Best UK virtual office company?

[SophieM]

Anyone here had any experience with any companies who provide virtual office solutions? Any recommendations?


Thanks,
Sophie

[dawnjlane]

Sophie

What sort of office solutions are you after? Do you mean mail forwarding/telephone answering or Virtual Assistants who act as your secretary/PA?

Dawn

[SophieM]

Originally Posted by dawnjlane

Sophie

What sort of office solutions are you after? Do you mean mail forwarding/telephone answering or Virtual Assistants who act as your secretary/PA?

Dawn

Mail Forwarding and telephone answering

[dawnjlane]

Hi Sophie

I am a Virtual Assistant and have run my own business for just over 2 years.

I have just partnered with a telephone answering company which also offers mail forwarding and prestigious addresses.

You can find more information at all the w's.dontmissanothercall.co.uk or follow my web address and click on telephone answering.

Dawn

[NikkiPilkington]

I've had good and bad experiences with call handling, so be careful to specifiy EXACTLY what you want.

One example of what I *didn't* want was a VA who sent me emails saying "Fred called", without getting messages from people as to WHY they called - if all I wanted was to call loads of people back with no idea of what it was about, I'd have used my answering machine

My current VA is fab and helps me out in many ways - Julie Mullem of PA For All Seasons

[dawnjlane]

Hi Sophie and Nikki

Whilst I agree with what you say about answering services Nikki, not all VAs can wait by the phone for it to ring for a client, hence the use of the answering service.

I have researched the company I partner with, Virtual Receptionist (VR), in-depth and from the perspective of both clients and myself as the VA offering this service (I wouldn't want to offer a service to clients that doesn't serve their needs). I have spoken with VR clients in my network group and they cannot recommend the service enough.

I do offer short term answering services for clients but normally only for leave periods as to do this long term would tie me (and most other VAs) to a desk and would be cost prohibitive for most clients.

If a client is looking for other services as well as telephone answering, then this is something I would and do offer to potential clients. As I only work with a small number of clients I aim to get to know the business inside out so that I can answer telephone queries and not pass on the 'Fred called, can you call him back' type of messages.

However, this doesn't answer the original question posed by Sophie, which was: "Anyone here had any experience with any companies who provide virtual office solutions? Any recommendations?"

My answer is still - take a look at Virtual Receptionist at: all the www.dontmissanothercall.co.uk

Dawn

[AboveParr]

Obviously I'm tempted to say "me" - but the most important thing to do is find someone who shares your business ethics, can do what you need them to effectively and ideally, someone you get on with. Just like with a traditional PA the working relationship is a close one - don't hire someone you don't like!

[dawnjlane]

" ... don't hire someone you don't like!"

Totally agree with that comment, Sara.

Dawn

[AdamW]

I think Sara hit it all on the head. I never used a VA in the end but did spend some considerable time researching them!

[dawnjlane]

Originally Posted by AdamW

I think Sara hit it all on the head. I never used a VA in the end but did spend some considerable time researching them!

For what reasons did you not hire Adam?

As a VA, and always on the look out for new clients, it is good to hear why business people hire or don't hire a VA. Is it on a personal level, cost, skill base, working hours, knowledge or experience etc.

The only way we VAs can improve the service we offer our clients is through good and bad feedback.

If you don't want to write them here, would be very interested to hear via a PM.

Dawn

[AdamW]

Nothing bad on the VA's part. It was more justifying any cost against the need and at the time I decided that the need really didn't justify any cost. Not to say I wouldn't want/need to use a VA again.

[NikkiPilkington]

Originally Posted by dawnjlane

Hi Sophie and Nikki

Whilst I agree with what you say about answering services Nikki, not all VAs can wait by the phone for it to ring for a client, hence the use of the answering service.

I agree with you, but the original post asked for details of call handling services - and if I hire a VA to do telephone answering, I expect my calls to be answered

[Mark]

With so many VAs around, how do they come up with a good USP?

[hlsbs]

Originally Posted by Mark

With so many VAs around, how do they come up with a good USP?

VAs collaborate together, unlike other industries, so we work well together, enhancing the service we can offer our clients.

Working with a VA is definitely a personality thing as Sara already mentioned. Yes there are a lot of VAs out there but there are also a lot of clients out there.

A good VA will concentrate on taking the pain away for the client and also excellent customer service, there are many other industries out there where are a lot of people doing the same thing.

In terms of call handling I work as part of a team of VAs so that calls are handled, not just message taking, and as the team have a rota then there is always someone there to answer the phone. Because we are a small but efficient team we get to know our clients businesses, meaning we are able to handle calls more effectively than a large remote call answering centre.