Call Center Virtual Assistant

Any serious business, even completely virtual ones, must utilize voice communication for various purposes, including customer service, lead generation, sales, and marketing. As a business grows, it will eventually need more than one person to answer and make calls. That’s where call centers or call center services come in handy.

Call center agents are professionals who field incoming calls or make outgoing calls for a business. It’s their job to answer frequently asked questions and connect customers with the appropriate department or point person.

A call center virtual assistant can also act as a customer support officer, appointment setter, and more. They’re often the front line and first point of contact for customers, crucial for all types of businesses, from startups to multinational companies.

Having call center agents is excellent for improving various business functions. However, hiring an in-house call center staff can be incredibly costly. The other option, working with a BPO call center or call center contractors, can lead to long contract commitments that can hamper flexibility and adaptability.

Luckily, business leaders don’t have to limit themselves to these two options. The third and perhaps the most entrepreneur and small business-friendly option is working with call center virtual agents or call center virtual assistants (VAs). Call center VAs are remote professionals who can take over call center tasks from the comfort of their home or preferred remote office. This option allows clients to increase productivity, become more flexible, and save on costs.

There may be entrepreneurs who are on the fence or simply unfamiliar with the concept of hiring virtual assistants to handle tasks that are typically outsourced to a call center solutions provider. However, going the VA staffing route may just be what businesses need to amp up productivity and capacity without going overboard in terms of labor and overhead costs.

Cost-Effective

Cost is always an important consideration for any business decisions, including those concerning staffing. When done well, hiring VAs can help companies save up to 80% on labor costs.

Using VA staffing for call center requirements eliminates the need to invest in new equipment and office space. It also allows clients to avoid the high prices and retainer fees that come with outsourcing to traditional call center companies that operate in their own facilities and directly hire their agents.

Flexibility

In a highly competitive business world, flexibility is crucial. Businesses need solutions that empower them to keep up with changing demands, and virtual assistant staffing can do just that.

For example, if historical data shows peak months when a company needs to amp up its capacity to take customer calls, it can add more call center virtual assistants on a project-based setup. During lean months, the call center client can arrange with their remote staffing provider to cut back. This can be in the form of deploying fewer call center VAs or working with them on a part-time basis instead of full-time.

Diverse Talent Pool

Remote staffing is not just an excellent option for those looking to save money while expanding their business. This alternative staffing solution also opens up businesses to a global and more diverse talent tool.

Businesses can work with virtual call centre associates that have a wealth of experience and a wide variety of skills. They’re well-equipped to effectively and expertly tick boxes off their call center task lists. These call center experts can also offer their diverse ideas and best practices that they may have picked up from their rich work experiences.

It’s clear that hiring a virtual call center agent (or agents) can be extremely beneficial for any business that need help with call center-related tasks.  By outsourcing such tasks to VAs, business owners and entrepreneurs can boost efficiency, improve customer satisfaction, find more leads, increase sales, and go head-to-head with their toughest competitors.

A virtual assistant call center agent can help boost a team’s efficiency and output. They can work on important yet demanding tasks, so their clients can focus on core duties and more strategic responsibilities.

Receptionist Duties

Plenty of businesses worldwide get virtual assistant services in place of standard front desk receptionists to take calls, schedule appointments, and fulfill other receptionist duties for businesses.

Customer Support

Providing customer support or customer service is another major task for which businesses can get virtual assistant services. A customer service virtual assistant can boost customer support hotlines to build long-lasting business relationships and generate more repeat clients and customers. They help clients resolve their concerns, leading to better customer experience and higher customer satisfaction rates.

Personal Assistance

An on-the-go entrepreneur can hire a virtual assistant agent to be their personal virtual assistant for phone calls, too. They can screen calls, make travel arrangements for, set appointments, and so on.

Lead Generation

A virtual assistant can identify potential leads so that the client’s sales team or local agents can follow up with them. They can also build a list of contacts or prospects for their clients.

Order Taking

Businesses looking to break into local markets or expand their reach can use a virtual call center service to increase their order-taking capabilities. They can either place the order themselves and send it to the client’s processing team when they are done, or they can route buyer calls to sales agents.

Tech Support

A virtual assistant agent or even a team of virtual assistants can conduct surveys on a client’s behalf. It’s a research strategy that provides valuable qualitative information, including brand perception, customer satisfaction, points of improvement, and more.

Before hiring calling professionals to do customer service, sales, lead generation, or admin tasks, it’s important for clients to know exactly what to look for. Here are some of the top skills virtual assistants need to have.

Customer Service Skills

Whether it’s an inbound or outbound customer service virtual assistant, it’s best to make sure that the agent has some background experience in customer service. Customer service call center VAs should be customer-focused and professional to provide the high level of support that customers expect.

Technical Skills

A virtual call center agent that will be working on a specific niche or a highly specialized industry should have the right technical skills. Clients that are having trouble with finding VAs with the right skills should work with a leading VA staffing company like us, 20four7VA. We can scour our vast talent pool to find the VA with the most suitable skills. We also offer training and upskilling to ensure every deployed call center VA is equipped with the right tools and skills to provide a smooth and seamless experience for every client.

Sales Skills

Sales skills are crucial for call center agents that will be deployed to sales teams. They should have the experience and skills to zero in on leads and qualify prospects. Call center VAs will most likely be a potential customer’s first point of contact, so it’s important to use excellent probing and sales techniques to move callers along the sales funnel.

Conversational Skills

Hiring virtual assistants with good conversational skills will help a great deal in building rapport and trust. They should be able to relay the brand’s messaging effectively and professionally.

Listening skills are also a must for call center VAs. Phone calls are a two-way road, so a call center virtual assistant should be able to listen well. This will help them identify exactly what the customer needs help with. By being a good listener, a call center VA will be more effective in their role and provide better support to the people they talk to.

The easiest way to achieve success when hiring virtual assistants or callers is to rely on an expert virtual staffing provider like 20four7VA! We provide end-to-end services and ensure that all VAs are thoroughly screened and vetted before being matched to clients.

Aside from free client-VA matching, our award-winning solutions also include expert support from our internal team, including VA training, payroll processing, and performance management. When clients hire a call center VA with us, they get top quality talents and support from a top-tier remote staffing provider!

Ready to find the perfect call center virtual assistants for your company? Just book a risk-free, no-obligation Business Growth Call with one of our Business Growth Specialists!