Answering Service for Solopreneurs with Smith.ai

Get work done while we handle the calls

There's too much for a solo business owner to do. And you can’t delegate expert work. Hand off "the rest" to our receptionists. We can screen calls, book appointments, and take payments.

Quality leads will grow your business

A virtual receptionist plays a vital role in welcoming a client to your business, and gives you the appearance of being a larger company.

We handle the entire “frontline” of your lead flow so you never need to worry about coverage.

An extension of your office

Our virtual receptionists qualify new leads, schedule appointments, make outbound calls, accept payments, log notes in your CRM, send follow-up messages, and much much more.

24/7 web chat and texts

Prospective clients come to your website with questions. With 24/7 live chat, we can respond in seconds and turn website visitors into clients. Plus, we can answer your texts.

82%

of consumers expect an immediate response to a sales inquiry

50%

of lead generation budgets are wasted on leads that are never contacted

79%

of marketing leads never convert into sales

67%

of customers who receive excellent service spend up to 14% more

Powerful call intelligence gives your business the lead

Make better business decisions with real-time call data, visualized in every Smith.ai client dashboard. Every call summary is enriched with metadata including actions completed, caller disposition, priority, relevance, call recording and transcription, and more. See the big picture with historical tables and charts to predict business growth, costs, and ROI with superior accuracy.

Outreach calls and campaigns speed-up sales and support

Smith.ai receptionists make calls on your behalf, improving your speed-to-lead and unburdening staff who need to reach out to clients. We'll call-back online leads who complete web forms, contact donors for donation renewals, chase down payments on unpaid invoices, and more. We'll even send follow-up emails and texts after every call to ensure a connection is made.

Get the most out of Smith.ai

Outreach Campaigns

Where we reach, engage & qualify leads to build your book of business.

More about Outreach Campaigns

Web Chat

The best channel for sales, service & support by utilizing bots, humans, or both.

More about Web Chat

Smith.ai is trusted by 3,000+ businesses

5.0 stars

4.9 stars

5.0 stars

4.7 stars

“Smith.ai is an absolutely indispensable part of my business. I'm honestly not sure how I would run a solo practice without them. My lead-to-client conversion rate is now about 50% thanks to their virtual receptionists.”

Louis DiLello

Chestnut Hill Legal

Read case study

TALK TO OUR TEAM of experts

Book a consultation

Improve customer experiences with 24/7 engagement. We offer features and pricing for organizations of all sizes.

North America-based agents
Best-in-class AI technology
Live-staffed website chat
Bilingual services
Sales development & outreach
Rich call intelligence

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END-TO-END INTEGRATIONS

We play well with your software

Calls, chats & appointments are automatically logged in your systems. Real-time syncing with over 5,000 integrations.

View all integrations

Frequently asked questions

The best answering services for solo businesses do much more than pick up phone calls and take messages for entrepreneurs. At Smith.ai, we provide virtual receptionists capable of a wide range of services from call handling, to scheduling, to lead intake, to website chat, and more. Whether you need a virtual receptionist for full-time call handling, overflow support only, after-hours, or triage, here are the answers to the most common questions we receive from owners and operators of solo businesses.

Entrepreneurs are often busy working on business management projects and can’t be expected to answer every call that comes in, but providing quality customer support through a reliable solo business answering service has been shown to improve businesses in a variety of ways. Here are a few of the benefits solo businesses experience with our virtual receptionists:

Expanded availability

With a phone answering service that’s available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, your clients will always have a real person to talk to, whether your business is busy, closed, or on holiday. Your clients’ questions always receive a thoughtful response.

Increased leads captured

Missed calls means missed opportunities. Don’t miss out on leads just because you’re not always able to pick up the phone. Answering services provide nighttime, weekend, and after-hours availability so your business will never miss another call.

Increased work productivity

Through outsourcing call handling to an answering service, you’ll be able to spend time where you need it most and focus on more important work to build your solo business.

Enhanced client satisfaction and business reputation

At Smith.ai, we know great customer service and how to deliver it for a range of business types and industries. Unlike most entrepreneurs, our virtual receptionists are trained in customer service and hospitality, so let us put best practices to work for you and deliver an exceptional and professional response that represents your business well every time .

Save money and time

No need to allocate limited time and money towards hiring an in-house receptionist when you can get all of the services you need and then some with an answering service for a fraction of the price. On average, customers who use Smith.ai save upwards of $30,000/year.

Stay up-to-date with leads and clients

Phone answering services can provide your solo business with detailed call summaries after each call and even provide your clients with chat and text messaging so you can stay in contact with your most valued clients.

An answering service can provide your solo business with much-needed relief, whether your team is on a budget, overwhelmed by overflow calls, or simply looking to enrich your company’s customer service. With Smith.ai’s answering service, your business can receive even more benefits to help your company accomplish its goals, whatever they may be.

Smith.ai’s answering service can provide solo businesses with:

24/7 availability

After-hours & overflow answering

Bilingual answering

Outbound call-backs

Spam blocking

Appointment scheduling

Sales development

Payment collection

CRM Integration

Lead development

And much more…‍

With nearly limitless features, Smith.ai’s answering service is guaranteed to grow your company’s productivity, revenue, and outreach. Smith.ai has offered quality service to solo businesses for years and our clients trust Smith.ai to provide their business with premium support.

The price of a receptionist is one of the most important factors to consider when deciding on whether to hire an answering service or a traditional, in-house receptionist. Let’s look at the average price for an in-house receptionist.

The average salary nation-wide for an in-house receptionist is about $37,000 and they often come with hefty, additional fees, such as:

Medical, dental, and vision insurance, costing about $11,000/year
Life and disability insurance, costing about $2,000/year
401K’s, retirement and pension plans, costing about $2,000/year
Paid sick leave, holidays, and vacations, costing about $5,500/year
Commuting reimbursement, costing about $5,000/year
Child care subsidy and parental leave, costing about $3,000/year
Health and wellness programs, costing about $1,000/year
Bonus pay, costing about $2,000/year
Company retreats, team bonding events, and employee outings, costing about $4,000/year
Free lunch, snacks, and drinks, costing about $3,500/year

Total Cost, Including Salary: $77,000/year

If your business is located in a highly populated area, that price may be even higher. In-house receptionists can add to that cost when they inevitably come in late, call in sick, request time off, take personal leaves of absence, go on vacation, and so on. Contrarily, Smith.ai’s virtual receptionists can accomplish the same tasks as an in-house receptionist and then some, barring coffee runs and supply restocks, of course, and are much less expensive, as your company doesn’t have to pay for any time off, benefits, or salaries.

Smith.ai’s answering service costs as little as $255/month, with no hidden or unexpected fees. Your business could save over $33,000/year, not to mention up to $40,000/year in benefits beyond salary payments, by choosing to hire an answering service instead of an in-house receptionist. Not only will your solo business save money, but your business will also be able to optimize productivity and revenue like never before. Unlike in-house receptionists, virtual receptionists can answer calls outside of regular business, which is far more important than you might recognize, as 27% of leads call after hours. Smith.ai’s agents can answer live chats and texts. SMS answering can be overlooked, but over 46% of customers prefer communicating with businesses through text.

Virtual receptionists can even provide sales assistance by making outbound calls to convert more leads, which has been proven to be helpful as over 67% of clients base their decision to hire a business on the initial responsiveness to their call or email. It’s critical for businesses to respond promptly. Long waiting periods encourage leads to take their business elsewhere and you may not have the chance to explain why you’re the right business to hire. With Smith.ai’s solo business answering service, your business can receive all the benefits of an in-house worker without the unnecessary cost.

Solo businesses, like any business, often find themselves in compromising situations that require outsourced assistance to resolve. Some of the most common scenarios are:

I can’t keep up with incoming calls and messaging from clients

With a one-person staff and an endless list of assignments, solo business owners frequently struggle to answer phones and respond to messages from clients in addition to their regular duties. Running a business and providing quality customer service at the same time can prove to be difficult and lead to poor performance in both.

I’m spending my whole day on administrative tasks and can’t get productive, real work done

With the price of in-house receptionists being as high as it is, solo businesses are often left to delegate daily tasks themselves. Despite spending a large portion of their day performing administrative duties, business owners often struggle to balance their important projects with their regular office tasks.

I’m missing calls from new business leads and it's costing me money

Responding to each call can feel impossible for solo businesses when they have higher priority assignments to address. Solo business owners can easily fall behind on responding to new inquiries so potential leads can be frequently missed. Leads don't wait for call-backs. They call the next business in the search results. If businesses fail to pick up, they not only lose a lead, they lose ROI, money on marketing campaigns and ad spend, as well as conversion rates from ads.

I can’t respond fast enough to leads to beat my competition to new clients

With the crowded marketplace for solo businesses being what it is, it can be a major obstacle for businesses to distinguish themselves and stand out amongst other similar businesses. Providing quality customer service through quick and thoughtful responses can place businesses above their competitors, but many solo business owners often lack the time to do so.

I’m struggling to find and keep new clients

One of the most crucial, yet challenging, aspects of growing a successful solo business is obtaining and keeping new clients. With so much time and effort being spent towards existing clients, businesses may not have the opportunity to seek out and nurture new clients. Businesses who spread their workload too thin may not be able to deliver quality customer service. Slow response times may frustrate customers and hurt client loyalty and retention, as well.

I can’t seem to keep track of my clients’ data

Maintaining detailed phone records and call summaries can be overwhelming for solo businesses who disperse client data across a multitude of software platforms. Knowing how, when, and why clients call is significant for any business hoping to successfully navigate client relationships, but unfortunately, is not always easy to accomplish.

If your solo business is facing any of these challenges, a virtual receptionist service may be useful. One of the many great things about Smith.ai is that our services fit your business needs, not the other way around. Our virtual receptionists can allocate time where you need it most and address the specific issues your business faces, whether you need help qualifying and intaking new clients or sending invoices and collecting payments.

Calls, chats, texts & more

Answering service for solo businesses

Get work done while we handle the calls

Quality leads will grow your business

An extension of your office

24/7 web chat and texts

Powerful call intelligence gives your business the lead

Outreach calls and campaigns speed-up sales and support

Get the most out of Smith.ai

Outreach Campaigns

Web Chat

Smith.ai is trusted by 3,000+ businesses

TALK TO OUR TEAM of experts

Book a consultation

END-TO-END INTEGRATIONS

We play well with your software

Frequently asked questions

What are the benefits of an answering service for solo businesses?

How much money will I save by hiring an answering service for my solo business compared to an in-house receptionist?

What common scenarios do solo businesses use virtual receptionist services for?

What are the common problems that indicate my solo business needs a virtual receptionist service?

What do I need to prepare to get started with a virtual receptionist service for my solo business?

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