Are you running your own professional service business, like a law firm, out of your home? Your home can be sufficient as your office, but there are many business needs you still have to consider. The biggest one being, how can you protect your business and client data?
It’s time that you looked into using a virtual mailbox. You’re wondering, “How is a virtual mailbox going to help my professional service business?” Read on to get all of your questions answered.
1. Virtual mailboxes are secure
Virtual mailbox services have a secure mail-handling delivery process, which ensures that your mail is not read by anyone but yourself and that your mail and packages are stored in locked facilities.
Speaking of facilities, VirtualPostMail (VPM) has round-the-clock surveillance monitoring with security alarms and camera systems that protect all of your mail and packages. Mail is stored in a safe location that can only be accessed by authorized personnel who have gone through a background check.
When documents are being processed and delivered between your clients and yourself, the last thing you want to worry about is it being stolen, lost, or exposed. And because VPM owns all of its locations, the risk of lost mail and delays is reduced because your mail and packages don’t go through multiple stops with third parties.
2. Virtual mailboxes provide an extra layer of protection for your data
As a professional service, you care about the security of your clients’ information and internal documents. From client financials to business record keeping, what matters most to you is data and privacy protection.
You want to make sure that your data is stored, processed, encrypted, hosted, and not shared. Plus, it’s important that all of your documents are HIPAA compliant. So, what can a virtual mailbox do for you?
First, all of VPM’s web application communications are encrypted over a secure connection using 256 bit SSL encryption, which cannot be viewed by a third party and is the same level of encryption used by banks and financial institutions. Your billing information is transmitted, stored, and processed according to the PCI Data Security Standard where all transactions related to your credit card are processed using secure encryption, the same type that banks use.
Second, the entire infrastructure of VPM is hosted on Amazon Web Services, which is HIPAA compliant. This means that you get an extra layer of protection for your data and your clients.
3. Save time and avoid years of paper storage by going digital
Get the benefits of an assistant without taking the time to find and hire a good one. If you want the benefits of an assistant without having to spend hours interviewing and training only to have them leave a few months down the road, invest in a virtual mailbox service instead.
Similar to an assistant, a virtual mailbox will help make your life easier by organizing your important documents through folders. You can set smart tags to get mail automated and filter out junk mail so you only get the mail that matters.
A virtual mailbox provides you with a digital copy of your important mail items. As soon as your mail is received, it’s scanned automatically for you so you can view it via an electronic device, much like email. This means no more paper cuts because you won't have to manually scan a mail piece again.
Act on things fast, no matter where you are or what you are doing. You will be alerted of new received mail. Get time-sensitive notices, such as your client’s legal information or your own professional service business compliance documents to act on faster.
Another time-saver for your professional service business is the fact that all of your scanned mail will be keyword searchable. Because everything is in digital format, everything you need will be accessible and easy to find. VPM uses search technology that scans your mail, saves it as a PDF, and makes your files searchable by a keyword search, meaning you just need a word to save days of time that you would have spent to find a document buried in your files from 10 months ago.
4. Maintain a professional business image even when you run your business out of your home
Professionalism is of the utmost importance when it comes to gaining and maintaining clients. Your clients need to know they can entrust their personal information to you, which can include their taxes, bank statements, addresses, and other personal and financial information. But how do you look professional from your home?
Although you run your business out of your home, you don’t want any of your clients knowing that. Use a virtual mailbox to get the professional business image you want.
With a virtual mailbox, you can get a physical street address attached to a commercial office building. This will provide your business with a prestigious image because they will see an office instead of your home when they do a search for your office, which is crucial for attracting clients. Think about how clients will come to decide whether they want to pay for your services or not. What’s the first thing they will do? Google you! If they see your home address listed as the place of operations for your law firm, they will cross you off their list of possible professional services to hire. That’s a promise.
Having a physical street address attached to a commercial office gives clients the impression that you are professional and trustworthy, even if you work from home in your pajamas (which your clients don’t need to know about).
5. Protect your privacy with a separate business address from your home address
Again, you’re a business so you’ll have your home address on everything business-related. This includes all business compliance documents, licenses, permits, registered agent service, banking, website, email, and all correspondence with clients, vendors, and partners. Remember what all potential clients will do first when they learn about your services? Hint: refer back to #4. They’ll Google your business!
So, it’s not recommended to list your home address as your business address because it isn’t safe. Posting your home address for the world to see is just asking for hackers and other predators to steal your personal privacy. Not to mention unwanted strangers showing up at your home. No thank you.
In summary, if you decide to use your home address as your business address this means that you will expose your privacy to the public and have thousands of people searching your business, that’s thousands of people who now have access to your home address. Did anyone else just get chills?
Don’t put your home address and personal information at risk, and get a separate business address to protect your privacy.
6. As an LLC, you’ll want a separate address to protect your liability
As an LLC, one of the most important things is to keep your personal and business assets separate. This way, if the worst is to happen, your personal savings and belongings will be protected from the government.
In order to keep your business and personal assets separate, you will want to obtain a separate address from your home address to protect your liability. This way, that separate address is only used for business purposes, and you will be liable for your business operations if something is to go wrong.
Ready For a Virtual Mailbox?
A virtual mailbox is your secret tool to run your professional service business. Want to protect your personal information along with your clients’ data? Want to save time and money and keep your efficiency at a maximum? Still figuring out how you can establish a professional business reputation and image? All of this can be done with a virtual mailbox service. Are you ready to sign up for your virtual mailbox?
