Your heaps of tasks are running you over, keeping you cemented at your desk. You’re overwhelmed.
As the boss, do you feel like you shouldn’t be doing this?
Stop the traditional motions and control your time. Revolutionise the way you work, especially in customer service. Start by bringing in a virtual assistant customer service.
When it comes down to raising your brand image and nurturing a loyal clientele, a customer support VA makes all the difference.
Learn more about hiring a remote professional as your customer support staff and why it’s a smart move.
What Is Virtual Customer Service?
A virtual assistant customer service is a remote professional who manages a wide array of customer-service-related tasks. This includes making calls to clients and addressing their concerns.
Generally, customer support VAs act like your typical on-site employee; the only difference is that they can perform their duties from anywhere. Outside of that, they have the same skills as traditional customer service representatives.
What Skills to Look for in a Brilliant Virtual Assistant Customer Service?
There’s a massive pool of remote workers around the world, so you’ll never have a problem finding one. Your greatest challenge is to recruit someone who has the soft skills and personality to succeed in the role.
Here are the qualities that make an outstanding customer support VA:
People Skills
Customer service centres on people. That’s why your online assistant must be great at dealing with your audience in whatever mood they’re in. They have to be able to listen, read and interact with them effectively.
Excellent Communication Skills
Communication skill is a non-negotiable attribute for your virtual assistant. Why? Because it’s in the very nature of the position and the remote collaboration.
Your remote assistant should have a good grasp of the English language and be able to communicate clearly and concisely. This is to ensure that nothing is lost in translation.
Patience
Often, your virtual assistant customer service will encounter hot-tempered clients. To diffuse heated conversations, they need patience to talk to them cordially and positively. By remaining composed, they show care and willingness to help clients address their problems.
Resourceful
When you’re talking to someone you barely know over the phone, conversations become unpredictable. For that, you need virtual assistants who are fast on their feet and can find workable solutions to solve your customers’ issues.
What Are the Duties of a Virtual Assistant?
So, what is the role of a customer service assistant?
Phone Support
Your customer service VA supports your customer via online calling. They can provide information about your company’s offerings and process orders over the phone. And with their access to modern tools, they can even offer video support, which is a faster resolution.
Live Chat Support
Another thing that your remote assistant does to enhance the customer service experience is live chat support. They assist customers through real-time, instant messaging.
Sure, messaging bots are ideal for this job, but a human touch is a requirement to address complex customer requests.
Email Support
Emails might be old and a bit slow compared to the more advanced methods of customer support. However, this remains the go-to communication channel for many of your consumers, making it an important job for your VA.
Proactive Customer Service
Excellent customer care is not waiting around for your clients to reach out. You need to be hands-on and actively seek engagement. That’s what a virtual assistant customer service is for— going after consumers and helping them have a comfortable shopping experience.
Collect Feedback
If you want to gain valuable insight into your customers, your virtual assistant can help. They can construct and send out survey forms and collect feedback. By understanding what your customers are thinking, you can improve your products and cater to their specific needs.
Track Reviews
Apart from gathering feedback, your virtual assistant customer service can also monitor reviews from different review platforms. In doing so, they can identify problems and respond to them accordingly, nurturing client relationships.
Develop FAQs
Your target market will have tons of questions. In response to that, your remote professional can come up with frequently asked questions to put on your business website. This way, you have an efficient means of answering your consumers’ queries and connecting with them.
Why Choose to Collaborate with a VA Customer Service?
A customer support virtual assistant is a staple staffing solution if you’re after round-the-clock customer service.
They are especially essential for small business owners and startups looking to scale their support. But that’s just scratching the surface of the VA benefits, there’s more!
Cut Costs
The main reason why you should pick virtual sidekicks is that they can minimise costs. You don’t need to pay for rent, office equipment and benefits like health insurance when you hire them. You just worry about compensating the services you use.
In addition, these remote professionals are already trained. They have a profound experience in handling various customers in many domains. This means you don’t have to invest time and money in training them because they’re ready.
Human Touch
Technological advancements sure help in simplifying time-intensive tasks. Nevertheless, customers still prefer talking to real people rather than robots.
Your online assistant understands complex situations and can offer support with a sprinkle of human touch.
Raving Customer Experience
As we mentioned, your customer service VA is an expert in reading customers and delivering their needs. They know how to manage their time and which ones to prioritise.
This translates to your clients feeling valued and supported. And they’re going to tell their friends and everyone they know about it, creating a dozen more customers.
One of the most effective and fastest ways to sell your product is outstanding customer service. Along the way, you’ll gain trust and loyalty. Hence, a virtual assistant is exactly what you need.
Bilingual Support
When you’re planning to expand to a new market, a virtual assistant customer service is a worthwhile investment.
You see, VAs come from different regions with diverse cultural backgrounds. Many of them can speak other languages beyond English. This is a skill useful in bridging cultural divides, helping you navigate international interactions smoothly.
Expanded Business Hours
Since your remote assistant lives on the other side of the world, they’re able to perform while you’re sleeping. This is one of the perks of collaborating in different time zones—operating round-the-clock.
Along these lines, you can cater to more clients without needing to pay for overtime or employ additional individuals.
Enhance Brand Image
Raving client assistance can do wonders in lifting your brand to the pedestal—everyone can agree on that.
Employing a virtual assistant leaves your existing customers and new ones impressed. They produce good service, which results in favourable perception, stirring emotional connection and fostering loyalty.
Reduce Worker Responsibility
VAs are a jack of all trades. They’re not just there to exceed customer expectations; they’ll also serve as your administrative virtual assistant.
By sharing responsibility, they can free your team’s time and have them zero in on more pressing jobs.
What Is the Difference Between a Virtual Assistant and a Customer Service Representative?
A virtual assistant takes charge of a variety of tasks without breaking a sweat. They excel in many administrative tasks like email management, research and basic bookkeeping.
On the other hand, a customer service representative serves as a gatekeeper of your client’s happiness. They engineer superb customer engagement and an impeccable brand picture. They shine in answering customer queries, handling complaints and turning clients into loyal brand advocates.
Let’s make a direct comparison between the two.
Task Diversity
- VAs handle various tasks.
- CSRs ensure customer satisfaction is high and are masters of the field.
Adaptability
- VAs switch gears depending on your current workload. They can write a blog post today and manage customer data the next.
- CSRs stay within their lane and are solely dedicated to delivering good customer interaction
Responsibilities
- VAs understand your business and are highly equipped to anticipate your needs before you even say them.
- CSRs empower your brand’s voice and put a lot of weight in every customer interaction. They seek opportunities in every client they handle to raise brand experience.
The Best Way to Hire a Customer Support VA
Now that you’ve gotten more information about what virtual customer support is, get started with hiring!
Here’s what you need to accelerate your recruitment process:
- List all the tasks you need your virtual assistant customer service to complete on your behalf.
- Write down the skills and other specific requirements needed to successfully accomplish the tasks you listed. This can help in drafting an accurate job description and yielding valuable candidates.
- Be upfront with your expectations regarding working style, deadlines and how you want the job to be accomplished.
Although there are other means to enlist a remote worker, it’s a lot easier to hire them through a virtual assistant company such as VAV.
With us, you can connect with a pre-vetted and highly-trained virtual assistant. We have a strict hiring process to make certain you’re working with a capable assistant who can consistently deliver. The only thing you have to do is take the first step to connect with us.
Here’s how to elevate your e-commerce customer service.
Wrapping Up!
Your customers are your entire business—they’re kings! But without a virtual assistant customer service, it’s hard to treat them like one, especially for growing startups.
Your company can only survive and thrive by keeping clients happy, and that’s what a VA does. They go out of their way to accommodate clients 24/7, addressing their questions and needs promptly.
If you’re interested in taking your customer support to the next level, turn to us. We are true experts in providing excellent virtual assistant customer service.