Hire a Virtual Executive Assistant

Still having trouble imagining how it will play out in your daily life? Here are a few scenarios that might provide a clearer picture: 

• Email & Calendar Management: You want to schedule a meeting with your team, but it also requires getting remote workers on the same page. Rather than play “inbox tag” all day with multiple parties, you can outsource this work to a virtual executive assistant whose role it is to get everyone on the same schedule. And with the assistant managing your inbox and calendar, you’ll never have to see an email.
• Phone Support: You want to minimize distractions, but you don’t want to ignore client phone calls. A phone system that directs incoming phone calls to a remote virtual executive assistant means you won’t have to step away from work to make a client feel valued.
• Data Entry & Finance Tasks: Year-end planning gets in the way of spending more time away for the holidays, and it includes some of your least-favorite tasks: data entry, expense reporting, and more. Outsourcing this work to a virtual assistant not only removes one of the major chores of running a business, but helps ensure that you have more available time when it matters most.
  

Signs You Need a Virtual Executive Assistant

It’s hard to argue that an executive assistant wouldn’t make your life running a business much more smooth. But how can you tell when you’re ready to create a role like this? What are the signs that you’re sorely in need of a virtual executive assistant yourself?

For many businesses, hiring a virtual assistant is an affordable alternative to hiring a full-time employee. Not only does it mean avoiding the expensive benefits that come with keeping a full-time employee on the payroll, but it also offers logistical advantages: you don’t have to rely on a virtual assistant living anywhere near your office.

Using a virtual assistant also means that you can decouple your work from your location. Rather than relying on an assistant who’s tethered to a desk, you can outsource work to a remote location. In some cases, that even means having a virtual assistant work on your projects while you sleep.

The Growing Trend of Virtual Assistants

Virtual assistants are no longer a niche interest. They’re a vital part of getting business done for an ever-increasing amount of people. 80% of large corporations are planning on expanding their use of flexible workers, including contract workers like virtual assistants.

Saving Money

How much does it cost to keep an employee around? According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average cost to employers was $36.61 per hour in June of 2019. That includes over $25 in average hourly wages and $11.48 in averaging the costs of benefits.

In other words, a full-time employee is expensive.

You can save money by purchasing time from a virtual assistant directly. According to BestOfBudgets.com, a virtual assistant can help save as much as 78% on operating costs per year. And with a virtual assistant provider, you won’t be expected to pay benefits. It comes down to a simple transaction: hours worked. 

Getting More Done

As your business grows, you’ll eventually run into a wall: you only have so many hours in the day. No matter how hard you work, you can’t get around this fact. Businesses only grow once they understand that they can expand their productive capacity by hiring help. Not only does hiring a virtual assistant add to the overall capacity of your business, but it makes the hours you spend in the office that much more efficient. 

But “more efficient” is vague. What are some specific ways you can use a virtual assistant to enhance the way you do business?

• Improving performance. Let’s say that you have too many potential clients to follow up with—at least when it comes to offering that personal touch in which your company places so much pride. A virtual assistant can bring the human element back to your business without requiring you to sacrifice more of your time. 
• Improving communication. Having a virtual assistant serve as a point of contact for multiple people can not only make it easier to wrangle disparate remote employees together, but can improve communication even at large companies with plenty of on-site workers.‍
• Improving follow-ups. When your business is growing, one of the hardest things to do is to follow up with potential clients and leads. Not only is there too much to keep track of, but your email inbox can become a veritable maze of unfinished conversations. Outsourcing this work to a virtual executive assistant will be a major boost to your productivity and ability to stay in touch.