A Business Is Only As Good As Its Receptionist

Posted by Brett Adams Yodle Training Manager

A Business Is Only As Good As Its Receptionist
Four Methods that are Helping Business Owners to Better Train their Receptionists

Your receptionist is a valuable member of your team, and their ability to perform critical job functions is crucial to your long term success. Whether you are looking to hire a receptionist or already have someone you consider a seasoned member of the staff, it’s important to have in place a program that allows for their improvement and career development.



Below are four successful strategies you can implement to get your receptionist up to speed in no time.

• Your Receptionist as Your First Line of Attack: Often times, your receptionist is tasked with creating the first impression for any potential customers. Take time to identify the most common situations that person will face both over the phone and in person and construct role plays that will test your receptionist’s ability to handle common scenarios. From there, allow time to prepare and then practice each role play scenario. Save time to debrief and provide any feedback after each situation. This is a great way to get your receptionist comfortable with the common tasks involved in the role.

• Keep Your Receptionist Up to Speed: There’s nothing worse than hearing someone say to a potential customer, “I don’t know, I just work here.” Avoid this general lack of enthusiasm by keeping your receptionist informed of your company’s latest offerings. This will also help to get your receptionist promoting the best and most profitable services you offer. I also encourage you to invite your receptionist to spend a “day in the life” of your technicians or other support staff to get a better sense for how the business operates.

• Provide Professional Development Opportunities:How do you think your favorite team would do if all they did was show up for the games and never practiced? Not too good right? The same principles apply in the professional world as well. If you do not work with your receptionist they will slip into bad habits that could affect your bottom line. At Yodle, we offer call recording as part of our online marketing packages. The value this service brings is the ability to perform ongoing audits and use the recorded calls as an opportunity for additional training. Play the recorded call for your receptionist and ask for suggestions on how to improve performance for the next time.

• Lay Some Ground Rules:It’s always best to Identify roles and responsibilities clearly in writing as early on as possible. Create a document that you and your receptionist agree on to assure proper boundaries. Even if your receptionist has been with you for years, it’s still a good idea to come together and create structure in the role to benefit future hires. For example you’ll want to make it clear that your receptionist may need to make coffee in the morning, and should always answer the phone in 2 rings.

A well trained receptionist can be the difference between winning over a new client or losing one to the competition. Think of your receptionist as your front line and an integral part of your team and you’ll be off to a great start!

Further Reading Suggestions:
http://www.receptionist.org/outsourcing/helpful-advice-new-receptionist/

http://administrativearts.com/2008/03/10/for-beginners-receptionist-tips-part-deaux/