The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Founder/Owner of RPM Agency

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Provide insurance for home, auto, commercial and life.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services to accomplish?

• Get backend support/help
• Get the support affordably
• Hope the staff would be trainable

SOLUTION

How did you find The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services?

Online Search

Why did you select The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services over others?

• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Quoting insurance; resolving account issues with client's mortgage company, or the insurance carrier; using email templates to proactively reach out to current and potential customers; meeting with our company daily; follow existing and new processes and procedures, for Commercial Lines and Personal Lines of insurance. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Our company is more effecient and productive with The Hour at pay rates we can afford.  The bonus is we LOVE our team...we feel they are an extension of our company

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Our team is managed by Vish, who in fact was our first VA from The Hour.  We are so confident with everything we have with our VA's because of Vish!  We've referred other insurance agencies to The Hour and Vish several times.  Whenever a concern comes up, it is rapidly resolved.  Even when a VA needed a lot of additional training, that person become extra attentive to all the details.....

What was your primary form of communication with The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services?

Virtual Meeting

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Everyone's attitude.  You can train a skill, but you can't train someone to kind or nice.  The people quality is wonderful.

Are there any areas for improvement or something The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services could have done differently?

None I can think of because anything that comes up is quickly addressed and resolved with Vish.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Grit Matters, a technical recruitment firm specializing in all technical roles.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services?

We needed assistance on the recruiting and sourcing front.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I’ve used The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services as a technical recruiter to fully scale the product and engineering teams that we worked with. They’ve helped us build out and iterate on recruiting processes and forge partnerships with candidates while delivering the best-in-class experience. 

They’ve provided pre-screening support and full-cycle reporting in a very fast-paced environment and actively sourced and engaged various candidates. They’ve helped us source and screen designers, Cloud engineers, solutions architects, front- and backend engineers, and web developers.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with one individual from The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services.

How did you come to work with The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services?

We found The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services through a referral.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent somewhere between $50,000–$60,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in December 2013, and we still work with them on an as-needed basis.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

On a repeated basis, they’ve presented qualified candidates who were then hired, onboarded, and had a long tenure with the company.

How did The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services perform from a project management standpoint?

The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services has been outstanding in terms of project management. They’re incredibly organized and have excellent communication skills. They use project management tools such as Trello to keep everything on time and organized. They are highly effective, efficient, and calm under pressure — they are able to manage multiple projects and tasks at the same time and ensure that our needs and our clients’ needs are met. They’re dedicated to completing a job well done.

We typically communicate through email, Zoom, Google Meet, Slack, and Skype.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services’ understanding of our business, needs, and goals is exceptional. We appreciate their team mentality and customer-focused approach. They’re always willing to accommodate our requests and any changes and adjustments in the scope.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I have no complaints.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the finance manager of an e-commerce company that sells equipment for heavy industrial vehicles.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services to accomplish for your e-commerce business?

We needed help with operations support.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services manages our e-commerce backend operations, including inventory management, warehouse coordination, and order tracking to ensure smooth order fulfillment. The main focus is on inventory management and order tracking since those are critical to our day-to-day operations. The team also coordinates with the warehouse to ensure smooth order fulfillment from processing to final delivery.

What is the team composition?

We work with 9 members of The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services’ team.

How did you come to work with The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services?

We found them through an online search and the Clutch website. We chose them because they had high ratings, and their pricing fit our budget.

How much have you invested with them?

Confidential

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2022, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Thanks to The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services’ work, we’re tracking orders more accurately, managing inventory better, and running overall operations smoother with fewer delays.

How did The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services perform from a project management standpoint?

The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services is reliable, responsive, and consistent with on-time task handling. We communicate via in-person meetings, virtual meetings, and email or messaging apps.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their punctuality and accuracy are impressive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Overall, they’re very dependable.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the underwriting manager at RPM Insurance Agency. We provide insurance to our personal and commercial lines clients.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address with The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services?

We needed help with our insurance renewal handling and commercial and personal lines quoting.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services provides us with virtual assistant services. The team handles our insurance renewal processes and commercial and personal lines quoting. The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services' team is responsible for quoting home, auto, and umbrella insurance for our personal lines. For our commercial lines, they provide quotes for WCOM, GL, CUMB, BOB, CAUTO, Cyber, and EPLI insurance. The team also handles endorsements and all service-related work for our commercial and personal lines.

We have two teams from The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services: one for personal lines and one for commercial accounts.

What was the team composition?

We work with 10+ teammates from The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services.

How did you come to work with The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services?

We found The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services through an online search. We chose them because they had high ratings, their pricing fit our budget, and they offered good value for the cost.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent around $100K.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services in February 2021, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our workflows are more organized, and The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services' team completes tasks on time. Our team has more bandwidth to focus on new business and agency growth. We've seen a noticeable improvement in overall organization and efficiency. Task completion timelines have improved by around 40%–50%, and accuracy in day-to-day tasks has also gone up. The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services has helped us reduce our workload by 70%+, allowing our team to focus more on core business activities and growth.

We measure the 70% workload reduction through the daily reports we get. We see that the workload The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services handles for our agents would take them 70% of their occupancy to complete. We also monitor our client's satisfaction and reviews. We've grown in the number of clients we have.

How did The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services perform from a project management standpoint?

The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services delivers on time if they have everything they need to execute the task. If they need anything, the delivery is delayed. We communicate through in-person meetings, virtual meetings, and email or messaging apps.

What did you find most impressive about them?

All the virtual assistants we have from The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services are trained. They provide us with backups at no extra cost. Their managers are super responsive if we need any kind of assistance in handling the team. We need to manage less and check less what the team is doing. We get weekly reports from the team leads.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I'm so impressed by their AI launch that I wish they could have done that sooner!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Head of Operations of Westland Benefits

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Provided insurance and employee benefits solutions to individuals and businesses.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services to accomplish?

• Operations Support
• Backend support, Data Management

SOLUTION

How did you find The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services?

Referral

Why did you select The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget

How many teammates from The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

• Bckend support
• Data Management
• Workflow handelling
• Operations 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Work is more organized, team helps us to handle the renewal season tasks that comes in bulk and because of them we are able to focus on getting new business and retain our existing clients. Accuracy of work is great.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

They deliver everything on time and are easy and fun to work with.

What was your primary form of communication with The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Overall, things are good, but a couple of things that impress us are their reporting formats and the updates they send. It feels like they are sitting in the same office with us.

Are there any areas for improvement or something The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services could have done differently?

All well.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Software Test Engineer of Paycor

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

HCM Software

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services to accomplish?

• Product and Email deliverability
• Recruitment
• Admin task

SOLUTION

How did you find The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services?

Referral

Why did you select The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services over others?

Good value for cost

How many teammates from The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services were assigned to this project?

13

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

• Assist PM with scope
• Define PBI's
• analisy requirement and prepare feature testing plan
• execute test plan and prepare report
• work with developers on detected issues
• monitor email deliverability managemant

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

 day-to-day operation assist 

participating in completing sprints on time by delivering increment

monitoring email delivery and product managemant 

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

• joint work on product stability after deployment
• daily monitoring and reporting on isues with email campaign
• promtly response in case of emergency and issue validation 

What was your primary form of communication with The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services?

Virtual Meeting

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

We are impressed with the speed of adaptation to a new project and changes during development to ensure a successful product for clients

Are there any areas for improvement or something The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services could have done differently?

They are always available for work and should take more PTO's :) 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Head of Benefits Operations of an insurance company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We works in employee benefits and one stop information and resource shop to help HR administrative for companies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services to accomplish?

• Renewals

SOLUTION

How did you find The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services?

Online Search

Why did you select The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget

How many teammates from The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

• Payroll Deductions
• Open Enrollment
• Census uploading
• CRM data entry

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Our VA handeled all the back end which gave us free hand on working on bringing new business in house.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Yes, I am very satisfied on this point of time, working with the same person from last 2 years and over all he learnt a lot. Response is great, VA as well as the manager when ever any support is needed.

What was your primary form of communication with The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

• Professionalism
• Accuracy
• Positive approach
• Industry Skills

Are there any areas for improvement or something The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services could have done differently?

As of now I am highly satisfied.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

 I am the Account Manager of an insurance company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We work with Retail independant agents and wholesale brokers & MGA

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services to accomplish?

Policy Management

SOLUTION

How did you find The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services?

Referral

Why did you select The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Referred to me

How many teammates from The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Helping with managing policies, paperwork and client records, supporting our managers in day to day service related tasks.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

• Faster Processing of policy updates and renewals
• Organized client record 
• Efficiency in handelling back office tasks

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

They managed the project smoothly, ensuring tasks were completed on time. VA's are responsive to the needs and accuracy in task execution.

What was your primary form of communication with The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Their proactive approach in getting tasks done accurately, while handling the most time consuming tasks, allowed our manages to focus more on driving new business.

Are there any areas for improvement or something The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services could have done differently?

Everything has been going smoothly, overall The hour has been a great asset to our team. Looking forward for the same.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CRO at this company. We are an AI -Sourcing Automation Platform helping recruiter productivity

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire The Hour - Back Office and Virtual Assistant Services?

Creating low-cost option to ever expanding Customer Success and platform engagement team

SOLUTION

How did you select this agency and what were the deciding factors?

Flexibility and willingness to partner through growth combined with Cost

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

This is an ongoing partnership towards Our Customer Success team

Describe the recruitment process in detail.

We identify skillset and The Hour identifies talent with initial screening for Aptitude and Attitude, before every qualified candidate is put through 2 rounds of technical and demo interviews.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the engagement that demonstrate progress or success?

We started with Platform engagement team first and now we have expanded operations with 3 Customer Success Managers.We

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We have entire team onboarded on Office 365 (Email / MS Teams) and Zendesk systems and the communication happens through those. Customer Success managers also use Zoom meetings with Our Customers

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They are professional, flexible, and very easy to work with.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Reach-out and explore better remote candidates for CSM role