The COVID-19 pandemic has made it difficult for businesses to operate everywhere in the world, impacting the global economy. As social distancing becomes the need of the hour, owing to a rise in the number of cases, businesses have provided employees with work from home opportunities in an attempt to keep business operations running.
At such times, tapping into all your resources and finding opportunities that make it easy for clients to contact you, while offering the services of the front-line staff are crucial to maintaining a smooth operation of your business. Reception and customer services offered by front-line staff serve a very important function here when it comes to servicing new or existing clients.
Outsourced receptionist service can help you focus on other aspects of your business while offering a host of benefits that include:
- Saving money since outsourcing will work out to be a lot cheaper than maintaining full-time front-line staff
- Lack of any additional overhead costs
- Greater time availability of outsourced front line staff
- No requirement for automated message systems
- Greater number of language options for clients
- You don’t need to invest in their training as this is taken care of by the company they work for
The stress surrounding COVID-19 doesn’t have to hamper your business functioning. Outsourcing your front-line staff is a great way to make sure your business proceeds unhindered with clients receiving quality service while you get to dedicate your time and attention to other aspects of the business’ functioning.
You want to make sure you’re going about outsourcing in the right manner, because not just anyone can provide great customer service. Also, since interactions with your front-line staff can significantly impact the decisions clients take to associate with your business in the future, it’s safe to say that it’s worth taking seriously.
So here are five tips on how you can outsource your front-line staff in the right way:
1. Do your homework
Do thorough research online regarding where you can outsource your front-line staff from. Once you’ve looked up reviews of each and narrowed down your options, give them a call. You’ll be able to decide for yourself if you want to outsource their services based on how they deal with you. Pay attention to:
- How they pick up the call
- What their responses are like
- What their tone is like
- Their level of receptivity
- How openly they are able to respond to your queries
- How warm and welcome you feel talking to them
Remember, they’re going to be representing your company if you choose to outsource to them, so you have to pay careful attention to these factors and select based on whether or not they match your level of enthusiasm and will be a good fit for your brand.
2. Enquire about technology and packages on offer
Before outsourcing your front-line services, make sure you find out about the technology they use even though most places will be using systems that won’t need inputs from you. Generally, any phone calls received get diverted to their system, with the front-line staff being aware of the fact that the call is from your business. This allows them to respond appropriately.
Another factor to consider before outsourcing the services of front-line staff for your business is the cost involved and packages on offer. Make sure there are no hidden costs – find out about how much it will cost in terms of system costs, monthly fees, and cost per call. Knowing this will help you make sure you choose a service that works within your budget requirements.
3. Assess the level of service needed
Before you sign up to outsource your front line services, evaluate your business needs. Are you looking to have every call answered for you, or would you just like calls to be diverted when you’re busy attending to another client? Do you only want certain repetitive questions answered, or do you want them to book your appointments using a sophisticated booking system? You may also just need them to note down messages and email or text them to you.
Whatever the need is, make sure you’re clear about what the work will entail, the level of service you’re signing up for, whether or not it meets your business demands, and communicate this clearly before you outsource your front line staff.
4. Get your FAQs ready
There are some questions that are repeatedly asked by clients, and these questions require responses. Instead of having to produce an answer each time the same question comes up, it makes sense to prepare a list of frequently asked questions with their responses.
The front-line staff service you outsource can be handed this list of frequently asked questions along with their responses so that you can save time and let them handle these repeatedly asked questions. When they have this information in advance, they won’t need to disturb you for responses every time a question comes up, but instead, they can just deal with the questions on their own from the prepared list.
5. Share your booking system and calendar
Sharing your booking system and calendar is necessary to ensure business operations continue smoothly. Familiarise them with the system you use by giving them the necessary login details and other directions. They can also end up teaching you a thing or two about maintaining a virtual calendar and booking system if you’re the type who still continues to make use of a paper diary.
To Conclude…
As stressful as these times may seem, there’s no reason to add to it with a chaotic business plan. Stay healthy and avoid panicking, but make sure you’re not compromising on business needs.
With these tips to follow when it comes to outsourcing the services of front line staff, you’ll be able to provide great customer care even amidst the COVID-19 crisis and make sure that your business does not fall behind.