The customer experience is one of the most essential aspects of business success. In addition to your products and services, your customers value how you accommodate them during their interactions with your business.
80% of customers say the experience that a company provides is just as necessary as its products or services.
(Salesforce)
Your receptionists are crucial to facilitating an effective customer experience. Unfortunately, leveraging them is becoming difficult due to constant receptionist absenteeism and turnover caused by workplace stress and other factors.
This may lead you to consider outsourcing your receptionists as a solution — but is it effective in improving your customer experience?
Here’s a quick guide to help you decide whether or not to outsource your receptionists for a better customer experience.
Outsourcing Receptionists: Yea Or Nay?
It takes an average of 3-6 months to search for and hire a new receptionist. However, the average tenure of a receptionist is 6-12 months before they leave the company, primarily due to job dissatisfaction, a mismatch with company culture, or stress and burnout.
Constant receptionist turnover can cause bottlenecks in your operations and affect the customer experience. Consequently, you may be looking into outsourcing receptionists as a solution — but are they really effective?
Answer: yes.
Here are five reasons you should outsource your receptionists:
- You’re too busy with other tasks. Outsourcing receptionists from a service provider can be a significant convenience for you if you have other more pressing matters to deal with.
- You need receptionists who have verified expertise. Most agencies/service providers vet their receptionists based on skills and experience prior to assigning them to you. This can save you a tremendous amount of time that would otherwise be spent on screening and deliberations.
- You’re looking for more economical options. Besides lower staffing costs, receptionist outsourcing saves time and energy that you may otherwise spend in hiring and training.
- You need to staff your front desk immediately. Your chosen agency/service provider can immediately provide your business with a receptionist that matches your niche and current needs.
- You want to avoid HR hassles. HR-related matters and processes are dealt with by your chosen agency/service provider, allowing you to focus on other parts of your business.
Outsourcing receptionists is fast and convenient. It allows you to ensure that your customer experience operations remain smooth without worrying about the typical headaches of front desk staffing.
Besides being a quick solution, however, outsourcing receptionists can have a long-lasting impact on your business.
Here are four more reasons why outsourcing receptionists can be significantly beneficial:
- You aim to provide an effective customer experience. With sufficient orientation, outsourced front desk staff can improve your brand image as they interact with your customers.
- You want to build camaraderie in your team. Receptionists are most effective when bridging the gap between your customers and staff. This is especially true with regard to appointment scheduling and answering customer inquiry concerning your products and services. Trained outsourced receptionists acknowledge the importance of building rapport with your team and understanding their goals, and ensure that synergy is established among your staff.
- You seek to provide growth opportunities for your staff. Outsourced receptionists can assume administrative responsibilities that can otherwise inundate your in-house staff. This allows them to focus on their primary tasks and be able to grow and improve their skills (as opposed to catching up with admin tasks).
- You seek to achieve holistic growth for your business in general. Outsourced receptionists are highly flexible, being able to grow your business while adapting to changing needs.
Overall, outsourcing receptionists are a fast, convenient solution that can leave a lasting impact on your business.
Can You Use Self Check-In Kiosks Instead Of Receptionists?
A popular alternative to receptionist outsourcing is self check-in kiosks for managing front desk responsibilities such as check-in and appointment scheduling.
While it may require little time to set up and maintain, self-service kiosks can be limited and ineffective in facilitating an effective customer experience due to their:
- Lack of the human touch
- Inability to accommodate complex inquiries
- Inflexibility to new workflow changes
The Best Way To Outsource Receptionists
By now, you may already be convinced to outsource receptionists to enhance your customer experience — but you can take it one step further with a remote front desk.
A remote front desk platform enables receptionists to perform their responsibilities remotely. These virtual live receptionists can elevate your brand by enabling a unique customer service experience through a novel solution.
Today, where customer expectations only rise by every waking moment, remote receptionists can help you stay on top of the game.
Four out of five customers say speed, convenience, friendliness, and service knowledge are the most important elements of the customer experience.
(PwC)
Remote receptionists tick all the boxes while doing more for your business. Here are some of their advantages:
- Consistent customer experience – Remote receptionists ensure that your customers are always greeted and checked in at the front desk in real time, regardless of absenteeism, paid time off, or turnover.
- Streamlined front desk operations – A virtual receptionist system like WelcomeWare provides kiosks that facilitate digital intake forms, document capture, appointment scheduling, and other capabilities to ensure that all bases are covered for smooth front desk processes.
- Multiple location coverage – A single team of remote receptionists can cover multiple locations, allowing you to reduce headcount and staffing costs.
- Cost savings – Reducing staffing overhead allows you to reinvest your funds into your top-performing receptionists or other aspects of your business.
- Wider candidate pool – Remote receptionists can work from anywhere (depending on your staffing model), allowing you to access candidates who were previously unavailable due to geographical limitations. You can also consider outsourcing virtual receptionists from the same remote front desk solution provider.
Want to know more about remote receptionists? Read our blog here!
Outsourced Remote Receptionists Are The Key
Outsourcing receptionists and utilizing a remote front desk is the ultimate solution to transforming your customer experience. With a proven solution like WelcomeWare, you’ll be well on your way to taking your business to greater heights.
Learn how WelcomeWare’s virtual front desk reception solution can help you resolve your staffing issues and empower your receptionists for improved customer satisfaction!
