If you’re having trouble scaling staffing and operations for the busy summer months, consider partnering with a virtual receptionist service. A virtual receptionist is a skilled professional who typically works from their home office or a call center, but is trained to do everything an in-house receptionist would manage on behalf of your business.
It’s a cost-effective alternative to hiring part- or full-time administrative staff, and if you choose the right partner, they can oftentimes service your business even better than an employee might.
A virtual receptionist can help HVAC businesses successfully navigate the busy months and high call volumes that come at this time of year. Read on to learn more.
Start With The Basics: U.S. Customer Service Stats & Expectations
To understand the true value of a virtual receptionist service, you need to consider the customer service challenges that HVAC businesses face and compare them to current consumer expectations. For example, did you know:
- Small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) spend 120 working days per year on administrative tasks. When you spend your time answering calls, responding to web forms, and scheduling appointments, you waste time and money, and lose clients in the process.
- 85% of consumers research a business online before making a purchasing decision. Is your team answering their calls, but neglecting web leads, chat leads, emails, or social media messages? If so, you’ve already lost that customer to the next business in their Google search results.
- Americans tell an average of 11 people about a good service experience. A poor customer experience—like lacking empathy, sending clients to voicemail, or waiting longer than 2-5 minutes to respond to a web inquiry—costs your company their business and their referrals.
- Businesses that use technology see sales increase by 29% and conversions go up by 300%. If your business isn’t using proper Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software by now, you’re losing real money. Period.
4 Key Benefits of Hiring A Virtual Receptionist for the Summer
- Quickly scale for peak season. Good virtual receptionists should serve as an extension of your team, saving you the headache of hiring, training, and paying in-house staff.
- Increase call bookings. A proper partner will ensure you never miss a new business opportunity—improving conversion rates and increasing marketing ROI.
- Be available to your customers 24/7, 365 days a year. Summer call surges happen at all times of the day, and a virtual receptionist can help make your company ready to respond no matter when that next call comes in.
- Avoid employee burnout. Virtual receptionists support you and your team needs—they can field every call or just the overflow; whatever works best for your business.
Types of Calls Virtual Receptionists Should Be Able to Handle for Your HVAC Business
The best virtual receptionist services should be able to handle every one of these types of calls on behalf of your business:
- New & existing customers calling with issues, maintenance/tune-up requests, replacement needs, or calling to confirm their appointments.
- Repeat callers who have their appointments booked and want service updates—your virtual receptionist should be able to answer all their questions.
- Emergency calls when it’s 100+ degrees outside and a customer needs service now. (Your virtual receptionist should know who on your team to escalate the calls to when/if needed.)
Why Hiring A Virtual Receptionist Right Now Makes Sense
Let’s talk about hiring for a minute. If you’re like the more than 40% of American SMBs trying to navigate in a post-pandemic world, you know how hard it is to find solid employees right now. The job market is extremely competitive as more businesses and industries start reopening. Do you have enough staff in place to handle the uptick in summertime service calls?
If not, a virtual receptionist service can help—acting as an extension of your team, answering calls, scheduling appointments, and even dispatching service technicians if needed. Make sure that whatever virtual receptionist service you use answers every customer call—no matter what time or day it comes in—in 2 to 5 rings, and processes them according to your standards. Any time a customer calls in, they should think they’re speaking directly to someone on your team.
Find The Right Virtual Receptionist Service For Your HVAC Business
At Nexa Receptionists, we specialize in the home services and HVAC industries. We support companies just like yours with ‘round the clock or overflow phone coverage, lead response and other administrative services—leaving you free to do your actual job. Learn more about how we can help you grow your business by visiting https://nexa.com/nexa-home-services/.
