Office Assistant? Please Help

[tmdry]

Can anyone w/ experience of having an office girl/assistant give me any tips on hiring an office assistant w/ possibly marketing help?

I would like the office assistant to be able to drive to referrals sources such as bni, business groups, referral sources, 1-3 days a week. How do I word this so that the office person that may be looking at the ad, does not get turned off by a "marketing" position. Some women do not enjoy doing marketing, and I cannot afford to have 2 different people at the moment. I want to keep them busy. Around here I've seen other ads paying $9-10/hour starting, I am willing to pay more ($12-15/hour), if they are willing to do both office and marketing 50/50.

I would be paying a weekly salary but was thinking of giving commission/flat fee/bonus for the marketing portion and also a percentage for all protector sales when booking clients over the phone. So they would be motivated (and make more $).

For instance - carpet jobs would be percetange and flood jobs would be a flat fee for any acquired new clients.

This is the Craigslist Ad I just put up:

"Small business is in need of part to full time Office Assistant.

Must be well organized and efficient.

Duties include:

Answering phones
Scheduling appointments
Update customer information in database
Sending/Responding to emails
Follow up calls to clients
Filing & other similar office duties
Excellent communication skills
Outgoing & friendly customer service skills
Organized and self thinker
Be able to meet deadlines and be punctual
Be able to work independently and within a team



Must have reliable transportation


Hours 8-5.

Please reply with your work experience and contact info.

Thank you"

Any help & ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Bill

 

[Desk Jockey]

Bill office help is a dime a dozen, don't throw all your money at her right off. Now a combo type position might be in your $14.00 $16.00 range.

I would contact your professional staffing agency's, let them know what you're looking for and what they have, ask what their rate is.

Best part about this route is that they do your background checks, make sure they are qualified and if you are not a match you can cancel that person and have them send you another.

You also might consider hiring two part time positions since the two areas you are trying to cover are so different.

 

[KevinL]

That looks pretty good but what do I know. I'd love to hire someone too but my wife doesn't want me to. I did meet a woman that does telemarketing for a security company that wants to start marketing for me also. We'll see how it goes.

 

[Barry-QDCC]

You want to balance paying enough to be able to attract good people but don't blow the whole budget on hourly rate.Think about a starting hourly pay with bonuses or incentives based on results or other criteria as you see fit.

 

[Connor]

Also consider an older person for this job, too. More stability and less of the "starting out on life" drama. Echo what Chavez said about the staffing company.

 

[Askal]

First of all our office person is an "office manager" because we expect (and she takes pride in) managing our office. All of our job descriptions end in "We take pride in being a 100% cross trained company. Everyone is eventually trained to do all tasks that any position has. In addition to the normally accepted duties each position has everyone is required to be willing to complete all of the tasks of any other position". Give the person the authority and power to be successful. Now as far as being a sales person and an office manager... good luck. Our techs do some outside sales and our office manager does inside sales because those are the areas they are comfortable in. You are usually your best outside sales person

 

[tmdry]

Thanks for the replies.

Any tips on staffing agencies that I should look at?

The marketing portion would be ideally for referrals with plumbers, etc. I am more interested in that, than the other sources at this point. Should this be a 2nd part timer or would the office manager be able to also do this task?

I forgot to mention that the going rate in this area is $9-10/hour starting for office work only.

Thanks all,
Bill

 

[idreadnought]

finding someone that is an office manager that also goes to bni shouldnt be a huge issue. The problem arises when you also want her to do outside marketing for you. The biggest problem I see is that my number one need is for phones to be answered. If she is doing outside marketing then who is answering the phone? I go to bni early in the morning so that wouldn't be an issue, however even if I had a local noon group I wouldnt pull my phone person for 1.5 hours to go.

I do agree with others that if you pay bonuses based of of performance that you will get more out of any position you have. Paying a specific bonus when protector is sold over the phone will go much farther than encouraging it with a flat rate hourly wage.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Don't go to any of the "Labor" type agencies. You want office staffing, many have sister companies that cater to a office vs labor.

If were I, it would be two positions, each part-time. When marketing you only have windows of time to market anyway. Not too early, people are not there or in the AM meeting or have not settled in yet. Shouldn't go over the lunch hour and not too late in the day.

Training is the key, what are her responses? What is your goal for her? If she is just out dropping "happy bags" she doesn't deserve the same pay as someone asking for business.

 

[Connor]

The marketing portion would be ideally for referrals with plumbers, etc. I am more interested in that, than the other sources at this point. Should this be a 2nd part timer or would the office manager be able to also do this task?

Of the two people, the pretty one.


PM me what you've got for marketing to plumbers and I'll tell you what I think.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Never had much luck with plumbers. They all seem to be greedy dicks....present company excluded of course.

Actually for one reason or another it just hasn't worked out well with them? ??
We do have a good relationship with several of the larger companies but no money is given for referrals.

 

[The Great Oz]

Call the postion "customer relations specialist" and define the parameters as you have. If you don't have a person dedicated to this and doing it well, you must add social media management to the job description.

You're going to have to train someone no matter what, so don't make your decision based on age of applicant. I've seen plenty of just out of college women that have fewer issues than other 'kids' and plenty of 'mature' women that have more. EVERYONE in your business is in sales, so anyone that is averse to sales shouldn't be hired for any postion where there will be contact with the customer.

 

[Shawn Abbey]

I dunno, Bill. Here's another angle...

I assume this position will NOT be doing any billing or accounting?

Perhaps you could consider a local college or university. Develop a relationship with their Job Placement Dept., or better yet, their chair of their Business, or Media Dept. They could supply you with a great part-time student that could have a grasp of marketing. It may be hard finding that exact fit. You could consider the Office Manager job a "stepping stone" position for a few hires, then look to a full time position.

That means, your first part-time student can help get things organized and get the office started. She graduates, and moves to her career, and you hire the next. That next person can bring some new perspectives to the office that may be helpful. By the time she graduates, perhaps she may be the one for your full-time position, or perhaps not, and you can maybe move to the next.

If you're making the jump to a full time Office Manager position, be very careful. You're looking for someone to both have that "Bubbly Personality", plus have the analytical thinking needed for your billing and accounting! That may take several interviews!

As far as Marketing, I would consider going to some of these networking meetings yourself, until you find the right Office Manager with that outgoing personality to represent your business well. If you're the only operator, that may be difficult. If you have multiple trucks, that may be easier. That way you can see these networking groups through "Owner's Eyes" to find out which group may be right for you.

I've found these networking groups to be very valuable to my business. I have also found, you need a knowledgeable person representing your business to answer those questions that fellow networkers will bring to you. Try attending yourself first, then hand off to that Office Manager that's qualified to represent you. I agree with idreadnought, that phones should be an important problem when doing outside marketing. That's why I"m recommending YOU go first. Then hand a few networking groups off to her, while you cover the phones.

At least that's what I did..


Shawn

 

[tmdry]

Thanks for all the replies I do appreciate it!