Small business owners have a lot on their plates, so it takes something pretty significant to convince them to fuss with anything that’s functioning – even if it’s not exactly ideal.
Take your business telephone, for example: Maybe you still have the landline you’ve had since you started your business. It probably works okay, but it’s a bit pricey, especially when you consider it has one-dimensional functionality. Or, you may be running your business using your personal cell phone. It’s convenient, but it causes your work and home life to blend together in unhealthy ways. You end up either working more hours than you should, or miss important work calls and messages because communications get mixed up or buried.
Maybe it’s time to transition to a fully virtual system, which blends the reliability of a landline with the convenience of a cell phone with added functionality. Here are six reasons to make the switch now:
You Can Get Voice, Text and Answering Service in a Single Subscription
With a virtual system, you don’t need to add essential business communication tools ad hoc. An app-based service like Cloudli TalkNText gives you voice, Business Texting and an answering service in one subscription starting at $25 per month. That’s a savings of more than $200 per month if you purchased those services separately.
You Can Send Customers Pictures, Videos and Files
A virtual system lets you communicate in creative ways with your customers. Say you’re building something for a customer and want to send a picture showing the progress via text message. Or you’re a real estate agent working with a remote buyer and want to send a video of a home you just toured. Or you’re an attorney or accountant who needs to send a PDF document to a client. All of those can be done using texting with MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) on your virtual system.
You Can Better Integrate Your Team
With a virtual phone line, you can easily connect new team members as your business grows. You simply add them as users on the plan. You can then share numbers with your employees – either a select few or your entire team – so they can receive business calls and texts on their own phone, tablet or computer. Everyone on the team can see and respond to customer inquiries, and the record of those communications is stored in the app to keep everyone in the loop.
You Can Work From Anywhere
An app-based system lets you work from anywhere you can access the internet. You simply log in to the app and you’re ready to communicate with customers or staff members immediately. It’s better than using your personal cell phone!
You Can Send Text Auto-Replies
When you’re off duty or just away from the phone, a virtual system allows you to send the caller a text message saying you received the call or message and will respond as soon as possible. You can program templates so that a message can be sent during business hours and another after hours - this way, every call or text is acknowledged. Having these tools in place allows you to provide an elevated customer experience while maintaining some work-life balance that’s often difficult for small business owners.
It’s a Smooth, Easy Transition
Getting back to the first point (busy small-business owners), it’s important to know that moving to an all-virtual phone system is quick and painless. In most cases, you can port your number directly to the new system. You simply create an account online and within minutes, you can be up and running – unnoticeable to your customers.
Want to try it out first? No problem. Cloudli TalkNText has a 7-day free trial you can layer right on top of your current communications system. It’s the perfect way to try the various functions and see if they make your business run smoother. To learn more, visit our TalkNText website.
