Looking big on a small business budget

While a lot of consumers prefer the personalised services they get from small businesses, every SME must first get over the hurdle of building credibility to capture their market. The good news is that you can present your business in the best light possible, even on a small business budget. Let’s take a look at how virtual office services help customers see that your small startup means big business.

Answer calls in a professional manner

Phone calls are almost always your first interaction with customers. Create a quiet work space at home that will help you present your business in the best way possible over the phone. Make sure that there is no background noise such as TV sounds, dogs barking, or crying kids which can make you sound unprofessional.

Consistency is the key to keeping loyal clients. Make sure that all of your calls are answered the same way with a Business Intro service. Through a professional business greeting, you can make sure that your business name is said properly. You can also standardise the way calls are answered across sites.

Take it up a notch with a Call Forwarding IVR Menu which lets callers direct their own calls to their preferred person or department. These services make it seem like you have a large call centre even if only one person is on the phones or if you have a remote workforce.

Be more responsive by going virtual

The time it takes for you to get back to callers can mean the difference between making a sale and losing them to a competitor. Online fax and voice messaging helps you avoid this by giving you 24/7 access to your voicemail and faxes no matter where you are.

Alltel’s Voice2Email service lets you retrieve your voicemail messages as a sound file attachment sent to your designated email address. Fax2Email also works the same way for your faxes. Your documents are sent to your email as a pdf file for quick retrieval and archiving.

Impress with a CBD address

A CBD address says that you are an established business with ample resources to do business at a major city. Small businesses outside the central business districts can enjoy the same credibility that comes with having an office building address with Alltel Virtual Addresses. This service lets you use an address from office buildings in Sydney, Brisbane, or Perth for your business cards, letterhead, and corporate collaterals.

Team up with a live answering service

Entrepreneurs often want to do everything on their own. But this can hurt more than help your business. The same goes for taking business calls. Have one less thing on your plate by teaming up with a live answering service that takes care of your calls whenever you can’t. You don’t have to worry about quality either. Australian based operators are trained to answer calls in your business name and take messages for you.

Risk averse customers often refer to business size in gauging reliability. Therefore, your image is as important as having great products and excellent service. By utilising Alltel Virtual Office services, you can overcome the limits of being a small business without breaking the bank. To learn more about the gains of having virtual office services, visit us at ALLTEL or call us at 1300 ALLTEL.