Establishing an office in China can be a costly and time
consuming process for EU companies to undertake. However, instead of committing yourself to
the costs and challenges associated with opening a real office in China, EU
companies can easily create the impression to potential Chinese customers or
partners that they are already operational there by establishing a virtual one
instead.
Virtual offices are of course nothing new, but given the
enormous cultural and linguistic differences between EU and China, they have
particular advantages for European companies looking to establish a presence in
China.
To start with, it means that they do not have to recruit
staff since the contact center with whom they contract will effectively
outsource their staff to the European company.
Secondly, by working with a Chinese contact center, European
companies will automatically be assigned a Chinese telephone number for
prospective customers and partners to call.
Inbound calls to such numbers will be answered in Mandarin
or Cantonese, depending on which region of China the caller is located. Call
center agents that answer such calls must be trained so that they have at least
a basic understanding of your particular product or service. They can then make available to you such leads in
English. Any follow-up activity should of course be conducted in the caller's
native language.
The new Chinese
number can then easily be added to the 'contact us' section of the EU
companies’ website which thanks to the global architecture of the World Wide
Web all potential Chinese customers will be able to see. Local access numbers can and should also be
included, so that Chinese people living overseas can also call and be serviced
in their native language.
When not taking inbound calls, the EU companies’ virtual
assistant can be tasked with making outbound ones, or by communicating with
customers or prospects using the phenomenally popular WeChat or other social
media channels such as Sina Weibu, RenRen and Tencent.
By establishing a virtual Chinese office, EU companies will
be able to capitalize on the opportunities on the afforded by this colossal
market at a fraction of the costs and risks associated with setting up a real
one.
