Businesses across the US are facing a new challenge thrown up by the COVID-19 pandemic: unprecedented disruption outside of a lockdown, with workforces being decimated due to staff being ill or having to isolate due to being close contacts.

Closures, reduced opening hours and cuts to service offerings are becoming more and more common as Omicron cases spread, creating chaos for staff who are able to work and customers alike.

Too short-staffed to answer the phone?

Small business owners and the hospitality sector have arguably been hit hardest, but regardless of your industry and whether your business has been forced to shut its doors or you’re doing your best to stay open, one fact remains constant: You cannot afford to disregard phone calls or allow your customer service standards to slip.

Operating any business with a skeleton staff, whether it is planned over a holiday period or forced upon you as a result of unforeseen circumstances, means it can be difficult to ensure your business phone number is always answered, customers are not made to wait on hold for lengthy periods or customers are given undivided attention when they finally get through to speak to someone.

Let the phone ring out at your peril

While we’re all in this together and in an ideal world every customer would be completely understanding given the circumstances, the reality is this can be hugely detrimental for any business. Missed phone calls and poor customer experience will only put your business under even more pressure.

Let’s face it, in an ideal world COVID-19 wouldn’t exist either.

So, how do you ensure business calls are still answered?

ReceptionHQ’s virtual receptionists have proudly been helping American businesses navigate the pandemic since the very beginning with some of our clients crediting us for their survival.

Now, in the midst of possibly the most uncertain time faced by business communities, we’re continuing to support businesses in the USA who are needing to change how they operate … whether temporarily or permanently.

Whether or not you’re temporarily closed or still open for business, our range of low-cost coronavirus support business solutions include:

1. Call answering with message taking, provision of updated business information to callers and transfers of calls (when appropriate) to staff working remotely
2. Providing coverage if your in-house receptionist is sick or isolating, call overflow coverage or after-hours call answering support
3. Setting up an ‘absentee line’ so employees can easily notify if they’re unable to attend work
4. Taking customer orders over the phone
5. Booking appointments, handling cancellations and managing waitlists

You can even try our services for free

Our seven-day call answering free trial based on our ReceptionistPlus virtual reception service may well be the perfect option for you, depending on your specific business needs, enabling you to experience exactly how we can assist your business during these challenging times and beyond. Otherwise, if you’re proceeding straight to a paid subscription, you can do so with absolute peace of mind knowing there are no long-term contracts and you can cancel any time.

Whether you have long been dreaming of traveling around the United States, or the world, while also being your own boss – living the life of a digital nomad – or you’re in the business start-up phase, wanting to avoid the massive overheads associated with commercial leases, have been forced into working remotely by COVID-19 restrictions or you choose to do so for any other reason, modern technology makes doing so easier than ever!

Technology is awesome

When yo use modern technology to operate your business, such as smartphones or computers, it does not matter if you are in a CBD office in a major city, working on a remote beach in the Caribbean or working out of your home. As long as you have power and Wi-Fi, you can work anywhere.

You can still maintain constant communication with your customers using various methods, which means if you are globetrotting, managing the time difference is likely your only barrier to work around.

Who wouldn’t love to earn a living while they relax and work on a beach or by a pool?

Creating an illusion

Many companies go a long way to create an illusion that they are operating from a specific address to make their customers happy. This includes setting up virtual addresses in city CBDs which can be advertised (and potentially used to set up online business listings such as Google My Business, which can provide local SEO benefits). This can be combined with an ReceptionHQ virtual receptionist service and have all of your calls answered 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The combination of a city center address and 24-hour telephone coverage goes a long way to making your business appear larger than it is.

You can have mail redirected and your phone can be answered in your business name, using your preferred greeting, with messages sent instantly to you and calls transfered if you are available to receive them. Using tech integrations, it’s even possible to have your call answering virtual assistants submit leads via your CRM or a webform or handle your Calendar management including scheduling appointments and handling postponements or cancellations.

Getting out of the office is good

If you are lucky enough to work in an industry where you can take your work on the road, you will find that there is plenty of opportunity to make valuable business connections along the way. There are many serviced offices in cities and towns all over the world, including co-working spaces where business people including digital nomads congregate and socialize.

You will be able to meet drop shippers, digital marketing gurus, kick-ass designers, talented web designers … and potentially discover new clients, new service providers or new collaboration partners.

Open lines of communication are essential

No matter what industry you are in, service or product that you supply, or geographic location of your target market in the world, the one thing that you need to do is keep the lines of communication open. Making sure that you have a telephone number that people can call is essential for your customers, and also making sure that you reply to emails promptly is also imperative.

With all of the apps and software that is available, including ReceptionHQ’s own app used for managing call answering services, running a business remotely has never been easier.

So if you have a passion for travel and work in an industry that you can work remotely, why not hit the road, become a digital nomad and get out there and see some of this beautiful world in which we all live.

Or, if you simply love working from home in what is quickly becoming the “new normal”, rest assured there are solutions to make that a whole lot more manageable and help your business to thrive.