Andy: Welcome to the Contact Center Cactus Chat. I’m your host Andy, with me as always is trainingeisha, in the background you don’t see her if you’re watching the video. But Keisha loves me so much that she got me back. Thanks for having me, Keisha. And I enjoyed doing the last episode talking about virtual assistants and everything they do.
We did get into their training so much the last episode, and I think the person we have on today is the perfect person to ask about that and everything to do with virtual assistants, because this is part two of our virtual assistance series. Our guest today is Hi Nikki.
Nikki: Hi.
Andy: You alright?
Nikki: I’m good.
I’m happy to be here.
Andy: You nervous?
Nikki: I am.
Andy: Don’t be nervous, Nikki. Now, it’s funny that Nikki is acting kind of shy today, because from what I hear, the responsibilities of your job, which we’ll get into, involves a lot of [00:01:00] work. Tough decisions and talking with important people. So it’s wild. Have you done a podcast before?
Nikki: Never.
Andy: Okay. Well,
you know what, at any point in this episode, if the nerves are really getting to you just throw the blame at Keisha.
Nikki: Yeah.
Andy: She’s
my boss. She’s there in the background. She’s right there.
Nikki: She’s the
reason why I’m here.
Andy: Yeah. See? So it’s all her fault. No, but for real though. Nikki, she is an amazing and beautiful human being.
She’s a mother of three kids and she carries with her 14 years of experience in the outsourcing world. We were just talking before we started shooting. You were a customer service agent for nearly eight years.
Nikki: That’s
right.
Andy: And you were a quality assurance analyst for about a year. And now, So, why are you here today?
You are an account manager.
Nikki: I manage I’m one of the account managers here, in [00:02:00] Pac Biz. I manage right now I manage three accounts, two e commerce, and then I also have one VA account as well as I oversee the VA ,team.
Andy: Wow. Okay. So she’s, you’re, you’re, you’re great. I’m so happy you’re here because I still want to know more about VA, but it’s perfect that you’re also an account manager for e commerce accounts.
Because that’s what we might get into in the future as well. Helping out online stores and shops. Yeah, that’s, that’s what you guys do.
Nikki: It’s sort of my expertise, I’d say. When I became an account manager, it was the first account that I, that was assigned to me. So I’m pretty comfortable working and dealing with e commerce accounts.
Andy: Okay. Perfect. When I was talking with Kay, the last episode, she’s a virtual assistant. She works under you. Yeah. You’re an account manager. She gave me the impression that to be in that line of work, you have to be sort of a jack of all trades. Yeah. You have to, you have to know this and that. Now [00:03:00] you’re, you’re a mother of three kids, but one could also say you’re the mother of three accounts as well.
Cause you oversee everything. Yeah.
Nikki: That’s right.
Andy: What’s that
like?
Nikki: Well, it’s sometimes it’s overwhelming because of the responsibilities especially if you deal with clients because you always want to make sure that you, you know, meet their expectations. And aside from the fact that, of course because I don’t have a supervisor yet, basically I’m the one overseeing the team they manage and also the VA team.
So if there are inquiries or concerns, so they, you know, they go to me. But basically I. I’m the one like responsible for them, like, yeah, for everything actually. When it comes to like any questions about operations and, and, and like even leave something like that. I mean, everything basically
Andy: leave.
What do you mean
by leave?
Nikki: Like, leave request. Yeah, I deal with that. I’m even the one who would approve these as [00:04:00] well if they would request. Oh,
Andy: so the virtual assistants.
Or the
agents who work with e commerce, they go to you when they want to go on leave. And then, I’m assuming it’s also your job to figure out who’s going to fill
fill in for them
Nikki: sometimes, but it’s not necessary. It really depends on the client as well. So but Like when they request it would send an email and stuff like that would need to make sure that there’s like coverage For other account. I’m talking about like e commerce accounts for VA Sometimes it’s not necessary.
You just have to make sure that the client is it not informed that you know, this person is Requesting a leave or something, you know
Andy: Okay, so, your job, among other things, is also to make sure that whoever the client is Depending on the account always has the service that they’re paying for.
Nikki: That’s right.
Andy: Yeah. So, so even, so they don’t have to worry now about having in house [00:05:00] employees, whether or not they show up. So they, they, you don’t, they don’t have to worry about sick leaves or, or dealing with their, with their vacation leaves. Like it’s a 24 seven.
Nikki: It’s sort of like an internal thing. So we handle that.
I handle that with of course I have my fellow leaders also when I, When it comes to decision making, of course, because that’s one of the things that, you know, one of my responsibilities, basically. I, there are things that I can decide on my own, but there are things that I, you know, try to consult with other leaders also, just to make sure that, you know, I’m doing the right thing.
Andy: Right, right. You actually answered a question that I wish I asked last episode with Kay. Because Kay does a lot of work for her client. Right. But she also mentioned the last episode that that particular client has a bunch of has more than one VA from Pac Biz Outsourcing. Yeah. My question was, [00:06:00] does the client, and you already answered this, Ashley, does the client have to deal with all of them individually?
No, they only have to go straight to you.
Nikki: Yes, that’s right. And sort of like the direct contact and everything that if ever the VA or agent has. Problems or issues even performance, their performance, they, we discuss about it so they go directly to me. There are clients, like for instance, I have one e commerce account that they’re sort of really hands on.
So if you know, there are coaching opportunities. They try to like schedule a meeting, do like one on one meeting with the agent. But most of the time I do it, or I ask assistance from a QA, because there are accounts that they have that there’s like an assigned QA AF that helps me with coaching if ever there are like sign escalations, you know.
And
Andy: you’re amazing at this because, you know, according to this what you told me earlier, you also have a [00:07:00] background in quality assurance already.
Nikki: So sometimes I, I’m the one who does, or I create, I’m the one who creates the coaching log instead of the QAA. So I just when, because sometimes I’m sort of an OC, so I don’t, I don’t want to tell people what they have to put in there.
So I did myself and then I just, you know, send a message to the QA that can you do like a coaching session with this guy? Yeah.
Andy: Okay. Okay. Because you’re hands on with a lot of things already anyway. Wow. You’re amazing. No, for real, because I was thinking the last episode, I keep going back to the last episode.
I had such a good time. So I’m still, I’m so happy to still be here and talk with amazing people like yourself and Kay. You’re dealing with so many things. You’re, you’re the, you’re the account manager, which you’ve been doing for how long?
Nikki: I think three years. About three years.
Andy: Wow. So you’re the account manager for multiple e commerce accounts and a few virtual assistant accounts.
Yeah, [00:08:00] you’re talking with the clients. You’re, you’re making sure that everybody’s. At their best, where do you find time to breathe? Like, I mean, and you’re telling me you got three kids. You know, I mean, like, talk about super mom,
right?
Nikki: Not really, but you know, it’s, I think it’s just time management. But like I mentioned earlier, it can be overwhelming.
I think that’s one of the challenges. Actually it’s managing or, you know, sort of balancing everything. And I’m making sure that. You know, the expectations of kinds are met. So those are basically my challenges. But like I mentioned, it’s time management. Like, for example there are actually times that for instance, since I am the one who oversees my team as well, I don’t have like a supervisor So if there’s like someone who got late or absent and were unable to report to work if they’re unable to like provide a sick, I would call that a medical certificate.
So [00:09:00] automatically I create like a discussion log for them. Okay. Those things I, I handle everything.
Andy: All right. I
love that we’re pulling back the curtains a bit on, on on what’s going on. Because I assume it’s also your job to make sure that the clients don’t have to worry about these things.
Yeah, you’re the one who keeps the ship going. Well, what sort of other things do you talk about with the clients? And maybe what are some of the, like, I can imagine that there’s a bunch of challenges that come about when you’re, when you’re dealing with so many agents under your belt. What are sort of the, what are some of the things that clients can go to you for?
Nikki: Well, I’m quite fortunate right now because I don’t have a lot of agents under, you know, my wing. It’s, I can say it’s manageable, but yeah, well, the clients mostly we talk about performance, agent [00:10:00] performance coaching opportunities. Like if this person is even though, you know, you get, you remind them constantly, they still do the same mistakes, you know, stuff like that.
We sometimes, you know, talk about that during our bi weekly meetings. I actually don’t have that one, like, in every client that we have. Like I mentioned, it’s really different. Every client is unique. It depends on their preference because there are clients who are comfortable just doing chats.
Like they, you can make it just through Google chat. Other clients who I, I, that I have like weekly meetings or monthly meetings. So yeah, it really depends. It depends on the client. It depends on the client, their preference. Basically, because like for example, if we talk about the clients who are really busy.
So that’s exactly the reason why they, you know, they have a virtual assistant. So they don’t have a lot of time, like doing meetings and stuff. So and that’s obviously the reason why they have a VA because they don’t like multitasking. I [00:11:00] mean, I’m going to call that micro, to micromanage. So I’m the one actually who’s responsible with the check.
And, or, you know make sure that the agents are making, I mean, the VA or agents are are able to fulfill or complete their tasks.
Andy: Okay. Well, wow. You talked, you mentioned the word overwhelmed earlier. I feel a little bit overwhelmed now. If there’s one thing that I’ve learned today, it’s that there are clients, there are companies that are super busy, that they need the help of, People that can do the virtual assistants that they do, people like Kay Mm-Hmm.
And they also need people like you to make sure that the performance is good.
Nikki: Mm-Hmm.
Andy: To give them updates on operations to deal with coaching them. So you’re also a bit of a trainer as well. Yeah.
Nikki: I wouldn’t say because most of my, most of my clients do one on one training, so I don’t have to handle that.
[00:12:00] And we actually don’t even have, have to like ask assistance or help from the training department because most of my clients does the training themselves, like one on one training. So for VAs, it’s the same. So how we handle it is that if There’s a VA that’s coming in. We we, I mean my co manager actually prepared already like modules training materials for them to like view or check and then be familiar with basically general materials, training materials about VA, about the, like most common tools that clients use.
For VA and and yeah, I think those are the stuff and then probably it would take like a week for them because they’re during that time. Only a week? Yes, because during that time, they have like assessments and stuff. That’s just for preparation before they are you know, start working with the clients.
Okay.
Andy: So when the clients start working with you, [00:13:00] or start working with you, You know, with Pac Biz Outsourcing, they need to train, are they required to train the V well, particularly with VAs, yeah, with virtual assistants, are they required to train them themselves? Or is there something like so you’re saying that they can just give you all the materials and you’d be the one to, to coach them on what they need to do.
What’s the, what’s the usual scenario when it first starts?
Nikki: Yeah. Well, it really depends. Like there are, there are times actually that if We have already a client, but they’re not ready to start. So what we do is we we just prepare the VA. We do the training. It’s just basically they’re the ones looking or, you know, watching videos and stuff, those training materials.
And then we just we have prepared assessments as well for them to do. Most of the time, it’s just a week. And then that’s when that happens actually when the client is not [00:14:00] ready yet to start, but if there’s already a client basically part of the process that they do the interview, they, because some clients would want to meet the VA first to make sure, because clients would want to like, I’ll meet the VA first and then
Andy: right because they’re going to be part of their team.
Nikki: It’s basically the part of the sort of part of the hiring process even though we have already internally hired someone it doesn’t mean that that person can be Assigned to that particular client because the clients their clients are picky. Yeah, they’re very specific. It really depends depends on what they need as well.
They look into resumes also to check if, you know, this person is, has experience or that has the requirements that they have for that particular role.
Andy: And you’re the one who puts it all together.
Nikki: Yeah.
Andy: So you give them a, you
give them a pool of potential.
Nikki: Mm hmm.
Andy: Agents who will become their VA if they like them.
That’s
Nikki: right, that’s right. And then we yes, actually JDs or job [00:15:00] descriptions from the clients. And then basically that’s it. I don’t know. I’m trying to talk backwards. I don’t know. I’m over the place. But it’s like that. Usually,
Andy: Oh, thank
goodness. You’ve got amazing time management skills.
Nikki: So
usually if it’s because like I said, it’s really different because of the fact that I manage also like e commerce account.
It’s a different process, but sort of similar. Yeah. So like in my case, like for instance, I have a client she, they’re like new to outsource. So the first thing that I do is that I send them the culture index where, and they, you know, take that culture index. A culture index. Yeah. Okay. So they take that.
What
Andy: is that?
Nikki: It’s to assess. Basically, it’s a survey and then they take that so that we can match that. Like, I don’t know how to say it.
Andy: Is it? It’s like a, it’s like a test.
Nikki: Yes, it is. It’s sort of a test or assessment. I would say, and then so the client take [00:16:00] that and then once you get the results, like for example, they’re a specialist because it, the result varies if the, the the client is craftsman and stuff like that, and then there’s a lot actually, and then
Andy: Sorry, wait,
cause, Slow down, hold up the culture index, the culture index survey assessment, it’s
Nikki: a, it’s a survey and then
Andy: they find out if the client is, yeah,
Nikki: because that’s the, there are results.
So basically once it’s like a test, they take, they take the test. And then after that there’s a there’ll be like a result and the employees think, yeah, I mean, the client, the first test. As a client to do that first so that we can match it. Like, for example, the result is a specialist. So we will be looking for someone that is a specialist as well.
So that, that, which means that this is, this person is the right fit for that role.
Andy: That’s interesting. I’ve never heard of, you know what, it’s so weird. Why did you hire me to be a host for outsourcing? Because I know next to [00:17:00] nothing about outsourcing.
Nikki: I, I actually, I can remember sending a CA survey to you and Kim.
Andy: Did I answer it?
Nikki: I don’t know. I, I, I know Kim did that. I think he, I’m not really sure.
Andy: We’ll, we’ll cut this out.
Actually, we might keep this in. You know what? No, let’s keep this in. Let’s, let’s, let’s tell the world how much of a horrible employee I’ve been. Right, Keizia? No, but, but that’s interesting because, so where I’m getting, what I’m getting from you is that you’ve got all the resources and all the tools.
You’ve got, what did you call it? A culture index survey to really find the perfect person that could fulfill the needs of the client. That’s how you were able to find somebody like Kay who we interviewed last episode. That’s how you’re able to find somebody like Kay to be able to handle so much for the client.
I’m still, I’m still pretty impressed. You know, I think I’ll never lose this impression of Kay. That she made it all sound so easy, what [00:18:00] a virtual assistant does.
Nikki: She’s
actually awesome. She’s really awesome. But it doesn’t stop there. So, what, after Culture Index like for instance, for Kay’s for for Kay, what we did, what, What happened is that because she was already hired, but she doesn’t have a client yet.
So when the client that I already have needed someone like a VA to assist them, or to help them with like social media video editing and stuff. So I asked I asked actually operations, if I could, you know, schedule Kay for an interview, but of course with the client actually there were a couple candidates, but she, the client, you know she was the best, she was the best fit for the client as well.
So even through the interview basically. So yeah, that’s how she got the, the, the post.
Andy: Okay. So what? All right. So putting it all together we’re going to be wrapping this up now. [00:19:00] You, as the account manager, does a lot for the client because you are sort of the bridge between them and the agents that they hire.
There’s a lot they do that they need to, the clients need to do to get these agents hired. But at the more affordable price, right? Because like I mentioned last time, you know, the cost of labor in the Philippines is a lot, significantly cheaper, right? Than, than, than countries in the West.
Nikki: State side.
Yeah.
Andy: Sorry, what?
Nikki: Less expensive than state side.
Andy: State
side. Okay. With that, they’re still pretty much hiring somebody, but they have a go to person in you as the account manager, and you don’t leave, you’re still continuing to build that relationship and keep it. Where it needs to be the performance with the coaching.
Nikki: Yeah
Andy: with a culture index survey
Nikki: Yeah, it’s really Regular communication. It’s very it’s basically the key
Andy: That’s good. I [00:20:00] like that Communication is key. I love that. Before we write before we end this episode Because there’s so much you do. I just it’s Maybe it’s because I don’t do enough. Maybe it’s because I don’t do a lot, you know, I’m just, I think I, I was hired to do this job because of my pleasing personality, would you say?
I don’t know. Cause you don’t seem that nervous anymore.
Nikki: Yeah. Yeah.
Andy: You
feeling okay?
Nikki: I
mean, yeah, sometimes I’m like that. If I’m comfortable already, I can talk.
Andy: No, that’s good. But so, okay. Before we end this. Let me ask you. Mm-Hmm. , if you’re doing so much to you as the account manager of virtual assistants and as an extension, the, the, the e-commerce agents, what constitutes a good workday?
Like when you get home after a full day’s work, what are the things that should happen or what are, what are the things that shouldn’t [00:21:00] happen for you to say, all right, job well done today.
Nikki: Well, first, if I don’t have any problems with or issues with attendance and then if I have a successful meeting with the client, even though during the meeting, like maybe we talk about feedback from the client, as long as we’re able to, like, if I hear also a good feedback.
Good feedback in spite of other other stuff like coaching opportunities or, you know lapses on the agents and because it could happen. I mean there are really days. And I think it’s not perfect you know, that maybe the agent forgot to do this and, or that. So so yeah, I would say a good attendance and a successful meeting with a client that would constitute a, you know, perfect or successful shift.
Andy: That’d be the minimum standard.
Nikki: And yeah, I guess that’s it.
Andy: Right on.
Okay. So, [00:22:00] all right. I’m, I’m, I’m hooked.
I
want a VA right now. Keizia, let’s get a VA for this podcast. ?
Nikki: Yeah.
Andy: Two
VAs?
Two VAs.
Let’s get two VAs and let’s get, and let’s get, oh, two VAs. One for you and one for me. ? No, only if we have Nikki as their account manager, then I think this podcast would be a success.
Definitely. Okay, great. Nikki, thank you so much. Thank you so much for your time, for your expertise. I am, I am. I’m thrilled. I’m happy and I really want to get the VA now. Nikki, how, how can we get amazing people like you to be part of our business?
Nikki: We just have to go to the pac-biz.com. And if they have questions or inquiries, anything about VA, we can just send the, you know, an email there.
Andy: Thank you.
That was great.