Posts Tagged ‘live answering’
Are you ready to get your business growing? Davinci Virtual President and CEO Bill Grodnik can help.
Grodnik was recently interviewed on Get America Growing. Get America Growing has a mandate that reads, “Creating 100,000 Jobs. Helping 100,000 Businesses.” The magazine has interviewed many of the CEOs of the Inc. 5000 list and has found that while each one is different, there seems to be a common DNA in the make-up of both the entrepreneurs behind them and the company itself.
In the series, “Success Secrets of the Inc. 5000 CEOs,” Steve Straub, president of Get America Growing, interviewed Grodnik. He starts out by noting that Davinci Virtual has grown its revenue from $274,000 to $5.5 million between 2006 and 2009—and incredible 1,900 percent in the middle of the worst recession since the 1930s.
“Davinci Virtual Office Solutions is the largest virtual office solutions provider in the U.S. and maybe even in the world,” Grodnik says. “We provide two basic products and services. The first one being Live Answering. We answer phones for over 8,000 companies live in a centralized location in Salt Lake City. We offer a very high-end receptionist service.”
Grodnik says 90 percent of Davinci Virtual’s customers are small businesses. Davinci Virtual, of course, also offers virtual offices. Small businesses get a prime business address, mail package and receipt services, and access to a conference room on demand. So how did Davinci Virtual Office Solutions post such astounding growth in the midst of a recession?
“People are figuring out that, next to human resources, their office expense is the single biggest expense they have for running their business—and not everybody needs physical walls anymore,” Grodnik says. “With iPads and smartphones and PCs, do you really need to have that physical space?”
Click here to listen to the rest of the interview with Davinci Virtual’s CEO.
It seems everybody wants an iPhone, or some other consumer device. Even business users are eyeing consumer technology these days. So says a study from RSA, the security division of EMC.
The survey looks at the rapid use and adoption of consumer technologies like the iPhone and iPad within the enterprise and the pivotal role users are playing in driving this trend. And this trend goes hand in hand with the use of virtual office space.
“The trend toward leveraging non-corporate-controlled assets and using social media for accessing and distributing information is inevitable,” says Security for Business Innovation Council member David Kent, vice president of Global Risk and Business Resources at Genzyme. “It would be a mistake for any company to put its head in the sand or to dig in its heels; because the tide will be working against you. It would be much better to recognize it and then create the parameters to make it work for you.”
Indeed, with so many executive road warriors traveling from city to city to close the next deal, consumer technologies are sexier than many enterprise platforms. But even consumer mobile technologies alone aren’t enough to keep execs up to speed with communications these days. Long flights, and sometimes even longer layovers, demand innovative ways to keep the communication flowing with clients.
Enter virtual office technologies. Virtual office technologies, like virtual office space and virtual receptionist services, give road warriors maximum flexibility in their quest to keep the lines of communication open. With virtual office space in cities around the world, the traveling executive can tap into the convenience of day offices or conference rooms on demand. And with virtual receptionists, mobile execs don’t have to miss any important calls. Virtual receptionists can handle client calls in a professional manner, complete with offering specifics on availability.
Virtual office technologies also let traveling executives have their calls forwarded automatically to any device or any location where they are staying. The caller never knows the difference. Add to that web conferencing abilities like Cisco WebEx and the mobile executive has a cadre of virtual office technologies to at his fingertips to help him stay productive, even during flight delays.
Check out this video about the rise of virtual office space on CNBC:
Will we stop getting mail on Saturdays? Will the U.S. Postal Service raise its rates? The answer to both questions is leaning toward “yes.”
Federal regulators are pondering slashing most Saturday postal deliveries or significantly upping the price we pay for stamps. Cutting out Saturday deliveries would save the post office an estimated $3 billion a year. In the meantime, the Postal Service wants to raise the price of stamps again.
Critics of both plans say that raising rates or limiting delivery service will push businesses toward other options. Critics also warn that it will put a burden on small businesses that are already struggling in a down economy.
While the cost of goods continues to rise with inflation, virtual office systems are helping small businesses slash costs rather than compromising services. Small businesses can turn to virtual office systems to cut down on traditional mail services, as well as traditional travel. Indeed, a virtual office space is a smart alternative to traditional office space, just as e-mail is a smart alternative to snail mail in many cases.
In a knowledge-based economy with technology at the fore, the virtual office system makes smart business sense for companies looking to hedge against other areas of the economy, including postal services, that continue to get more expensive.
What is a virtual office system? It includes live answering and call forwarding services, access to fully equipped conference rooms, mail receipt, an 800 or local phone number, and more. A full virtual office system with all the options, including the virtual receptionist, virtual office, virtual assistant and web conferencing, typically costs less than traditional office space.
So while you can’t stop the price of stamps from increasing, you can curb your office and staffing expenses with a virtual office system—and you’ll enhance your small business image as you tap into these low-cost services.
To learn more about inflation and why it happens, check out this video:
New research from the National Opinion Research Center and the University of Chicago reveals 16 percent of respondents have lost a jobs because they had to take time off work to deal with a sick family member—or their own illness.
Three in four respondents say paid sick days are a basic worker’s right, and 75 percent favor a law that guarantees paid sick days for all workers, and most support pro-rated paid sick days for part-time workers. What’s more, 86 percent back a plan that would require a minimum of seven paid sick days per year, and 33 percent say smaller employers should provide the same number of paid sick days as larger employers.
Congress is considering the Healthy Families Act, which would allow workers at businesses with 15 or more employees to earn up to seven paid sick days annually. The good news for your small business is that when you work with virtual receptionists, you don’t have to worry about sick days—and you also don’t have to worry about lost productivity or covering the phones because your receptionist is out sick.
A vital part of a virtual office package, a virtual receptionist helps you make a good impression on clients without having to hire, train and employ a receptionist on-site. And since you aren’t employing the virtual receptionist, you aren’t responsible for dealing with sick days. If one of Davinci Virtual’s virtual receptionists call in sick, the company simply shifts the calls to another available virtual receptionist. It’s a seamless transition. Your clients will never know the difference because all of Davinci’s virtual receptionists are well-trained.
Davinci’s live receptionists are equipped with advanced answering systems so they don’t miss a call. And since your virtual receptionist only answers the phone for you and up to four other businesses, the call volume is always manageable. Davinci offers a pay-as-you-go phone plan, so you only pay for the virtual receptionist minutes you use. And, again, you never have to worry about your virtual receptionist calling in sick.
I read an interesting study from Robert Half Management Resources. The gist of it was that financial executives can’t resist calling into work when they are on summer vacation. More than two-thirds (69 percent) of CFOs in the survey said they check in with the office at least once or twice a week during their vacation.
“While it is impossible for most CFOs to disconnect entirely, having a strong team in place makes it more manageable to get away,” says Paul McDonald, executive director of Robert Half Management Resources. “Disconnecting from the office also sets an example for employees, encouraging them to take needed breaks.”
Whether you are the CFO of a large company, or the CFO of your own company, taking downtime is important. Any good success coach will tell you that you need to recharge your batteries and sharpen your saw for continued success. A virtual office system can help before during and after your vacation.
McDonald offers five tips to help managers ensure their time away truly feels like a vacation:
Schedule ahead. If possible, aim to leave the office during a light period or when key staff members aren’t on vacation. Those in the office won’t be stretched too thin by your absence or feel the need to be in constant contact with you.
Decide on a point person early. A few weeks in advance, designate a senior person you trust to manage day-to-day responsibilities during your absence.
Notify contacts and clients. Before you leave, make certain clients and other business contacts are aware when you’ll be gone. On your out-of-office e-mail response and voice mail, include the name of your colleague handling your responsibilities.
Divide assignments. Unless the project requires the focus of your most senior person, you may want to distribute tasks to multiple senior staff members to ensure that work gets completed and to avoid overburdening any single employee. Also consider bringing in project professionals to cover large projects.
Determine your check-in time. If you must check in, try to establish “office hours” prior to your departure. Provide your staff with specific dates and times you will be checking messages. Resist the temptation to always have your mobile device in hand while on vacation.
Don’t forget about the benefits of virtual office technologies…
I think all that is good advice. But there is one more tip that could make your vacation more relaxing, even if you do have to take some calls during your getaway: virtual office technologies. Virtual office technologies can streamline communications during your time away from the office.
Here’s how: A virtual office phone system offers live answering and call forwarding services. So if a client really needs to reach you, your live receptionist can look at the list of people you are willing to take calls from and let the others know you are on vacation. The virtual receptionist can forward the appropriate calls to you and shield you from the rest.
Virtual office providers also give you access to fully equipped conference rooms and web conferencing technologies. So just about wherever you are, from Miami to Los Angeles to Seattle to New York and beyond, you can drop into a Davinci Virtual and rent a conference room with video conferencing or web conferencing capabilities.
On top of all this, a virtual office can make you more productive year-round, so when it’s time to take a vacation you are already ahead of the game. How many entrepreneurs never take a vacation—or even weekends off—because of the workload. With a virtual office system that includes virtual assistants, virtual receptionists and technologies, you can set the stage for a great vacation before you ever step foot out of your virtual office.
Be sure to take a real vacation. There are studies that give you a justification!
Follow Us
