It has been well-documented in research that customers calling a business are far happier when they reach a live person rather than an automated machine - even if that live person is just there to take a message. It has also been documented that over the past few years, more and more companies have turned to telephone answering services and virtual assistants to help them achieve this.
There are a number of reasons why companies have turned to virtual assistants to meet their needs. Perhaps the most important of these is the cost effective nature of a VA service. For many businesses, it doesn't make sense anymore to employ an assistant or receptionist full time. They may not have the office space for them, enough work for them to do, or even the budget to pay a full time member of staff. Step up virtual assistant companies; they offer a full time phone answering service without the need to accomodate or pay a full time member of staff. VAs can do as much or as little as is necessary, too, which means there's no need to worry about a full time member of staff sitting idle.
Another reason why VA services have become more popular in recent years is the fact that more and more people have become self employed. The economic recession has meant that huge numbers of individuals have been made redundant - and many of these have taken it as an opportunity to strike out on their own. Smaller businesses tend to be more inclined to use a service such as ours, as it means that they can give the impression that they are a bigger company and reap all the benefits of having an assistant without the downsides.
Of course, the downsides of hiring full time members of staff can be many. Even without taking into account the cost of their wage; staff bring problems such as holiday pay, sick time, staff turnover, extra taxes and productivity problems with them. When using a VA service, a business owner doesn't have to worry about any of this, as the service takes care of it for them. This can be a huge burden lifted from the shoulders of a business owner - and is why many prefer working with a VA service than direct employees.
Finally, many companies have turned to a VA service rather than full time staff as VAs are a much more environmentally friendly option. Put simply, this is because VAs commute less and spread the cost of their electricity usage across many different companies rather than just one. Read our article about how a VA can make your office more environmentally friendly here.
Our Virtual Assistant service offers a great deal more than just phone answering. Our 'Call Girls' can help you with order taking, customer service, booking appointments and transcription - among other things. Please don't hesitate to get in touch if you would like to talk more about how a virtual assistant service could work for your business.
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