What is a virtual assistant and what do they do?

What is a virtual assistant?

A virtual assistant is a personal assistant that works remotely to help companies, founders and executives manage a wide range of tasks quickly and efficiently. Being able to work remotely is one of the strongest points of virtual assistants. This is not only because of the cost benefits but also because of increased productivity and larger access to a skilled workforce. Virtual assistants are especially in demand by entrepreneurs and small businesses that don't need to have staff on their own location. Moreover, many small and mid-size businesses use virtual support, especially for specific tasks such as social media management.

Furthermore, a virtual assistant can do any task that you need. They can manage social media, handle the emails, organize the calendar and events, etc. To add, virtual assistants are much more than just personal assistants. Sometimes, they can perform tasks that personal assistants are not qualified for. Some virtual assistants specialize in recruitment, SEO, digital marketing, PR, etc. A virtual assistant can substitute any role or support staff within the company.

What tasks can virtual assistants manage?

Any process in the company can be outsourced to virtual assistants. For example, the most popular use is as a personal assistant. You can delegate tasks such as email handling, booking appointments, calendar management, and so one. Other popular tasks include more specialized support, such as social media management, recruitment, database management, data entry, transcriptions, graphic designing, blog managements.

Administrative

Virtual assistants can perform admin duties in almost all companies and industries. However, the level of expertise depends on the industry. For example, some assistants in the healthcare or legal industry may need to be more specialized.  Most administrative tasks involve information processing, distributing and managing within the company. Thus, most of the tasks include answering calls, taking notes and memos, and managing appointments, managing documents, files, etc. Virtual assistants may also be in charge of contacting clients.

However, some virtual admin assistants may perform more complex duties. Bookkeeping is one of them. Therefore, many companies hire virtual assistants for managing and tracking expenses, creating reports, creating spreadsheets, tracking costs, and so on. These assistants may also need to have more knowledge of specific software, especially bookkeeping software.

As mentioned, organizing events is another important duty that assistants can handle. Such events include board meetings and luncheons, but also conferences, workshops, and other bigger scale events.

Virtual admin assistants also help the company staff with managing documents. On one side, we mentioned archiving, storing and managing files, but assistants may also help with editing, proofreading and preparing them. Often, they also may be required to keep notes during meetings or other events.

Creative

There are virtual assistants for every need and duty within companies. Therefore, it is not surprising that companies can outsource creative tasks to them as well. For example, some tasks that are outsourced most frequently are copywriting, designing, designing materials for events and meetings, designing presentations, creating templates, creating business cards, etc. Often, creative virtual assistants are also knowledgeable in marketing.

Marketing and Sales

Companies often hire virtual assistants to help marketing teams. Sometimes, they run marketing campaigns, prepare marketing content, manage pipelines, etc. Other times, they are responsible for the sales process, making cold calls, speaking to prospects and closing deals.

Recruitment and HR

Another example of the use of virtual assistants is in the HR department. While some basic HR tasks can be managed in-house, businesses often outsource most processes to virtual assistants. To give an example: recruitment, payroll and payslip management, rota management, time-off management, and staff allocation are all among the most popular duties that virtual assistants manage.

These are only some of the wide plethora of jobs that virtual assistants can perform. Nearly every department of a company can be outsourced to a virtual assistant or a group of them, with the most popular being Reception, HR, Finance, IT, Creative and Design, and Marketing and Sales.

Who can outsource virtual assistant?

Nearly any company in every industry can outsource some services to a virtual assistant. Startups and small businesses are among the companies that can profit the most from this strategy. Moreover, regardless if they choose to outsource to a single virtual assistant to a team of virtual staff, they can help you grow your business and increase productivity.

One of the biggest advantages of having virtual staff is that companies don't need to spend resources for locations. Everyone knows that every penny counts when you're setting up a new business and that having a location is not a must. Moreover, virtual assistants have a lower cost compared to normal staff. In addition, you also save on staff costs such as leaves, benefits, etc.

Another advantage is that outsourcing gives you access to global talent. This means that you can work with professionals all around the world, and with some of the most specialized in the respective field. Virtual staff spread out in different countries has numerous benefits too. For instance, it helps globalize the company, diversifies the culture of the company, provides longer support hours, etc.

We Are Fiber

Founded in 2011, We Are Fiber has grown to become one of the leading outsourcing companies in customer support, consulting, technology services, digital marketing and is continually at the forefront of innovation.

Our company is known as a next-generation call center outsourcing company that has helped numerous companies so far, to reinvent their businesses for the digital age. Through a collaborative approach focused on the customers, the professional team in our company are able to generate an immediate impact to achieve targeted results. By understanding the business value of our client companies, we are able to transform, improve performance and also help them become more agile and competitive.

Our team of virtual assistants can help your business expand, increase their productivity and also reduce costs.

Contact us here to find out how WeAreFiber can support your business! 

Email: info@wearefiber.com

Phone (It): +39 024 210 1122

Phone (Uk): +44 203 870 4408