With a wealth of virtual assistant companies now advertising their services on the web, you may be asking yourself, what is it a VA can really help me with? Well, as a dedicated virtual assistant agency ourselves, we are thoroughly versed in why the kind of service we offer is a much better choice than traditional secretarial temp agencies. Want to know exactly what forms part of a virtual assistant service? Here’s a breakdown of our top ten things a VA can take off your plate:
1. Diary Management: save time, miss less meetings, no more double bookings
Someone calls you out of the blue and a voice says, “I’m here, where are you?”. Your stomach drops as you realise you’ve completely forgotten about a meeting you’d both arranged. We know how it feels! There’s nothing more embarrassing than having to say, “I am so sorry, I double booked myself, is there? Except perhaps, “I am so sorry, I forgot” (don’t ever say that!). If your diary is beginning to look like a mishmash of blocks and colours, then perhaps it’s time your very own virtual secretary took it off your hands. A VA is especially helpful when you need to set up a meeting or send out an invite – you just hand it over.
2. Client Liaison: keep your clients engaged and relationships warm
If you have a business, then you should have a strategy. The problem is, sometimes you don’t have the resources to follow through on that strategy. That’s where a VA comes in very handy – literally a virtual PA, they can be your front line. Whether it’s sending out generic information, or following up after a meeting, you can use a VA to help nurture your sales funnel and allow you to concentrate purely on those leads ready to convert.
3. Inbox Management: no more daily inbox clutter!
Imagine a world where you didn’t have to delete about fifty newsletters, marketing emails, and offers every day. A world where important emails could, instead, be automatically prioritised and filtered through to you. That world is a world where you use a VA. Leaders of companies who use virtual assistant services in the UK spend less time managing their inbox and more time driving their business towards success. A VA can even compose key emails and responses for you, if briefed, can learn what these typical responses should be, eventually capable of drafting them independently.
4. Social Media: do more, more frequently, with more results
The thing about social media for most CEOs and MDs of small to medium sized businesses is this: you know you need to be doing it, but you just don’t have the time. Or, you are doing it, but you should be doing more. That’s a perfect task for a VA. Instead of spending time wording things the right way, ‘designing’ up posts or looking for the right hashtags, you can just ping it over to them and let them do it. Say you have a new announcement to make, about a new client or product, an event, even an offer – not only is this a great task for a VA, they can also like and comment when people start interacting with the post. It’s a great way to make sure your business stays relevant online.
5. Chasing invoices and managing suppliers: keep abreast of your cash flow
Finally, if chasing invoices is something you despise, or constantly forget to do, then look no further. A VA can keep track of everything for you, making sure you stay on top of payments coming in, and customers and clients who are late. If any further admin is required a VA can make sure everything is done promptly and correctly, in order to maintain your business’s relationships. Why not set up a meeting with your VA to get an overall snapshot of the latest situation, so you can prioritise any conversations that need to be had, one-to-one, with particular clients, allowing you to pre-empt any cash flow problems.
In conclusion, it’s safe to say that whatever you use a VA for, they will save you precious time. But how you deploy virtual assistant services and what tasks you assign to them can make a significant difference to the quality of time you spend on your core business responsibilities. Less distractions, less worries and more focus are all benefits a VA will bring you.
Tired of juggling different suppliers?
Unlike many other virtual assistant companies, at PABS we do much more than simply provide virtual assistants – whether it’s web development, blogging, copy writing or anything that requires a more specific skillset, we have a variety of virtual experts that can hit the ground running because we already know your business and your brand. This keeps everything streamlined and hassle-free, taking the stress out of managing multiple suppliers. And if business is booming and you’re ready to move to the next stage, talk to us about hiring a permanent PA – we can help with that as well.