Customers – Are They The Gatekeepers To More Sales?

Customers – Are They The Gatekeepers To More Sales?

Customers – We Want Them – We Need Them

Are customers or the customer service the gatekeeper to getting your customers coming back for more? What or who stands between your business and more business? Customers? Maybe, but the real answer is the “what” — customer service. We all want them and we all need them and we want them to keep coming back to our business, right? So what is it about some companies that have clients raving about them? What is the one simple trick companies use to keep their customers coming back for more products or to purchase other services?

Is Your Company Known For Its Customer Service?

Have you seen a decline in your business lately? It could be due to the quality of your business’s customer service. Customers or your customer’s clients could stray from a business and it could be solely due to the quality of the customer service they’ve been receiving.  And why is this? Is it that life is just too busy to take the time to care? Or is it the lack of training in businesses upon hiring? In my opinion, it’s both.

We need to also train the younger generation and remind the older generation what it is to pick up the phone and call a customer, or how to speak to the customer in a very real engaging professional manner. Texting and emailing can sometimes be misconstrued in how it comes across.

Customers and clients can tell a genuine CSR, (customer service representative), or one that is flip and basically just can’t wait to get off the phone and end their day. As a result, customer service has become an issue, so much so, there are companies out there that handle these issues for a fee, as reported in this March 2017 article by USNews.com entitled: “Should You Pay Someone to Deal With Customer Service Issues for You?” by contributor, Susan Johnston Taylor.

We get it, life is busy, we’re all busy. Providing good customer service is or should be number one on your employees’ list. Good customer service is hard to come by these days. The foundation of a company’s success in this crucial area is adequate training of your employees. 

Can Your Business Get Customers Coming Back?

Now we know that the one trick that keeps customers coming back for more, is quality Customer Service. Whether we’re at the store or ordering something online, customers and the service we give or receive is there. Therefore, my question to you is, where has good customer service gone? Quality customer service is paramount to any business.

Over the years I’ve seen a decline in quality customer service; business to consumers and in business to business. Either the product is late or the service is bad. Is it due to the electronic age of cell phones where people are not engaging, they just text or email everyone? People used to communicate more with each other. I see so many young people today who do not know how to mix and mingle, as we used to call it, at networking events.

What Business Owners Can Start Doing Now

In conclusion, businesses that recognize this will include customer service training in their best company practices.  In fact, Susan writes: “Dealing with customer service has become such a headache that numerous businesses aim to take over this task – in exchange for a fee.”. So, do you really want to pay another company to deal with customer services issues instead of taking care of it in-house?

At iTask Virtually, we take the quality of customer service seriously. Click on the Contact pop-up to the right for your free 15-minute consultation today! 

Submit a Comment. Your email address won't be shared. All fields are required.

4 + 8 =

Is the Virtual Assistant Industry Just for Small Business?

Is the Virtual Assistant Industry Just for Small Business?

The Virtual Assistant Industry and Large Businesses – A Great Mix.

Is the virtual assistant industry just for small business? Nope! The virtual assistant industry is not just for small businesses. The virtual assistant industry has grown by leaps and bounds over the past decade. In fact, according to an article in Entrepreneur magazine, it’s grown in 2001 to over 50,000 in 2015.

Large companies are recognizing the value of the virtual assistant industry.

What do these numbers show us? It shows us that people are not “freelancing” anymore. They are making a verifiable full-time business out of it.

traffic-843309_640With the internet that has shrunk the world with a tap of the keyboard and the enter button, the world and all businesses are at our fingertips, literally. Are the days of the daily commute grind, tall office buildings, smog-filled high rises, buses, trains and pedestrians coming to an end? If statistics are any indication of what’s to come, then maybe so.

Companies of all Sizes are Looking to the Virtual Assistant Industry.

A lot of business owners from small, one-owner type companies to the large 1,000+ employees are looking to expand their staff to the virtual assistant industry. Just a few weeks ago, I spoke to a business owner of a large company outside of New York. Their reasoning behind wanting to hire a virtual assistant is that their own office manager and administrative assistant were overloaded with work and instead of bringing another employee on board they wanted to go virtual. So, in this case, for them, it was more financially beneficial to hire someone in the virtual assistant industry.

The reasons large companies may opt to hire someone in the virtual assistant industry are many. One reason could be due to an employee who is on a leave of absence. Another reason may be for a one-time project that needs to get done.  One-off projects don’t warrant hiring a full-time employee. This is not to say that companies won’t hire a long-term virtual assistant, definitely, a lot of businesses contract other more long-term projects as well.

“Most people in the virtual assistant industry have specific niches and some have more than one skill they can offer.”

Let’s say a company needs to look off-site for someone who can do some research for images for their marketing materials, website or blogs, looking for an Online Business Manager that specializes or offers research would be an excellent choice. Same thing for wanting a website, the company should search within the virtual assistant industry for someone who offers WordPress websites. Project management is another area where a specific virtual assistant can be immensely helpful. The Project Manager Virtual Assistant can usually get the project started, get the team involved and give proper direction as to the scope and deliverables of a specific project while never having to step foot in the office which may be located in another state.

You may also want to read: https://itaskvirtually.com/10-smart-ways-a-business-owner-can-outsource-to-a-virtual-assistant

If you’re a large company and need some assistance in any area of work, looking to the virtual assistant industry is not a bad idea. Take a look here and see if I can help. We’re always available for a free 30-minute consultation on any upcoming business needs your company may have.

A virtual assistant or a temp agency – What’s the difference?

A virtual assistant or a temp agency – What’s the difference?

In this article, I explain the ways a virtual assistant is different than hiring through a temp agency.

Why should business owners use virtual assistants instead of a temporary staffing company?

Temp agencies have been around for a long time.  The usual needs are when an employee goes on maternity leave or gets married and goes on their honeymoon or someone just goes on a leave of absence.  Sometimes there’s also just a need for the day. Depending on the level of assistance, the employer will look for either a temporary/contract worker or a replacement.

Virtual assistants work quite differently.  First of all, most are not looking to be hired by the firm.  Secondly, virtual assistants are executives in their area and diligently work to get the project completed on time.  Most temp agencies hire out who they have on staff at the moment needed.  This means that the temp you get may not have the desired skills needed to fulfill your company’s specific requirements! With a virtual assistant, you speak directly to the virtual assistant. 

So what’s the real difference between a virtual assistant and a temp agency?

Virtual assistants have specific skills that could suit your needs to a T.  Be it tax preparation, administrative tasks, project management or simply replying to email requests for more product/service information or setting appointments.

Besides getting your specific professional needs met, you don’t have to pay the overhead costs that come with temp agencies.  Another major benefit of hiring a virtual assistant is that the work done could be totally tax-deductible depending on your state’s laws!

In my opinion, if you’re an employer, it behooves you to compare and contrast the benefits of hiring a virtual assistant with that of using a temp agency.  Call me today at 330-573-2863 and let’s discuss your specific business needs from brochures to daily tasks to website maintenance!

Should you have any comments or suggestions or simply want to inquire about our services, please fill out the contact page.

FreeDigitalPhotos.net, image by Stuart Miles.

What is a Virtual Assistant?

What is a Virtual Assistant?

What is a virtual assistant?

The definition of a virtual assistant by Wikipedia is as follows; also typically abbreviated to VA, a virtual office assistant is generally self-employed and provides professional administrative, technical, or creative (social) assistance to clients from their own home office.

Because they are independent contractors rather than employees, clients are not responsible for any employee-related taxes, insurance, or benefits (except in the context that those indirect expenses are included in the VAs fees). Clients also avoid the logistical problem of providing extra office space, equipment, or supplies. Clients pay for 100% of the work and can work with them individually, or with multi-VA firms to meet their exact needs. Virtual Assistants usually work for other small businesses. It is estimated that there are as few as 5,000-8,000 or as many as 25,000 virtual assistants worldwide; the profession is growing in centralized economies with “fly-in, fly-out” staffing practices.

The Virtual Assistant Industry

virtual assistant

Common modes of communication and data delivery include the Internet, e-mail, and phone call conferences, online workspaces, and fax machines. Professionals in this business work on a contractual basis and long-lasting cooperation are standard. Typically 5 years of administrative experience in an office is expected at such positions as an executive assistant, office manager/supervisor, secretary, legal assistant, paralegal, legal secretary, real estate assistant, information technology, et cetera.

In recent years, those entering the virtual assistant industry are seeing an upswing in the need of many mainstream businesses.  With the advent of VOIP or other services, such as Skype it has been possible to have a virtual assistant who can answer your phone remotely without the end user’s knowledge. This allows many businesses to add a personal touch in the form of a receptionist without the additional cost of hiring someone.

Ready to get started?

Book a free consultation today and let’s discuss how your business could benefit from working with a virtual assistant.
Click Here

Delegate is not a dirty word!

Delegate is not a dirty word!

Too much work?  Feeling overwhelmed? Delegate the extra work!

Delegate the extra work! When we think of the word “delegate,” we think we’re passing the buck so to speak.  That’s just not true.  In essence, it’s a good leader, a good manager who can delegate tasks to the appropriate person.  As business owners, we don’t want to micromanage. We want to delegate to someone who knows how to work independently. Virtual assistants have the knowledge, skills, and independent factors already in place. No training, no overhead costs, and no wasting time. Appointing someone else to complete a project or task means you know who will do a good job.

networkimage

Delegating tasks and projects to a virtual assistant could be the best decision you make!

To delegate some extra work to a virtual assistant can be the best decision for a busy business owner and seriously what business owner is not busy? The idea of outsourcing work is efficient, clear and less expensive than hiring a temporary employee or bringing someone in full-time and training them.

FreeDigitalPhotos.net, image by Jannoon028