Paperclip started life as an admin support company
When Paperclip’s Managing Director, Anne Batty, started the business back in 2008 it was an admin support company originally called Paperclip Admin. At the time this was an early example of what would now be known as a Virtual PA.
Whilst Paperclip gradually started to focus more on the delivery of call answering, it has never stopped providing admin support services. In this brief article, Anne looks at why Paperclip’s admin support services continue to grow in popularity despite minimal marketing and promotion.
‘I have always loved being organised, having, as the saying goes, all my ducks in a row. However, I am aware that I am somewhat in a minority and that many leaders find administrative tasks a burden and a chore that drag down overall performance and the personal enjoyment of building their businesses.’
Reasons for outsourcing admin support
Firstly, most Directors I meet at networking events and presentations tell me that recruiting and retaining qualified staff is probably the biggest challenge they face in growing their businesses.
Outsourcing admin support tasks to Paperclip means you keep your fixed cost base under control. Furthermore, if your office space is at a premium, outsourcing means you can use the limited space to accommodate business-critical team members.
An exercise I once did at a training event asked me to create the outline of a house. I was then asked to list all my core value-added activities in the roof of the house and all those activities that detracted from my core activities in the body of the house.
The course leader then asked us to decide how we could delegate these secondary activities in order to focus on what was important. Outsourcing certain admin tasks may be one way in which you can divest spending time on activities that distract you from your primary activities.
Admin workload is rarely predictable or constant
Admin wouldn’t be so challenging to resource if it came in constant and predictable work packages. In some cases it does of course, invoicing and similar. However, most businesses at some stage are faced with unexpected admin ‘peaks’. This happens frequently when an opportunity to scale quickly presents itself. Paperclip enables businesses to cope with these admin peaks without having to recruit additional staff.
Ever since I founded Paperclip, I have adopted a lean outsourcing business model. All non-core activities are outsourced to enable the Paperclip team to focus on what we are experts in, namely, call answering services and admin support.
Just some of the admin support tasks undertaken by the Paperclip team
I’ve provided below a list of some of the admin support we undertake for Paperclip clients. It’s important to note at this juncture that everyone’s view of what is classed as ‘admin’ is different. So, for example, at Paperclip we consider ‘route planning’ to be an admin task which for others could be an operations activity.
I am aware, however, that the list is not exhaustive. So, if you have an admin task that needs tackling and you are unsure whether Paperclip can handle it, simply call our team on 01246 418 181 to find out.
An outline list of admin support services provided by the Paperclip team:
- Credit control (aged debt calls) – your customers may find it harder to say ‘no’ to someone that takes the emotion out of overdue invoices.
- Social media monitoring – many businesses forget to monitor responses to their social media posts. This is, effectively, no different to not answering a phone call. The Paperclip team can monitor your social media accounts and alert you when action is required.
- Data cleansing – according to business data specialists, Gartner, B2B contact data can decay as fast as 70% per annum. While the actual rate will vary from business to business, keeping your contact database or CRM up-to-date is one of the most effective ways of ensuring you get the biggest bang for your marketing buck.
- Customer care calls – It’s an oft-stated truism that retaining customers is far less expensive than finding new ones. An effective customer retention strategy is to simply call them on a regular basis and give them the opportunity to voice any concerns and, of course, to place additional orders. It also provides the opportunity to remind customers of any new services or special offers you have introduced.
- Diary management – Paperclip can manage your diary for you. In some sectors, e.g. healthcare, hotels, restaurants, managing appointments, bookings and reservations is the lifeblood of the business. Knowing that all sales calls are answered quickly and bookings taken can be a key source of differentiation from your competitors.
- Email management – emails are both a boon and a curse. The Paperclip team can manage your inbox for you, ensuring you only have to deal with those emails that deserve your attention.
- Customer reviews – I read once that ‘reviews are the new advertising’. If you subscribe to a paid-for review platform such as Trustpilot or simply rely on Google Reviews, a quick call from the Paperclip team is often enough to break the inertia and encourage your customer to leave a review.
- Questionnaires and surveys – If you use questionnaires or surveys to generate feedback on service quality or some other aspect of business then your fulfilment rates increase markedly if you ask the Paperclip team to call the respondent rather than relying on email alone.
- Registered office – Paperclip provides a registered office service. Please contact us to find out more.
- Event announcements – A lot of effort goes into planning promotional and educational events and creating content for them. Less focus, however, is often given to getting ‘bums on seats’ or ensuring that those who have registered turn up on the day. Once again, a call from Paperclip can make all the different in turning a waverer into a delegate.
- Route planning – Paperclip undertakes route planning for many of its trade clients. Knowing you are going to get the most from your day when you get in your van is a huge boost.
- Mail fulfilment – Paperclip can manage the fulfilment of your direct mail campaign. We also manage Mailchimp campaigns for clients.
If admin is dragging you down, it's probably time to talk to Paperclip
If you would like to discuss your admin support requirements in person, please contact my colleague, Louise Bellwood, on 01246 418 181 to arrange a time to talk.
We look forward to sorting your admin challenges for you.
Hi, I’m Anne Batty, Managing Director of Paperclip. I am passionate about customer service. I believe enduring relationships are built on being open, transparent and trustworthy.
I love questions. So, if you have a question relating to telephone answering – pricing, technical, scope and more – I would love to hear from you at anne@paperclip.co.uk or 01246 418181.
Paperclip’s clients enjoy working with us. I know you will too.