As the economy continues to decline, business owners are tightening budgets and cutting costs. At the same time, they still need to maintain professional service and product quality without increasing the burden on internal staff. As a result, assistant outsourcing companies specializing in outsourced services are growing against the economic trend.
Weng Liang-yan, General Manager of Quick Hand Marketing Company, which specializes in advertising and public relations, pointed out that entrepreneurs try to save wherever possible. Spending NT$22,000 a month to hire a junior assistant often results in very little actual work beyond answering calls and running errands. “If I really had that many calls, I’d already be rich,” he joked.
However, businesses still cannot operate without someone answering calls. Weng explained, “Small and medium-sized enterprises are most afraid of being looked down upon.” In the past, when clients called the company line and were redirected to his mobile phone, the background street noise immediately affected the client’s impression. “Once, someone even said, ‘Oh, so your company is like this?’ and hung up.”
Situations like these — services companies cannot do without but still want to reduce costs on — are exactly the types of needs outsourcing companies believe “should have been outsourced long ago.” Elias Ek, General Manager of Enspyre Mobile Business Center, explained that many SME owners have heard about outsourcing but never truly understood it, or worry that outsiders may not understand their products. “Actually, this underestimates the professional training of outsourcing companies. Many professionals, including lawyers, insurance agents, and IT business owners, have long adopted virtual offices, including telephone secretary services dedicated to answering calls.”
Feng Hsiao-yao, Planning Director of Golden Advertising Company, which specializes in party planning and promotional events, also noted that answering calls may seem like a small matter, but problems can become extremely frustrating. Many calls come from potential customers who immediately judge a company’s image based on the professionalism of the phone response, including tone and even basic business English. “Clients come in all kinds, and some really do judge your company based on the person answering the phone.”
Elias Ek pointed out that assistant outsourcing companies capable of providing professional services “must truly know what they’re doing.” Professionals outsource their calls because they fear inexperienced receptionists damaging their reputation, so outsourcing companies must be able to meet those expectations. On the Enspyre Mobile Business Center website managed by Elias Ek, even respected professionals such as lawyers are listed as clients. Cheng Shih-hsiu Law Firm openly stated, “I can focus entirely on handling client cases without any worries.”
Providing telephone secretary services across multiple professional industries requires more than talent alone. Elias Ek explained that it requires professional customer service training and advanced computer systems. “Every day, we send detailed call records and customer information to clients. This is more than just a service — we want clients to feel completely reassured.”
Due to the economic downturn, Elias Ek admitted that even professional industries have started turning to outsourcing. “I really want to tell business owners not to worry about outsourcing quality. Companies capable of doing this work are on a completely different level from ordinary reception and administrative staff.”
To help businesses better understand the concept, Enspyre Mobile Business Center launched a trial website allowing interested but hesitant business owners to personally experience how outsourced reception and virtual office operations work.
