Finding a part time home based customer service person?

[Frimley111R]

One of my businesses is going well but I recognise that my time is very limited and that I am good at/enjoy the business development but not the repetitive sales process (we deal with a lot of domestic customers and the paperwork is quite involved).

It has been suggested that I recruit a part time 'mum' (or Dad!), who is sitting at home and no longer using the great skills/abilities that they have due to kids/ill parents etc.

This sounds great but I am a little unsure where/how to find such people in my local area and what to pay them. I know this is fairly common issue and that many people do use outsourced people like this and so I wondered if any of you would share your experiences?

Thanks

 

[Mr D]

If home based go national.

As for how to find them - first work out what you want them doing, then work out what that is worth to you.
Then various job sites including job centre or use social media etc.

 

[sherbetdipdab]

Try linkedin if you use that a lot. Or peopleperhour.com is great. You will find loads of freelancers on there. Use them through pph to start with then go direct and cut out the high fees.

Eg https://www.peopleperhour.com/admin...nt&keyword=administration+support&location=GB

 

[Annoying Donkey]

Why not use your social network...? Who do friends and family know...?

 

[Frimley111R]

Thanks all. I had not considered PPH but did want someone localish to me and PPH does not search by locality. I may try a local Facebook jobs group or, as suggested, recommendations from friends.

I

 

[Noah]

Why not use your social network...? Who do friends and family know...?

On the other hand - friends-and-family sent me a chap who was a nutter; I had to fire him after only a couple of weeks when he barged into my office and started shouting at me about not telling him how to do his job.

A few weeks later the comment was passed back "Yeah, he can be a bit like that..." - would have been useful to know before going to all the effort of employing him, although we did shortcut the usual selection process because... friends-and-family.

Lesson learned.

In general experience, after starting with good intentions I have learned to avoid f-a-f employees - fraught with similar risks to those of starting a business partnership.

 

[sherbetdipdab]

Thanks all. I had not considered PPH but did want someone localish to me and PPH does not search by locality. I may try a local Facebook jobs group or, as suggested, recommendations from friends.

I

I would be careful about going local or friends/family. Like Noah said. It can be awks when you have a connection. If they are remote then they really don't need to be local. You can work with people you have never met. I don't mean abroad but could just be a couple of hours away. Could meet up once a year. Honestly, it will be fine. I would give them an NDA to sign and GDPR privacy policy if they deal with your customer details. Loads of honest and fantastic people working from in this field. For many reasons. Mums/Dads at home, mental/physical disabilities and can't work FT. All can do these jobs, like doing them, and surprise surprise they can do it better than you! Give it a go. Nothing to lose. Good luck

 

[Annoying Donkey]

On the other hand - friends-and-family sent me a chap who was a nutter; I had to fire him after only a couple of weeks when he barged into my office and started shouting at me about not telling him how to do his job.

A few weeks later the comment was passed back "Yeah, he can be a bit like that..." - would have been useful to know before going to all the effort of employing him, although we did shortcut the usual selection process because... friends-and-family.

Lesson learned.

In general experience, after starting with good intentions I have learned to avoid f-a-f employees - fraught with similar risks to those of starting a business partnership.

With respect, that's your selection process at fault. Or maybe your definition of what you're looking for.
Just because they're friends or friends doesn't mean you can forget your normal selection process...

In 40 years of utilising housewives, I've never had anyone like that.
And I've found some absolute gems...

Sure, some don't work out for lots of different reasons, however you need to remember you're in business, which sometimes requires hard decisions, like firing someone you like or who's a friend of a friend. This can be done diplomatically, so friendships aren't lost.

 

[Noah]

With respect, that's your selection process at fault.

Indeed.

On the other hand, no selection process is entirely reliable - some crafty nutters will always get through.

 

[Frimley111R]

Thanks all. I tried posting on my FB wall. I had a friend say his wife might be interested and another say them know someone.
I'm reticent to work with friends/their wives etc.

I started my business with a friend and had to split from him because he was useless. Not my fault apart from not looking into his background and recent history a bit more but despite me being as nice and diplomatic about it as I could be, he took it badly and I occasionally see him at social events we both go to and it's a bit awkward. I should have kept business and social contacts separate.

Given there's only one possibility from this I will try one of the local FB group job boards. I appreciate that I could use someone remote but I'd prefer to have someone closer who I can train up and meet regularly. I actually used my ex business partner in this way and it worked well (apart from him not doing a half-way decent job).

 

[sherbetdipdab]

Oh dear, that does sound awkward and complicated. Different for different people, but personally I stay clear of working with friends or friends of friends or partners. Only work with immediate family or "strangers" (?). Just a lot easier that way.

I would give peopleperhour a go. You can say in the advert "ideally based in this area". I'd be surprised if you didn't get something back.

 

[stuartm1962]

Oh dear, that does sound awkward and complicated. Different for different people, but personally I stay clear of working with friends or friends of friends or partners. Only work with immediate family or "strangers" (?). Just a lot easier that way.

I would give peopleperhour a go. You can say in the advert "ideally based in this area". I'd be surprised if you didn't get something back.

I would steer clear of friends and family too. The people per hour sounds good and if they work out, try and move them away from the site.

 

[Jessica A.]

One of my businesses is going well but I recognise that my time is very limited and that I am good at/enjoy the business development but not the repetitive sales process (we deal with a lot of domestic customers and the paperwork is quite involved).

It has been suggested that I recruit a part time 'mum' (or Dad!), who is sitting at home and no longer using the great skills/abilities that they have due to kids/ill parents etc.

This sounds great but I am a little unsure where/how to find such people in my local area and what to pay them. I know this is fairly common issue and that many people do use outsourced people like this and so I wondered if any of you would share your experiences?

Thanks

Why not outsource overseas. There are tons of workers you can find in the Philippines. They have great work ethic and are incredible people to work with. You can browse through Onlinejobs for an all Filipino VA site with lots of skills to choose from.

 

[stuartm1962]

Why not outsource overseas. There are tons of workers you can find in the Philippines. They have great work ethic and are incredible people to work with. You can browse through Onlinejobs for an all Filipino VA site with lots of skills to choose from.

A lot of people have suggested the Philippines for outsourcing, how do the salaries compare?

 

[sherbetdipdab]

I've never done it but looked into it. I think they are about half the price, but you can still get a brilliant admin person for £10 an hour. Remember you probably won't need them FT, so maybe just 10 hours a week. £100.

I think comms can be a slight issue with the Philippines. I think generally they don't like to ask questions, so can crack on with something but do it a bit wrong.

Try https://outsourced.ph/

 

[Noah]

Have had close business and personal experience with the Phillipines in the past; as said, generally very good people and hard working. However, a very different culture, of course, so be very careful about the assumptions you make. Actually, don't make assumptions - be explicit with instructions, ask questions, and listen carefully. This means communication of your requirements, and monitoring status, will take more time and effort than working with someone local.

 

[stuartm1962]

Have had close business and personal experience with the Phillipines in the past; as said, generally very good people and hard working. However, a very different culture, of course, so be very careful about the assumptions you make. Actually, don't make assumptions - be explicit with instructions, ask questions, and listen carefully. This means communication of your requirements, and monitoring status, will take more time and effort than working with someone local.

That's a good point Noah!

 

[Frimley111R]

Why not outsource overseas. There are tons of workers you can find in the Philippines. They have great work ethic and are incredible people to work with. You can browse through Onlinejobs for an all Filipino VA site with lots of skills to choose from.

I do use overseas web specialists and design specialists but I am not sure that at this point I want to use someone overseas for this type of work.

 

[Jessica A.]

A lot of people have suggested the Philippines for outsourcing, how do the salaries compare?

It's a lot cheaper compared to western countries. Here's the salary range in the Philippines that you might be interested in: http://www.onlinejobs.ph/blog/comprehensive-guide-to-virtual-assistant-salaries-in-the-philippines

 

[serendipitybusiness]

Whatever you do, do not hire abroad for your customer service, it will cost you business and reputation, especially if your company has a structure that incoporates repeat business, hire a UK based person. I always put customer service expenses in my marketing budget as good customer service is the best marketing you can buy.

 

[serendipitybusiness]

Also remember if it is a wahm or dad it is also worth finding out how old the children are if they will be handling calls. I know from personal experiance it is difficult to handle calls with a toddler running around in the background. However there are a lot of very talented work at home mums and dads that are looking for decent work so if you are willing to cast your net a little further then it is worth a shot. Depending on what you need I have a group of home educators that are always looking for extra work. I can send you the facebook group link via pm if you need it.

Also I would not pay minimum at least £9-10 per hour if not £12 if you can afford it. You can even use local recruitment agencies for this kind of thing (I got a client inbetween businesses when my son was younger this way).

 

[Frimley111R]

Whatever you do, do not hire abroad for your customer service, it will cost you business and reputation, especially if your company has a structure that incoporates repeat business, hire a UK based person. I always put customer service expenses in my marketing budget as good customer service is the best marketing you can buy.

Yes, I wouldn't do that. This person will be someone I am in contact with a lot and so I don't want that person to be far from me geographically, let alone in another country.

I'm going to post on PPH and a local FB group today. I'll keep the thread updated as I imagine many others will be in a similar position at some point in the growth of their business.

 

[sherbetdipdab]

I'm going to post on PPH and a local FB group today. I'll keep the thread updated as I imagine many others will be in a similar position at some point in the growth of their business.

Let us know how you get on please.

 

[Frimley111R]

Ok, posted on the local Facebook page for jobs. Lots of them are 'lower level' types of job on there but it looked like a good place to find a few people. Result - 0. A deafening silence.

I posted on my own Facebook wall and had one recommendation but she didn't bother to call.

I also posted on a car/business forum but my post was removed as they deemed it commercial.

I have a couple of enquires from here but they are a bit of a distance from me.

Going well so far....

Posted today on PPH.

 

[sherbetdipdab]

Posted today on PPH.

Thanks for the update. This will be the winner.

 

[Frimley111R]

Hope so...

 

[Frimley111R]

Quick update: One local lady called and we had a chat (Facebook friends referral). She seemed fine but is doing a p/t job for a home builder and may need a bit more money than I may offer.

I have another from PPH (just one) and she could be good too but have not spoken to her yet. Coming from PPH at least she knows what I am paying.

It occurred to me that I may need to provide a phone and so was thinking of getting a cheap smart phone on pay as you go for the successful applicant.

Just need to give a bit more thought to how much work there is initially so I can work out costs.

 

[Lucky8]

A lot of people have suggested the Philippines for outsourcing, how do the salaries compare?

I would urge (with nearly every bone in my body) not to use the Philippines for outsourcing customer service. Filipino men and women tend to be excellent for in-person caring roles or housekeeping, but terrible when they're on the end of the phone and there are no consequences to their actions when dealing with customers.

You think about the worst customer service people you speak to and 9 times out of 10 they'll be either run by Capita or a Manila based call centre. Take a look at Barclays Business Banking whose Manila centre is notorious for mistakes and terrible attitude towards their business customers.

 

[Lucky8]

We have been looking for something similar OP. We found lots of "virtual PA" individuals who will only do work that fits in with their social engagements and desire to have time off. That's the product they offer and of course that's their perrogative to do that, but it makes it very restrictive from a customer perspective. We tried lots of Virtual PA companies who were restrictive and problematic in other ways. We tried friends and family - all of whom regarded it as something paid that would interrupt their leisure time, rather than real work. We gave up I'm afraid. However, we didn't try PPH but unless the work you can give them is in clear chunks (which ours isn't), I don't think it would work.

 

[sherbetdipdab]

It occurred to me that I may need to provide a phone and so was thinking of getting a cheap smart phone on pay as you go for the successful applicant.

Get them a Voipfone for about £100. Connects to their router. You can have one too and transfer calls to you, monitor and record calls, anything you want. Voipfone as a company are excellent too.

 

[estwig]

Get them a Voipfone for about £100. Connects to their router. You can have one too and transfer calls to you, monitor and record calls, anything you want. Voipfone as a company are excellent too.

Voipfone are excellent I've been with them for ever, rather than paying £100.00, get them the voipfone softphone: https://www.voipfone.co.uk/softphone.php

 

[Chris Ashdown]

You seem very vauge on what you actually need the person to do, as there could be many on the forum who know people but rather pointles unless you know the job description and equipmenr requirements

With modern comunications and things like Skyp why is the demand for local so important

Maybe your office setup is not intergrated into a simple system

 

[Frimley111R]

You seem very vague on what you actually need the person to do, as there could be many on the forum who know people but rather pointles unless you know the job description and equipmenr requirements

With modern comunications and things like Skyp why is the demand for local so important

Not what I want them to do but more how much time it will take. I am just trying to my head around that. A person per hour could work well as I start off and then I can build up but I imagine someone wants X amount of work a week and that could be doable but I just need to be clear myself what that is.

Local is important because this is central function of the business and it's what I want.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

You fail to say what they will be doing,this is very important to people so why should they bother to reply for a job where its outside their knowledge or interest and they have no idea of what you want, need

Even people at home be it retired or out of work, disabled or whatever, you still need someone long term rather than teaching someone again in next 6months, so the more information you give the beter results you are likely to get

If you cannot identify what you need and whats required you onto a loosing before you start

 

[Frimley111R]

Well I may not done that on here (as that may be using UKBF for commercial uses) but I have on the adverts themselves