Virtual Assistants perform simple tasks for end-users, such as adding tasks to a calendar, provide information that is usually searched in a web browser, or control and monitor the state of smart home devices, including lights, cameras, and other smart devices.
The simplest reason for most companies to hire a virtual assistant is to have a good business environment. Hiring VAs empowers businesses to use the right resources to accomplish tasks that internal staff may not have the time or skills to deal with.
Besides, companies may hire specialized VAs to handle special duties. In these cases, virtual assistants have a set of specific skills that only allow them to deal with a single domain. For example, public relations, marketing, or customer services. VAs are the new norm that allows a firm to grow.
What is a Virtual Assistant?
Virtual Assistants are very prominent as small businesses and startups rely on virtual offices to keep costs down and businesses of all sizes increase their Internet uses for day-to-day operations. Because the VAs are independent contractors, the business does not have to pay the same benefits or pay the same tax as a full-time employee.
In the simplest sense, virtual assistants are self-employed professionals, working for clients in a remote area. They work according to the information provided to the client and offer a variety of inexpensive services. While virtual assistants have the skills to do a lot of work, some focus on the field in which they work. For example, an accountant can hire a virtual assistant who will assist with book-keeping and dealing with customer financial data. Many virtual assistants can be contract workers, which means that they are not provided with company insurance if available, and are paid a small amount.
Some Trends
The 2021 share is predicted to look as follows:
- Google Assistant: 23.3 percent
- Samsung’s Bixby: 14.5 percent
- Apple’s Siri: 13.1 percent
- Amazon’s Alexa: 3.9 percent
- Microsoft’s Cortana: 2.3 percent
- Top AI virtual assistants for 2021 are Siri, Cortana, Google Assistant, Alexa, Bixby, DataBot, Lyra, Hound, Youper, and Robin.
Reason Why you Need to Hire a Virtual Assistant?
For small business owners, hiring a virtual assistant can help them free up valuable hours to focus on growing the business and making money. It can be easy and inexpensive to get rid of tedious and time-consuming tasks for a skilled person.
A Virtual Assistant can accomplish much more than you can imagine 10 hours a week. Even if you need a lot of help but can’t afford to pay 40 hours a week VAs can always be a good option for you. Some benefits include:
- You do not have to search for programs that you do not understand or go around time-consuming tasks.
- You can focus on the field of your expertise without looking up to the unwanted task of managing databases and other functions not concerning your field.
- Virtual Assistance is provided in specific areas of your business that need special consideration.
- With VAs you acknowledge your improved business growth in a short period.
- Team interaction increases due to ease in communication, and management of internal affairs within the organization.
- As the major part of the redundant actions are either automated or handled by VAs, it becomes easy to work on targeted areas with increased productivity
For the client, another benefit of hiring a virtual assistant is the flexibility of the contract for the services they only need. Depending on the terms of the agreement, some virtual assistants may be paid for work explicitly rather than hourly. Conversely, employees in a traditional office should usually be paid a fixed number of hours per day.
VAs Can Drive Business Growth
You cannot work on all tasks yourself. ADDITIONAL INVOLVEMENT in projects is essential to the growth of your business. If you wish to expand your business, bring competent VAs to your process. Help your virtual assistant develop a complete understanding of your business ethics and policies. Open the visual area, then allow her to share ideas. This is a great way to distribute the work in an organization.
24/7 Availability
Hire an assistant from a different time zone, and be sure while they work with your clients. Also, VAs will be available to assist you even during the official holidays! Other than that, you don’t have to worry about temporary staff shortages with tangible support services.
Improve Your Online Presence
Increasing the frequency of posts on social media will strengthen your brand identity. Besides, you should pay attention to certain factors, such as:
- Quick answers to consumer questions
- creating engaging content
- posts and activities
All this work can be outsourced to the virtual assistants as well for maximum benefits.
Proper Customer Management
Voice support is an important part of your business, as it puts the IDENTITY and reputation of your product in the line. However, caring for customer service calls can be a time-consuming task. Some additional works of a virtual assistant that can be expected such as your VA can make calls to-
- get quotes
- get the details
- arrange appointments
- contact business partners
- has collected important messages for you
Good with Technology
Another important skill that a virtual assistant should have is working with a variety of technologies and software. It is always a good option to hire a virtual assistant, who is acquainted with computer operating systems and software. It is also a good idea to find a candidate who is familiar with applications such as WordPress if you have a website that you need to manage.
What are Virtual Assistant Devices and Technologies?
Virtual assistants are usually cloud-based applications that require connected devices and/or applications to work. There are also devices dedicated to providing virtual assistance. Most popular are available on Amazon, Google, and Microsoft. To use Amazon Echo Assistant, called Alexa, users call the name wake, “Alexa.” The light switch indicates the user is ready to receive a command, which includes most simple language applications, such as “what’s the weather like today,” or “plays pop music.” Those applications are processed and stored in the Amazon cloud.
The technology that empowers the assistants in need requires a large amount of data, which enables artificial intelligence platforms (AI), including machine learning, natural language processing, and speech recognition platforms. As the end-user interacts with the virtual assistant, the AI system uses advanced learning skills from data entry and is better at predicting the needs of the end-user.
In a Nutshell
Depending on the needs of the business, virtual assistants can help with almost all job-related tasks. Some of the most common functions like social media management, operations and administration, website building, community management, and content management. It will always continue to grow as part of your online marketing strategy with better results.
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