Many people who know little about online marketing can barely identify what a Virtual Employee is and its importance in a business. By definition, virtual staff are online secretaries and more. Why more? Aside from the usual clerical stuff, setting of appointments, and answering of calls, some virtual assistants take their professions to the extra mile. A good virtual assistant is one of the keys of having a smooth sailing online business.
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What does a Virtual Assistant do?
An effective virtual employee can efficiently do many tasks. Multitasking, taking initiative and problem solving are some of the best skills of effective virtual staff have. The more capable a virtually assistant is with the tasks, the higher his or her rate will be. To get the most of your budget, clients should start checking which tasks a potential virtual assistant is willing to handle for a certain rate before they can weigh their options.
A virtual assistant can do one or more of the following depending on agreed conditions:
• Handle customer's and potential clients' inquiries through phone or email. - With an administrative virtual staff, clients do not need to spend time checking emails and answering questions may it be regarding virtual assistant services uk their product, service or the business itself. Their virtual employee can also correspond to clients such as transcribing of meetings and voice messages,making a follow up on orders or delivering customer service.
• Take care of minor billing and accounting - A virtual executive assistant can also be trusted to do books. The client's business' balance sheets will be provided to them when they commence the job.
• Make arrangements - Scheduling a meeting, travel arrangements and appointments are usually done by a personal virtual employee. It puts one's mind at ease while he or she tends to the more important stuff in his business.
How do we Communicate?
Now that the tasks are set, it is time for a virtual staff to learn how this business works. Basically, the internet is what connects the client and your virtual assistant. Communication can be done by many means. VoIP, Online messengers, Emails and Chat applications are just some of them. There are plenty of free communication services offered online that virtual assistants also can take advantage of. There are also some companies that offer virtual assistant services who already have developed their own application or software for communicating with their staff. This proves to be better than not having your own software as it provides both security and quality to the company. After all, most businesses are concerned about protecting their Intellectual Property.
Now What?
With the many good things virtual staff can do, improper setting of expectations can lead to a serious misunderstanding between two parties. Thus, it is best for you to clearly establish the tasks that need to be done, the frequency and other expectations. Clarifications, deadline negotiations are also done prior to the start date of the operation. Most virtual employees are level headed and are very flexible with the tasks that are expected of them. Still, the key for this successful partnership is to build a clear and professional relationship.
The advent of online technology has changed the workforce forever. Outsourcing has been common since the 1980s but at that point, a contractor still had to come into the office to get information and take it to their office to get the work done.
Now, a virtual assistant can live literally anyplace where they have access to the internet. Virtual assistants understand how important it is to deliver good work to you because your success is very dependent upon their success.
They work hard to train themselves to do tasks that are needed and in demand so that you don't have to train anyone. You simply hire the expertise you need for your projects. VAs can be brought on long term or on a by-project basis.
No Need for Fully Equipped Offices
A VA is a business owner who owns all the tools needed to do the work for you that you need completed. You do not need to provide the tools, and you shouldn't. They are their own business owner and have the tools.
No Need to Pay for Benefits
When you contract with a VA, they are independent contractors who pay for their own benefits. The money you pay the VA covers those expenses, which is why you may pay from $20 to $40 an hour or more depending on the specialty that you need. It still saves you money because you only pay for work you need.
No Need to Train Someone
You do not have to train your VA on the tasks you want completed. You may need to show them how you like your work to look when it's finished, but you won't tell them what tools to use or how to do it exactly. They should know how to do it already.
No Full-Time Costs for Part-Time Work
Many people think they have to hire someone full time, in their office, to get good work done. But the truth is, there are lots of times in the day where a receptionist is just sitting there. If you can pay them only part time for exactly what you need then you can afford to hire more experts, too.
Expand and Contract Your Business As Needed
You only pay for and hire people to do work exactly when you need it. This means you can easily take on extra work when you get offered it, and get your VA(s) to help out with the parts they can do.
Look Like a Big Business to the World
It used to be impossible for a small self-employed freelancer to make a big enough dent to make a good living working for themselves without practically killing themselves with the workload. Now you can look big by being able to bring on more outsources when needed without killing yourself.
Find Very Specific Expertise When You Need It
Virtual assistants have a variety of skills that fall into many categories from finance, to management, to organizing and planning, to technical and more. Find the right help when you need it instead of having to keep people on the payroll when you don't need them.