Make Money as a Freelance Customer Support Representative
Make Money as a Freelance Customer Support Representative
Review your customer support profile:
* Spelling and grammar mistakes can kill your freelance chances. You're asking to represent someone's business to the world as a customer support representative. You need to be demonstrate a professional level of grammatical abilities.
* Mention "customer support" in your freelance skills list or in the title for your customer support representative profile. Make sure your professional profile reflects your interest in the freelance customer support opportunity.
* Take the right freelance customer support skills tests. Placing highly in online Call Center Skills Test and Email Etiquette Tests (such as those found over on oDesk.com) demonstrates your virtual assistant customer support representative skills and shows you've taken time to establish your freelance abilities rather than just inquiring into the virtual assistant position because you happen to have a phone.
Nail the customer support interview:
* Be professional, positive and polite. The person outsourcing the virtual assistant position is thinking, "This is the voice my customers will hear when they call in for support. This is the attitude my customers will encounter."
* Ask smart questions. A customer support person or versatile virtual assistant is a freelance problem solver who deftly cuts to the heart of the matter to come up with a quick, appealing solution. Inquire about the kinds of questions the outsourcing organization's callers will have, the tools and authority you'll have to solve the customer's problems, the customer support training you'll receive and the metrics through which you will receive feedback on your freelance efforts. Ask the outsourcing company if you can listen in on a few live (or prerecorded) customer support calls?
* Treat the the person outsourcing the customer support/virtual assistant assignment like a customer. When the interview is over, ask whether there's anything else you can do for them right now, and wish him/her a good day, leaving them feeling the way they want their customers to feel after speaking with you as a customer support representative.
Do the job:
* Keep a reliable freelance schedule. If you aren't able to commit to a consistent time commitment right now, freelance virtual assistant jobs probably won't work out for you.
* Provide frequent support reports. While there is a degree of autonomy expected--after all, the company is outsourcing the customer support virtual assistant work to you--you should be sure to let them see that you are a thorough and responsible freelance professional, and provide them all of the information needed to be confident in your customer support work as a virtual assistant .
* Make people happy. Be a creative freelance problem solver within the parameters the outsourcing company sets forth. Never tell customers, "Hey, I don't know," or "That's not my department." Be positive, empathetic, and utterly solution-oriented: "I will get back to you with an answer" or "Let me ask my manager."
If you're a quick-thinking "people person," you could have a lot of success as a freelance customer support representative and/or virtual assistant helping outsourcing companies to keep their customers satisfied. Just make sure that from the minute you apply for the remote freelance customer support representative job, you know how to keep your customer (the employer) satisfied, too.
Make Money as a Freelance Customer Support Representative - To learn more about this author, visit Daryl James's Website.
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Customer support representative, as a discrete freelance job or as one facet of the "virtual assistant" position, is a great opportunity for a remote provider with strong interpersonal skills and a natural ability to solve problems. But it can be hard to stand out among applicants for a remote freelance job involving human language and "common" interpersonal support skills. Following are some tips to improve your chances of landing that freelance customer support representative position:
Review your customer support profile:
* Spelling and grammar mistakes can kill your freelance chances. You're asking to represent someone's business to the world as a customer support representative. You need to be demonstrate a professional level of grammatical abilities.
* Mention "customer support" in your freelance skills list or in the title for your customer support representative profile. Make sure your professional profile reflects your interest in the freelance customer support opportunity.
* Take the right freelance customer support skills tests. Placing highly in online Call Center Skills Test and Email Etiquette Tests (such as those found over on oDesk.com) demonstrates your virtual assistant customer support representative skills and shows you've taken time to establish your freelance abilities rather than just inquiring into the virtual assistant position because you happen to have a phone.
Nail the customer support interview:
* Be professional, positive and polite. The person outsourcing the virtual assistant position is thinking, "This is the voice my customers will hear when they call in for support. This is the attitude my customers will encounter."
* Ask smart questions. A customer support person or versatile virtual assistant is a freelance problem solver who deftly cuts to the heart of the matter to come up with a quick, appealing solution. Inquire about the kinds of questions the outsourcing organization's callers will have, the tools and authority you'll have to solve the customer's problems, the customer support training you'll receive and the metrics through which you will receive feedback on your freelance efforts. Ask the outsourcing company if you can listen in on a few live (or prerecorded) customer support calls?
* Treat the the person outsourcing the customer support/virtual assistant assignment like a customer. When the interview is over, ask whether there's anything else you can do for them right now, and wish him/her a good day, leaving them feeling the way they want their customers to feel after speaking with you as a customer support representative.
Do the job:
* Keep a reliable freelance schedule. If you aren't able to commit to a consistent time commitment right now, freelance virtual assistant jobs probably won't work out for you.
* Provide frequent support reports. While there is a degree of autonomy expected--after all, the company is outsourcing the customer support virtual assistant work to you--you should be sure to let them see that you are a thorough and responsible freelance professional, and provide them all of the information needed to be confident in your customer support work as a virtual assistant .
* Make people happy. Be a creative freelance problem solver within the parameters the outsourcing company sets forth. Never tell customers, "Hey, I don't know," or "That's not my department." Be positive, empathetic, and utterly solution-oriented: "I will get back to you with an answer" or "Let me ask my manager."
If you're a quick-thinking "people person," you could have a lot of success as a freelance customer support representative and/or virtual assistant helping outsourcing companies to keep their customers satisfied. Just make sure that from the minute you apply for the remote freelance customer support representative job, you know how to keep your customer (the employer) satisfied, too.
Make Money as a Freelance Customer Support Representative - To learn more about this author, visit Daryl James's Website.
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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