I hear so many professionals say, “I wish there were more hours in the day”, or “I’m never going to catch up on my emails”, “if only there were two of me”. More hours in a day would be great and cloning ourselves even better. Until science can give us those wishes it’s time to get more creative with the resources we do have at our fingertips. You have another option for: adding more hours back in your day, getting those emails and phones answered, invoices paid in a timely manner and so on. Other than just hiring in-person staff you can bring on a virtual assistant.
Here are just a few of the HUGE benefits of hiring a virtual assistant (VA for short).
1. You’ll save a TON of time. As a business owner your time is valuable. Every hour you spend serving your clients/customers is money in your pocket. Every hour you’re spending on administrative tasks (emails, phones, invoices, data, vendors etc.) is not adding to your bottom line. When you hire a virtual assistant, you can hand over whatever tasks you want. That includes the mentally tasking jobs you’ve been wasting your most valuable time and energy on. Hiring a VA allows you to invest your time and energy back into the activities that build your business, or those that you simply enjoy – like spending more time with family and friends, or on the golf course.
2. You can stop doing those dreadful tasks. You started your business to have MORE freedom and flexibility, but now you find yourself being more tied down than ever before. If the mere thought of doing admin tasks such as returning calls and scheduling appointments make you want to scream, it makes total sense to delegate those tasks to a virtual assistant who will do it for you.
3. You can expend your client reach. Lead generation is a huge part of why businesses stay in business. Marketing tasks like posting on social media and responding to online inquires take up a lot of time. Paying a marketing firm to do it for you can become an astronomical expense that well, let’s admit it, most small to medium sized businesses just can’t afford. A VA can easily handle these simple marketing tasks like answering online questions, email inquiries and posting to your social media accounts for you.
4. You save on employee costs. Virtual assistants are a comparatively cost-effective alternative to employees. A VA doesn’t require health or dental insurance, nor do you have to invest in any retirement funds for one. You can considerably reduce your costs and invest your money back into your business. You can also hire a VA for as long or as little as you need. Who doesn’t love better ROI when it comes to your hiring decisions?
5. Your customer interaction will improve. While your clients love your business and/or product, they don’t love waiting. When productivity is down because of staffing being stretched too thin, your customer service will more than likely suffer. Bringing on a virtual assistant to: answer the phones, make appointments, fill orders, invoice, and respond to emails allows your customers to get the kind of quick service that keeps them coming back repeatedly. Not to mention, they will tell their friends too.
6. You will have peace of mind. You’ve invested your heart and soul into building a thriving business. When troubles arise such as: staffing, productivity, customer service, and costs, you can’t just leave them at the office. They will follow you home and hinder your peace there until you solve them. Hiring a virtual assistant allows you to scale operations and give you peace of mind.