Our world recently became uprooted and our workplace – as we knew it – temporarily no longer exists. Within a matter of weeks, the number of individuals working remotely has skyrocketed. In an economy that is seeing a record rate of unemployment, those employees who are able to work from home have a great opportunity.
But, let’s face it – although working remotely is possible, not every business is set up to do so, right? And for those that are, it is not always a smooth transition. For instance, individuals may be able to use certain programs to access their desktops in the office, but what about the routing of calls? Who is going to answer those? And, then there is that need to come together with your colleagues for briefings and meetings – how is that supposed to work if everyone is working remotely?
You don’t need to worry. As all the kinks get worked out, you will find that there is help to get you through. And, the best part? Your company looks like you had an emergency plan of solid gold. Here’s how virtual assistant services can help remote workers to stay connected and productive.
Sound Organized and Professional
Let’s be honest here. With everything that has happened over the last couple of months, many business owners have been scrambling to try to make things work. Depending on the line of business you are in, you may have even had to get creative in ways to make money. After all, just because the world around us seems to be shutting down, you still have bills to pay and employees to care for, don’t you?
Well, customers love hearing confidence. And, when you are struggling, confidence doesn’t always shine through. Therefore, enlisting the help of some virtual assistant services, your business can sound like it has everything together – even if only by a thread.
The voice that the customer will hear will be professional, polite, and well-informed. He or she will make your business appear to up and running with smooth operations all around. And, that’s the impression that can give a customer confidence in your company.
Call Answering, Routing, Transferring and Messaging
Speaking of confident answers, how are your employees going to answer calls? Sure, they have phones at their desks, but what is going to happen when they are working remotely? This is often the part that stumps small businesses.
Phone systems are complicated. Don’t believe us, just take a look at that phone room or closet where all the lines are hooked up. In addition to this, there is a lot of virtual organization that gets one call from one place to the next with the press of a button. It’s not like you can just uproot this system and send it home with your employees!
There is something you can do, though – use virtual assistant services. They will answer your calls as they come in and can then direct the calls to the right person. Not only will this keep your business moving, but it will also allow the caller to feel the personal touch and the direct service. Essentially, it’s a win-win.
The very nature of some businesses will keep all employees from taking calls at home. And, it’s understandable. There are confidentiality and HIPAA protections and so on that can disrupt the flow of conversation. That’s ok, though!
Virtual assistant services don’t simply answer and pass on calls. They can answer calls and take thorough, detailed messages, too. If you prefer to receive your messages and either disperse them to your teams or handle them yourself, you can. You can feel confident in the delivery of the message each and every time.
Group Meetings and Conferencing
If your business is used to gathering up all the employees at certain times of the day, week, month, etc., for particular meetings, you may think you can’t do that while working remotely. For any ordinary remote work situation, you could call the employees into the office for a meeting.
Unfortunately, during our current situation with COVID-19 and social distancing orders, that’s not really a possibility. So, what do you do? Well, virtual assistant services can help with that, too. With ease, they can initiate multi-conferencing.
What does this mean for you? You can hold meetings with all your employees at once. The best part is that you don’t have to worry about setting it up – the VA’s can handle that.
Behind-the-Scenes System
While you normally work from your office, you know how to handle all of your daily operations. It’s smooth sailing. But, when you are thrown into a new virtual workplace, you find yourself in new territory. Things that you are used to doing with ease may even seem impossible now.
Here’s some good news – while you were busy perfecting your in-office routines, virtual assistants were busy perfecting the virtual workplace. Making use of programs and other capabilities allow one to work smoothly and efficiently from home – with assistance, of course. And, well, they can help you navigate.
- • Answering calls
- • Transferring or routing calls
- • Returning calls
- • Setting appointments or calling with reminders
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These are just a few of the services virtual assistants can help with – all with extensive hours. They offer a great system with a high-quality phone system so your business will continue sounding as professional as if you were in the office. Don’t let all these uncertain changes in the world around us get you down. There is hope.
Virtual assistants have the tools and the knowledge to make remote work simple and effective. That’s why it is important – as you find yourself in this new way of running a business – to reach out and talk to the professionals. Don’t venture through this unknown territory alone. Do it with the guidance of those who do it every day! By taking this extra step, you are making this transition easier for your employees – and thus maintaining their productivity.
With the utmost professionalism, no one will ever know your business model has temporarily changed. Instead, it will look like you are moving forward as if all is right in the world. Maybe even better!
