One time I was on a meeting with a colleague and they mentioned how annoying it is when they call a company for support and the representative is not located in the United States. It was stated in a more abrasive way.
I was pretty appalled and introduced my own assistants in the Philippines. Awkward silence.
A lot of companies outsource call-centers, support teams, virtual medical assistants, etc. to other countries. Big businesses want to make higher profits. Many small businesses can't afford to hire a comprehensive team with minimum wage in the United States. My business would not stay afloat.
I'm writing this post mostly because I want everyone to understand that our team is our family. I have my daughters call them "tito Rome" "tito June" and "tita Thea." Tito or tita is a term of respect meaning aunt or uncle in Tagalog. They have sent us gifts from the Philippines. It doesn't matter if they live far away; these aren't some rando's in a call center in a far away land. These aren't some random people I hired and only talk business to.
Sometimes I hear things about how they are unhelpful or unresponsive. Really - they were overwhelmed and unequipped. I expanded the team and resources. They were unable to answer billing questions and were not getting information back from an external source. I hired an in-house team to make this experience better.
They work really hard for us. They work overnight so they can be here to answer your calls, texts and emails during our business hours. If you know anything about working overnight, it's hard on your body and your mind. It's exhausting and takes away time during the day with your family. I know sometimes they use their lunch breaks to nap a few hours and then wake up to work again.
Why hire a team in the Philippines?
My husband's family is from the Philippines, and we once had a conversation about how many nurses come here to support their families abroad because nurses make little money there. I really couldn't comprehend how low the pay could be.
I ended up finding a company that would give me an assistant from the Philippines. I interrogated them on the phone -- asking if they'd be fairly paid, if they had benefits, etc. It felt strange to me and I didn't want to be exploiting workers because it costs less. What kind of "ethical" company could Paperflower be if I was just using people elsewhere to make money?
But I found Rome. And I found out the pay wasn't so fair. $2USD /hour and to work overnight? No. How can you even support your family with that? And he's a registered nurse who worked in Canada!
Nurses in the Philippines make around $3 to $5 USD/hour. Physical therapists, like June, make about $2 USD an hour in that career field at a higher end. Higher paying careers are aviation, surgeons, and doctors at about $17 USD an hour. For the cost of living - $5 an hour is not great. It is still a struggle to live.
Most agencies that outsource virtual medical assistants pay $2 an hour up to $7 an hour. After being hired by one of these companies, it can take them months to even be assigned a practice to work with - and they are unpaid during that period of time..just waiting.
We hire directly and pay more than that..we offer bonuses, sick time, vacations, paid paternity leave, and flexibility when needed. This offers them the ability to support their families to have really great lives. I know if I ever sold this company, they would lose their livelihoods and ability to support their families. The ability to have a job that pays this amount in the Philippines is extremely rare.
There are opportunities to be able to do ethical work and help entire families out in the Philippines by hiring directly and not using a VMA company. Everyone I've hired has been loyal, hardworking, trustworthy.. I hear so many "concerns" like "it's so scary - they aren't held to HIPAA standards! What if they destroy my practice!" Well.. I mean these people are highly educated individuals who take their jobs and supporting their families seriously so.. I've never had a concern or issue. I can't even give enough good feedback.
We just launched our "Paghilom" Paperflower shirt celebrating our connection to the Philippines, created by our own Jed!
If you ever want to practice Filipino languages or miss speaking your native language, I'm sure they'd be happy to chismis on the phone.
And if that's not your vibe and you have a business, consider hiring directly from the Philippines via facebook groups, not an agency!
If neither of those is your vibe, plz just be nice to them. When they're on the phone with you, they're sweating in hot, humid weather and staying up overnight to work while their families sleep.
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