10 Reasons You Should Hire a Virtual Assistant to Answer Your Calls

If you’re a busy entrepreneur, you’re likely wearing more hats than you need to. You’re used to being a one-man/woman show.

But, there comes a time when delegating work will make you more successful. One great way of doing this is by hiring a virtual assistant.

Say goodbye to answering phone calls about your FAQ. There’s no need for you to personally respond to each customer inquiry.

If you’re ready to take this leap, check out the following ten reasons to hire a virtual assistant.

1. Larger Pool of Candidates

It can be challenging to find a candidate that meets all your needs. You want an assistant that is punctual, responsive, and customer-friendly.

Your business may need specific skills or knowledge in your niche. And, you’ll be speaking about the delegated tasks, so they need to be able to communicate well.

For example, if you run a beauty and fashion brand, ideally you’ll have an assistant with knowledge in that industry. They may even have experience developing products and creating marketing campaigns in this niche.

Hiring an in-person assistant limits you to your city and geological area. But, when you hire a virtual assistant, you have the global market of candidates to hire from. You don’t have to settle for sub-par employees because they live nearby.

Having access to a larger pool of candidates means you’ll find the perfect match for your company.

2. You Can Save Money

As an entrepreneur, you may not have a physical office you work from. That doesn’t have to change when you hire a virtual assistant.

Not only do you save money by not renting an office space, but you save money on equipment. Since virtual assistants are contract workers, they supply their own computer and internet.

And, you can dodge the bullet of expensive salaried employees. You won’t have to pay for sick days, vacations, or benefits. But, you’ll still get all the benefits of having an assistant.

3. 24/7 Availability

Your virtual assistant isn’t constrained to 9-5 business hours. You and your employees may all be remote workers.

If they’re hired to handle customer service tasks, you can feel confident that phone calls and emails will be answered at all hours. This is especially true if you hire someone in a different time zone than you.

You can rest assured that your customers and your own messages will get addressed 24/7.

4. Project Based Pay

One of the most frustrating parts of hiring employees is seeing them waste time on your dollar. This doesn’t happen with a virtual assistant.

To ensure you get your money’s worth, hire your assistant on a project-based contract. This means you pay them when they complete tasks you need done. You don’t pay them for the downtime between tasks.

Alternatively, you may want to pay them on a weekly basis for a range of tasks. It could turn into a weekly or monthly salary, but only if you have enough tasks to occupy them full time.

5. Great Customer Service

People who choose virtual assistance as a career commit to providing great customer service. Without awesome communication skills and people skills, they won’t excel in their job.

Since they’re hired on a contract basis, your positive review of their work ensures they get more clients. The longevity of their career depends on past clients’ endorsements. This incentive results in dedicated and professional assistance.

Plus, their goal is to make your business run smoothly. A cornerstone of their position is to help your clients and customers, so you can expect that from your new hire.

6. Improve Your Social Presence

One of the perks of hiring a virtual assistant is their computer skills. Since their work is done remotely, they need to be skilled in online correspondence and various programs.

One way you can take advantage of their digital abilities by handing over your social media duties.

Every business owner knows the importance of being present on social media. But, we also know it takes up lots of your time. It’s the perfect task to outsource.

Your social media pages can have consistent, branded, and relevant content posted. And, your website’s content can get updated regularly. Find a virtual assistant with writing skills so they can evolve your company blog.

7. You Can Focus on Your Tasks

There are specific tasks that only the business owner can address. But, your time often fills up with all the administrative duties you don’t want to be doing.

After hiring a virtual assistant and delegating these tasks, you have more time for the things only you can do. Like scaling your business.

You may want to spend time scaling in a variety of ways. Hiring new employees, addressing the legal team, and updating your services are things only you can do.

You’ll also have more personal time as a result.

8. They Bring Valuable Skills

There are lots of skills besides customer service and writing that your virtual assistant could potentially do.

Why bother learning a new computer software when your assistant knows it? Why struggle to create a logo when your assistant knows how to use graphic design programs?

Before you hire someone, make a list of valuable skills you’d like them to bring to the table. From that large pool of candidates, choose a virtual assistant that ticks the boxes on your list.

9. Accounting and Bookkeeping

Many virtual assistants in your country will be familiar with payroll. The best virtual assistants will even know accounts receivable/payable and general bookkeeping.

These are extra skills you have to qualify, but it’s common for virtual assistants to have some of them.

This could potentially save you time and money. You won’t have to scramble during tax season because your assistant is on top of it. You also won’t have to hire an additional employee for these tasks.

10. Specific Training

Assistants come with their own unique skills and experience. But, you will still need to train them on your specific preferences.

This is a great opportunity to ensure every customer gets responded to in a way that you like. You can train them on email etiquette, phone answering, and problem-solving.

They need to learn which problems to bring to your attention immediately. You can train them on knowing which situations urgent and which ones can wait.

Ready to Hire a Virtual Assistant?

If you’re ready to scale your business, you need to hire a virtual assistant.

Not only can they take over tasks you don’t have time for, but they bring their own valuable skills to your company. Your customers/clients will benefit from the hire, and so will your personal life.

There’re more reasons to hire a virtual assistant than the ten listed above. For more information on how to find a virtual assistant, streamlining your business, and scaling up, check out our blog.