It’s a near impossible task to find one person who is a wizard at everything your business needs and it could make sense to look to virtual assistants to help fill in certain knowledge gaps on your team. You are best suited to know if you need an assistant who is proficient in a particular software or program such as Excel, PowerPoint, QuickBooks, etc., but here are five (and a half) areas of expertise to look for when hiring a virtual assistant for your organization.
- Email Management
Staying on top of emails is a challenge for most business owners and a virtual assistant can help sort, filter and prioritize incoming mail. Not having to dig out from a mountain of emails each day will free up your time immensely to work on other aspects of your business. Organization and timeliness are traits you will want to emphasize as you look at potential candidates to fill this role.
- Social Media
In today’s world, it’s important to have a strong online presence; and this means not only an accessible, user-friendly website, but also an active social media presence across different platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and Tik Tok – just to name a few. If increasing your social media reach is important to your business, you’ll want to ensure that your virtual assistant has experience in this area. If your business could benefit from a website or social media revamp, you will also want to find a virtual assistant who has familiarity with graphic design, website maintenance and Photoshop.
- Data Entry
Another crucial part of many businesses is data entry and, while it’s often tedious work, it’s also vital to ensuring smooth operations. Focus, accuracy and attention to detail are the key traits to hone in on for your virtual assistant if data entry is part of your business. If you use a specific program for data entry/management, it’s a good idea to make sure your virtual assistant has experience with it or is able and willing to learn.
- Customer Service
If your virtual assistant will be client or customer facing, making sure they have patience and excellent communication skills is paramount. A virtual assistant with the ability to deal with different personalities and engage in quick problem-solving will serve your business well.
- Research
When you need someone to do a deep dive on industry trends, budget comparisons, or any number of topics, a virtual assistant with a background in research and analysis will be a tremendous benefit to you and your organization.
5 ½ :Availability
While not exactly an “area of expertise” per se, but with a virtual assistant, you’re typically working with someone in a different time zone and will likely never meet in person. As the employer, you should set clear expectations regarding your virtual assistant’s availability and working hours and, if possible, use a shared calendar to minimize any confusion. Likewise, your virtual assistant should understand the expectations and discuss any availability-related issues before they arise.
As your organization’s needs evolve, Scale Virtually can help match you with the right virtual assistants to meet and exceed your needs.