Why Outsourcing to Virtual Assistants is a Must

Introduction

A decade ago, "virtual assistant" might have conjured up some a vision of some sort of real-time robot helper. Today, however, there are professional organizations devoted to virtual assistants, numerous websites supporting the virtual assistant industry, and even a virtual assistant "Chamber of Commerce" on the Web.[i]

Virtual assistants form a core of our company's business. We've commissioned this paper in order to explain what virtual assistants do and where the industry has come from. In this report, we'll provide:

background and definition of the virtual assistant industry
examples of work that has been outsourced to virtual assistants
a case study based on actual use of a virtual assistant
questions for you to consider as you evaluate why outsourcing to virtual assistants is a must

Of course, we'll also provide you with information about how you can contact us to arrange the services of one of our professional virtual assistants. Because you need to focus on the things that are core to your business and lifestyle, and virtual assistants are an essential part of helping you do that.

Virtual Assistant Defined

Simply put, a virtual assistant is an administrative assistant who provides services to businesses, entrepreneurs, executives, or just busy people.[ii] The International Virtual Assistants Association offers a more formal definition:

A Virtual Assistant (VA) is an independent entrepreneur providing administrative, creative and/or technical services. Utilizing advanced technological modes of communication and data delivery, a professional VA assists clients in his/her area of expertise from his/her own office on a contractual basis.[iii]

Virtual assistant assignments are usually communicated through e-mail, phone, fax, or mail-that's why we're called "virtual." Even though we may not be on-site, though, it's important to remember that virtual assistants are entrepreneurs who are invested in their own business. In other words, we make it our business to make your business and life run more smoothly.

The virtual assistant industry has tracked closely with the development of the Web. Email, Twitter, Facebook, even EBay, have created a multitude of ways for business relationships to grow. But virtual assistants are also experienced in business before Web 2.0. A 2008 study commissioned by the Virtual Assistant Chamber of Commerce quantifies how recently the industry has emerged. Over half of the 500 virtual assistants surveyed had started their business in 2007 or 2008.[iv] However, the virtual assistants surveyed were not inexperienced; 72 percent of those responding had over ten years of administrative experience and 27 percent had over 20 years of administrative experience (Figure 1).[v]

Source: Survey of 375 virtual assistants (2008 Virtual Assistant Survey Highlights)

As an experienced administrator, a virtual assistant will typically charge a base hourly rate between $30 and $60, as did nearly 70 percent of the virtual assistants surveyed in 2008.[vi] Of course, rates can be lower-for less experienced or less specialized virtual assistants-or much higher for highly specialized tasks. Most virtual assistants operate on a monthly retainer specifying a certain number of hours worked, while staying flexible to meet additional time demands placed by the client.

For a company of any size to flourish in the kind of virtual environment that has caused the virtual assistant industry to emerge, help is needed to simply manage the daily tasks and relationships involved in everyday business. But virtual assistants aren't just there to help you with secretarial tasks. Let's now take a look at the realm of work that virtual assistants provide through the lens of a case study, based on the actual experience of an entrepreneur who has successfully utilized a virtual assistant's services.

Common Services Provided By Virtual Assistants

Customer Support

Telephone Handling

Medical Billing

Data Entry

Travel Planning

Medical Transcription

Email Handling

Helpdesk

Office Administration

Event Planner

Visio

MS Outlook

Spreadsheets

Research

Power Point

Word

WordPerfect

Word Processing

Alan and the Brainstorm

It began as another one of Alan's great ideas. He noticed that he was getting more and more calls from a particular sector of his client base related to one of the company's products. But he couldn't justify the numbers for a full-blown market research report, and he simply didn't have the time to put together all the information himself.

He had heard about virtual assistants at a sales conference, and he decided to see if he could retain an assistant for three months to do the legwork that help him quantify his hunch. He located a virtual assistant that had administrative experience within his specific industry. He outlined his needs, listened to the assistant's questions, and hired her within a week to begin his project.

Alan knew that the project would interest him too much to simply forward the incoming emails to his assistant, so she handled everything directly to her inbox. She formatted a short survey with questions that Alan had designed, and provided some skilled editing and layout-along with ideas to clarify the questions so he would get the information that he wanted. She handled the arrangements for printing and mailing the survey, took all the phone calls from clients that had questions about it, and received all the hard copies while also summarizing on-line responses. After Alan's initial analysis of the data, she helped him create a Power Point for presentation at his next management meeting.

As the project was finishing, Alan realized that his virtual assistant had done a skilled job and could be valuable long-term asset. He had to focus more of his attention to financial analysis, one of his strongest management skills, and he needed someone to manage his email and help with creating the weekly reports that he sent to the sales and management teams. So he retained the services of the virtual assistant, who had proven herself for the task, for the coming year.

Next Steps

Maybe you find yourself in need of targeted administrative help, like Alan. Or maybe you're in need of an administrative generalist, someone who can simply spend the hours each week "doing it all" that you no longer have time to do. Or, perhaps there's a part of your non-business life that needs more planning-upcoming events, vacations, retreats, community activities. If so, a virtual assistant is essential.

Be sure to keep the following three things in mind as you seek out a virtual assistant. For a more comprehensive list of other considerations, you may wish to surf to a helpful article called "How to Hire A Virtual Assistant," referenced in the endnotes.[vii]

1. A Virtual Assistant is Virtual

Your primary connection to a virtual assistant, and their primary connection to you, is virtual. So evaluate potential assistants based on their virtual presence. Their website should be clean, crisp, and professional. Their ability to respond to your emails, IMs, or other electronic communication during the interview process should indicate to you the eventual quality of their work.

Finally, ask for references or referrals that you can access virtually to see how the candidate's network operates. After all, everyone's heard of (or interviewed) the candidates that seem perfect until the HR person views their Facebookpage....

2. A Virtual Assistant Should Be Highly Qualified

Working virtually is no comment on someone's qualifications. In fact, many employers of virtual assistants find them even more qualified than their on-site options for completing administrative and professional tasks.

Be sure to ask your potential virtual assistant not just about their past qualifications and experience, but also about how they are able to administrate. Does their philosophy of business line up with yours? Is their business experience at a similar level that you're operating? Ask for examples of how they've completed tasks, and how familiar they are with the things that are important to you. Give candidates the opportunity to listen; the best virtual assistants, like the best employees, are superior listeners.

3. Hiring a Virtual Assistant is B2B

Quality virtual assistants are entrepreneurs; they own their businesses, write their own business and marketing plans, and develop their own sales strategies. They're an essential part of helping you do business and organize life; but they've also chosen to work as entrepreneurs. We've found that, like any business relationship, the best virtual assistant-client relationships are built on the sort of mutual trust and respect that is founded between colleagues.

Your Next Step

ThoughtPoint Virtual Assistants, Inc invites you to contact us to discuss how a virtual assistant might serve you. Our team of assistants has already been filtered based on qualifications and experience, and we are prepared to listen closely to your needs to help find the optimal virtual assistant match for you. You can contact us by visiting our website, www.mythoughtpoint.com, where you'll find directions for reaching us at any time. We appreciate your review of this information about our industry and look forward to your inquiry about how a ThoughtPointTM professional might assist you.

References

[i] For example, see the websites www.ivaa.org and www.virtualassistantnetworking.com

[ii] From our website, www.mythoughtpoint.com

[iii] The IVAA claims over 1,000 members. www.ivaa.org/

[iv] Virtual Assistant Chamber of Commerce. 2008 Virtual Assistant Survey Industry Highlights. October 6, 2008, p. 13. Accessed February 2009 at www.virtualassistantnetworking.com/resources

[v] 2008 Virtual Assistant Survey Industry Highlights, p. 11

[vi] 2008 Virtual Assistant Survey Industry Highlights, p. 22

[vii] "How to Hire a Virtual Assistant." http://www.virtualassistantnetworking.com/how-to-hire-a-virtual-assistant.htm