Advantages of a virtual PA for customer-facing businesses

A virtual PA (personal assistant) is an outsourced, professional, and fully trained customer care agent who works remotely from various locations, such as another office, a coworking space, or their home.

For customer-facing businesses, choosing a virtual PA over an in-house assistant can help boost customer satisfaction, promote brand loyalty, and much more. The UK’s leading call answering and managed live chat provider, Bizik, explains the key advantages below.

Advantages of a virtual PA for customer-facing businesses

Quick response times

Nowadays, speedy support is simply non-negotiable, especially for a customer-facing business. If you’re too slow to answer the phone or it takes too long to resolve a problem, you’ll almost certainly lose valuable customers to a competitor.

However, this is often easier said than done. That’s why we recommend choosing a virtual PA.

Usually, your chosen provider will pair you with an adequate number of virtual PAs to meet your business size and caller demand. That way, you can ensure your customers are never left hanging.

Whether you’re stuck in a meeting, or your team is busy tending to other customers, you can rest assured that a virtual PA is always available to answer every incoming call promptly and professionally.

Encourage brand loyalty

Convincing a new customer to trust a business they’ve never experienced before is challenging. Generally, you only have one chance to impress and persuade them to return. So, how do you do that? With exceptional customer service.

A virtual PA can help businesses achieve this in many ways. First, they are experts in their field. Second, they offer proactive, professional, and prompt customer support, helping callers feel valued and heard.

Secondly, they consistently deliver high-quality customer care. Whether someone is calling for the first or 10th time, they’ll receive the same experience and support every time they get in touch. This creates a seamless and reliable service your customers can trust, thus encouraging them to engage with your brand repeatedly.

Personalised communication

An excellent virtual PA can offer personalised communication rather than simply reading from a script. Typically, there is an onboarding process when you sign up, where your virtual PA (or team of PAs) takes the time to understand your business objectives, tone, and preferences.

This allows them to adapt their communication style to your customers’ needs and expectations. As a result, they will have a far more engaging and superior interaction with your brand.

Customers still want to call you

Chatbots, AI, and instant messaging are just some of the ways customer service has expanded recently. While they help improve efficiency, let’s not forget that many customers still want to speak to a human when contacting a business, especially when their query is complex or urgent. This is where a virtual PA can make a difference.

Based on a Salesforce survey, phones are the second-most popular engagement channel. Ranking marginally behind emails, 88% of consumers said they prefer phone interactions to any other mode of communication.

In addition, the survey revealed that phone calls achieved a customer satisfaction (CSAT) score of 86%, showing that real, human voice calls are a potent customer care tool.

Choosing a virtual PA is an excellent way for any business to meet these expectations. They’ll ensure trusted and knowledgeable support is always available to your callers.

Instant access to specialised skills

Delivering an unrivalled experience is paramount for customer-facing businesses. However, finding and training internal staff members who consistently deliver exceptional support is expensive and time-consuming. That’s why we recommend choosing a virtual PA.

A virtual PA gives you instant access to industry-leading experts you can trust to look after your customers. Also, as virtual PAs work remotely, you have a much larger talent pool, making finding the best fit for your business easier.

Summary

Every customer-facing business knows that the customer is king. They are at the heart of everything you do. Therefore, you simply can’t afford to cut corners or compromise on the support you offer your audience.

A virtual PA can help elevate your customer service by offering instant support, personalised experience, and encouraging brand loyalty. Also, as they are highly trained experts in their field, they eliminate the need to find and train in-house staff, saving you plenty of valuable time and money.

If you want to try a virtual PA service and see how it can help your business, speak to the call answering experts at Bizik. Their industry-leading virtual PAs deliver exceptional customer service in your company name and act like your own in-house receptionist. Try Bizik free today to see how their virtual PAs can transform your customer experience.