8 Receptionists For The Price of 1

Written by LiveLink
June 25th 2023

8 Receptionists For The Price of 1

Sounds crazy doesn’t it?

That’s what you will be getting if you work with a call answering service or a virtual PA company.

Humour me for a minute.

A receptionist working in your clinic or business is just one person.  They will start work around 9am and leave around 4 – 5pm let’s assume.

The minimum salary will be for a 35 hour week will be £18, 964. (as at June 2023). That’s paying someone the barest minimum that is allowable.  Not even a living wage.  But that’s only the start of it.  There are a couple of other payments that employers legally must pay.  Pension and employers NI.

Next, 6 weeks holiday allowance, IT licenses, training costs, recruitment costs.

Before you know it, your receptionist is costing you around £23k a year.  And that’s on minimum wage.  Barely enough to scrape by on.

And, it’s just one person.

Let’s talk about Monday morning when your phone is ringing off the hook and your receptionist is battling to answer calls.  Of course, it’s impossible.

Lunch times and breaks – your receptionist will be taking those.  And it’s the law – the phone always rings when you’re in the loo.  Who’s going to pick those calls up?

A team of VAs/call-handlers will be able to answer multiple calls for you.  They are likely to work longer hours over-all.  At least from 8.30am – 6pm plus Saturdays.

And the best bit?  It’s unlikely to cost you the same as one receptionist.

For example, our average client pays £6,000-£7,000 a year.  And it’s tax deductible.

Aside from the money, shall we talk about hassle?

The hassle of recruitment and finding the right person.  Then what happens if they don’t turn out to be as lovely as you first thought.  Then you have to have ‘that conversation’.  Always awkard!

I understand that there’s a degree of comfort having someone sitting in your clinic.  But realistically, what is a receptionist going to actually do with most of their time.  They may be an expensive luxury that is directly reducing your profits.

And if there’s not enough for someone to do, they may just get bored and leave.  Then the whole tiresome process starts all over again.

Do you need that hassle?

And that’s what I mean about 8 for the price of 1.