assistant-ing

I am not in a place right now where I want to do a big hiring search (so this post is not going up on craigslist or such, and is much more casual than normal), but my last sales/customer service assistant left a few months ago, and it would be nice to have a new one. Tammy has been wonderful pitching in where she can, but her heavy season is at the same time as mine, so she can't really pick up the things I would like more regular help with. I can manage, it just would be better if someone else was helping.

The job is:

PRIMARILY

Contact with prospective customers -- answering initial inquiries, but most importantly keeping in contact with people when they are deciding whether or not to book.
This is technically a sales job, but not hard-sell, and is more like customer service in vibe.

POSSIBLY/OPTIONALLY (depending on workload, chemistry, etc.)

• Helping me manage current clients who have dropped off the radar when faced with decisions.


• Helping with social media (which may take the form of nagging me to blog/instagram,  but possibly expand into actually writing short posts, IDK)


• If I do the Lovesick Expo again, help working the table would be nice.

HOW IT WORKS

This is a telecommuting job, though some initial training (learning about the books) is best done in person (North King/South Snohomish County). Customer contact is basically entirely by e-mail; internal communication is mostly e-mail or IM (I hate the phone)

It is usually 2-5 hours a week, possibly up to 10 if it gets busy. I need someone to check/send e-mail 4 days a week, and I need to know which days of the week those are, but they can pick them. Hours are whenever fits their schedule. Basically, it's not a very lucrative job, but it is incredibly flexible.

Design/photography experience is unnecessary, but being able to talk a bit about visual style and the qualities of mid-to-high-end crafted objects will be required. Comfort in selling high-end (i.e. expensive) items is needed. The product line is big and somewhat complicated, and helping customers find the right solution for them while avoiding Choice Fatigue is key.

If you think weddings are petty bourgeois extravagances, this isn't going to work.

Since writing is 95% of how the customer experiences us, good semi-formal writing skills are needed.

Software used is e-mail (imap, NOT gmail), CapsuleCRM (which is a pretty simple CRM), and google drive docs/spreadsheets.

They/you would be an actual employee, with w-2 and taxes and all that, so must be a washington state resident, though someone who is already has a business set up as a VA and would prefer to stick with that mode might work. Payroll is monthly, $11/hour. Under the table is not an option.

E-mail me at admina at alacartealbums.com with questions or to apply. No Microsoft Word documents, please.