How Austral Herbs Cut Response Delays and Cleared Admin Backlogs with a Support Team
- The Virtual Hub Marketing
Austral Herbs is a supplier of organic-certified botanicals, offering herbs, spices, teas, and flowers to both individual buyers and wholesale customers through its online platform.
As demand increased, their internal team began to struggle to keep pace with execution. Responses slowed, approvals took longer, and backend systems fell out of sync with daily activity.
Their internal team had less time for growth-focused work. Austral Herbs needed to increase productivity without hiring additional full-time employees.
The company resolved this without hiring internally. They built a support layer through The Virtual Hub and redistributed critical work to trained virtual assistants. With the help of the support team, focused roles were created within Austral Herbs that executed tasks daily without interruption.
Turning Daily Work into Dedicated Functions with The Virtual Hub
Austral Herbs onboarded three full-time assistants from The Virtual Hub, each assigned to specific functions that previously competed for internal attention.
Assistant 1: Customer Support Management
Customer communication moved into a structured system through Gorgias, a customer support platform designed for eCommerce businesses.
This assistant:
- handled incoming inquiries
- managed support tickets
- ensured timely responses
Outreach emails were sent using curated customer lists provided by the POC, allowing conversations to continue seamlessly without delays.
Assistant 2: B2B, Sales, and Shopify Management
This role focused on revenue and platform operations. Responsibilities included:
- approving B2B applications
- sending access emails to new clients
- managing Shopify product updates to keep listings accurate
Sales support was also centralized here:
- preparing sales orders
- generating quotes
- creating invoices
- sharing customer statements
Delivery preparation was handled alongside these tasks, ensuring orders progressed without interruption.
Assistant 3: Financial Processing and Order Execution
Financial workflows were handled as part of a daily cycle. This assistant:
- processed payments
- applied them to customer accounts
- and managed refunds and credits
Sales order execution and customer reachouts were also handled within this role, ensuring that transactions and communication remained connected and up to date.
With these time-consuming tasks covered by a TVH support team, it saved Austral Herbs countless hours, allowing their internal stakeholders to focus on growing the business.
Shared Responsibilities: Documentation and
Internal Knowledge
Across all three assistants, internal documentation was maintained and expanded. This included:
- drafting in-house terms documents
- creating certificates of analysis
- and updating Guru cards for internal reference
Each function received dedicated attention, removing the need for internal team members to switch between unrelated tasks throughout the day.
Expanding Support Based on Immediate Business Needs
Austral Herbs scaled their support team in stages, ensuring each addition addressed a specific workload.
- November 14, 2023: The first assistant took over customer inquiries.
- November 20, 2023: A second assistant joined within the same week to manage invoicing, B2B approvals, and Shopify updates.
- May 20, 2024: A third assistant came in to handle payment processing, sales orders, and customer outreach.
Each role entered with a clear function, allowing immediate contribution to daily operations.
Weekly Reporting That Keeps Leadership Informed
Client feedback pointed to the value of weekly summaries. Virtual Assistants saved hours for core Austral Herb team members by tracking business insights and generating business reports.
These reports provided:
- a clear view of completed tasks
- pending items
- upcoming priorities
Leadership gained visibility into daily execution without needing to track individual activities.
This level of reporting supports faster decision-making. Instead of gathering updates from multiple sources, leaders receive a structured overview that reflects current operations.
Building Capacity Without Expanding Internal Headcount
Austral Herbs strengthened their ability to handle increased demand by introducing a support layer that operates across customer service, finance, sales, and backend management.
The Virtual Hub assistants executed critical tasks as part of a unified system, allowing the business to maintain speed, accuracy, and responsiveness as it grew.
This is how companies expand capacity – placing the right people in the right functions and ensuring execution keeps pace with demand.
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