As a small business owner, you can be overwhelmed by the number of time-consuming daily tasks you have to manage, which leaves you with less time to concentrate on prioritising essential clients and closing deals.

Hiring a dedicated assistant ensures all those laborious tasks get done without employing a full-time salaried staff member.

Most virtual assistant services providers offer general administrative support, such as making and answering phone calls, email management, and scheduling appointments.

This article looks at what small business owners need to know to help you hire the perfect virtual assistant for all those time-consuming small business tasks.

Popular Virtual Assistant Tasks for Small Businesses 

Small businesses must know which tasks they want to outsource when using a virtual assistant service provider. 

Popular general administration tasks include customer support, such as dealing with phone calls and emails and ensuring all data entry tasks are correct and current.

Other tasks include looking after company social media accounts which are becoming increasingly popular duties to outsource to virtual assistants.

Hiring A Virtual Assistant ManagerHowever, more highly-skilled virtual administrative assistants can offer services such as digital marketing, graphic and web design and website development that provide cost-effective solutions to many areas of your business.

Whichever tasks you decide to get a VA to perform will positively impact your business in terms of saving time and money.

Virtual assistants are paid hourly, so you can decide how many hours you want them to perform weekly administrative tasks. The time you save, you can dedicate to performing personal and professional tasks which further benefit your business.

Benefits of Hiring a Virtual Assistant for Small Businesses 

Virtual assistants for small businesses have increased in popularity because hiring a remote worker is far more cost-effective than hiring a full-time staff member.

When you hire a dedicated virtual assistant, you pay them an agreed hourly rate for all the tasks they perform, and you don’t incur any additional costs apart from initial training.

By contrast, when you employ an in-house staff member, you must pay them an annual salary and additional benefits such as bonuses, overtime, and sick/holiday pay.

In addition to this, you also have to pay maternity/paternity leave, as well as pension contributions.

Most virtual assistants are highly flexible in the number of hours they can work. For example, you may hire them to do 10 hours a week but find you need them to do additional hours some weeks. Similarly, you may also decrease their hours when required during quiet periods.

Often businesses have peak periods. For example, you can easily hire additional virtual assistants to work on specific projects during a busy period, ensuring you offer your clients the best service guarantee.

The number of hours you save by hiring virtual assistants allows you to focus on essential clients during business hours.

Finding the Right Virtual Assistant for Your Small Business 

Often it can prove hard to find skilled virtual assistants in your chosen industry; therefore, taking your time with the hiring process is vital.

In this case, hiring an enthusiastic remote worker willing to learn new skills may be worth considering. With the right training pathway and guidance, you could train your new hire to your company’s specific needs from the role.

It is always advisable to do your due diligence when searching for a new VA and use well-known virtual assistant companies to help you.

Alternatively, you should seek referrals from other companies with more experience hiring virtual assistants and see if they can recommend a remote worker that fits your requirements. 

Best Practices for Working with Virtual Assistants 

You may be able to find virtual assistants with skills in social media management and software development, but if their communication skills are poor, then they won’t be up to the high standards you require.

Real Estate Virtual Assistant Jobs In AustraliaAll the best virtual assistants will possess excellent communication skills, which allow them to perform video chat calls with other members of staff as well as potential clients as part of a social media marketing campaign.

You must always ensure that you are clear about which methods of communication you prefer to use with your hired remote worker.

For example, you may assign tasks for your VA to hit monthly targets relating to social media strategists, so you must offer monthly support through feedback sessions and check-ins.

Your feedback is essential to ensure your VA performs to the highest level, even on the simple tasks you set.

Regular constructive feedback will help you independently evaluate job performance and areas for improvement. 

Overcoming Challenges With Virtual Personal Assistant Services

When using a hired outsourced contractor for lead generation or general admin tasks, you must be aware that the person you hire may be from a different cultural background than you.

For example, even when hiring people from The Philippines using the best virtual assistant services, you must be aware that they will speak English as a second language, and there may be some challenges in your tone and approach.

Always be aware that using a respectful tone and impeccable manners will help avoid awkward situations.    

Additionally, the person you hire will probably be working from a country with a different time zone to where your company is based.

This doesn’t have to be a negative as long as you use the situation to your company’s advantage.

For example, your VA can answer customer enquiries outside your standard office working hours, which means your customers will receive quicker responses.

Future Trends in VA Services for Small Businesses

With the advancement of new technologies, small businesses can take advantage of a wide variety of software tools to help them with the daily running of their company.

Outsourcing Services To Virtual Assistants Is A Smart Business StrategyFor example, an increasing number of software tools are available to help virtual assistants with time management, general communication and staff training.

One such tool is Amazon Lex, provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS). This tool makes text and voice processing easier.

You’ll also find that many time management and collaboration tools are constantly bringing new features that make it easier to deal with teams of VAs in many different locations. 

Call Us Today for A Free Consultation

Often hiring a dedicated VA seems easy once you begin the time-consuming process, and then you realise it can prove tricky.

Finding virtual assistants who can handle tasks specific to your company’s needs isn’t as simple as many business owners think.

As the leading virtual assistant company in Australia, we will provide you with a free consultation on our high-quality services.  

As a highly-rated VA service provider, we can identify, hire, train and manage the ideal remote personal assistant to suit your company’s needs.  

 

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