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A virtual assistant, or VA, can do just about anything a regular employee can do. You just won’t see his or her face every day and the manner in which you send tasks to him or her will vary slightly.
Instead of walking paper files into the next office, you can simply attach those same electronic files to an email and hit send. Your assistant will work on those files according to your instructions and return them, mail them, or do whatever else you request with them.
Some the tasks a VA can do are:
• Answering phone calls
• Appointment setting
• Bookkeeping
• Collections
• Customer support
• Data entry
• Data processing
• E-mail processing
• Event planning
• Letter preparation
• Mailings
• Manuals
• Meeting arrangements
• Newsletters
• Procedure documentation
• Proof reading
• Reports
• Research
• Transcription
• Travel arrangements
• Word processing
Virtual assistants come in all shapes and sizes, just as any business does. Typically, VA’s work from home-based offices. This saves you countless dollars in office expenses.
Most are equipped with Internet, e-mail, fax machine, cellular phone, and a great attitude. Many even come with a cat or dog! He or she should use all of the latest technology to communicate with you and get your work done as quickly as possible. Hiring a virtual that saves you hundreds of dollars by not having to do it all yourself.
A virtual assistant can free your time to do what you’re good at and what’s important to your company. Whether that’s making sales, following up on leads, attending speaking events, or doing the other meaty tasks your business requires.
No successful business owner can afford to micro-manage. If you need to micro-manage, you should find someone to sit right next to you in your office. If you can refrain from micro-managing and allow your admin to think and do on her own, you’ll have no problems managing her from a distance.
Cost Effectiveness
A virtual is far more cost effective than a regular employee. You may pay more per hour than a regular employee, but leave out the income tax, unemployment taxes, CPP, health insurance, vacation time, sick time, profit sharing, Christmas bonus, holiday pay, and other benefits you need to offer a regular employee, and a virtual’s wage comes out far lower than that of a regular employee.
A virtual can save money in other areas as well. How much does it cost you to maintain office footage, a computer, a phone line or two, a refrigerator, a microwave, a desk, electricity, heat, air conditioning, and parking for your regular employees?
Determining What You Should Ask Your Virtual To Do
The best approach to deciding what tasks you want your virtual to do is to sit down for a few minutes and talk through your daily tasks. The VA can help you determine which things are taking up your time unnecessarily.
Another great approach is to journal each of your days for a week. Log everything you touch and do. At the end of the week look back through that list and highlight the items that someone else could do. Those items you just highlighted should become the tasks you give to a virtual so you can focus on the important things.
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