Who is a virtual assistant, and what does she do? I am a virtual assistant. When they ask me what work I do, I try to explain that, working remotely, I assist professionals and small entrepreneurs in the exercise of their daily activities that do not require their intervention. Activities that, therefore, can be delegated to an external professional to recover time to devote to something else (for example, to business) and save money compared to hiring an employee.
But this brief explanation is often not enough to illustrate what my business consists of. Questioning looks alternate with a series of questions and makes me understand how this profession is, in reality, still little known. I try to clarify a bit with a typical conversation about my work, explaining who a virtual assistant is and what she does.
Specifically, What Does A Virtual Assistant Do?
The activity of a virtual assistant can take on a thousand different facets. It can perform executive tasks, such as managing your email inbox, drafting documents, managing your appointment planner according to your instructions, taking on a management role, managing projects, coordinating resources, etc. Between these two extremes, there are a thousand facets we were talking about. Thus, you can agree with your virtual assistant to manage some tasks independently, while you will share every single decision for other aspects.
You can ask her to set up a specific type of work and reserve every final decision for you, or you may want to limit yourself to periodically checking how a particular project is progressing. It all depends on how you are used to working, the type of delegated activity, and the trust that will be created. As you can see, the relationship with a virtual assistant may not be very different from the relationship you would have with the secretary sitting at the following table.
Why Should I Choose A Virtual Assistant?
There is more than one reason. First, contrary to what it might seem, a virtual assistant costs you less than an employee. An employed person costs you about double your net pay. To these costs, you must add:
- The cost of setting up a workstation (desk, PC, printer, etc.)
- The cost of utilities
- The cost and time of training (initial and refresher)
- Costs related to safety in the workplace
- The fee of the labor consultant
You can easily monetize the time saved as well. By delegating to an external professional the activities for which your intervention is not required, you can recover many hours from devoting to your business and concentrate on the focus of your business. Another reason lies in the quality of the work. As already mentioned, a virtual assistant is result-oriented, and knowing that your satisfaction is the first goal they have to aim for, they will strive to give you the highest quality.
How Can I Check The Work Done?
Delegating an activity to a virtual assistant does not mean losing control over the activity carried out. On the contrary, you will establish together the methods and times of the periodic checks.
There are two ways to set up an employment relationship with a virtual assistant regarding the time spent on the activity.
You can set an hourly rate and reward his work based on the hours carried out or set compensation based on the objectives. For example, if you decide to use a virtual assistant to manage your Facebook page, you can ask it to monitor the time spent publishing your posts with one of the various tools that the web makes available (e.g., Toggl ). Or, you can disengage from the hourly rate and set a flat rate for publishing a certain number of posts per week.
How To Contact A Virtual Assistant?
For a virtual assistant, having an online presence is essential. The search then starts from the Internet. The site, the Facebook page, the LinkedIn profile of a virtual assistant will certainly be completed by the contact details valid for the first contact. Through a few phone calls, email exchanges, or Skype video calls, you will be able to get to know each other better, to define the context in which the virtual assistant will find himself carrying out his duties, the objectives and methods of carrying out the work, the timing of the checks.
When the picture is clear, the virtual assistant will propose you a quote, and if this seems appropriate, you can conclude the contract. I hope I have clarified at least a little with this article, but do not hesitate to contact me if you have any doubts!
Why Use A Virtual Assistant In The Company
Virtual assistant solutions, which can integrate with a voice bot or chatbot, allow you to recover valuable time, resources, and costs to devote to business and activities with actual value. From searching for information to carrying out routine tasks and time consuming, the automation generated by virtual assistants is a precious resource to make the most varied business processes and people’s work more efficient.
The Advantages Of Our Virtual Assistants
Improved Efficiency
Thanks to the automation of repetitive tasks and continuous assistance, your resources have more time and more focus to devote to activities of value
Quality Operation
Providing people with the assistance that is always available helps make everyone’s performance faster, more precise, and reliable, improve the quality of work, and support customers throughout the customer journey.
Simplification Of Work
Any friction and difficulty in carrying out the activities are eliminated for the human operator, who benefits from them and uses less time and energy in searching for information, data, and documents
More Knowledge Of Needs
Voice bots are a privileged contact channel in which each interaction generates data and information that are promptly captured and made available to generate insights, make analyzes, including predictive ones, on the behavior and needs of users
Better Conversion Rates
Virtual assistants help to achieve better conversions and increase the profitability of different activities, from marketing to sales, from manufacturing to service, to HR, administrative, and supply chain processes
