Should You Hire a Virtual Assistant for Your Business?
For many business owners, we cannot overstate the value that a well-qualified and productive assistant can bring to your firm. Without an assistant, how many hours of the day are you losing to administrative tasks such as organizing your schedule, writing reports, conducting research, etc.? As an executive, you want to spend your time focusing on business planning and executing the vision of your firm.
However, while executive assistants can help you offload these administrative tasks, quality help can be hard to find and costly to maintain internally. Fortunately, since the rise of remote work in the past couple of years, part-time virtual assistants have provided business owners and executives with a more cost-friendly and flexible alternative to traditional EAs.
In 2022, our CEO, Jesse Mahle, has found great success with the hiring of his own virtual assistant, as have many of his colleagues. That said, many businesses may still find greater success with the hiring of an internal executive assistant. In this blog post, we will explore the potential benefits of hiring a virtual assistant in comparison to a traditional, in-house executive assistant.
What Are the Roles and Responsibilities of a Virtual Assistant?
As opposed to an in-house employee, virtual assistants are independent contractors who operate remotely. Virtual assistants can provide all the administrative services one would expect from an in-house EO, such as outreach, managing your email inbox, scheduling appointments, making travel arrangements, and in some instances, bookkeeping, email marketing, and social media.
Because virtual assistants are not tethered to a physical location, you and your firm’s leaders and managers must feel comfortable sharing relevant documents and schedules with a remote contractor. If possible, consider meeting with your IT department before employing a virtual assistant to ensure that sensitive files will only be shared over a secure connection.
Have you considered a Virtual Sales Coordinator?
In the current business climate, time is the highest commodity. Business owners are required to be multifaceted and resourceful to fulfill various responsibilities within the company. The successful operation of a growing organization demands efficiency and the appropriate delegation of tasks. The need for supplementary assistance can alleviate the burden on business owners needing to wear multiple hats to keep the company afloat and afford them the opportunity to focus on high-level projects or idea generation to increase profitability and expand the business. The advent of virtual employment has opened a myriad of possibilities for outsourcing talent. The exploration of this vast pool containing professionals from every skill level makes perfect sense for a company concerned with duplicating efforts and maximizing output while keeping operational costs low.
From a sales perspective, a Virtual Sales or Intake Coordinator is someone who handles the lower-level activities of your sales process. They can handle the important, yet mundane, prospect follow-up tasks that eat away at a salesperson’s profitability and consistency. Additional tasks could include, organizing your schedule, writing reports, conducting research, communicating relevant information, monitoring the team’s progress, identifying shortcomings, and proposing improvements. There is the opportunity to train the individual to advance in other areas of the organization as the need arises.
If you are interested in hiring a virtual or fractional assistant for your firm, we here at Sebastian Lane can help point you in the right direction. Feel free to reach out for further information, resources, and recommendations. Call Sebastian Lane Consulting at 443-534-6783 or email us at jesse@sebastianlaneconsulting.com.