and will need help resolving issues. Though we can’t fill in for your technicians, our live receptionists can collect information from the caller and either get this information into the right hands or transfer the call when the matter is urgent.

Below, we have listed five ways virtual receptionists can help you run a more efficient IT firm or consultancy, maximizing the time you spend you and your staff working on important projects and minimizing your time spent on distracting phone calls.

1. Answer basic FAQ & triage calls

There’s a difference between small inconveniences and when a mission-critical application crashes. Sometimes simple questions on “where to find something” are frequent enough that we can answer these questions on your behalf. These answers as well as short walkthroughs for certain processes can always be appended to Smith.ai scripts so we can answer the question while you keep working.

Other times, your client might be facing a serious deadline and will need to speak with someone to walk them through resolving a problem. For serious issues, we will transfer such calls down the appropriate channel to expedite resolution for pressing issues.

2. Create work tickets for your technicians

A lot of times, the nature of a problem or a new work request falls somewhere in the middle of the urgency spectrum. An Ethernet cable needs run from a switch to a new IP camera. A batch of Chromebooks need to be provisioned for students and teachers before the school year begins. A certain printer is intermittently jamming and needs new rollers. Whether you use Zendesk, the Salesforce Service Cloud, or another software, we can create tickets in these systems so your technicians can focus on tackling these tasks, rather than performing intakes.

3. Qualify leads & refer "bad" leads

Somehow your name or company name comes up and a caller reaches out because “you know computers.” It’s flattering when people call you after being recommended by someone they trust, but sometimes these requests for help fall outside your realm of expertise. Maybe you’re a master of Amazon Web Services and don’t accept desktop work? Perhaps you primarily service Apple devices? We can let prospects know the kinds of systems you service and the general scope of work you handle. If their needs match with your services, we can then further qualify them as a lead, and even perform new client intake.

If the caller doesn't turn out to match your criteria and is a "bad" lead for your business, we can even refer them to firms you recommend, based on your custom criteria and instructions. If you have referral-fee relationships with these firms, our receptionists will have helped you monetize these non-leads.

4. Buy you time to solve an issue

The best part about modern technology is also one of the worst: it’s always changing. On the dark side of technology, something that never causes any issues suddenly malfunctions. “It should be working,” you say to yourself, as you check the configuration and logs. But it’s not. Rather than taking calls while you try to rack your brain over a complex problem, we can handle your calls while you're involved in a strenuous process to prevent distractions. You can always text your Smith.ai number with a "do not disturb" prompt, and you can even include the time frame. While you're set to "do not disturb," we won't attempt any live call transfers. Learn more about SMS status updates here.

5. Reach out to customers on your behalf

A customer may be expecting a call for any number of reasons. You can always contact us with a message that we can deliver on your behalf when a client is expecting a status update or better yet, to hear you've successfully resolved a problem.

We can also make calls on your behalf to remind clients when you'll be taking a system offline to perform scheduled maintenance over a span of time, or notify them of an upcoming onsite visit that you have on your calendar.

Smith.ai Client Testimonial

We ran through just a few scenarios here to demonstrate how we can help your IT business capture leads and serve existing clients, but don't just take our word for it. Here’s what one of our longtime clients had to say:

“Everyone wins when I use Smith.ai. I can focus on the task at hand, and my clients can feel like they’re being heard. That’s really important in IT.”

- Andrew Peters, founder of Wondermint, Des Moines' most experienced Certified Apple Consultants

Get Started with Smith.ai

If you think we can be a valuable asset to your IT company, you’re right! If you’d like to learn more about how Smith.ai’s virtual receptionists can help your business, sign up for a free consultation with our team or get started risk-free with our 14-day money-back guarantee!