Why Australian Companies are Outsourcing to the Philippines
Building offshore teams used to be routine for only companies at the big end of town. Not anymore. In today’s business landscape, small to medium sized businesses are in a great position to take advantage of the cost-savings and productivity that comes with building an offshore workforce.
For companies in Australia, there is no place more attractive for virtual workers than the Philippines. With over 100 million people, the Philippines is becoming a hotbed of talent for international companies to choose from. There are four main reasons why it is so advantageous for Australian companies to outsource to the Philippines.
Time zone
The Philippines is in the same time zone as Western Australia. When building an offshore team, time zone is a critical component as it’s very hard to integrate someone into your team, from a cultural and work productivity standpoint.
English skills
The people of the Philippines are well known for their English skills. Due to the American and western influence, most Filipinos start learning English in school from a very young age. It’s not farfetched to get staff who speak nearly perfect English with a very neutral accent.
Cost-savings
Typically, home-based staff and virtual assistants in the Philippines are up to 80% less than local resources. Cost of living is so low that it has kept hourly rates down.
Highly skilled labour
Just because you’re paying a fraction doesn’t mean you should expect a fraction of the productivity or effectiveness a local worker could provide. There are around 500,000 new university graduates per year in the Philippines; many who work for international companies upon completion.
So, what can you use a virtual assistant for? Below are the top 10 areas Australian companies are currently employing staff in the Philippines.
1) Bookkeeping and accounts
From $7 per hour, you can hire a bookkeeper, accounts receivable, or accounts payable worker from the Philippines. Our candidates will have experience in Xero, MYOB, Quickbooks and Australian accounting methods.
2) Market research
This is important to the success of any business, no matter what size. Outsourcing research to a virtual assistant will help you to find objective and relevant information, analyse said information, and deliver the results in a clear format. This and also help your sales and marketing team identify new markets and prospective sales leads.
3) Administration
Imagine all of the menial tasks you and your team do every single day. There is no reason you should be doing them yourself when you can get someone just as good for a fraction of what your time is worth! Think about delegating calendar management, scheduling appointments, researching flights and more.
4) Customer and technical support
Outsourcing customer support is a cost-effective solution, providing flexibility across different shifts and time zones, which can be invaluable for individual businesses that do not have the same resources as a large company. Providing technical and administrative support, and a range of email, phones, and live chat support on demand is critical. Your customer support can be outsourced to a virtual assistant with excellent communication skills and years of experience.
5) Web development and graphic design
With remote project management tools and cloud-based systems, it’s easier than ever to employ technical staff offshore. Consider adding web developers, systems admin, or design staff to your local team.
6) Content writing
Getting the right message to your target audience is important and takes time when formulating the right words in an effective way to achieve cut-through. Have some or all of your content written for you – from web material and newsletters, to blogs, brochures and presentations – with an experienced virtual writer.
7) Sales assistance
Managing leads, clients and milestones is critical to selling but can be extremely time consuming. A virtual assistant will save you time by managing new sales leads and your customer relationship management system, giving you more time to focus on generating additional leads and translating those leads into sales. Hire virtual sales workers to help your current business development team maximize their time; which will lead to more client meetings and ultimately sales.
8) Data entry
Almost every business has some form of data entry component. It’s basic, process driven work that is one of the best tasks to outsource to a virtual assistant from the Philippines.
9) Email management
Sorting through emails throughout the day is a mundane and time-consuming task. A virtual assistant can help to organise, sort, create folders, file, delete spam and manage priority mail on a daily basis.
10 Social media
Hiring a virtual assistant to help with social media could end up proving invaluable. The best way to utilise them is to help out with postings, responding to comments, and scheduling posts.
Virtual Coworker provides a range of convenient, easy and cost-effective services, and world-class management through time-tracking software, allowing individual businesses more time to focus on business strategy and clients. If you’re interested in how your business could start building a team in the Philippines, get in touch with our Sydney office today.