About Plane Pal
Sam is the Founder and Director of Australia’s favourite travel pillow brand, Plane Pal.
Plane Pal has been growing rapidly and it became impossible for Sam to manage all the customer enquiries across Shopify, Gmail and social media. So she contacted us in search of a Customer Service Virtual Assistant.
We soon found out that Sam was also packing and sending the online orders as well as manually updating distributor reports. This was eating up all her time and energy, as well as creating stress for herself.
Here’s how our Systemise & Scale Up Team helped Sam go from hands-full to hands-free within 6 weeks.
The Challenge
Wasting time fulfilling orders
Sam was spending too much time managing her inventory, packing all the online orders and booking couriers.
Drowning in Customer Service
She was constantly checking multiple platforms at a time with no way of tracking customer service enquiries.
No time for social media content
With all the time spent on fulfilling orders and customer service, social media content was an afterthought.
Keeping tabs of everything in her head
Sam needed help transferring all of her business processes out of her head and onto paper.
A big goal for Sam was to turn Plane Pal into a self-running eCommerce business that allowed her to take a step back and help with her husband’s business, spend time with their 3 kids and get back to travelling too!
Our Systemise & Scale Up Team was determined to help this busy mum extract herself from her business. It was time to streamline Plane Pal with the right systems, processes, automations and virtual assistant.
Our Approach
Omnifulfilment supply chain solution
So that Sam’s hands could be free from packing orders and manually updating her inventory.
Multichannel customer service platform
So enquiries are centralised & converted into support tickets that are also synced to Shopify!
Project management system & SOPs
So tasks can be easily assigned to other staff and is work completed at Sam’s level of standards.
Trained a Social Media & Customer Service Virtual Assistant
We hired an experienced Virtual Assistant to take over her customer service and content.
Strategy & Execution
Systemise & Scale Up Program (S&S)
The first step of our S&S Program required our team to take time to understand all of Plane Pal’s departments and the intricacies of how they function together. This allowed us to create a map of Plane Pal and highlight the key areas that majorly held back her business growth and created stress for her mentality.
These are the targeted processes that required immediate attention: Yellow
These are the targeted processes that required immediate attention: Yellow
Marketing
Social Media Content
YouTube
Partnerships
SEO
Sales
Shopify Website
Retail
Phone
Delivery
Pick and Pack
Courier Booking
Customer Support
Admin Support
Inventory Listing
SOPs
Stock Management
Finance
Invoicing
Arrears Collection
Once Sam agreed that she would like to systemise these areas, our Systemise & Scale Up Team was off to work! Here’s what we achieved for Plane Pal within 6 weeks:
Before
Packing and sending orders from home
After
ShipBob fulfilment & distribution centre
Before
Juggling customer service enquiries across different platforms
After
Centralised customer service platform synced to eCommerce store
Before
No social media processes
After
Trello project management systems and templates
Before
No time for social media
After
Streamlined social media content process
Before
Packing and sending orders from home
After
ShipBob fulfilment & distribution centre
Before
Juggling customer service enquiries across different platforms
After
Centralised customer service platform synced to eCommerce store
Before
No social media processes
After
Trello project management systems and templates
Before
No time for social media
After
Streamlined social media content process
We systemised Plane Pal with:
Hiring a Virtual Assistant
Once our Systemise & Scale Up Team completed the final assessment overview of Plane Pal’s new platforms, processes and tools, they were now fully equipped to begin outsourcing to a virtual assistant.
Unfortunately, the first virtual assistant we hired for Sam wasn’t the perfect fit, which can happen. As part of our client happiness guarantee, we wanted to make sure that Sam was 1000000% satisfied with her virtual assistant so we hired a new virtual assistant and gave her 1 week to settle in with her new VA.
Sam has since been working swimmingly with our Customer Service Virtual Assistant Jennifer.
Work Experience
Skills & Proficiencies
Virtual Assistant On-boarding
Since Sam went through our Systemise & Scale Up Program, it was up to our team to train Virtual Assistant Jennifer on the new tools, systems and processes. This is how we on-boarded Jennifer:
Virtual Assistant Training Videos
Our Systemise & Scale Up Team created training videos for VA on the client’s updated systems, processes and expectations.
Logins and access
We set-up the VA with all their accounts, logins and access levels using LastPass.
Pre-onboarding
Our team met with the VA to check they understand all the requirements and provide updates on any changes.
Assigned VOM
Every client is assigned a Virtual Office Manager who is responsible for overseeing the VA’s work and communication so that things run smoothly.
Ready to work!
We set up the daily huddles, end-of-day routines and more so that your VA is ready to work! You won’t need to figure out anything on your own.
Outsourcing tasks to Virtual Assistant
Virtual Assistant Jennifer now looks after the following for Sam:
2 months after the completion of Systemise & Scale Up Program our team checked in with Sam to make additional tweaks and ensure company improvements are still trucking along.
The Result
When we first spoke to Sam she said that her biggest goal was to turn Plane Pal into a self-running business. Now that she no longer needed to manually pack and send orders, respond to customer enquiries and collect social media content, Sam is able to enjoy her freedom and even enjoy a stress-free vacation to Italy with her family.
This newfound freedom has also inspired her creativity to develop a new extension of her business which she is able to focus on now that she also has a virtual assistant by her side.
Her Virtual Assistant Jennifer has also been a great all-rounder and is helping out with her husband’s business too – which is a big plus!
We’re so happy that our Systemise & Scale Up Team has been able to redesign Plane Pal’s business logistics and improve customer service management. The business is now self-running and flying to new heights!
- Sam Cardone
Founder and Director, Plane Pal
Sydney, Australia
Jen is an 11 out of 10!!!
Are you the roadblock to your business growth?
If you’re feeling inundated with work that could easily be streamlined, automated or outsourced… it’s time you stop roadblocking yourself! Speak to our Systemise & Scale Up Team and get some balance back in your life.
