E-commerce business owners – If you’re too busy to deal with the day to day administration of your business, then a Virtual assistant is a great option.

Customer Enquiries

Having a professional on the end of the phone to speak to your customers is paramount if you’re to secure sales and promote a great customer service ethic.

There are still a lot of consumers who like to talk to a human being on the phone so it’s important you can answer the calls!

The same can be said for visitors to your online store – for instance have you got a chat bot on your website? 

What happens when the website visitor needs a bit of extra help?  You’ll need to transfer them to a live operator to handle those types of enquiries on your site.

Then we mustn’t forget the other social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

It’s true that the mobile phone generation tend to use Messenger and Whatsapp to communicate via text rather than pick up a phone so you will need to have all avenues covered!  

Even Google maps has a text facility so who’s answering the queries?

Order Processing

Once you’ve dealt with an enquiry you will then need to take the payment and process the order. 

There are many payment services out there such as Sum Up, Square, Sage, PayPal etc. so you’ve probably got a payment facility set up on your site already – but what about when someone calls and wants to pay over the phone?  Can you handle this? 

After the order is in it has to be sent to the supplier (unless you manufacture your own products in house), but either way you’ll need a process for this to keep on top of your orders and deliveries including all the logistics.

If all goes well and the customer receives your product within good time and there are no issues, you can then follow up for feedback and get these good reviews put on your website and social pages.

However, what if the customer is not happy, or if the order is not fulfilled?  You’ll need someone to handle the complaint, chase up suppliers and liaise with carriers for missing consignments etc.

Only when your customer is happy will they think about purchasing from you again so good customer service and communication is imperative if you’re to gain a great reputation.

This is where a Virtual Assistant can prove very useful, especially if you can’t afford to employ a permanent member or staff or don’t have space for a staff member in your office.

So what exactly can a VA do for e-commerce business owners?

Here are a few suggestions and not limited to:

• Deal with all enquiries be it email, on line chat, messenger, social media, whatsapp or by phone
• Advise customers concerning your product and how it will benefit them
• Take payments over the phone via an on line terminal
• Process/track orders, liaise with suppliers and carriers
• Deal with any issues such as complaints, non-deliveries
• Follow up with the customer for feedback and gain reviews for your business

Your Virtual Assistant will become very knowledgeable about your products very quickly.

It would make sense to utilise that knowledge elsewhere don’t you think? It would be silly not to!

Social Media Management

Your Social Media Virtual Assistant can keep your social media platforms current.

They can post content, upload videos and producst to the site. The VA can also engage with followers and process in box messages and on line chat requests. Pretty much anything else pertaining to your online presence.

Content Management

If customer service and social media is not enough, then get your VA to manage the front end of your e-commerce shop too.

Your CMS Virtual Assistant can write blog posts, upload product information and other company updates. Plus anything else you need to add to your online store. 

To find out how you can keep your e-commerce business running smoothly, improve sales and gain repeat business, without spending a fortune get in touch with us. 

We can tailor the service to your personal requirements.

Watch full video here.