7 Ways Digital Receptionists Enhance Customer Experience

Originally published by Latest in Tech. Reposted with permission.

For any business, the most valuable asset is its customers. Customer loyalty and retention can be the difference between success and failure for a business owner. Hence, it’s important to know how to retain your customers. The answer is simple: providing them with an exceptional customer experience. Of course, it cannot be easy to do when juggling multiple tasks and trying to keep up with daily operations and running your business. But that’s where digital receptionists come into play. Read on to learn more about why they are such valuable tools for businesses today:

Out-Of-Hours Coverage

If you’re looking for a way to ensure that your customers get the support they need, even when staff is on leave or at home, consider using a virtual receptionist service. According to Marketsandmarkets.com, the market size for virtual receptionist services is getting bigger. It is anticipated to grow significantly from 2017 to 2023, at a high CAGR of around 38.82%. It, therefore, allows and continues to dictate precisely how your business operates.

For example, it can help with team scheduling software to ensure that your telephone lines are used by someone who knows what they’re doing. This process can be automated so that calls go straight through if there is no answer. Also, if there’s an issue with the line or equipment, the virtual receptionist will alert you immediately.

You could set up an out-of-hours service so that calls are directed to whoever is currently available at the time. It means that even if none of your staff members answer phones during regular office hours and one person has stayed late on purpose, another has gone home early but wants their income. Both will still receive a payment if their schedules are logged correctly beforehand into an integrated system.

Effective With Visitor Management Systems

Digital receptionists are particularly effective when used in conjunction with visitor management systems, which will allow you to:

• Track visitors and their information, such as their name, time of the visit, and the reason for their visit.
• Schedule appointments for staff members.
• Automatically send reminders about upcoming appointments via email or SMS text message.

You can also integrate digital receptionists with other business systems, such as accounting software or even third-party products like CRM software, which is a vast market. According to Statista.com, revenue around customer relationship management software will reach US$69.13 billion in 2022. Therefore such integration with CRM software provides a more holistic view of your customers on one platform.

For example, suppose a customer calls into your business using the digital receptionist system. In that case, you will see how many times they had visited in the past six months before they called in today. It may help you prioritize how much attention should be given during the call. Or whether it’s best to end things early so someone else can take over next time.

Seamless Integration With Onsite Systems

Digital Receptionist is a perfect fit for any business with an on-site system, such as a CRM or help desk solution. Digital receptionists can access all of the features in these systems and trigger them based on their natural language understanding capabilities. In addition, it allows you to seamlessly integrate the functions of your digital receptionist with other systems in your organization.

For example, let’s say that one of your customers calls into the company asking for some information about a particular product or service. The customer support representative can pull this information from their CRM system and provide it back to the caller while on hold, without transferring it anywhere else. It saves time and money by keeping each call focused on solving one problem at a time instead of bouncing between departments unnecessarily.

Helps in Assisting the Customers in Real-Time

As a business owner, you know that customer service is essential. But did you know that it can be the difference between losing customers and gaining them? Unfortunately, research shows that over 70% of consumers say they’ve hung up on an automated customer service line. That is because they felt too frustrated or abandoned to continue trying to get help.

In contrast, providing excellent customer service through digital receptionists allows your business to build loyalty with customers. These customers can speak with an agent immediately and easily navigate the problem-solving process.

Customers can also be assisted by virtual agents, chatbots and voice assistants, or even other customers via peer-to-peer support. It gives them confidence in your company’s ability to provide excellent service when needed. Also, their virtual assistant app ensures that the customer is not left unattended or unanswered, which helps to meet fundamental client demands and needs.

Reduced Staffing Issues

Digital receptionist solutions are constructive when it comes to staffing issues. Covering the desk and answering calls can allow you to reduce your reliance on additional staff, overtime pay, and shift changes. As a result, it can save a lot of money in the long run and ensure that your business operates as efficiently as possible.

Reduced staff costs are one of the most significant benefits of using a digital receptionist service. It doesn’t require extensive training or excessive wages for employees who need to come in, answer calls, and leave. The cost savings from these reduced staffing requirements should immediately appear in your budget once you use this technology.

Smart Hours Management

The innovative hour management feature allows you to set the hours that you want your digital receptionist to be available. It also allows you to set up multiple virtual receptionists, each with its availability and roles. This way, you can offer different departments in your various business service levels by setting them up as separate channels within smart hours management.

Additionally, this feature makes it easy for you to manage multiple locations by allowing each area its unique schedule. Finally, it is helpful when its employees can speak with an agent via phone or email via the email support ticketing system.

Avoids Frustrating Busy Signals

Digital receptionist services are beneficial for businesses that want to avoid frustrating busy signals. Customers can leave a message and pick up the phone when they’re ready to talk or use the feature at their convenience.

When you have an online receptionist running in your business, it’s easy for customers to access it anywhere. They also don’t need any special equipment. Instead, they need access to an internet connection, microphone, and speaker.

The Digital Receptionist Enhances Customer Experience

The customer experience is a critical metric in business. Digital receptionists help improve the customer experience by ensuring that customers are greeted, supported, and served promptly. You can reduce staff costs with the right digital receptionist software and training. It allows you to focus on sales activities instead of being stuck answering phones or waiting for people who don’t attend appointments.

Digital Receptionists also improve employee morale by removing employee stress at their desks. In addition, it enhances team communication with better coordination at any given time.