Manage an outsourced reception

Striking the right balance between managing costs and delivering a great reception and switchboard service can be a tricky balancing act. Glenn Jackson explains how to outsource your reception function.

7 April 2011

   
Many companies would love to employ hordes of people to meet and greet visitors, handle calls in and out of hours and not have to rely on poorly-trained temps. But how can companies have an effective reception service without paying additional costs? Here we explain how companies can best use an outsourced reception provider to help them manage their calls, deliver excellent customer service as well as release staff to focus on other priorities – all without increasing operating costs.

1⁄ Flexibility
Use the service’s flexibility to meet your needs. Due to fluctuations in call volumes over the course of a day, providing exactly the right level of staffing for reception work has always been a challenge. With outsourced reception support however, organisations are able to choose how they would like their calls handled; whether simply switching on the service for lunch cover, diverting calls when phones are busy or on a more permanent basis if they would like to allocate staff to other priorities.

2⁄ Make contact
Take time to build a relationship with your outsourced receptionist from the outset. Receptionists should be fully briefed by their clients so they can gain a true understanding of their client’s organisation, its operations and key employees. This ground work helps ensure that callers are handled professionally, promptly and just as if the receptionist is based in the client’s offices. Callers in turn appreciate speaking to a real person who knows the business, is friendly and even recognises regular and important callers.

3⁄ Avoid missed calls
By having outsourced reception support, telephone cover is always available. Irrespective of how busy the reception desk becomes over the course of a day with visitors or inbound calls, no calls are missed as they are automatically diverted when the line is engaged or left unanswered. It also provides immediate cover should the receptionist be ill and there is no need to pull other employees off their duties to help cover the reception should the receptionist want to take a break.

4⁄ Keep in touch
Providing the outsourced reception team with an abbreviated diary for each individual team member means they can deal with calls even more effectively. For example smart-phone applications enable clients to update their diaries while out and about so the receptionist is kept up-to-date with their client’s movements and can act accordingly.

5⁄ Technology
Using the appropriate technologies to identify callers, manage client movements and their preferred call handling procedures, ensures excellent service naturally follows. For example, number recognition software helps receptionists filter out unwanted calls and identify important callers. If a VIP caller isn’t asked for their contact details repeatedly, they are going to feel more valued. In addition, the facility for receptionists to put calls through to a client’s direct line, home number or mobile, or forward messages to them immediately via email or SMS, enables both the client and the caller to work smarter.

6⁄ Improve business
No-one likes being ignored, particularly if they are an important client. Research shows that 62 per cent of callers will not ring back if they hear an engaged tone and 79 per cent will not call back if their call is left unanswered. Such statistics cannot be ignored and reinforce the fact that customers these days are not willing to put up with anything but excellent service.

7⁄ Contingency planning
The reassurance that calls will be diverted instantly to an outsourced team that knows your business and can maintain excellent customer service gives managers peace of mind. The seamless transition means callers will always reach an informed and professional telephone receptionist who can forward calls to mobiles or take messages – all without a hint that the client is undergoing any form of disruption.

Case study

Red Bee Media
Red Bee Media’s head office in London employs over 1,500 members of staff and receives approximately 2,200 calls per month. Prior to using outsourced reception support, planning for and managing this many calls had considerable cost, service and HR implications. “Ensuring we always had sufficient cover for the telephones was an ongoing HR concern, as well as being an expensive monthly overhead,” says Tracey Lewis, Red Bee Media’s purchasing business manager. “Even when reception was adequately staffed, lunch breaks or busy periods would leave calls unanswered for an excessive length of time. Put bluntly, we were in a lose-lose situation.”

Red Bee Media outsourced their switchboard using a scalable solution, eliminating the headache of ensuring the phones are always covered. Service levels have improved and operating costs have reduced. Now no call goes unanswered and there’s an integral disaster in place too.

Glenn Jackson 
is managing director of outsource reception provider Moneypenny