Many entrepreneurs and business owners today hire virtual assistants to take care of their day-to-day business tasks, thereby freeing up time and resources to put more focus on growing their business.
Indeed, hiring a virtual assistant from countries like the Philippines, India and China has been an ongoing trend in recent years. This is all with good reason, however, as the virtual-assistant model is highly scalable and reduces overhead expenses.
When you think about hiring a virtual assistant, though, it is important to consider the factors that can make or break the success of your business. Quite simply, while there are many excellent virtual assistants from all over the world, unfortunately not all virtual assistants are created equal.
If you're looking for quality help that will allow your business to grow and succeed, then Filipino virtual assistants are the unequivocal first choice.
In this article, we’ll cover why Filipino virtual assistants are so well-placed to represent your business, and why you should hire your virtual assistants in the Philippines.
Why hire a virtual assistant in the Philippines?
According to a report by the IT & Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) in collaboration with Frost & Sullivan in 2015, the Philippines is one of the leading destinations in supplying the global demand of high quality remote workers in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry.
In fact, many BPO service providers and multinational companies have call centers in the Philippines, including JPMorgan Chase & Co, Amazon, Cognizant, Concentrix, Accenture and other specialist virtual assistant firms like Cherry VAs.
It is also worth noting that despite the pandemic, the Philippine BPO industry showed resilience both in terms of its total revenue of $29.5 billion in 2021, up from $26.7 billion in 2020, and also its employment with an increase of 9.1% in headcount in the same time period.
The demand for Filipino talent is, therefore, clearly very high. Below are a few of the reasons why this is the case and why you should hire a virtual assistant in the Philippines.
Outstanding English proficiency
Filipino virtual assistants are sought after because of their excellent English skills. In the recent 2021 Global English Proficiency Index by Education First, the Philippines was given a "High" proficiency rating with a score of 592 out of 700. The Philippines holds the second highest proficiency rating position in Asia second only to Singapore and ahead of Malaysia and Hong Kong.
Most Filipinos speak fluent, accent-neutral and easy-to-understand English. This is because English is part of the local life and culture of the Filipinos. It is one of the official languages of the Philippines, and is used as a medium of instruction in the Philippines' education system as well as their government and business sectors.
So, when you hire a virtual assistant in the Philippines, expect delightful and productive conversations. Communicating with your virtual assistant has never been so easy. You will also be amazed how effectively they carry out your instructions.
Flair for customer service
The Filipinos have long set the bar high for customer service delivery. Over the years, the Philippines has matured as a global outsourcing operations destination and has developed very high standards in customer service.
But even before the Philippines became a key player in providing outsourced services, the culturally-rooted Filipino core value of Kapwa (togetherness) made the Filipino virtual assistants stand out globally. This uniquely Filipino value focuses on having and keeping a smooth relationship with others, and is what makes Filipinos so well-placed in the customer service industry.
The Filipinos’ relaxed and friendly disposition along with other traits like resilience, adaptability and their intuitive skill of empathizing and looking after the needs of others is a perfect recipe for providing exceptional customer service. The Filipino virtual assistants tend to have high emotional intelligence and are able to deliver world-class service across many channels including phone, Zoom, chat, email, Slack and social media, to name a few.
Another benefit when you hire a virtual assistant in the Philippines is their capability of quickly building rapport with your customers. Thanks to their unique Filipino traits, Filipino virtual assistants are able to deal with challenging customers, develop sincere customer relationships and deliver genuine customer satisfaction.
World-class infrastructure with excellent Internet connections
The Philippines boasts many world-class information technology (IT) and business parks. These special economic zones are strategically located in key regions within the country, and are home to big IT BPO companies and other related services.
These cyber parks provide high-quality office spaces and high-tech infrastructure like high-speed fiber optic internet connections with sufficient bandwidth to easily carry many concurrent voice calls. These zones also provide stable and uninterrupted power supply.
Most business owners see the benefit of these state-of-the-art facilities in terms of providing a smooth and consistent operation of their offshore offices.
Affordable
Often one of the most compelling reasons for business owners to hire a virtual assistant in the Philippines is the affordability of its labor.
Outsourcing some processes to the Philippines could cut your labor costs by as much as 70% since the Philippines has both a lower cost-of-living and a lower wage rate compared with countries like the USA, Canada, UK, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
Also, when you hire a virtual assistant in the Philippines, you don't have to pay the overhead costs that you would need to pay for a direct employee.
Expanding skill sets
In the earlier days of BPO outsourcing, remote staff in the Philippines tended to perform simple and repetitive tasks. Over the years, however, Filipinos have gained experience and expertise in the outsourcing industry, now providing more complex and high-level services.
What this means is that if you hire a virtual assistant in the Philippines, you can be sure of two things:
- You will save on operational costs;
- You will get a staff member with similar skills and experience to the people you might have otherwise hired locally.
Virtual assistants in the Philippines are indeed recognized around the world as being highly qualified, easy to work with and committed to their roles. These qualities make the Philippines one of the leading destinations in supplying the global demand for high-quality, low-cost virtual assistant services.
Conclusion
If you are a business owner looking to enjoy the economic value of outsourcing, lay out the course of your business' success now by hiring a Filipino virtual assistant to represent your business.