Outsourced secretarial services are in vogue because they offer multiple advantages. It allows companies to obtain a better level of service both in terms of incoming call handling and internal call follow-up. Allophone Communication, whose core business is outsourced secretarial services, selects its teams and trains them to be operational in all circumstances.
Focus on this fast-growing service.
First of all, “outsourced telephone secretarial services” can be defined as “a service that provides telephone reception solutions to companies seeking assistance in this area”.
Who is the outsourced secretariat for?
Whether you are a manager, a self-employed person or the head of a department or site, you do not necessarily have enough time or the means to invest in a secretary to manage calls and customer relations for your business.
It is important to note that this service is not only reserved for large companies. It is often used by small and medium-sized companies that wish to offer an impeccable image, with people who are always available, always well-disposed and always ready to listen to their customers.
Teleworking and telephone reception
With the development of teleworking, whether on a one-off basis or not, the idea of an outsourced telephone secretariat makes sense.
This solves the problem of having a person present at the company’s telephone or switchboard, or being forced to take calls on a smartphone, which severely limits the transfer of calls to collaborators as well as effective note-taking (and playback).
Some situations that make outsourced secretarial services indispensable
The main situations are often very simple and common to many companies:
• The manager does not have the time or availability to deal with these tasks, which are not his or her core business.
• Hiring a secretary (or two, to ensure a full-time reception) dedicated to these tasks requires significant financial resources and also imposes the need to keep the person busy throughout their working hours. Recruitment also involves day-to-day salary management, with all the time and energy that this represents. And it does not deal with absence situations (sick leave, holidays, absence outside working hours, lunch breaks).
• The service can also be useful when the company faces a temporary increase in activity. The alternative to outsourced secretarial services would be to use temporary staff, with all the constraints and risks in terms of labour law that this implies.
In all these situations, the services of an outsourced secretariat make it possible to deal with all these difficulties encountered while optimising expenses.
An à la carte service
Why complicate things when you can have a very simple, inexpensive and quick to set up service?
The outsourced secretariat can be activated “on demand”:
• a lunch break? I activate it.
• An excess of calls coming in to the secretary or the receptionist? I activate it.
• A closure between Christmas and 1er of the year? I activate it.
It is as simple as that.
With an outsourced telephone secretariat, you benefit fully from the flexibility of the service, which offers you tailor-made solutions.
For a specific time, sometimes very short.
For tailored calls or answers, instructions specific to some of your callers and many others. The assistants will be able to provide you with the services you need when you want them, in the way you want them, and you can stop them at any time.
Cost optimisation, transparency for customers
Outsourcing such a service is often an economical solution, or even very advantageous, because the service provider pools his person among several clients.
Of course, this pooling is completely invisible to callers, who have the perfect illusion that they are speaking to the telephone secretary of the company they are calling. The latter will pass on the desired line or take the message and the complete contact details, according to the rules defined in the service contract.
How to choose your outsourced secretariat
Not just anyone can become an “outsourced telephone secretary”. However, it is important to know that anyone can come forward to offer this type of service without any experience or professionalism.
If you want to avoid unpleasant surprises, it is therefore advisable to call on a professional who is recognised in the trade.
A good service provider must be able to present you with know-how, a methodology and clear and precise processes. We could even talk about “values”, both professional and human.
The selected provider must be able to assign a Project Manager to you; he will be in charge of your file.
It should be noted that there can be a substantial difference between a “mass” call centre, which is dedicated to a large number of low-quality calls, such as the call centres used by mobile telephone operators in France, and a B2B secretarial centre, which will emphasise the qualities of its staff, their ability to listen, analyse and direct and transcribe the messages received, as well as their mastery of foreign languages, in particular English
Your company’s image and reputation can be greatly diminished when it is represented by an outsourced secretarial company with poor skills. On the other hand, a quality telephone secretarial service can contribute to the enhancement of your company’s image and the quality of the relationship with your partners.
