In today’s economy, businesses of every size are struggling to find ways to cut costs in order to stay afloat. Perhaps nobody feels this pressure more, though, than the small business owner. One of the easiest ways to reduce expenditure is to cut staff, but actually doing so when you’re already operating on a small team can be challenging. When it comes to staff reduction, how do you choose which role to eliminate? The good news is, with today’s technology, you don’t have to hem and haw too much. 

Here are 4 reasons you can trim your payroll by not requiring a live attendant to handle your incoming calls.

Robust Phone Trees – If your business is large enough that you have multiple team members and departments, you may think you need a receptionist to direct calls as they come in to ensure that they reach the appropriate department. With a virtual phone system, you get the option of building out robust phone trees and using an advanced IVR to allow callers to select from self-service options. 

Find Me/Follow Me – Many small business owners feel the need to hire a live attendant to be able to track them down when someone calls while they’re out and about. After all, to be successful, you can’t be tied to your desk, right? Of course! But that doesn’t mean you have to dish out a salary to have someone field your calls to you while you’re on the road. Find me/follow me can do that job for you, instantly connecting incoming calls to you wherever you are – office, home or cell – eliminating the need for a live attendant.

Time Based Call Routing – As a busy small business owner, you know your schedule can change at any given moment as you’re being pulled in a dozen different directions. You may think that you need an assistant to manage all of these schedule changes so callers can be directed to where you are at any given interval throughout your day. Not necessarily! With a phone system that has a time based call routing feature, you can pre-program how calls will be routed based on your specific schedule.

Live Reception Service – For those business owners that simply can’t bring themselves to go completely technical, you still have options that don’t involve placing another person on your payroll. Live reception, for instance, allows you to essentially outsource your phone coverage to a professional service. You choose the hours (even 24/7/365 if you want) and provide the details for how calls should be handled and you’re good to go! 

Carrying extra staff members can be a huge financial burden on a business, especially in today’s economy. With a feature rich virtual phone system, you’ll have a little more breathing room in terms of salary. Instead of needing to hire a live attendant, you can use your business phone system to always stay connected, any time, any place and save money in the long run. What’s not to love? 

To learn more about how a virtual phone system can change the way you do business, click here or call (800) 750 6878 to get started today.

With ongoing improvements in technology, more and more businesses are beginning to take advantage of outsourcing as a means to get things done without having to hire in-house employees. There are plenty of benefits to doing so, the main one being cost savings. It’s also a great way to free up yourself or your team to be able to focus on more important tasks, like increasing sales or landing new clients. If you’ve been thinking about outsourcing some of the functions in your office, but aren’t sure which ones would make the most sense, here are 5 tasks that you can, and should, consider outsourcing.

Data Entry – When you think of the term “busy work”, data entry seems to inevitably pop up at the top of the list. It’s a task that can be monotonous and time consuming, but typically doesn’t take a lot of expertise or special knowledge. That’s what makes it such an easy thing to outsource – that, and the fact that it can usually be done remotely. There are plenty of contractors available on the various outsourcing websites, like oDesk, that offer this service for very affordable rates. Just be sure that the person you hire has a good track record for producing fast, error-free work.

Social Media – One of the biggest reasons small business owners give for not participating in social media marketing is lack of time. But nowadays, having a presence on platforms like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn is not just an option, it’s a necessity. So what do you do if you simply can’t fit these activities into your schedule? Hire a freelancer who can do it for you. Just be careful in your selection process, as the person you hire to handle your SMM will effectively be representing your brand. If you’re still not completely comfortable turning over the reins, there are a number of project management tools (such as those offered by Hootsuite) that allow you to monitor, edit and approve all posts prior to publishing.

Blogging – There are plenty of reasons businesses big and small choose to outsource their blogging activities. Some don’t have a flare for writing, while others simply don’t have the time to devote to truly keeping their business blog active. Whatever the reason, there are qualified freelance writers who can tackle this task for you and produce quality, keyword rich content that will get your blog noticed and keep web traffic coming in.

Email Management – Sometimes something as simple as an email inbox can bog us down and kill our productivity. If you’re finding it hard to stay on top of your incoming email messages, consider hiring a virtual assistant to filter them for you. They can take care of getting rid of junk mail, flag important messages for your review, and file away others in an organized manner. Be sure that if you do choose to go this route, that you are comfortable sharing your email with another person. If not, consider keeping a separate email address for personal emails that your VA won’t have access to.

Promotion and Outreach – Launching a contest or giveaway? Want to send out an email blast to attract new customers? These are tasks that can easily be managed by a contractor. Draft up a template and then ask your freelance provider to research relevant leads, come up with a list and then tweak and personalize your letter for each recipient. You’ll be able to get much more targeted with your outreach without having to spend hours of your own time doing so. Again, many freelancers specialize in this type of marketing, so give it a go!

Outsourcing can be extremely beneficial, particularly to small businesses who are working with limited staff and resources. Synclio can help in this regard as well! With our Live Receptionist feature, all of your incoming calls will be answered for you, by courteous and professional agents. Why not try outsourcing these or other manual tasks and see how liberating it can be to let someone else handle the day to day tasks for you, so you and your team can focus on more important things – like growing your business.