The demand for virtual personal assistant services has become increasingly popular in the past years. Not only does it help businesses reap tons of benefits especially in boosting one’s productivity when hiring an online personal assistant, but it is also the most convenient way to stay above water during these quarantine times.
This article will focus on the benefits of hiring a virtual assistant as well as the specific tasks they can handle. But first, here’s a brief description of what a virtual assistant really is.
What is a Virtual Assistant?
Virtual assistants or VAs are independent workers who specialize in providing additional support or assistance from a remote location. They are flexible individuals who can take on any task they are assigned, including repetitive administrative tasks to more complex tasks such as blogging, SEO, and web designing to name a few.
Although they may not be physically present, they still serve as a valuable asset in the growth and development of one’s business.
Key Benefits of Hiring a Virtual Assistant
Some businesses tend to neglect the advantages that they get when hiring an online personal assistant. Little do they know that tapping into the full potential of a virtual assistant can do tons of wonders in their business.
Here are some of the key benefits of outsourcing remote manpower.
1. Saves Money
There are several reasons why hiring a VA helps in cutting costs. Some examples include:
- They are a manpower on-the-go. In other words, they are geared to take on any tasks assigned to them without the need for training sessions.
- They are only paid on a per hour or per-project basis.
- They operate remotely, meaning there’s no need to allocate funds for additional office resources and facilities.
- Most of them are working in countries outside the US, where the cost of living is cheaper. Thus, their salary can be relatively lower as opposed to the staff based in the US.
2. Pool of Highly Skilled Manpower
As mentioned, working with a VA does not require the business to conduct training sessions as they are already knowledgeable in the tasks and roles designated to them. This ensures that the operation will flow smoothly the moment they start working with your office-based team. It reduces the emergence of errors as opposed to working with a newly hired in-house employee.
3. Improves Efficiency & Generates More ROI
Growing a business can be very daunting especially when the entire operation team is being rooted by small and repetitive tasks. VAs are quite instrumental in improving one’s business efficiency. Hiring one allows business owners to maximize their in-house employees and enables them to focus more on revenue-generating tasks.
What Does a Virtual Assistant Do?
Virtual assistants come with a wide array of expertise. They can be entrusted to take on different tasks ranging from secretarial and administrative tasks to more complex and technical undertakings. Below is a breakdown of the general virtual assistant tasks that businesses can outsource to them.
1. Calendar Management
Arranging reservations and managing a business owner’s daily schedule is often and understandably overlooked, considering how many meetings, events, and catching up are lined up in an entrepreneur’s day-to-day activities. A virtual assistant can easily manage and organize schedules to ensure that the business won’t miss any important meetings and events.
2. Booking Tasks
Aside from managing the business schedule, virtual assistants can be very helpful in booking travels, monitoring travel expenses, and researching for the best airport or hotel whenever there are business trips. They help minimize conflicts in schedules, ensure safe and hassle-free travel, and contribute to making important trips a success.
3. Email Management
Virtual assistants are well-versed in managing email platforms. They can organize messages, filter important emails, and remove any unnecessary clutters in the business inbox. Moreover, they can send a reply when necessary and serve as an extension of your customer support services.
Whether you are already using email as part of your customer response efforts or are still considering including it, it would be ideal to have a remote team of experts in this field to strengthen your B2C and B2B relations.
4. Social Media Management
In this digitized setup, a business can’t thrive without maximizing the use of social media. As simple as it may look, managing a business’ social media pages can be very time-consuming and exhausting, especially for entrepreneurs who are not that well-inclined with social media.
Thankfully, a virtual assistant can take this tiring task off of their plates. This way, the business’s in-house team can focus on more complex tasks without leaving this simple yet crucial component for their business growth.
5. Reports
Creating reports is one of the most tedious and time-consuming tasks for business owners. Virtual assistants can collect and organize research reports, analytics, gain insights, and even take down notes during meetings.
If needed, you also have the option of finding VAs with sufficient experience in using analytical tools to help interpret your collated customer data better. By doing so, you generate feasible feedback and more thorough reports that reflect your success and lapses while also equipping you with more comprehensive marketing plans.
6. Research
Researching plays a vital role if a business wants to stay aligned with the latest trends. This is the best way to catch their prospects’ preferences. However, research is a long process that requires a significant amount of time.
Appointing a virtual assistant to do the research, on the other hand, can free up a huge amount of time that the business can use to focus on more critical areas. From conducting competitor research to intensive digging of valuable information, data or resources across the web, a virtual assistant can host a variety of researching techniques so that the business stays aligned with their target audience while they plan for their next strategic move.
Yes, They Can Do it Virtually
Virtual assistants can literally do anything “virtually”.
Working with a VA means you gain access to a pool of impressive talents. They can execute tasks with utmost precision and expertise. They can do things that some of your in-house employees can’t. More importantly, they provide efficient support without requiring you to break the bank.
But do always remember that, albeit the multifaceted capacity of a remote team of professionals, they are still human beings with their own boundaries. Treat them the way you would your in-house employees. Nurture them and improve their capabilities by implementing regular training sessions.
They may not be physically present in your office, but they still prove instrumental in leveraging your business operations to greater heights.
Have you tried working with a virtual assistant? Share your experience in the comment section below!
Founder Dinis Guarda
IntelligentHQ Your New Business Network.
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