If your phone is always ringing off the hook, then you probably know how tricky it can be to catch every call that comes in. However, being quick to pick up the phone is important from both a customer service standpoint, and for ensuring new leads come into your business.
Fortunately, one way you can get around this problem is by hiring a Virtual Receptionist to operate a Live answering service for your company.
But what exactly do you look for in a virtual receptionist? What are the virtual receptionist job qualities you need to be keeping an eye on the most?
To help you with this, here are the 5 required skills to become a virtual receptionist that you should keep in mind when hiring one.
The top 5 qualities of a virtual receptionist
Ready to begin looking? Good, make a note of the following virtual receptionist job qualities when interviewing potential candidates.
1. A high level of training
While there are a lot of answering services to choose from, whichever one you pick, you want to be sure that their receptionists are trained to a high degree of expertise and professionalism.
Many answering services will only train their virtual receptionists in the basics of phone answering in a short amount of time in order to get them answering calls right away. But there are many moving parts when it comes to call answering, not just learning the software.
Therefore, you should look for an answering service that spends a considerable amount of time training their operators to be the best in the industry. That way, you can know you’ll be getting your money’s worth.
2. Locally based
Another major consideration to bear in mind is where your new virtual receptionists will be based. It can be frustrating speaking on the phone to outsourced operators, especially after a long day, and the last thing you want is potential language barriers or time differences to get in the way.
So, if you really want your answering service to be the best at representing your business, then you should look for operators that are based close to you instead of outsourced to another country.
3. An empathetic tone
It goes without saying that not every call will be simple or easy. Sometimes it’s a customer with an issue with a service or a product. Other times it could be a client who is upset with your services.
Either way, one of the key required skills to become a virtual receptionist is being both kind and empathetic to the needs of your customers. You don’t want them to rush a distressed caller off the phone. Instead, you want them to take the time to understand their needs so that you can best meet them.
4. Professionalism at all times
As much as kindness and empathy are important, so too is the ability to be professional in a variety of situations. After all, much like having an in-house receptionist, a virtual receptionist may very well be the first impression somebody gets of your business. Therefore a professional attitude is essential so that people take your business seriously.
5. Knowledgeable about your business
Last, but not least, when you have a virtual receptionist speaking to your customers, you want to be sure that they have as thorough a knowledge of your business as possible so they can meet all customer needs.
So, make sure that any Live Answering Service you choose has custom scripting and account-specific training so that your virtual receptionists truly become an extension of your business.
Why choose VoiceNation as your Virtual Receptionist?
Now that you know what you should be looking for in a Virtual Receptionist, you might have already guessed that, here at VoiceNation, our receptionists offer all these qualities and more.
Our team knows just how important your calls are, which is why we provide all our operators with three weeks of in-depth training on both the software and call-answering etiquette. We also train from an industry-specific standpoint, so our operators are able to do legal intake and are HIPAA compliant.
And on top of all this, we also believe that soft skills and professional knowledge go hand in hand. Which is why we have technology dedicated to providing top-end custom scripting, ensuring our receptionists can answer all your customer’s questions.
If all this has piqued your interest, then we recommend getting in touch with the VoiceNation team today to find out more about what we can offer your business. We also have plenty of similar articles you can browse if you’re interested, including our piece on what the important soft skills are important for a receptionist.