- Why your small business productivity is directly linked to your profits
- The impact your business phone has on your productivity
- How a Live Receptionist transforms your productivity
Q: What is the best way to improve my small business productivity? Should I hire a receptionist for my business?
A: The best way to improve your small business productivity depends on your industry, but usually, you can exponentially increase your productivity by utilizing a Live Receptionist. With a Live Receptionist instead of a traditional receptionist, you save a considerable amount of capital, are responsible for one less employee, and can keep your consumers content.
In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing transition to nontraditional work styles, experts, analysts, and employers alike have been tirelessly trying to determine the best way to induce small business productivity, especially when working remotely.
When your small business productivity is high, your workers are motivated, your operations should run smoothly, and your business’s turnover rate is likely fairly low. During the explosion of remote work, many professionals worried that forcing employees to spend all day at home in front of a screen would negatively impact their capacity for regular work and productivity.
It is now apparent that this isn’t the case. Not only are more than half of the surveyed workers content with the amount of time they spend on platforms like Zoom, but working remotely has proven to be more productive than its in-person counterpart.
Unsurprisingly, one of the best ways to bolster your small business productivity is to reward those who go above and beyond, create a culture that values hard work and productivity, and punish those who fall short.
This punishment shouldn’t be a humiliation ritual, but a LiveCareer study showed that over 70% of employees believe their peers to be lazy. In conjunction, 42% of those surveyed claim that laziness and a poor work ethic are two of the most significant frustrations they have with their current position.
By creating a culture that doesn’t put up with laziness and rewards hard work, you’re siding with your workers who are frustrated by those lacking work ethic.
In this article, we’ll see why your small business productivity is directly linked to your profitability, cover your business phone’s impact on productivity, and look at how using a Live Receptionist can transform your productivity. Finally, we’ll explore how a Live Receptionist from Alliance meshes with other productivity-boosting tools.
So, if you’re hoping to improve your small business productivity, don’t waste time with Google searches for “small business efficiency act” or “small enterprises productivity.” Instead, keep reading for tips on small business productivity, customer relations, and more.
- Why your small business productivity is directly linked to your profits
- The impact your business phone has on your productivity
- How a Live Receptionist transforms your productivity
- Using a Live Receptionist with other productivity-boosting tools
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Why your small business productivity is directly linked to your profits
The link between your small business productivity and your profitability makes sense.
The more productive your employees are, the more work that gets done; the more work that gets done, the better knowledgeable and prepared you are to increase revenue.
Additionally, the better your productivity is, the more professional you appear to outside investors, clients, and consumers.
Read more: Creating a Professional Image: Enhancing Brand Perception with Live Receptionists for Startups
Regardless of how impressive your business is, the modern workforce’s oversaturation has created an environment where you have no choice but to worry about public perception. Thanks to the sheer number of competitors vying for consumer attention, the company with the best product is not guaranteed to overtake the company with inferior offerings, particularly if the latter understands how to market itself.
Outside of providing you with better infrastructure for growth and helping with your public image, small business productivity is linked to your business’s profitability in several other ways.
Below, we’ve put together a brief list of a few reasons why a small firm’s productivity is so intimately linked with its profitability.
- Efficient resource allocation
- Timely completion of tasks
- Improved customer service
- Competitive advantage
- Innovation and growth
Efficient resource allocation
Productivity in a small business directly affects profits by ensuring optimal use of resources. When employees and assets are utilized effectively, waste and costs are minimized.
This streamlined approach increases overall profitability.
A 2018 BusinessWire survey claimed that the average business wastes almost 10% of each dollar spent. Although some waste is all but guaranteed, a productive workforce is capable of drastically reducing this number.
Waste, whether it’s wasted time, effort, money, or resources, is often a result of employees misunderstanding directives, tasks, and other dolled-out information they’ve received from peers and supervisors.
In reality, a long-term, productive workplace indicates well-trained and dedicated employees.
Timely completion of tasks
High productivity enables small businesses to complete tasks and projects promptly. This enhances customer satisfaction and creates room for additional orders or projects, leading to increased revenue and profits.
When customers know they don’t have to wait for their orders, they’re much more likely to become repeat customers.
In addition, regularly completing orders in a timely fashion builds a rapport between you and your consumers. The more you provide top-tier, on-time service, the more leeway you’ll receive should something go wrong.
As you may know, something always goes wrong. By building a solid relationship with your consumers and regularly shipping products, services, and other offerings on time and without hassle, you’re creating a network of individuals who are willing to give you the benefit of the doubt.
Improved customer service
A productive small business can provide better customer service due to its ability to handle inquiries, resolve issues, and fulfill orders promptly.
Satisfied customers are more likely to become repeat customers and recommend the business to others, contributing to increased profits. Not to mention, word-of-mouth advertisements from a trusted source are one of the most effective forms of marketing in existence.
Unfortunately, incentivizing word-of-mouth marketing is easier said than done. Ultimately, people aren’t going to tell their friends and family about your operations unless you give them a reason to do so.
High-quality small business productivity allows you to offer excellent customer service that translates into more loyal customers.
Read more: Integrating Live Receptionists Into Your Small Business Communication
Competitive advantage
A small business with high productivity gains a competitive edge in the market.
By efficiently delivering products or services, meeting deadlines, and providing superior customer experiences, the business can attract more customers and outperform competitors, leading to higher profits.
Remember, your competition is fierce, so anything that helps you stand out from the crowd should be taken as seriously as possible.
Innovation and growth
Productivity is essential for small businesses to innovate and grow. When resources are used efficiently, businesses can invest in research and development, explore new markets, and introduce innovative products or services.
These advancements can result in increased market share, revenue growth, and, ultimately, higher profits.
The impact your business phone has on your productivity
It may not seem like a huge deal, but your business phone has a direct impact on both your productivity and public image.
Without a professional business phone number, you may not be taken as seriously as those who have taken this step, regardless of any variation in the quality of your offerings.
Read more: From Chaos to Control: Process for Small Business Productivity
By utilizing a business phone number from Alliance, however, you can show interested third parties that you are running a serious and legitimate business.
Below, we’ve put together a brief list of ways your business phone may impact your small business productivity.
- Efficient call handling
- Customer satisfaction
- Time optimization
- Multitasking capabilities
- Streamlined communication
Efficient call handling
Small businesses that effectively handle business calls can significantly impact productivity. Implementing call management systems like call routing, automated attendants, and voicemail ensures that calls are directed to the right person or department, reducing time wasted on unnecessary transfers and improving overall efficiency.
Many entrepreneurs avoid these kinds of quality-of-life improvements because they seem frivolous at the time, but there is no worse feeling than losing early customers because of issues within your incoming calls system.
Customer satisfaction
How small businesses handle calls directly affects customer satisfaction.
Businesses can enhance their reputation and build strong customer relationships by providing prompt and professional responses, addressing customer inquiries or concerns, and offering personalized assistance.
What are customer relationships? The answer is simple.
A customer relationship is the total of your interactions with a specific customer over time. The better these interactions go and the more the customer trusts you and your opinions, the better satisfied that individual will be long-term.
Time optimization
Small businesses that prioritize call handling can optimize their time and resources.
By efficiently managing call volumes, setting specific time blocks for call-related activities, and utilizing tools like call scheduling or appointment setting, businesses can allocate their time effectively and focus on core tasks, leading to increased productivity.
Remember, the most valuable resource for your business is time. Once you’ve spent time, there are no refunds.
Multitasking capabilities
Handling business calls effectively enables small businesses to multitask and manage various responsibilities simultaneously.
By utilizing such features as call forwarding, call conferencing, or call recording, businesses can attend to multiple calls or collaborate with team members efficiently, leading to improved productivity.
Remember, multitasking is an issue because, as an entrepreneur, you’re most likely to engage in cross-department multitasking. For individuals working in a specific department, multitasking isn’t a bad thing.
For example, if your Live Receptionist is capable of multitasking when answering incoming calls and can handle more than one call at a time, that is good multitasking. When you’re being crushed by deadlines, working on supervisory tasks, and trying to accomplish menial phone answering, that is the bad kind of multitasking.
With the right kind of multitasking helping you keep focus, you can take the extra time to help come up with small business production ideas that benefit your bottom line.
Streamlined communication
Effective call handling ensures streamlined communication both internally and externally.
Small businesses can minimize miscommunication, reduce errors, and enhance productivity by establishing clear call protocols, providing proper training to employees on phone etiquette, and implementing tools like call analytics or reporting.
The better your team communicates, the easier time they have reaching deadlines; the more deadlines they handle without issue, the more productive your business is.
How a Live Receptionist transforms your productivity
To become as productive as possible, you should consider using a Live Receptionist from Alliance to serve your consumers better.
A Live Receptionist is a service that provides your business with a phone answering and screening service that saves you time, offers fewer distractions, and gives you additional time to focus on the more nuanced aspects of growing your company.
Read more: 10 Signs You Need a Live Receptionist
We’ve compiled another list of ways a Live Receptionist can benefit your business below.
- Enhanced customer service
- Time savings
- Improved call management
- Professionalism
- Scalability and flexibility
Enhanced customer service
A Live Receptionist from Alliance Virtual Offices can provide personalized and professional customer service, ensuring that all incoming calls are answered promptly and handled with care.
This dedicated support enhances customer satisfaction, builds trust, and ultimately leads to increased small company productivity by fostering positive customer relationships and repeat business.
Time savings
By outsourcing receptionist duties to Alliance Virtual Offices, small businesses can save valuable time.
The Live Receptionist takes care of call handling, message taking, appointment scheduling, and other administrative tasks, allowing business owners and employees to focus on core responsibilities.
This time-saving aspect improves productivity and enables better task management.
Improved call management
Alliance Virtual Offices’ Live Receptionists are skilled in call management techniques, ensuring that calls are efficiently directed to the appropriate person or department.
This minimizes call transfers, reduces hold times, and avoids missed or mishandled calls.
Streamlined call management boosts productivity by optimizing communication channels and preventing disruptions.
Professionalism
Having a Live Receptionist from Alliance Virtual Offices helps a business present professionally to clients, partners, and stakeholders.
A friendly and knowledgeable receptionist handling calls portrays the business as reliable, organized, and committed to excellent customer service. This positive perception can attract more clients, enhance the brand reputation, and contribute to increased productivity.
Scalability and flexibility
Alliance Virtual Offices offers scalability and flexibility in receptionist services. As a small business grows or experiences fluctuations in call volumes, the live receptionist service can adapt accordingly.
This scalability allows businesses to meet customer demands without compromising productivity.
Additionally, the flexibility of having a virtual receptionist available during extended business hours or on-demand ensures uninterrupted communication and improved productivity.
Using a Live Receptionist with other productivity-boosting tools
A small business’s productivity is directly linked to its profits through various factors.
Efficient resource allocation, timely task completion, improved customer service, competitive advantage, and innovation and growth all contribute to increased profitability.
Additionally, the impact of business phone usage and effective call handling on productivity cannot be underestimated, as they enable effective communication, accessibility, time management, customer satisfaction, and streamlined operations.
Furthermore, outsourcing receptionist duties to a Live Receptionist from Alliance Virtual Offices can further boost small business productivity by enhancing customer service, saving time, improving call management, projecting a professional image, and providing scalability and flexibility.
In addition to offering Live Receptionist services, Alliance Virtual Offices offers a suite of digital products designed to make running an online business more straightforward than ever.
A Live Receptionist is great for incoming calls, transfers, and other phone-based tasks, but without a private and professional business address, it may be difficult to bring in enough business for these tools to be needed.
With a Virtual Office from Alliance, you’re provided with a professional and well-known business address that you can use for LLC formation, marketing purposes, and bolstering legitimacy.
Alliance has Virtual Office locations in every state and nearly every city. This means that regardless of where you’re located, you can get an operational business address anywhere in the country for a fraction of the price of a traditional rental.
Not to mention, in addition to the cost-efficient pricing of our Virtual Offices, our leases start at an easy-to-manage six months, which means you don’t have to find yourself locked in lengthy agreements.
Alliance’s Virtual Offices also provide you with access to physical space. This means that when you need a place to break the monotony of your daily routine, you can use your Virtual Office’s coworking space to refresh and recharge.
In addition, if you need to host a meeting, virtual or otherwise, you can use your Virtual Office’s meeting rooms to accommodate any crowd.
If you’re hosting a virtual meeting, having a quiet and empty space to host can help you provide your audience with a calm and professional environment that exudes a positive impression. If you’re hosting an in-person meeting, you can secure a meeting room of any size, for any amount of time required.
Our Virtual Offices allow you to give your business a robust infrastructure that can handle growth without buckling under pressure. A Live Receptionist from Alliance is a key aspect of that infrastructure.
Further reading:
- 10 Signs You Need a Live Receptionist
- Integrating Live Receptionists Into Your Small Business Communication
- Creating a Professional Image: Enhancing Brand Perception with Live Receptionists for Startups
- From Chaos to Control: Process for Small Business Productivity
Alliance Virtual Offices provides Live Receptionist services and other digital tools for established entrepreneurs, new business owners, and anyone else looking to take advantage of online opportunities.
Small business productivity results in higher profitability for your business, but the key is determining how to make your business as productive as possible while maintaining a core, loyal group of employees.
With Alliance’sLive Receptionists, you can provide your business with a phone answering and screening service that ensures you never miss any important incoming messages while simultaneously ensuring that you don’t have to interrupt your daily operations.
Contact us today to see how Alliance’sLive Receptionists can benefit your business, and don’t forget to check out our Virtual Office Blog for more helpful information.
