Can you afford a receptionist?

Whether you are running a busy bricks and mortar office or a small business from your front room a receptionist is essential for the smooth running of your business. A receptionist will not only take away a great deal of the stress of running a business away from you but will also ensure the professional appearance of your company. But can you afford a receptionist?

Before your receptionist has even sat down behind their desk the costs of recruitment can mount up. Will you use a recruitment agency or post on a job website? Hiring a new staff member can be costly and time-consuming. Do you or your staff have the time to spare to sift through CVs and interview potential candidates?

Once you have hired a receptionist you obviously must pay them. As of January 2017 the average receptionist salary is £15,760. Along with paying insurance, paying into pensions schemes and paying any staff benefits a receptionist can become very expensive. It’s far cheaper to hire one.

Have you considered using a virtual receptionist instead?

At message direct we provide efficient and professional virtual receptionist services to clients all over the UK. We can tailor our packages to businesses of any size. This is especially effective for small businesses and startups who might not have the revenue or time to answer phones or hire more staff. We’ve often found that businesses hire us as a temporary solution but decide to stay with us long term as we provide a highly cost-effective and efficient service. It’s particularly useful during particularly busy periods when your business might not be able to deal with the sheer volume of calls coming in.

We also offer a 24 hour service so that you don’t miss any calls and you can rest safe in the knowledge that every one of your incoming calls will be treated with the same level of professionalism and priority. Your customers will be able to talk to a real person even in the middle of the night.

Using a virtual receptionist doesn’t require any specialist equipment you will simply require call diversion. This can be added to your existing line by your phone provider for as little as £1.75 a month. You still have control over your phone line as you can divert your phone calls to us as little or as often as you like. Any messages we take are sent to you immediately via email, call out, message relay, fax or call patching (seamless call transfer to you). You could also take advantage of our text message service for an additional 12p per message and you can receive a summary of your calls via email every day via email.

There are no hidden costs you simply need to pay the initial sign up fee along with the agreed monthly package costs. If you feel that using a virtual receptionist would be a more cost effective and time efficient option for your business call us on 01202 653001.