Whether it’s nightmares about angry callers or because you’re actually trying to finish replying to all your customers, there’s a solution to your problem — customer service outsourcing.
Here’s what you should know about delegating CS tasks to a virtual customer service assistant:
The way you deal with consumers directly affects brand loyalty.
A Microsoft Dynamics 365 report revealed that 95% of their respondents saw customer service as a big factor in choosing a brand. 61% also stated they deserted a brand after a poor encounter with customer support.
So if you’re keen on keeping your customers loyal, you have to give them a stellar experience. This is where a customer service remote representative comes in handy.
By delegating things like chat and voice support to a Philippines virtual assistant, you can:
Sure, you can save more now by providing customer support yourself, but that’s not exactly sustainable in the long term.
You know what is, though?
Hiring a customer service virtual assistant from the Philippines. With a headhunter agency like Shepherd, you can find one that costs 80% less than local equivalents but does just as great a job.
Read More: Why You Should Hire Remote Staff from the Philippines
Folks these days aren’t the most patient bunch. According to a study by HubSpot Research, 90% of customers consider short wait times important when they have concerns.
That’s why you need a dedicated virtual customer service expert or two. They’ll ensure queries get answered ASAP and help maintain your company’s reputation for excellent support.
Having a skilled Filipino virtual assistant in charge of customer service means you no longer have to spend odd hours answering urgent concerns. You’ll finally get better sleep, plus more time to focus on your personal life.
Now, let’s move on to the issues that may be discouraging you from delegating virtual customer service (and what you can do about them).
With great trust comes great responsibility.
Your customers give you access to data like their address and phone number, so we get your hesitation about customer service outsourcing. You’re not alone — 81% of companies across the globe are concerned about potential data breaches by their outsourced staff.
But you can lessen the likelihood of data breaches by:
Related: How to Share Confidential Data with Your Virtual Assistants
Worried a language barrier may affect the quality of support your customers receive? Don’t be. English is widely used around the Philippines, so you won’t have a hard time finding a Filipino virtual assistant fluent in the language.
At Shepherd, we also require all applicants to take an English proficiency test so you’re guaranteed to have the best of the best.
This is a legit concern, but it shouldn’t be a problem if you provide comprehensive training and resources.
Preparing a knowledge base of product information, FAQs, and other important details will help your virtual customer service rep a lot. You can also include product demos during the onboarding process so they can really visualize how your items work.
Ready to start delegating some tasks to your customer service remote assistant? Here are the things you need to do:
What customer service tasks are you doing yourself? Which ones are repetitive or take the most energy? Can someone else do them instead?
Knowing the answers to these questions should be first on your agenda. This will help you narrow down what to delegate.
Here are examples of responsibilities you can probably hand off to your virtual customer service assistant:
Collaboration tools are non-negotiable when you work with a remote team. These include communication channels, project management platforms, and support tools.
Let’s talk about each one:
Apps like Slack or Discord allow you to get in touch with your assistant right away, so they’re perfect for urgent concerns and quick huddles. Meanwhile, video conferencing platforms like Zoom or Google Meet are ideal for company-wide meetings.
These make it easy to keep track of tasks. You can see who’s assigned to do what, what tasks are in progress, and which items need approval.
Examples of project management tools:
Virtual customer service reps use support tools to manage customer concerns and inquiries. Typical tools include:
Remember the list of tasks you plan to delegate? Well, you’re going to create standard operating procedures (SOPs) for every one of them. Each SOP should include:
You have the option to write your SOPs, make slides, or create video walkthroughs.
Related: How to Level Up Delegation with SOPs
A knowledge base is basically a collection of everything there is to know about your products or services. It helps your virtual customer service rep provide the correct information to your customers. You can create your knowledge base on Notion, save it to your company server, or add it to Asana or ClickUp.
Here are examples of things to include in your knowledge base:
Ready-made templates save your Filipino virtual assistant time, prevent grammar errors, and ensure your brand’s voice is consistent. All they have to do is choose the appropriate template and tweak it to customize their response.
You’ll want to make templates for things like:
Use ChatGPT to help you write the templates. It’s much faster than doing it from scratch. Here’s a neat article that teaches you how to craft CS templates and more via this AI tool.
Let’s be real: you can’t expect your Filipino virtual assistant to start responding to customers on day 1, even with SOPs and scripts in place.
You’ll need to get them settled in their new role first. That might mean creating a training schedule like this example:
Schedule 1:1s with your customer service virtual assistant to ask how they’re doing and give feedback on their work. Do this regularly, like every week, so they’ll feel more comfortable talking to you. You can also use some of the sessions to review challenging tickets or ask for their advice on what products to improve.
Customer service can make or break brand loyalty, so make it a priority for your business. Delegating it to a customer service remote assistant speeds up response time and gives you more room to focus on business growth.
If you’re ready to hire a Filipino virtual assistant for this role, allow our team at Shepherd to help. Send us a message today.
This will depend on the specific responsibilities you’ll delegate, but generally speaking, you should:
Virtual assistants in the Philippines can respond to inquiries and concerns via email, chat, or call. Here are some specific customer service duties they can handle:
Besides virtual customer service, other tasks you can delegate to a virtual assistant include:
We'll find you amazing remote employees in the Philippines.
