Finding the Right Service from Outsourced Accountants

Freelance contractors are now in demand in many developed countries. New businesses are emerging every year and the demand for outsourced accountants have increased. The choice of hiring a virtual accountant has become convenient for owners of large scale, medium scale, or even small businesses. Financial firms have a large database of outsourced accountants. How are you going to choose for a qualified accountant that can give you quality service? This article will help you in determining the right accountant that will fit the needs of your company.

How do you choose the right accountant to hire?

Take a look first in online directories. Accountants listed come from all over the world and they are too many a number. To check their experience, look for freelance accountants with good feedback from previous clients. If the accountant works for an outsourcing financial firm, then you may want to ask for the company’s feedback in addition. Personal recommendations from colleagues work pretty well, too.

The most important factor in hiring an accountant is to check their qualifications. There are a lot of trainings available today for people to qualify as an accountant. However, a certified professional is better. Many of the outsourced accountants are actually accountancy graduates and certified public accountants (CPA). It is best to get a professional that underwent training and has a large amount of accounting experience. Accountants have their own specialization and it is highly recommended not just to hire a general assistant but someone whose services offered will fit the need of your business.

The benefits of getting a virtual accountant

A virtual accountant is an employer that will perform all of your bookkeeping and other financial account duties over a remote location. Communication with your personal accountant will only be through the internet using email and web messaging. All data processes are to be done using computer software equipped with latest application techniques. Virtual accountants have a wide catalogue of resources online which gives them the ability to deliver work faster and more accurate.

These experts are usually independent contractors that have the capability to perform accounting functions such as preparing your cash flow statements, balance sheets, year-end accounts, etc. Most often, they also offer you additional services like analysis of your financial budget, one-on-one consultation and recommendation.

Outsourcing your financial tasks can be the idyllic solution for your company. Run free from all the pressure of tax returns, managing accounts and even payroll by employing outsourced accountants. These people are flexible in work schedule, job description and salary. You can now free up your time and focus on more important stuff in your office.

Outsourcing Customer Service to Call Centers

Call Center industries have boomed in third world countries as a result of the outsourcing strategy that many companies have adapted. These call centers handle the customer service of the company. Instead of the head office worrying about pleasing their clients and addressing their problems, it’s more convenient to let another firm do the work. Not only are they saved from all the hassle, but also from financial problems. Outsourcing customer service to call centers in developing countries such as the Philippines is a smart way to sustain your business.

The Importance of Customer Service

Prices of goods and services have increased due to swinging trends in the economic market,. People have become more watchful on how they spend their money. Grand advertisements are no longer enough as a marketing strategy. It all boils down now to the experience that the customer gets from a good. Customer service becomes a part of their experience. It is the new marketing reality that would give you an advantage over countless competitors. Outstanding customer service is your trump card in this game of commerce.

Satisfaction comes from the quality of the product and the maintenance support that consumers get from the manufacturer. This is the very reason why client service is a crucial factor in the success of every business. When customers receive quick and effective solutions from your company, they will continue using your product and services. An excellent customer support manages to up sell existing patrons and acquire new ones through good management. All you need are competitive people who know all the stages of sales and follow-up action. Your team of experts is made possible through outsourcing your business to a call center firm.

Functions of a Call Center Company

A typical day in a call center office is described by hundreds of agents taking a large volume of calls from customers thousands of miles away. From the name itself, these firms are hired by big international companies to handle telephone calls from their clients. The services offered by call center firms vary from assisting simple inquiries to one on one technical product tutorial. Calls, however, are not limited to receiving or inbound. Agents also make outbound calls to clients. These are commonly for marketing, sales, or collection of bills for financial accounts. Aside from servicing the clients through phone, they also have non-voice employees that answer clients via electronic mail or online.

Call centre companies are usually located in developing countries because of the large demand of jobs from the workforce. As a result, salary rates of these employees are relatively lower than mainland workers. Major businesses take the outsourcing trend offshore to save on time and costs of operation.

How to Work With Virtual Assistants

Many entrepreneurs at present have gone to the challenge of outsourcing. Not only big companies, but individual clients as well are qualified to outsource services. Most of the time, individual businessmen hire virtual assistants to help them maximize their productivity. These are real people whom you get to work with everyday. They are your employees and thus, you should treat them with the same respect as how your company treats you.

Why do you need an assistant?

Try listing down your daily routine schedule and focus on the workload you get. Check on the tasks that actually give you returns and those that are necessary, but unproductive. If the most profitable activity sets at the bottom of your list, then you seriously need an assistant.

Making use of a virtual assistant allows you to focus on more important things than just answering emails, taking phone calls, and uploading articles in your website, and other pointless random things. This allows you to make the most out of the big projects that will give you long term benefits. Virtual assistants are available to simplify your life at a relatively low cost. Talk about being efficient and effective in your work and producing money spinning outputs at the end of the day. It’s all about working smart, not hard.

Working ethics with virtual assistants
Virtual assistant jobs may be easy but are a bit of a hassle for people in that position. They work hard on your assignments because they get paid for every hour they spend in front of their computers. It’s never easy to deal with customer problems, especially dealing with irate clients. So, there are things that you must understand in your personal assistant. Things like cooperation and respect to encourage your employee to stay.

For virtual assistants to work effectively, they need clear instructions and minimal supervision from their employer. Always stick to their job description and never assign tasks that they are not meant to do. It is better to emphasize the qualifications that you need in your VA-hunting. Make it a habit to provide precise guidelines and timeline for each project to make sure that they are submitted before the deadline. Think of sending out tasks which are reasonable and can be done by your assistant and within their agreed working hours. Communicate with them regularly to make sure they are doing the right job.

In your game plan, you are the leader and your virtual assistants are your followers. Be an ideal boss and trust your workers. Treat them as your colleagues of equal value. You will be surprised as to how your assistants deliver quality service if you know how to treat them the right way.

Improve User Experience through Customer Engagement

New businesses are emerging everywhere and technological advancements have made it so easy to market products. Thus, competition in the market has become tougher than ever.

Customer engagement is the key for you to encourage more buyers and gain constancy. The objective is to enhance your service to get each customer to stay and patronize your brand. In addition, satisfied buyers definitely create referrals through word of mouth. Making personal connections is essential to build long standing relationships and stir sustained profits.

Customer engagement is going beyond the traditional customer service. Exhibit passion in your business through the way you interact with your clients. Communication is the first step in engaging your customer. Provide quality service outside the transactional and go the extra mile by answering inquiries and providing sincere recommendations. There are three important points in building a successful customer relationship: understanding, sincerity, and continuity. Understand to get what they need and know what they want. Show sincerity to acquire clients’ trust. Nourish that relationship through continued communication with your customers.

How you treat your customers become part of their experience as they buy your product. The first contact is critical because it shapes their first impression of the brand. Customer perception determines the percentage of the shopper coming back to your store. Hence, you must understand how important product and user experience is in setting apart your company from others. A company provides a good user experience if they give prompt solutions to item issues, if they understand the needs of their customer, and if they practice customer engagement. It’s useful to put yourself in a buyer’s shoes. Ask yourself the questions consumers are supposed to address to you. Always think, “Why will customers patronize my product?”

Consider the fact that people are becoming more and more engaged in digital devices and online interaction. As smart technology is established, consumer expectations continue to grow. Assume that people will be more demanding and level of inquiries will be more difficult to handle than before. Keep up with the pace through customer engagement and invest on first hand client familiarity. It is your responsibility to look for ways to make it simple for consumers to get in touch with you digitally. Utilize social media and connect with your customers both online and offline. Develop a strategy that will create a pleasant and meaningful occurrence. Make their first experience count.

Why Hire A Virtual Personal Assistant From The Philippines

Virtual Assistants in the Philippines

Many offshore third party firms are looking towards the Philippines and India as a major part of their workforce. These firms cater services to major companies who want to outsource their business to third world countries like the Philippines in order to cut off their operating cost. These agencies particularly look for a virtual personal assistant suited to their clients' taste.

Through remote communication software on the internet, clients can manage their employees remotely and efficiently using instant messaging and file sharing like Skype or Yahoo Messenger. A potential assistant should possess basic knowledge in office skills and must be a computer literate. Moreover, he or she needs to have excellent English proficiency both in communication and writing, to be able to communicate with the clients effectively. Adaptive skills are also vital especially in working with clients in a different time zone.

The Philippines has a very flexible workforce when it comes to working hours. Since being a virtual personal assistant only requires a computer and a reliable internet, this job can typically be done by homeshoring. Third party agencies have virtual assistants that can adjust to their clients preferred working time. Mostly, clients come from Europe, Australia, and America thus, online assistants work to the office hours in the client country.

Many clients prefer to use call centers, where there is 24/7 lockdown facilities, enhanced security, back up generator, and where the virtual assistants work in teams. There is continuity of service, training provided regularly to the virtual team, and no sickness or brownouts.

The advanatge of having a call center group in India, the Philippines, the UK and USA for example is that if violent weather affects one facility, the others kick in, with the result that your service needs are not affected.

What Filipino Virtual Assistants Can Offer You

True enough that you can hire a Filipino employee and offer him or her a relatively low salary, but saving labour costs are not the only advantage that you can get from your workers in the Philippines. There are more to Filipino professionals than a cheap pay for services.

The Philippines is full of highly educated people who have finished college and earned degrees. Moreover because of the influence of Western countries, English is taught in every school whether public or private. Hence, English has become the second language of Filipinos who are among the most fluent speakers in Asia. The Western culture has somehow been incorporated into this race and so they’ve become easier to relate to and thus, easier to work with.

Filipinos are naturally hard working, so you would expect assistants that would follow everything you say with instructions in one go. A Filipino virtual personal assistant can finish projects with minimal supervision. They are also a respectful and friendly people. They can become your most loyal employers and with their loyalty comes dedication to their work and to giving you quality outputs.

Becoming a personal assistant requires resourcefulness, organization, and cooperation with the clients. These are the reasons why a majority of outsourcing firms decide to hire virtual assistants from the Philippines.

Experience world class service from Filipino professionals. Hire your own virtual personal assistant from the Philippines.

The Nature of Work of a Virtual Assistant

Virtual Assistant Defined

A virtual assistant is an independent contractor that utilizes the technology of computers and the online world. The core competency of a virtual assistant lies on his or her technical skills in using different computer applications such as Microsoft Office, Adobe, and Multimedia softwares. As self-employed individuals, they have the advantage of working on a flexible schedule and in the comforts of their own homes. They work directly with their clients online and they correspond using different virtual communication devices like Skype, email, Web Messenger, and phone call conferences.

Where to find your virtual assistants?

Whether an individual employer or a company, they prefer to outsource work to virtual personal assitants working in call centers. The value of this strategy is to have efficient lines of communication, and where a business is using a team this is the best method of secure, recordable customer engagement and efficiency. The second approach is to work with an outsourcer who can supply you with an exact fit on your requirement of the personal assitant that you require. The third approach is to try a freelancer, but quality may or may not be exhited in the assitant that you choose – so you have more of risk that in the latter two.

The choice of outsourcer will also depend on whether you take one in a Western country like the UK, US, Australia or New Zealand for example, particulaly a firm that has call centers overseas in countries like the Philippines and India to name a few rather than you using a call center in an offshore country that may or may not have the quality that you are looking for. Foreign company certificates, notarized documents do not have the same weight as British or American law for example.

What are the types of work of Virtual Assistants?

They have the option to hire them full time or part time and they can also decide the time frame of the contract. Employers hire online assistants to distribute their workload by assigning specific work to different individuals depending on their specialization skills. This allows CEO’s or corporation heads to focus on their major duties and responsibilities to the company.

There are a wide variety of jobs available for virtual working assistants. Depending on your capabilities, work experiences, training and marketing strategy, you can absolutely find a decent work with professionals. There are two broad categories of online jobs. Assistants’ workload is usually composed of secretarial or administrative work. Most of the time, these contractors often give that extra mile to their most trusted employers and do both works at the same time.

Secretarial duties are tied to providing all around assistance to the employer. Here is a list of examples of secretarial works:

• Researching
• Data Entry
• File compilation
• Video Editing
• Writing Articles
• Video and Article Submission
• Making schedules and appointments
• Handling clients (especially when they became irate)
• Attending meetings
• Composing letters
• Booking travels of your employer
• And other tedious tasks such as ordering flowers and gifts

Administrative duties on the other hand are associated with supervising. As a supervisor, you deal with your boss, his other employees and his clients. Here is a list of administrative positions:

• Executive Assistant
• Project Manager
• Managing Director
• Administrating forums and/or web sites
• Updating software
• Managing applications
• Monitoring network security
• Monitoring workforce of a specific department
• Communication operator

All of these are just general descriptions of careers for virtual workers. Their expertise commonly lies in any of the following areas: Executive, Legal, Medical and Information and Technology areas. Some of the specialized jobs include:

• Customer Service Representative
• Sales Agent
• Technical Support Specialist
• Marketing assistant
• Web developer
• Software programmer
• Graphic designer
• Article writer
• Telesales
• Transcriptionist
• SEO specialist
• Accountant
• Human Resource Administrator

There are so much more to explore in the possible careers of a virtual assistant. You will be surprised at how many employers will compete for your skills and services. Be an online assistant today.

Outsourcing Services: The BPO Industry

Outsourcing services have been the frequent approach of international companies to save financial assets. Basically, outsourcing is the process in which a company transfers to a third party service provider some of the menial services that they cater. Contracting third party firms offshore, or outside the country where the business is located, is the most common method of outsourcing. The main reason is workforce from third world countries has cheap labour costs.

How is Business Process Outsourcing Useful?

The Business Process Outsourcing industry is one of the most successful types of outsourcing services. Its hype started in 2001 and has been swiftly growing in the past decade. Due to the fluctuating economy, outsourcing was seen to be the liberator of businesses facing near economic failure. Until today, companies take advantage of outsourcing services for the very same reason --- to save money.

Outsourcing involves redeploying minimal tasks that are still necessary to keep the business operating. Hence, the main site can focus its attention on core services and strategic plans to produce more profit and build an economical lead in the market. These outsourced services are usually low revenue generating activities, so companies feel the need to pay less for them.

The process of outsourcing cuts the need of companies to increase their staff. Human resource can be provided by the third party agencies offshore. If you only have a few employees, then you don’t need to expand your office territory to keep your production on going. Outsourcing is very advantageous as it requires low capital investment but renders large profits.

BPO Call Center Companies

Offshore BPO companies provide two types of service: back office and front office. Back office jobs are administrative jobs like Payroll and Human Resource. Creating straight contact with clients and handling their problems directly are examples of front office jobs.

Customer service is an example of a front office BPO task. Call center companies hire customer service representatives or popularly known as call center agents. These agents are the asset of the BPO industry. They are equipped with skills and trained to gain product knowledge. Their core competency lies in their English proficiency and technical expertise that provide customer assistance. They work beyond their normal working hours and on a shifting schedule to make the 24/7 customer support hotline possible.

With the rise of the BPO industry in the third world countries, call center companies also increased in number. Thus, it created more jobs for the people. A large, competent workforce offshore is very much available to cater the outsourcing services of business companies. Hiring them will simplify your job, save your company a great deal of money, and maximize your revenue.

Types of Outsourcing Services

Businesses today use different outsourcing services to maximize the resources of the company. Outsourcing is the method of looking for an external company or third party firm to work on minor services. Outsourcing services are categorized into two broad groups: BPO and KPO outsourcing.

What is Business Process Outsourcing?

The BPO or Business Process Outsourcing involves assigning a particular department to a third party employee. BPO work can either be a back office or a front office related job. Back office employees handle the internal operations of the vendor. They do not deal directly with the clients of the company. Some of the most common examples of back office departments are:

• Payroll Department
• Human Resource Department
• Accounting Department
• IT Services
• Data Entry

These jobs do not actually produce money for the company but they are as important as they are complicated. They are needed to keep the company organized and running. The front office employees are the ones that talk directly to the clients. They are better known as the Customer Service Representatives or agents. These agents answer calls and provide technical support to the customers. They also generate sales for the company.

What is Knowledge Process Outsourcing?

The KPO or Knowledge Process Outsourcing requires more professional employees as the type of work  call for a higher level of skills. KPO jobs basically involve advanced research in technology. This is the Research and Development department of the company. KPO workforce is of higher band than that of the BPO group as they make significant decisions for the improvement of the company.

The Popularity of BPO Companies

Between the two major outsourcing service categories, Business Process Outsourcing is the most popular move of business firms today. BPO companies are more commonly known as the Call Center Companies. Most often they are located offshore because of the savings that international firms benefit from them. You can find typically find BPO companies in countries in Asia and South America. The workforce from these countries offers quality service at a relatively low salary. Companies prefer offshore workers because they can get the same service at a cheaper cost.

With the competition in the global market getting tighter, enterprises are challenged in terms of adding value to their business and moving up the economic ladder. They need to make use of whatever and wherever resources they’ve got. As a result, they opt to take advantage of outsourcing services. Business Process Outsourcing and Knowledge Process Outsourcing is the most effective and most efficient way to run a business company today.

How To Become A Virtual Writer

In this digital age, everything can be done by using the technology of computers and the internet. The online community is facing rapid growth. In the cyber world, you can meet different people. You meet friends, businessmen, shoppers, teachers, programmers, web designers, and a greater number of virtual writers. 

Social networking is the most common activity done on the internet. Blogging is a form of social networking. Blogs are like online journals of people who want to share their thoughts with the world. Aside from using it to exercise our freedom of expression, blogs are also used as a new form of media. The contents of these web logs vary according to different themes. In most cases, since blogs are used for marketing, the contents are informative and factual in nature. Although, most of the ideas reflect the opinion of the writers.

The Importance of Virtual Writers in the Online World

One of the most important uses of web logs is delivering information to the masses. This is the main job of a of virtual writers. Their major responsibility is to maintain the website and to write updates continuously. These professionals are not only limited to working on these mini websites. They can work as wll as being a copywriter for a big company’s web site. Their writing skill is the key in promoting the trade. They remit money for these businesses and they are compensated with a good pay for making use of their talent.

In the world of SEO search engine optimization virtual writer’s continue to increase the rank of a web site on Google by adding fresh copy to the site in the forms of blogs, and virtual assistants feed that copy into back links on article sites and in commenting on sites.

In the world of PR they add value as journalists, and pass that copy to virtual personal assistants who tweet and retweet through twitter.

How To Become A Professional Virtual Writer

International and local companies looking for the best way to market their business need to build a website and hire an excellent of virtual writers. Before marketing businesses of other people, a writer needs to market their skill first in order to become a professional in this field.

If you have the talent, then all you need to do is develop it. Start by creating your own blog and writing articles of different genres to improve your writing proficiency. When you feel like you are ready to write for other people, create the most striking resume and an impressive portfolio to match. It is very important that you know your strengths and weaknesses in writing. Know your field of expertise and know how to pick a topic. Develop a professional attitude in your works and how you work. Meet deadlines and get excellent feedbacks from your employers.

The Benefits from Offshore Outsourcing

Outsourcing is generally practiced in many countries today. It is considered as a lifesaver by business companies on the edge of financial suppression. The major reason for a company to find another contractor for their business is to save money. To outsource means to hand over a particular work or service to an employee that is outside of the corporation. They are called third-party companies. You have the option to hire a third-party company in the same place where your business is located or hire from another country.

What Are The Advantages Of Outsourcing?

Outsourcing, as many business analysts say, is the last resort of companies facing a financial crisis. That does not necessarily mean that moving your operations offshore will not give you quality service. There is a positive way of looking at this option. It can help your company in a lot of ways in different aspects other than financial.

Transferring minimal work with third-party employees allows you to focus on your company’s priorities. If you want to center on marketing and accounting details, leave the servicing part to your offshore team. This way, you can provide service to your clients 24/7 if you choose to offset your business like in Asia and the Philippines. Moreover, you can hire third-parties seasonally. Whenever the need for human resource arises, you can get in touch with your intermediary service provider and make a contract. It provides stability in the operations of the company. It’s maximizes the productivity of your business and, in turn, maximizes your profits.

Whatever type of service it is that you need to assign to another company or another group of employees, make sure to hire a competent and trustworthy team to ensure quality service delivered.

The Benefits Of Outsourcing To A Third-Party Service Provider

When a business company outsources one of their services in another country, they are outsourcing offshore. These service providers are usually based in Asia. Some of the leading human resource contributors are countries like India, Philippines, and China. The most popular outsourced service of companies in America and Europe is customer service. India and the Philippines are the top two countries that excel in the Call Centre Business. These offshore businesses also profit from outsourcing.

Since international companies need the maximum number of employees to work for them outside, they actually provide more jobs for people in offshore countries. Moreover, these companies are able to learn from the new skills that they can get from foreign professionals. Skills are also the reason they need to hire new people from new places. They can acquire new techniques and strategies that they do not possess within the company.