People have shown a huge and growing appetite for self-service. Digital visitor management solutions offer that, and several more benefits, to businesses.
Remember the days of waiting in lines at the bank to deposit your paycheck with a teller? Neither do we. ATMs have handled a majority of routine bank visits. And this is nothing new. ATMs were rolled out way back in the 1960s!
Machines have replaced human interactions at gas stations too. And for flight check-in, even when the travel has baggage. More recently, consumers are choosing grocery self-checkout.
Dedicated receptionists have disappeared from the small business landscape. They’ve too often been replaced by ad hoc visitor management systems that distract your employees and discourage your visitors. That is why modern offices are rapidly adopting digital visitor management tools.
According to Harvard Business Review:
Most customers these days demonstrate a huge — and increasing — appetite for self-service, yet most companies run their operations as if customers prefer to interact with them live… companies tend to think their customers value live service more than twice as much as they value self service. But our data show that customers today are statistically indifferent about this — they value self-service just as much as using the phone.
Not only do customers prefer self-help, but the preference is increasing. Perhaps most interestingly, HBR’s data held true regardless of their age, demographic, issue type, or urgency.
The transition towards automation has made it clear that for simple, repetitive transactions, we prefer to help ourselves. It is simply easier than having someone do the job for us when we are capable.
Digital check-in systems like Greetly are well designed. Visitors find it easy to navigate the system and check themselves in. It generally takes 20 seconds or less for digital visitor management solutions to process visitors and notifies employees.
Most receptionists represent their employers well, most of the time. Yet we’ve all experienced the unprofessional receptionist. Further, no receptionist can be available all the time — they have set work hours and take rightfully earned breaks and vacations. And having no visitor management solution can leave a bad impression on your company and brand.
A paper visitor log book may be easy to use. Unfortunately, it is fraught with problems. Paper logs suggest a lack of professionalism. They also don’t maintain privacy for your employees or visitors.
I was recently employed by a hyper-growth Inc. 500 company. I spent most of my working hours in meetings. As is typical at most companies, when a visitor arrived the receptionist would call my office number. A shy, unexpected visitor once waited over an hour before asking if there was another way to contact me.
Digital visitor management solutions send notifications to employees where they are — on their smartphones. With one touch, Greetly can notify employees via voice call, text message and email. In other words, a digital receptionist is more efficient at connecting visitors with hosts than their human counterparts.
Smart offices are increasingly capturing and analyzing information about their business. Traditional methods make this hard. Many small offices do not capture any visitor information at all. Even if visitor information is captured in a paper visitor logbook, access is only available to someone with physical access.
Digital visitor management offers data advantages. Management and security personnel can determine which visitors are onsite anytime, from anywhere. Having a digital visitor log could be vital during a security emergency. They can also determine whether employees abuse visitation. Or which vendors to provide special access for because they are on-site most often.
Even the notion of visiting the ATM is becoming outdated. Mobile deposits are replacing trips to the ATM.
Like several other fields, “with it” companies are shifting to digital visitor management. Digital visitor check-in apps are preferred by visitors and delivery people. Simultaneously, they offer several advantages to small offices that care about their appearance, productivity, and efficiency. And cost.
With a severe labor shortage, employers are finding it difficult to hire qualified candidates. Visitor management software can help your firm hire.
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