Customer experience became the “Ace” in the sleeve of companies that endure and become successful. That’s why having a remote customer service team that guarantees incredible experiences for your clients can be your lauch pad to the next level.
Maybe now you’re thinking… “Okay, having a support or customer service team is a good idea… But that means more expenses than I can’t afford now…”
There’s some truth to this. Adding new people to your equipment may mean you have to rent more space. Add to this the cost of electricity, heating the office in winter, cooling it in summer, etc.
But… in case you hadn’t noticed, I talked about putting together a remote support team. What does this mean? Hiring freelancers to do your company’s support and customer service!
Now you may have the following question:
How can you ensure that your customer service with a remote team meets your expectations?
By building a remote customer service team based on a plan that meets the requirements that are functional to your company, business or project.
For example:
- Establishing clearly and in advance what their functions will be
- What do you want your remote customer service team to have
- What types of work they must do
- Which customer service channels need coverage
- And the treatment you want to convey to your clients through this medium.
Building a remote customer service team from the ground up will allow you to ensure that the support and customer service that can take your business to the next level is delivered. And you will do it with the most suitable people for this task and without this demanding large sums of money.
For you to succeed in consolidating your remote customer service team, we’ll provide you with a quick implementation guide to start looking for the people who will make up “your perfect team” :).
1. Create a list of the qualities you want in your remote team members
Remote working may not be for everyone… In order to carry out this type of work, a high level of commitment and communication skills is required. Generally, those who have experience working as freelancers have the ability to:
- work independently,
- solve problems,
- prioritize tasks,
- encouraging entrepreneurship
- have a great desire to be part of a successful project.
That’s why you’re going to want to team up with freelancers.
That being said… We recommend you to clearly define what kind of qualities you want in the people who will form your remote customer service team. And before hiring someone, you can base your search on the following qualities:
- Mastery in the art of communication.
- Availability of technological resources.
- Positive and growth attitudes.
- Self-motivation and discipline to work independently.
- Experience (i.e. previous self-employment, business projects, etc.).
2. Create a detailed description of the work to be done
When looking for freelancers to join your remote customer service team, it is necessary for them to feel that by fulfilling this task they will not only contribute to an essential part of the company’s growth, such as customer service, but they will also be able to excel in their roles.
In order for them to see the importance of their work, you need to make a detailed presentation of the work they will be doing. In order for this presentation to be really attractive and to invite freelancers to join your team, it must include some fundamental points, for example:
- Make it clear what you want to achieve with this section of your company. Because it’s important for you to have committed people. And give details about what this work entails.
- Provide a broader view of your business: the culture, the environment, what you do, what you want to achieve as a company.
- Be very specific when presenting the essential requirements for candidates. Include everything that is essential for the person who wants to join your remote customer service team. (Like experiences, qualities, skills, languages, etc.)
- Give precise step-by-step instructions for their functions.
3. Be patient when recruiting
Remember that you’re looking for people to join your remote customer service team, so you’ll need to take the time to find the best candidates.
Surely you will receive many applicants, however, you will need to take some time and analyze them well until you find the right person(s) for your team.
4. Pre-qualify your candidates
You have to be prepared to receive large numbers of applicants. And you should know that not everyone will meet your requirements. This is why you can evaluate each of the applicants and point out the ones that most closely match your needs.
At Workana, you will be able to see the profiles of the different candidates, their qualifications and the ratings of other people they have worked with.
Once you have this pre-qualification list, contact them. Let them know that they have passed the first stage or that they have been shortlisted. (This will prevent the ideal candidate for your remote customer service team from choosing to work with someone else).
Remember that in our platform are the best talents of the remote work and they have an important demand in the market. This is another of the huge advantages that online recruitment offers you, you can have the best as part of your team, and working from any place in the world.
5. Test the communication skills of the your best candidates
The time to select a person to join your remote customer service team is crucial and in addition to their experience, reference and good CV you should consider their ability to communicate remotely.
To learn these skills you must include a direct contact with each of your candidates in your selection process. You can make video calls or use Workana’s chat channel where you have one-on-one conversations.
The idea is that you can discover who has a developed ability to communicate. Because here’s the secret to making your remote customer service team really successful and working wonders.
It is very important that when you contact them, you also seek to discover:
- If their personal values are in line with your company’s values and mission;
- If they fully understand what service they will be required to provide;
- And if they’re 100% willing to be part of a team.
Extra tip: Include two fundamental questions in your interviews to gather people for your customer service team.
- Why do you want to work for… NAME OF YOUR COMPANY HERE…?
- How do you think your skills and experience can help our clients?
6. Choose to pay for a fixed fee or by the hour
The opportunity to form a remote customer service team with freelancers gives you another advantage (in addition to all the ones we have seen so far) because at Workana you can select your hiring method.
That’s right! By having freelancers as members of your team through our platform, you can choose to hire them for a specific task (e.g. answering 10 emails a day or closing 12 support tickets, etc.). Or by number of hours per day (4 hours a day from Monday to Friday, for example).
This flexibility when contracting allows you to create a budget according to your possibilities. Avoiding you to assume money commitments, which you don’t know if you can afford.
In addition, by hiring through Workana, both parties (you who hire and the one as a freelancer) are supported so as not to take risks. Because the platform guarantees that the arrangement that has been agreed between the two parties, is fulfilled and that no one is harmed.
7. Perform the task yourself before you hire someone else
The best way to instruct and train another person to do a specific job within your company is to have done the job yourself. This way you will know exactly what you need to do and all the possible options to do it.
Doing the job yourself will make it easier for you to recognize the ideal candidate. Since you will know if the candidate has what it takes to develop it.
Basis for building a successful remote customer service team
Beyond the steps you choose to take to build your remote customer service team, you would surely like to know some guidelines needed to ensure the success of this new team you have built…
To help you, before we finish, let’s give you a few quick steps:
- Organize a group meeting: Once you’ve done the hiring and have the right people for your team, the best thing to do is to organize a virtual meeting with all the members. The aim of this is not only to get to know each other. But also to make them feel that they are all part of the same team and that are important within it. This type of meeting facilitates communication and establishes the dynamics of the work. It also gives the possibility of establishing agreements between team members. Such as meeting times or days, as they can be in different parts of the world.
- Tools: in order for your remote customer service team to function smoothly, you need to make sure that each member has access to the tools and resources they will be using as a working medium. It is very important that everyone is equipped with them and knows how to use them to facilitate teamwork.
- Timeline of achievements and objectives: Defining in advance the achievements that the team will have to achieve will make everyone work towards the same goal. Encourages teamwork. Make it clear what you expect them to achieve by working together and help them set goals together.
- Establish a map of achievements: It is logical that you want to be sure that the people you have selected are the right people to do this job correctly. To avoid mistakes and disappointment, you can create an achievement map. Where people advance little by little and gain responsibilities and tasks of greater weight, according to their development. This map will allow you to get to know your team and recognize which of them can grow within the team. It can also act as an incentive for each member to motivate themselves to go for more within your company.
If you’re thinking that finding the perfect candidates for your team is going to take time on your behalf, you may be right. That’s why we want to help you by providing you with a list of the best remote workers in the world. If you wish you can click here and find the best candidates for your remote customer service team
However, consider that no matter how long it takes you to find the perfect remote customer service team members, when you find them and get them all on the same page, you’ll have what you need to take your client’s experience to the next level. And remember that the clients are the ones who bring your business to life 😉
The good news is that hiring freelancers is often a much faster and lighter process than traditional hiring.
I hope this article has been enlightening about the importance of creating a remote customer service team for your business. Here’s a quote from Steve Jobs (Founder of Apple): “In business world, important things are not done by one person. They’re made by a group of people”.
No entrepreneur can think that they will reach the finish line alone, everyone needs help to cross the finish line. If you’re thinking of taking your business to the next level, a remote customer service team will help you achieve it.
Here you can find the most qualified freelancers to be part of your team
