- What are some challenges of running a remote business?
- How to reduce the challenge of work calls in a noisy environment?
- Can background noise impact my business calls in a negative way?
Q: Does a noisy work environment negatively impact my business calls?
A: Yes, a noisy work environment can have a number of negative consequences for your work calls, leaving your customers unimpressed and your business looking unprofessional.
In an era of remote work, business owners can operate from anywhere.
The rise of e-commerce has made almost any business idea feasible without the need for a traditional storefront or office space.
Coupled with the ability to work from anywhere that has an internet connection, small business owners have been empowered to embrace flexibility more than ever before.
Many of these small business owners work remotely. This allows them to work from wherever is most convenient while taking advantage of new environments and stimuli to keep them focused.
However, some of these places, such as coffee shops or crowded public spaces, come packaged with a lot of background noise. Unfortunately, these noisy work environments can negatively impact small business operations.
In particular, answering the phones in a crowded area can have a number of unwanted side effects on your small business. Noisy remote work environments can send callers the wrong message about your professionalism.
But you don’t have to give up your geographical freedom to improve your call quality.
The modern marketplace has developed solutions to help you work from anywhere while still providing high-quality customer service to your callers.
- What is a Virtual Receptionist?
- How Does a Virtual Receptionist Improve Call Quality?
- What are the Benefits of Improving Call Quality?
Running a Small Business Remotely
Small business is booming.
With the pandemic resulting in massive job loss and proving that workers could fulfill most of their duties remotely, more people than ever found inspiration to launch their own businesses.
One of the biggest draws to doing so is that small businesses operating remotely gain access to large amounts of freedom. You can work from wherever, whether it be from home, in a coffee shop, or on the subway.
This new freedom has greatly reduced the stress placed on small business owners.
Think about it: you can maximize your workdays by avoiding pointless commutes, and work from locations that motivate you.
As a business owner, you’re exceptionally busy. But with flexibility, you can keep up with the high demands that come with running a business. You can start work from wherever and adapt to new developments on the fly.
Additionally, running a small business remotely allows you to avoid paying for traditional offices. This keeps the cost of operating low, allowing you to invest more into other areas of your business.
That being said, this freedom brings with it a few unique challenges.
Noisy Work Environments
When small business owners attempt to handle all aspects of their business operations alone, a noisy work environment can negatively impact the business’ professional appearance.
For starters, loud work environments can cause a significant increase in stress. Your brain can have a harder time staying focused with so many outside stimuli drawing your attention away.
This in turn can cause you to perform tasks at a lower caliber, resulting in slight errors and missteps. These little errors can diminish your business’ credibility.
Additionally, noisy small business work environments can make it harder for you to engage in important audio-based operations. Things like seminars and online courses can provide valuable tools to help grow your business.
When you can’t hear properly, engaging with this kind of content is much more difficult.
That being, these issues tend to be easily manageable for most remote business owners. Lower levels of background noise don’t have the same impact on concentration, meaning you can easily find somewhere to work that won’t overwhelm you during business hours.
The real problem lies not in the impact your noisy work environment has on you, but on the message it sends to incoming callers.
How Background Noise During Calls Impacts Your Business
If you’re working remotely from a noisy work environment, incoming callers can easily walk away with a bad first impression of your business.
If a customer or potential networking opportunity calls, they expect to have your full attention. Background noise can leave you distracted though, making it harder for you to adequately respond to their questions.
As a result, trying to run a business in a distracting environment can lead to:
- Your caller or prospect feeling unimportant
- Dissuading people from supporting your business
- Receiving negative online reviews
- Gaining a poor reputation within your industry
Even if you are able to give the caller your full attention, a noisy work environment can make your business seem unprofessional.
While working remotely has been shown to boost productivity when handled correctly, the history of the traditional, quiet office environment still impacts public perception.
As such, a caller who can hear a lot of chatter in the background of your call will often conclude that your operations are unprofessional.
This perception can keep people from buying from you and make networking connections rethink working with your business.
None of this is good for business. Luckily, there’s a modern solution that can provide all the benefits of a quiet environment for calls while still allowing you your geographic freedom.
What is a Virtual Receptionist?
A virtual receptionist is a remote solution to your business phone that eliminates the negative impact of your noisy work environment on your callers.
Virtual receptionists work by connecting to your business phone line. From there, they screen incoming calls and answer any non-spam calls for you.
While traditionally software-based, there are virtual receptionist services now available that connect your phones to an actual receptionist.
This ensures your customers receive top-notch call quality and customer service without you having to answer your own phones or rent an office for a traditional receptionist.
There are many reasons not to use your personal phone for business calls. If you work in a noisy work environment that makes it difficult to have clear conversations with your customers, using a virtual receptionist service may be the answer.
How Does a Virtual Receptionist Improve Call Quality?
There are a variety of ways a virtual receptionist can improve your caller’s experience. Whether working in a noisy home environment or out and about, you can rest assured anyone who calls will get the attention they deserve.
- Reduces Background Noise
- The most obvious benefit of using a virtual receptionist is that incoming callers can’t hear anything in the background.
- Virtual receptionists operate from call centers designed to be quiet and caller-friendly. Any time someone calls your business, they will hear the receptionist’s voice clearly and feel confident they have your business’ full attention.
- Consistent and Reliable Phone Connections
- When you’re working remotely and moving from place to place, your phone reception can be highly variable.
- When answering your own phones, this can lead to connectivity issues. You may cut out, be unable to hear your caller, or have the call drop. A virtual receptionist eliminates the need to worry. They operate from a call center designed to have excellent phone connectivity every time.
- This gives you all the benefits of a consistent and reliable phone connection without the need to limit your flexibility in workspaces.
- Professionally Trained to Offer Top Tier Customer Service
- Virtual receptionists offer top-of-the-line customer service.
- Your noisy work environment can make it difficult to focus on your phone conversations. Despite your best efforts, you may wind up providing less than amazing customer service.
- A virtual receptionist doesn’t have this issue. They are professionally trained to make each caller feel heard and valued.
What are the Benefits of Improving Call Quality?
Eliminating your noisy work environment from impacting your calls can have a number of positive downstream effects on your business and your life.
Less Stress
For starters, not having to answer phones in noisy work environments can greatly reduce stress, especially if you’re a parent working at home and attempting to balance professional and personal responsibilities.
Rather than face the high-pressure situation of speaking to a caller when you can’t hear them properly, you can rest assured the call will be handled with care by your virtual receptionist.
This leaves you free to work from wherever without needing to find a quiet place on the fly.
Better Reviews
The high-quality care your virtual receptionist shows your callers can result in much better reviews for your business.
With customer service playing a pivotal role in business growth, answering your phones in a sub-par environment can keep your business from growing.
Switching to a virtual receptionist automatically eliminates this issue. Each caller will have their questions or concerns met with the utmost care.
If they are inclined to leave a review, it will likely be positive. Over time, this can influence more potential customers to purchase from your business.
Higher Likelihood of Conversions
When potential customers call with questions about your business’ offerings, they are presenting you with the opportunity to make a sale.
If you meet that opportunity distracted or send the message that your business isn’t highly professional, that sale can vanish.
In fact, eliminating noise distractions can equate to an annual gain of three workdays and $725 in revenue for each employee.
Virtual receptionists help you convert more callers to buyers by handling their questions in a calm, helpful manner. This ensures the caller gets all the information they need, all while building a positive emotional connection to your brand that will influence their purchasing decisions.
Higher Customer Loyalty
Sometimes callers have already purchased from your business and are calling with issues or further questions.
In these cases, customer service is more important than ever. If you answer the phone in a way that makes them feel uncared for, they can feel scammed.
By taking your remote work environment out of the picture, virtual receptionists ensure prior customers feel continually appreciated, making them more likely to purchase from you in the future.
Better Networking Opportunities
Finally, virtual receptionists help your business grow by increasing your first impression with networking connections.
When another business or organization calls, they are subconsciously evaluating your business through that initial conversation. If there is an excess of background noise, your first impression may turn them away.
A virtual receptionist solves this issue by making a strong, professional first impression with every caller. They can then pass along a message to you, allowing you to call back when you can be sure your environment will be quiet and you can put your best foot forward.
Conclusion
While the freedom of remotely running your business has many upsides, it can also make it difficult to manage your business phones. Noisy work environments can hold you back from growth.
By hiring a virtual receptionist, you can get the best of both worlds.
You’re still free to work from wherever, but you gain the reassurance that incoming calls will be handled with care in a quiet call center.
This helps your business capitalize on potential conversions and take full advantage of networking opportunities.
If you’re looking for an affordable way to manage your remote business’ phones, Alliance Virtual Offices’ Live Receptionist services are here to help. You’ll gain access to a professionally trained receptionist while maintaining the locational freedom you need to do your best work.