The role of a live virtual receptionist may look simple and attractive. Those that are working will share their list of challenges of facing daily challenges related to business. However, due to the experience and skills they bring along it would be worth hiring them. Many business owners are yet confused of whether an in-house receptionist is better than a virtual one.
The best solution to clear these doubts is to learn the difference between the two. Let’s quickly do a quick read on the same.
Difference between in-house receptionist and a virtual one:
One of the major differences between an in-house receptionist and a virtual receptionist is the place of work. A virtual receptionist does not work at your office whereas an in-house needs your office space for performing your business tasks.
Other than space, a few other factors to differentiate between the two are location, cost, hours of working, hiring process, and more… Since many businesses are shifting to a virtual reception service, let us help you with a few tips of hiring one and save time in the hiring process.
How to hire a live virtual receptionist for managing business?
Business Clarity:
Learn the role of a virtual receptionist before hiring them. You must be clear of what you expect from your virtual staff. Set clear company terms, guidelines, business goals, and tasks before interviewing a virtual receptionist. Typically, a virtual receptionist handles business tasks such as call-handling, customer support, administrative tasks, and more…
Availability:
A huge demand was observed in hiring virtual receptionists recently and so you will have to check their availability before finalizing them. Contact them on email or call as available on their registered website and discuss their availability before disclosing the opening. It means you are mutually checking their interest in your business proposal.
Take Support:
To find a good virtual receptionist, you may even take support of your in-house recruitment team or outsource one from outside. They have the best market knowledge and many recruitment companies have a vast database of qualified professionals. It will save you time in finding the right candidate.
Check Flexibility:
Interview the candidates after you have received a few good applications. Compare their skills, experience, flexibility, and availability to pick work under pressure too. Sometimes, business may demand flexible working hours and most virtual receptionists are aware of the same. They are open to work under flexible hours. Some companies offer round the clock receptionist services to ease the work pressure from the business owner.
Personal interview:
You may even contact a few candidates to your work space or visit their company to interview them personally. A personal interaction helps in understanding the work culture of the other company and whether they fit your business requirements for a long time. Clarify everything with the candidate directly to avoid any confusions or delays.
Hours of operation:
Usually, virtual receptionists work round the clock compared to in-house receptionists that are restricted to the office hours. Check the hours of operation of the company from where you are hiring a live receptionist.
Don’t delay:
Once you have found the right candidate for your business operations, do not lose them. Get all the points on a documented paper and prepare an agreement for a set time to work with them. If you have any points to clear with them, do it at this stage before they take over your business tasks.
Hire a live virtual receptionist from a registered and reputed company. You may check out a few online before visiting their office personally.