Virtual Assistants: The Ultimate Sidekick & Secret Weapon
Updated: Sep 3, 2022
Time management can be kryptonite to any entrepreneur or business owner. Every aspect of your company rests on your shoulders and there is never a dull moment. Running a successful business is never ending work, and that is magnified when you are working solo or are running a small to medium sized business with limited help. This leaves you to be the superhero and perform all roles in your company flawlessly. Even the roles that are necessary but do not directly contribute to your business’s growth.
Therefore, the strongest superpower you can wield is delegation. For a entrepreneur/ business owner to delegate effectively is to master the art of prioritization. The best superheroes always have amazing sidekicks. In 2022, not only are those sidekicks Assistants/ Admins, but most of them are also Virtual Assistants. Your focus should always be what drives your business: working to drive sales, improving what services or products your company offers, and taking opportunities for overall growth. Administrative tasks that are time consuming or routine should be delegated to Virtual Assistants (VAs) who are dedicated to helping you succeed and grow.
VAs can be highly skilled in general administration or can be professionally-trained in niche areas and have extensive experience. One of the major benefits of virtual assistants is that you can save as much as 78% in operating costs from hiring a VA instead of a traditional, in-house employee.
Having a VA to delegate tasks to empowers you to focus on your growing your business, preform core functions and develop needed strategies. This will boost your, and your company’s efficiency and result in long-term benefits like increased profits.
The tasks a VA can complete for you are limitless. However, it is important to find the right fit. This means knowing what tasks you need or want help with and then finding a VA with the right skills to get the job done.
Do you know the benefits of outsourcing to a Virtual Assistant?
Annually, a VA can save businesses up to over 75% in operating costs. Almost 60% of VAs have attained college- level education. Remote workers take fewer sick days and breaks, leading to a significant increase in their overall productivity.
Let’s talk about some of the more common tasks you can and should delegate to VA
What are the best tasks to outsource to a Virtual Assistant?
Email Management: Managing a business’s email box is crucial. Reading, addressing, or responding to important emails timely is essential for keeping up with any business. Here is what you can delegate to your VA:
· Escalating emails based on importance/ sensitivity
· Responding to, addressing time-sensitive emails
· Responding to, scheduling low-priority emails
While your company’s email box is one of the most important tools for communication, sorting through it, while necessary, can be one of the biggest time suckers of your day. Delegating this to a VA to manage can eliminate the noise and allow you to address the items that need your specific attention, while still allowing all your customers’ needs to be attended to.
Appointment Setting and Calendar Management
Maintaining an accurate schedule is a part of running any business. Efficiency can make the difference between a happy client and a bad customer experience resulting in a lost client. A VA can manage your calendar and manage tasks like:
· Scheduling, Rescheduling, Confirming Appointments
· Managing your overall schedule
· Keeping, Tracking the overall company calendar, and keeping it organized
A well-managed business calendar helps to ensure a positive client/ customer experience, efficiency, and it allows you focus in on valuable business opportunities.
Bookkeeping and payroll
It is not secret that every business is in business to make money. So, it makes sense that your businesses financials are the lifeblood of your company. However, you don’t always need a full-time accountant on staff. A VA with bookkeeping and record keeping experienced can handle managing and organizing your day-to-day financials so that when you turn them over to your Accountant everything is in order. them. A VA can oversee:
· Tracking Expenses
· Managing Budget
· Preparing Payroll/ Paying Vendors or Contractors
· Preparing Invoices
· Tracking client payments
· Creating Financial Reports
Keeping documents, finances and receipts in order is vital in any business operation but, it is also extremely tedious and time consuming. A VA can take the time to manage these things, with attention to detail so that your can maximize your bottom line.
Social Media Management
Your company’s social media page allows you to promote your business, reach a broader audience, promote your business, engage in online communities and with a broader audience. Managing this on your own can be a massive undertaking. A VA can manage this by:
· Creating and Scheduling organic (and in some cases paid) posts
· Curating and managing a social media content calendar
· Responding to interactions thereby increasing engagement
In this increasingly digital age, every business should have a social media presence and should be constantly working to ensure they are getting the most out of them. However, to say this is time consuming is an understatement. A VA could maintain your company’s social media profiles and use them to promote your business.
Research and Information Gathering
Knowledge is power and research gives businesses the data they need to make well informed decisions. Your VA can undertake these tasks:
· Research your target market
· Preform competitor benchmarks
· Noting industry trends
· Providing information for content
No matter the industry, data is king. Gathering the right data for various business purposes can ensure that your company is well-informed and stays competitive in today’s market. Unfortunately, research takes time to gather. Allowing a VA to do this means you have more time to review the data and develop strategies and action plans to put it to good use!
CRM/ Book of Business Maintenance and Data Entry
Data (especially your client or potential client data) is critical in driving different business opportunities and processes. This means you will inevitably need help to gather, maintain and track it. Task your VA with accomplishing administrative tasks like:
· Registering Client Information
· Entering Product, Program or Continuing Education information
· Ensuring Data Accuracy
· Maintaining databases
· Periodic Reporting
All businesses handle data in many aspects or forms in its daily operations and, it is extremely tedious to enter and maintain all that information. As a business owner, the best investment you can make is protecting your times and ensure you are spending it in places that allow you to grow your business. Having a VA to manage this is the most cost-efficient way to get it done.
Customer Service
To ensure satisfied customers, it is not only necessary to provide quality services or products. It is ensuring your customers/ clients have a pleasant and memorable experience. This means handling customer questions, issues and troubleshooting concerns are also essential to ensure loyal customers and repeat business.
Let your VA provide your customers with amazing support by:
· Addressing customer issues, concerns, or questions
· Providing solutions before things become an issue
· Escalating and tracking customer issues
Having a VA ensures consistent customer service and support. A VA can be empowered to provide solutions, resolve issues, and gather feedback from your customer base.
Communications and Logistics
Behind-the-scenes of most business operations are communications and logistics. Utilize a VA for the following tasks:
· Follow up communications with clients
· Planning and organizing of small events or meetings
· Sending invitations, e-cards, and other relevant messages
· Planning travel and logistic arrangements
Communications and logistics are two unsung heroes of a business’s operations. Communications plays a critical role in fostering customer relationships. Logistics also enable key processes like supply chains, deliveries, or organizing of events and other opportunities.
Basic Graphic Design or Editing
Impactful visual assets can give your business an edge over competitors. Graphics have the power to convey what your brand stands for in one glance. Therefore, businesses need professional images, for social media, marketing, or websites. However, not every business can afford a full time professional Graphic Designer.
Your VA can assist by:
· Basic Editing photos and company assets
· Finding and procuring compelling images for promotions, and more.
· Organizing graphic and asset files
VAs can help by taking or editing simple product photos, creating listings, posting/ editing images for social media or even in some cases completing simple website updates.
Content Writing
Content helps to solidify your brands position as an industry expert. It helps to instill and foster trust in your targeted audience. Have your VA accomplish tasks like:
· Writing content on industry topics
· Ensuring they use key words to assist with optimizing content for search engines
· Posting/ Uploading and formatting content
One way to boost your business quickly and easily above the competition is to consistently produce and post content. This content should not only be informative but, it should demonstrate your company as an industry expert.
Level up with A Virtual Assistant
We are in truly digital age. The thought process of “…in person employees are productive employees” is antiquated. VAs are helping entrepreneurs, small and medium sized businesses (in every industry) excel. They give businesses a competitive edge against competition. Like with any business tool or strategy, to utilize a VA successfully is know what tasks you are going to delegate to your VA, and to choose the right person with those skills.
Lucidefy provides virtual assistants who are subject matter experts with proved track records and successes in their fields. We pair outstanding VAs who will consistently deliver exceptional work for a variety of tasks and be an exceptional resource for your business.
Contact us today to see how we can help you Level up!