Why Are Businesses Hiring More Virtual Assistants Today

The scary COVID-19 pandemic that hit us in 2020 didn’t just change our lives completely but also impacted the corporate world remarkably.

The new normal this year is all about the workplaces being virtual. It has also transformed the office assistants to be virtual. Virtual assistant services are rising all over the world this year.

Though this concept existed for years in the past, virtual assistants were only limited to online customer service. But, now, starting from managers to trainees, almost everyone wants to work virtually so they can balance both work and their health during this pandemic. That is the reason why the number of virtual assistant companies in the USA is rising like never before.

According to a recent study conducted by PWC, more than 50 percent of people living in America who are working as employees in different types of organizations want to work remotely at least thrice a week, even after the pandemic is over. The companies are accepting the concept of virtual working with open arms and making the most out of it.

If your organization is not leveraging the virtual assistant services yet, hire a virtual assistant now. This new kind of assistant – a virtual assistant- is trained in such an effective way that it is super easy for them to completely meet the requirements of the nomadic labor force.

Who is a virtual assistant?

Well, as the name says, the function of virtual assistants is to remotely support businesses and entrepreneurs to accomplish their important goals and objectives. Interestingly, the concept of virtual assistants has become so smart that they can now do anything that a business needs besides just fetching a cup of coffee!  

Today’s virtual assistants are working flawlessly in every sector whether it is selling insurance, marketing, IT, design, sales, social media management, and much more. Also, some of them work exclusively for some specific industries. They provide their invaluable support to businesses that belong to their chosen niche.

Surprisingly, industries like insurance and financial services are leveraging the excellent scopes of virtual assistants in 2021, something that has never happened before!

What is Virtual Assistance?

Recently, Gartner conducted a study and its results revealed that 25 percent of people who work in digital media are using virtual assistants every day in 2021.

For instance, everyone knows about the famous Alexa for Business by Amazon. It is so helpful in delegating different office tasks like scheduling meetings and handling logistic operations in today’s business environment.

Moreover, you can now find virtual assistants proving their abilities in the service marketplaces as well. Big names like UpWork, PeoplePerHour, eLance, etc. are already leveraging the power of virtual assistance. Is your brand not doing that yet?

Well, it is true that anything that we can do on a phone or computer, a virtual assistant can do that. Businesses are seeing up to a 300 percent surge in the traffic to their websites as the interest in hiring virtual assistants has skyrocketed now like never before. Moreover, there are several other benefits of hiring virtual assistants.

Why are Businesses Hiring More Virtual Assistants?

This year, small businesses and freelancers with a growing number of clients are hiring virtual assistants in mass to help take the business’s growth to the next level. Virtual assistants are effectively organizing the operations of such ventures.

It is true that the tasks virtual assistants do often can be done by an in-house employee and the owners of small businesses as well. However, outsourcing those to virtual assistants saves their time and energy which they can use to do more important tasks, fulfill clients’ needs, and work on increasing revenue.

Nowadays, virtual assistants are helping SMEs incredibly by flawlessly performing crucial yet tedious tasks like generating invoices, making travel arrangements, bookkeeping, etc.

This is not the end! Virtual assistants can benefit your business in many more excellent ways. Some of them are:

1. Better Team Management 

Business owners can never deny the fact that managing employees is a very strenuous task. Often, it proves to be something very expensive for your business.

Companies face this problem at one or the other point in time irrespective of their size, niche, or type. This year, we have seen that most of the businesses are outsourcing some management tasks to virtual assistants.

A few of the low and mid-level management tasks that virtual assistants are often doing nowadays are creating templates for different tasks to be done, planning virtual happy hours for an employee, keeping track of the deliverables by different teams, organizing training and coaching sessions, analyzing team KPIs, a quality check of the outputs and performance of employees, etc.   

2. 24×7 Sales Support 

Gone are the days when sales used to mean only selling products and earning bucks. Today, in this modern era, it is much more than that!

Without providing a memorable customer experience and making every transaction with customers a smooth and easy one, the concept of sales is incomplete now. When done in the right way, sales can transform your customers to become true ambassadors of your brand.

So, brands are aiming to provide 24×7 sales support to their customers and that is what is making all the difference. The virtual assistants are playing the role of efficient sales representatives now.

As they work virtually, they can work for businesses from any part of the world at any time of the day or night. The well-trained virtual sales support is doing everything, whether it is handling emails from clients, responding to customer queries in live chat, or answering customer calls.

3. Effective Social Media and Digital Marketing Help

We are more connected than ever now, thanks to the digital age that we are living in. The smartest technological advancements like smartphones, computers, and other smart devices have led the whole world to be at the fingertips of today’s customers.

So, it is only through digital marketing in combination with social media that can take your brand’s marketing campaigns to the next level.

And virtual assistants are playing a very significant role here. Companies are outsourcing their digital marketing projects to virtual assistants and that is helping them pay off in two major types of marketing campaigns, short and long-term. 

When it comes to digital marketing and social media marketing, virtual assistants are mainly helping businesses with content marketing, email marketing, social media support, publishing content on the company’s website, handling Facebook campaigns, managing Google ads, updating the content of the company’s landing page, etc.

4. Serving the Human Resources

As your business grows, your responsibility to think about how you can make your people’s lives better also increases. And the Department of Human Resources (HR) comes into the picture here.

Today’s businesses are ensuring to make the work of the HR department easier by letting virtual assistants help them do their work. This year, virtual assistants are successfully taking care of the major legal requirements of companies like compensation and employee benefits.

Also, they are maintaining employee records and keeping them updated in most companies globally. It is just a matter of two to five hours of work per month for virtual assistants!

What is more, virtual assistants are performing various other HR functions like screening the CVs of potential candidates, placing ads for different jobs online, keeping an eye on any changes in the employment law, conducting the first round of interviews, keeping the employment agreements of the company updated, etc.

So, these are the extraordinary benefits of incorporating virtual assistants in your business. They can not only make things easier for your business but also help you maintain a good work-life balance. Now, let’s discuss how you can add virtual assistants to your team.

How much do virtual assistants cost?

The cost of virtual assistants can be a variable factor, influenced by numerous elements.

One cannot pinpoint a single answer, as the pricing is subject to a range of considerations. Understanding the breakdown of costs can help potential employers navigate this landscape more effectively.

Hourly Rates of Virtual Assistants

• Freelance VAs: The hourly rates for freelance virtual assistants can be as low as $1 and extend up to $100, creating a broad spectrum. Basic tasks usually fall within the range of $15 to $30 per hour, while more advanced skills such as marketing or finance might incur charges of $40 to $75 per hour.

• Virtual Assistant Agencies: These entities often present packages with fixed monthly rates, determined by the required number of hours. The costs can range from $150 for 10 hours per month to several thousand dollars for dedicated VAs with extensive experience.

Factors Affecting the Cost of Virtual Assistants

• Experience and Expertise: The level of experience and expertise plays a crucial role in determining the cost. VAs with more experience and advanced skills generally charge higher rates compared to their less-experienced counterparts.

• Type of Work: The nature of the tasks at hand also affects pricing. Routine and straightforward jobs, such as data entry, are likely to be more affordable compared to complex project management tasks.

• Urgency of Tasks: Urgency is another factor influencing costs. If tasks need to be completed quickly, virtual assistants may charge a premium for expedited services.

• Location of the VA: Geographical location matters. Rates tend to be higher in developed countries compared to developing nations due to variations in living costs and wage expectations.

• Subscription Plans: Some agencies offer subscription plans, whether monthly or annually. These plans can provide a more cost-effective solution than paying on an hourly basis, especially for businesses with consistent and predictable needs.

• Platform Fees: Utilizing platforms like Upwork to hire virtual assistants may incur additional platform fees on top of the VA’s hourly rate, impacting the overall cost.

How to Hire Virtual Assistants? 

Like hiring for any other role in your business, if you want to outsource some of your work to efficient virtual assistants, it won’t just happen overnight! However, once you are done with the search and have hired the right virtual assistant for your company, you will enjoy how they can help your business work smoothly.

When you hire virtual assistants, you need to ensure that the outline of their tasks is explained to them very clearly. The kind of work that you are expecting the virtual assistant to do will help you decide whether your business should go for a general or niche-specific person who will be working remotely for you.

Hence, it is always recommended to keep a list of the anticipated tasks from the virtual assistants you are planning to recruit. It will help you quickly check during the hiring process if your expectations are matching with the skills of the virtual assistant or not.

Conclusion 

Virtual assistants are one of the biggest boons of technology that has transformed the face of the corporate world now.

The way they are performing great in many aspects and constantly making a positive contribution to the success of medium-calcium scale businesses around the globe is excellent and out of the box.

What are you waiting for? Make virtual assistants a core part of your team and you can take your business to the next level!