Uassist.ME

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was the former owner of Platteville Family Dentistry, a dental office. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Uassist.ME?

We hired Uassist.Me to do tasks that could be done remotely.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our engagement evolved over time. Initially, Uassist.ME conducted calls for us after our patients had their appointments. Their team also helped us reach out to insurance companies to verify the patients’ accounts and benefits. On top of that, we had a lot of Spanish patients, so we also used their translation services. I’d type an English letter, and they’d translate it to Spanish so I could communicate with the patient. 

I’ve already sold the company, but Uassist.ME still works with the new owner. At present, they handle efforts to reactivate patients. They also do administrative and insurance tasks on top of reaching out to patients. 

What is the team composition?

They’ve assigned Luz (Junior Supervisor & Business Analyst) to work with us. 

How did you come to work with Uassist.ME?

I was thinking of the concept of virtual assistants, and I thought that our dentistry business could use it. It was an affordable solution for us to ease the burden of our internal staff. As a result, I Googled different service providers. I then came across Uassist.ME and saw that they spoke Spanish, so I decided they’d be good for our company. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $800 per month.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in November 2013, and their relationship with the company is ongoing. I sold off the business in 2020, but the new owner has kept Luz. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

I had no direct metrics, but they’d helped the business become more profitable. We were free to focus on the meat and potatoes of the company as they handled back-office tasks. As they reached out to patients, they kept them engaged with us. In other words, they helped with patient retention. Moreover, Luz was great and awesome. She always maintained her composure. 

How did Uassist.ME perform from a project management standpoint?

We didn’t give Uassist.ME long-term projects, but every time we did, Luz was highly communicative in terms of her progress and status. Moreover, she finished tasks in a timely fashion and gave us estimates on when she’d accomplish the projects. 

We used email 99% of the time to communicate, and Luz was highly responsive. I also asked her to help me over the phone a couple of times to translate for me when I didn’t have my Spanish-speaking assistant. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They provided me with great support services. Luz was always there when I needed help. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

The first two assistants I had were not so good. They seemed to have a little bit of an attitude and didn’t do some of the things I asked them to do. Meanwhile, I also noticed that when Luz was on vacation, Uassist.ME didn’t give me the leave credits. I didn’t want to work with somebody else while she was gone. When they failed to automatically give me the credits, I had to ask Luz to figure it out. I was annoyed by that. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The success of the engagement depends on the person that Uassist.ME assigns to help you. You’ll have to be patient; if you’re not satisfied with the first person they assign you, then ask them to assign somebody else. 

On top of that, you can train them through videos. If they need to do repetitive tasks, you can show them videos as a source to reference. I’ve done that, and I have an online video account that I use so that the assistants know what they have to do. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the operations manager of Dream Local Digital, an online media marketing company. We manage our external clients’ social media platforms, and we build their websites. We also provide blogging, email management, SEO, and paid ads services. I work internally, so I don’t work with any of our external clients. I make sure that all of our projects stay on schedule and our tasks work on our processes.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Uassist.ME?

On the project management side, there was quite a bit of work that I needed to accomplish daily. My work was pretty black and white — it was the same type of work every day. Instead of taking my time with that, I had a lot of other stuff that I could be working on. As a result, I decided to hire an assistant from Uassist.ME to help me with that type of work.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Uassist.ME has a full-time assistant who works for me and her main purpose is to help with our internal project management needs. I work closely with her every day. I’m usually in charge of providing the content that she needs as well as the instructions for her tasks. After that, it’s up to her to follow my instructions and update what I need.

Her work includes notifying our external clients if they need to go to phase one or phase two of their project. On top of that, she’s also in charge of ensuring that our third-party stakeholders get all the tasks they need. She also updates the fields on our new system since we have over 400 active external clients. In addition, she delivers reports to our external clients every month. In case the monthly reports don’t get delivered, she’ll figure out why.

What is the team composition?

We’re working with a full-time project management assistant.

How did you come to work with Uassist.ME?

The previous manager who I replaced was the one who signed Uassist.ME’s project management assistant. She researched different types of virtual assistant companies and ultimately chose Uassist.ME.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $60,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing partnership started in February 2018. We’ve been working with them for over three years now.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

Uassist.ME’s project management assistant has been reliable. I can count on her to support me every day and take projects off of my hand. Having her has been pretty invaluable especially if we have 25 clients that need to be transferred. On top of that, I know that she promptly takes care of things. Overall, knowing that she’s doing her tasks has immensely freed my schedule, so having her has been great.

How did Uassist.ME perform from a project management standpoint?

Since our assistant works remotely, we use Zoho, Skype, Zoom, and more to communicate. Moreover, she completes her deliverables on time. If I give her a due date, she usually finishes her tasks within two days. I also like that she’s very thorough when it comes to following directions. 

Furthermore, when I show her something through a video or email, she’s able to pick up my instructions and get things done. More importantly, she doesn’t hesitate to reach out to make sure that she understands what she needs to do.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I don’t have to worry about my assistant not showing up.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t think so.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Communicate a lot with Uassist.ME. In our case, our assistant speaks good English, but there’s still a little bit of language barrier between the two of us. Sometimes, I have to explain something in a different way. However, the majority of the time, she understands what I’m saying very well.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the business manager of Canopy Tree Service. We trim and remove trees for residential and commercial customers, and we are based in San Antonio, Texas.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Uassist.ME?

We needed administrative assistance in the office, and we’ve been working with Uassist.ME to fulfill that role.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Uassist.ME provides us with one person who helps us with research for our business. This person also interfaces with the customers, takes customer calls, helps us solve problems, and coordinates various activities of our organization with various employees.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with two people from Uassist.ME. In the beginning, before COVID-19, we got assigned one person from them, but we lost them during COVID-19. We’re currently working with Hector (Executive Assistant) who came in as a replacement. He has a supervisor assigned. If there are any issues from their end, the supervisor is there to assist.

How did you come to work with Uassist.ME?

We looked at various websites, and I liked the communication that Uassist.ME had. I interviewed them, and they were really excellent at explaining what they did and how they would work with us.

How much have you invested with them?

Hector’s part-time services cost us around $800 per month. We’ve spent close to $13,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around January 2020, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Hector is doing a great job — he is a really good problem solver!

How did Uassist.ME perform from a project management standpoint?

Uassist.ME is good at project management. I can give Hector a project, and he comes up with a way to solve it. He’s also great at communicating with me — I’m really happy. We use Zoho for project management and communicate via Cliq, an application within Zoho.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Uassist.ME’s communication is impressive. They constantly communicate with me to make sure I’m happy with their services.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think there’s anything they could improve on.

Any advice for potential customers?

Start with a really clear idea of what you want to have accomplished and how you’re going to onboard that person. When you bring new people into your team, you have to figure out how you’re going to train them — you shouldn’t throw so much at them that they feel overwhelmed.

You should be strategic when you sign them. Don’t expect them to learn 10 different things at once. New people can’t become experts on your business overnight — that’s not realistic.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder and co-CEO of a 45-person technology company. As a SaaS company, we build enterprise technology. Our clients are predominantly banks and other lenders.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Uassist.ME?

We went through a period of rapid growth about a year ago and we more or less tripled our team in the course of a few months. As we started to get busier, I was getting a little busy and my partner was absolutely past his bandwidth. He needed help doing things on a number of fronts and so we brought on a couple of VP-level hires on the business side to start taking some things off of his plate. We also hired a virtual assistant through Uassist.ME with the same goal of giving my partner some of his time back.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We hired a virtual assistant to be a remote executive assistant. Our team has completely gone remote and the remote executive assistant just uses all of the same tools as our team.

What is the team composition?

Our main point of contact is mainly our remote executive assistant, but they have a backup available as well. We also have the occasional touchpoint with our assistant’s manager.

How did you come to work with Uassist.ME?

I asked some other entrepreneurs and Uassist.ME was referred to by them. They’re cost-effective and that’s what we need without disparaging the service in any way. We didn’t need someone to do a deep dive of a highly specialized talent; we just wanted people who were reliable.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested about $6,000. We’re paying around $1,000 a month.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in November 2020 and the partnership is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

They performing just as they should be. I’ve only ever gotten positive feedback.

How did Uassist.ME perform from a project management standpoint?

Uassist.ME communicates clearly and I’ve never had to reach out to get assistance because the collaboration is going so well. They exercise good judgment and take the initiative.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Our assistant remains available and does everything we ask.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there’s nothing.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

What you put into it is what you’ll get out of it, so be willing to put in the time. It can take some time to get up to speed.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the customer success manager of a startup e-commerce business.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Uassist.ME?

We were looking for someone to handle our customer service department.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Uassist.ME is handling our entire customer service. I conducted the initial training and set them up on all our platforms, including the online shop. 

They answer emails to solve any question or concern customers may have. They also handle the website chat and all of our Zendesk tickets, according to company policies.

What is the team composition?

Currently, Uassist.ME is providing us a team of five agents.

How did you come to work with Uassist.ME?

Our company was founded in 2015, and our owner also found Uassist.ME back then. Because we were a small company, our customer service department originally started with just one agent from them. We’ve added more agents from Uassist.ME as we’ve grown because we were so happy with the support provided.

How much have you invested with them?

I estimate the total cost so far has been more than $100,000. We’re talking about full-time customer service for the last five and a half years. We’d definitely be paying more working with a company in the US.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Uassist.ME in September 2015, and the engagement is ongoing. The original team member left the project two years ago.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Our customer satisfaction rate is 97%, based on all the emails and chats handled by Uassist.ME. We’ve had close to 44,000 tickets since 2015. A 97% satisfaction rate is a job well done — I highly recommend them. It would be great if we could hit 100%, but we’ll never satisfy every single customer.

How did Uassist.ME perform from a project management standpoint?

We’re using Slack and Google Meet for our internal communication. We have occasional in-person meetings to talk about upcoming things. Even though we outsource our customer service department, Uassist.ME doesn’t feel like an outsourced team to me. We’ve developed a strong relationship over time — I consider them to be part of our family now.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Uassist.ME has been able to provide us with the right personnel for our needs. Our customer service is a bit different from what most companies offer. We’re a fun company selling a fun product, so we can’t really have a customer service department with the typical canned answers. We need agents that can connect with the customers at their level. If the customer makes a joke, I want the agents to reply in the same way. The team has a great personality and a strong work ethic — they’re just amazing.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything they could improve. They’ve been great. They’re always helpful with all of our requests, like when we need to add another agent to the team.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

There’s nothing specific that a client would need to do to get the most out of the engagement. My advice is to just give Uassist.ME a try.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a private equity and property management company. I manage the business development team.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address with Uassist.ME?

They provide IT support and lead generation services.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provide resources that do technical support and set up. There are also people that answer inbound calls and respond to leads through our CRM. 

What is the team composition?

We work with a team of ten people. 

How much have you invested in them?

We spend about $1,500 per resource each month. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2020, and our relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

I can’t say enough good things about them. Lead generation and account management can be tough, but they provide us with amazing resources that make the job easier for everyone. They’re talented and solution-oriented. 

They manage all of our technology. We’ve never had technical difficulties with their work. The quality of the team is exceptional. 

How did Uassist.ME perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management is good. When you voice a need, they respond immediately. The follow up is excellent. When we provide a schedule, they adhere to it. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The level of talent that they have available is impressive. I don’t think people realize how highly skilled outsourced teams can be. They’re smart and reliable. I’ve never had anyone call in sick. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I feel good about their work. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers? 

Let them guide you through the process, especially if you’ve never worked with offshore BPO or virtual assistant providers. If you give them your high-level goals, they can help you refine your plans from there. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of Pica, a Venezuelan restaurant.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Uassist.ME?

I needed a low-touch assistant to help with various tasks.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Uassist.ME has done various jobs to meet my needs, including setting up accounts and responding to customers. In addition to doing graphic design work for flyers, posters, and stickers, they’ve also researched vendor options and ordered labels with the best option.

They’ve helped to put our newsletter together and have managed all vendor relations. For example, if I need to change hours or menu items, they reach out to vendors to update information. The team also helped build the website for my non-profit.

What is the team composition?

I have had 2–3 assistants over the course of the engagement.

How did you come to work with Uassist.ME?

I was looking for a virtual assistant that could speak Spanish and English. Their price was affordable.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $10,000–$49,000. I pay $1,000–$5,000 per year depending on the amount of assistance I require.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in 2011, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

Uassist.ME has very fast turnaround times, usually within 24 hours. They keep a very detailed record of the time spent on tasks, which I feel is financially efficient. Having worked together so long, they know our brand and our clients. 

How did Uassist.ME perform from a project management standpoint?

I get a weekly report on their hours. They meet deadlines, and they’re efficient and responsive. We communicate via email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I really like that they’re bilingual, as Spanish is my first language. Uassist.ME is also cost-effective and has quick response times.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It would be nice to have a direct way to contact them if I need to, besides email. Sometimes I can’t get hold of them when I would like to.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You need to be comfortable with it being a virtual assistant, not in-person. They are also very business-oriented.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of a real estate and e-commerce company. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Uassist.ME?

I needed help with organization on the real estate side of things and some creative help on the e-commerce side.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

For the e-commerce side of our business, they built our website. They created a Facebook account and handle everything; the content, creatives, advertising, etc. They also helped with logo, brand, deciding on our target audience, overall strategy.
For the real estate side, they are doing organizational tasks, including paperwork and bookkeeping. 
They will be creating a Facebook account for the real estate side, handling all that entails, as well.

What is the team composition?

I interact with six people; three on the creative team dealing with the website and e-commerce, and three on the administrative team, one full-time assistant and two who help with e-commerce and real estate.

How did you come to work with Uassist.ME?

I found them through a Google search.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in early 2013, and it’s ongoing. It has not been consistently going that whole time; we usually work together for six months at a time, or so. The current project has been running about 60 days so far.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

The website is about 90-95% finished, so it’s not live yet. We expect it to go live next week. Regarding their administration work, I’ve had some really good assistants over the years. I’ve been satisfied working with them.

How did Uassist.ME perform from a project management standpoint?

They provide the best value for the services they provide. I’m pretty satisfied and always come back to work with them again for several years now.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are a cut above other vendors who offer similar services. They help you through processes, such as interviewing candidates for a position, and are more affordable than others.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There have been occasional language barriers during interviews, but they’ve resolved it when we brought it to their attention.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

When hiring any vendor, be sure your personalities match. Also, be aware of possible language barriers; ask a lot of questions, and have a dialogue to help you see the range of their English.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of a full-service marketing agency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Uassist.ME?

My business is growing quickly, and while I have a local team, I needed to supplement it with individuals who could help us execute our marketing campaigns.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’ve created e-blasts and newsletters for us. They’re also building outlines for and writing blog posts. They’ve managed social media accounts for our third-party clients, in addition to handling our customer service inquiries. Currently, they’re working on an overall marketing strategy for our full roster of clients.

What is the team composition?

Right now, we’re working with one person, but we’re in the process of adding to that team.

How did you come to work with Uassist.ME?

We were attracted to them because they have a team that specializes in marketing — not just virtual assistance (VA).

How much have you invested with them?

I started out at the lowest tier of their payment plant because I wanted to test the waters. We’ve since upped their hours since we’ve been so pleased with their work.

What is the status of this engagement?

I enlisted their services in either January 2020, and it’s an ongoing partnership.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

One of the biggest impacts of their work is how my internal team no longer has to spend time on ancilliary processes, like posting a blog article. They can instead focus on their most important tasks. Additionally, I’ve been able to deliver to my clients much quicker. The average time for project completion has gone down by about two weeks.

How did Uassist.ME perform from a project management standpoint?

Our assigned virtual assistant does a phenomenal job. We treat her as an extension of our own team; we worked with her on process onboarding, and she’s fully up to speed. She’s able to execute tasks and track them using our internal project management tool.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’ve had to spend lots of time explaining all of our processes to past outsourced providers. With Uassist.ME, our assistant was already familiar with standard marketing processes. She came trained and ready.

Are there any areas they could improve?

This is only a minor issue, but their VAs could benefit from additional support from supervisors.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’d encourage clients to provide a clear job description. Treat the process like you’re hiring an employee. Have workflows worked out, before you hire a virtual assistant.

I’d also highlight the importance of good communication; having a face-to-face call with your assistant beforehand will make a big difference. Regular check-ins also ensure quality and efficiency.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a realtor at Avanti Way Realty.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Uassist.ME?

I needed to hire an assistant to help me with all my back-office work.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The assistant helped me with very practical things such as handling follow-up correspondence with our clients and managing my schedule. She also helped me with some marketing and rebranding efforts that included managing my Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn accounts.

Her role was to take care of all the back-office tasks that were time-consuming but essential. Once we got the engagement going, she soon understood everything I needed and things started rolling along.

What is the team composition?

I worked with one assistant and two marketing people.

How did you come to work with Uassist.ME?

I did some research, and they were on a similar schedule as me so it was easy to get in touch and be on the same page. Their team was growing really fast and that was very interesting to me as well. When a company grows fast, it means that something good is being done.

How much have you invested in them?

I spent between $300–$400 per month.

What is the status of this engagement?

The engagement lasted from August 2016–December 2018. Our partnership ended because I eventually got an in-house team. Since our company developed a lot of technology in the end, I had no need for an assistant because the technology was doing the assistant’s tasks.

However, we have an incoming new workflow and I’m considering getting someone back from their team because they understood things well.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

I created pipelines for everything we did because it was very important to get things done. In the end, this was very helpful because if I didn’t have time to speak with my assistant, I could check our Trello boards to see what she had done. She, along with the marketing assistants, adapted to the system of how I needed to have things done.

They helped me rebrand and did a great job with it. I’m very open to hearing proposals so I told them to get creative and then show me their ideas. I was very pleased with the results.

When I met them in El Salvador, I saw that they were professionals. Some people may think assistants aren’t well-prepared, but the assistant I was assigned to was always prepared. She was open to learning and knew what she was doing. What’s more, she had a positive attitude throughout the engagement. She also had a genuine desire to learn a lot about the things we were doing.

How did Uassist.ME perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management was good. I’m located in Miami and it helped that our assistant was bilingual. There were no issues when it came to communication. She provided me with updates, and we did not have any major issues with deadlines.

We used Trello, and I could see everything that was completed and then give my approval or request a change. This allowed me to see if all the things I needed to be taken care of were taken care of.

What did you find most impressive about them?

My assistant produced high-quality work, and she was well-prepared. It was clear that I was working with a professional. In comparison to hiring someone here in the US, Uassist.ME was the best choice because they’re cost-beneficial and inexpensive. My assistant did her job really well even though she was abroad.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There will always be a learning curve so it can be difficult for an assistant to immediately understand specific details at the beginning. I suggest Uassist.ME consider creating groups that are specialized in sectors like real estate and other types of businesses. The only issue was that we needed to spend a lot of time training our new assistant in the beginning.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You need to be clear about what you want the assistant to do. A lot of people think that by having an assistant, things will automatically get better. However, in the end, if you don’t really know the specific things you need help with, the assistant isn’t going to read your mind and is not a coach.

You need to understand what tasks are time-consuming for you and then delegate them. In the end, the other tasks you have to do are going to bring more money into your pocket. It will have been worth delegating those things to someone else.