Virtual assistants (VAs) are now a common part of the modern business world. They help you manage your workload by doing tasks that you don’t have time for or simply don’t enjoy doing. They can also help with marketing and social media management, as well as provide extra support to your employees or freelancers when needed.
The first step to making sure you get the most out of your VA is to understand what they’re capable of doing for your business, so we’ve laid out top things that VAs can do for startups, small businesses, and solo entrepreneurs.
| Takeaways |
|---|
| Administrative support plays a crucial role in businesses by providing essential assistance and ensuring smooth operations. |
| Effective administrative support can help businesses save time and increase productivity by handling tasks such as scheduling, organizing meetings, and managing correspondence. |
| Administrative support professionals can contribute to the overall success of a business by maintaining accurate records, managing expenses, and coordinating logistics. |
| Administrative support can provide valuable assistance in project management, including tracking progress, coordinating team efforts, and ensuring deadlines are met. |
| By offering exceptional customer service and communication skills, administrative support can enhance relationships with clients and stakeholders. |
Answering Phones
Answer phones. This is the one that most people think of when they think of administrative support, and it’s true: you can rely on a professional to answer your calls for you. But there are many more ways in which you can use this service to your advantage.
First, let’s talk about screening calls. Depending on the nature of your business and its needs, it may make sense for us to screen all incoming calls for you or perhaps only those from potential clients or partners.
We can also monitor voicemail messages and transcribe them into text so that they’re easily accessible in an email inbox or other program that works best for you (if we’re not immediately available).
We can even handle transferring calls to the appropriate extensions within your business if needed and better yet, depending on your preference and needs as a client, we’ll take care of returning those callers’ messages altogether!
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Inbox Management
Your inbox is a valuable tool for managing your business, but it can also be overwhelming to sift through all the information that comes in. Here are some best practices for inbox management:
Respond To Emails As Quickly As Possible
The longer you wait to respond, the less likely your reader will be able to find what they need when they need it. Relying on someone else’s memory of what was said in an email (or worse yet, relying on their interpretation of what they think was said) is never ideal; make sure all correspondents know exactly what is expected from them and when by being explicit with both your tone and your timing.
Use Filters Proactively Rather Than Reactively
By setting up automatic filters based on keywords or other identifying features (such as “reply-to address”), you can save yourself time by automatically routing certain emails into their own folders before even opening them and then only looking at those folders when necessary!
This saves lots of time wasted on scanning through dozens of unread emails just trying to find something important buried somewhere within them all so use this trick whenever possible!
Scheduling
Meeting Scheduling. This is a big one, and yet it can be so simple. As an administrative support professional, you will be responsible for scheduling meetings between your clients, vendors, and employees. You can also book flights and hotels for business trips and conferences.
Conference Room Booking. If you have a company that works with many other companies, then it’s likely there will be times when all parties are brought together in the same place (for example: at a marketing event or sales conference).
These events require booking rooms at hotels or venues that have big enough spaces to accommodate everyone who needs to attend the event. In addition to booking conference rooms within businesses themselves (like cafés), administrative support professionals also need an understanding of how to find large meeting spaces outside of them too and what those costs may look like!
Are you considering hiring a freelance administrative support professional? Discover the top reasons why it can benefit your business in our informative article on Top 10 Reasons to Hire a Freelance Administrative Support Professional.
Blogging
A blog is a website that contains a collection of web pages, typically categorized by dates and topics. Blog posts are individual articles written for the site. Blogs can be used to publish news, personal events and ideas, or anything else you want to share with others. They are also commonly used as promotional tools for businesses.
To Write A Blog Post
Write about something that interests you! It’s important to keep your readers engaged so they will come back again and again; this may mean sharing personal stories, tips on how to do something better (like make dinner), or even funny anecdotes about what’s going on in your life right now. Your topic should be relevant enough that people will feel like it speaks directly to them but not so specific that it only applies in one situation and never changes over time.
Data Entry/Database/CRM Maintenance
Data entry is the act of entering information into electronic formats by using word processing or data processing software hosted on a computer and it’s data entry operators who perform these tasks. Data entry jobs can be done from the home, office, or almost any location with a stable internet connection.
Data Entry/Database/CRM Maintenance
Administrative support staff can help you with your business database by: -deleting old records and adding new ones -updating existing customer profiles -assigning codes for products and services to keep them organized
Social Media Posting And Engagement
Social media is a necessary component of many businesses’ marketing strategies, but it takes time to engage with followers and post regularly. If you don’t have the staff or budget for hiring an intern, consider outsourcing this task to your administrative support team.
Engagement means more than just posting. You need someone who can respond quickly to your customer’s questions and comments on social media channels. Not only that, but they should also be able to track back through past conversations so they can address customer issues as soon as possible (and before they become big problems).
It’s easy for employees to get overwhelmed by their inboxes and social media engagement is often at the bottom of their list of priorities! Your administrative support team will make sure your posts are sent out consistently, leaving everyone else free from distraction so they can focus on other projects that require attention instead of being buried in emails all day long (or worse: having no time left over after doing everything else!)
Administrative assistants play a crucial role in maintaining a productive workplace. To enhance your skills and become an exceptional administrative assistant, check out our valuable tips in the article 15 Tips Every Administrative Assistant Should Follow.
Customer Service
Customer service is a great way to deal with customer complaints. A customer might call up your business and complain that something was not done properly, or they may write an email to you stating the same thing. Customer Service Representatives are trained to deal with these situations in a positive manner as well as effectively solve them.
This can be done by listening and understanding the needs of your customers, then providing solutions that work for everyone involved.
You should always aim to provide good customer service because it will benefit your business in many ways.
Firstly, it shows that you care about what your customers think about their experience with you; secondly, it makes people happy which means they’re more likely to come back again!
And finally, if someone does have an issue then this shows them how much effort is put into fixing issues quickly so there aren’t any problems next time around either (which could lead onto bigger issues).
- Administrative Tasks (Updating Documents, Filing)
- Administrative support is a great way to get help from someone who can handle all of the tedious, mundane tasks that you don’t have time for.
You may be wondering how administrative support can help you at work. Here are some examples:
- Updating documents (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint)
- Creating and updating spreadsheets
- Filing emails into folders
If you’re looking for a way to manage your files, there are several options available online, including Google Drive and Dropbox. Both require an account but are free to use; they also allow users to share files easily with others who have access to the same platform as well as track changes made by colleagues on shared documents.
If these platforms aren’t working out for you, then consider using Microsoft Office 365 (formerly SharePoint), Box or iCloud instead!
Email Marketing Campaigns And Newsletters
Email marketing campaigns and newsletters are a great way to keep your customers up-to-date on what’s happening in your business. They’re also a great opportunity to remind them of the products or services you offer. It’s easy, inexpensive, and efficient but it can be time-consuming if you don’t have the right tools at hand.
If you have an administrative support team or virtual assistant, they are likely qualified to help with email marketing campaigns and newsletters. You can use their skills as part of their job description or hire them as a freelancer when needed.
Presentations And Reports
You might not think of it, but your administrative support staff can do a lot more than just make sure the coffee is brewed. They can also help you with presentations and reports.
Presentations
Before you present to clients, your administrative support person should create a slide deck that captures the key points of what you’re going to talk about. They will help you organize them into an easily digestible format and make sure they’re formatted correctly before they are sent out.
Reports
When it comes time for report writing, your administrative support staff can help create charts and graphs based on data sets to show trends or changes over time so that readers can easily understand what’s happening within their company or department.
Curious about what it takes to succeed as a freelance administrative support professional? Our article on What Does It Take to Be a Freelance Administrative Support provides insights into the necessary skills and qualities you need to thrive in this field.
Travel Planning And Itinerary
- Travel planning and itinerary
- Reservation for flights, hotels, or car rentals
- Scheduling of all appointments
- Create a detailed itinerary for your client that includes: The details of the meeting/event with times and locations as well as any additional information you have on hand (such as room numbers).
- A link to where your client can download a PDF version of this itinerary so they can keep it on their phone or print out multiple copies if needed.
Bookkeeping (It Can Be Done Via Quickbooks Or By Hand)
When you hire administrative support, one of their duties will be to keep track of your company’s financial transactions. This includes recording all purchases, paying bills, and keeping track of your company’s cash flow. In some cases, they can also reconcile the accounts to ensure that everything adds up correctly.
A bookkeeper is usually responsible for writing the “daybooks” which contain records of purchases, sales, and payments as well as any other transactions that have taken place during the day or week. They may also prepare internal reports on a weekly basis so that you can be aware of how well things are going in terms of profit margins and account balances.
Expense Reports
Expense reports are crucial to help you keep track of the money going in and out of your business. They also help you to keep track of the money that you spend on certain things, such as office supplies or gas for your car.
When you need to submit expenses, it is important that they are organized so that they can be easily read by the person who will decide if those expenses will be reimbursed. Your organization and clarity may be able to help influence whether or not an expense report is approved for reimbursement!
Research
When you’re working with a problem, it’s important to define it before you start solving it. You can’t come up with a solution until you know exactly what the problem is.
But How Do We Define Our Problems?
The first step is to set goals and then outline how those goals will be achieved. This may sound like something that only managers or CEOs should do, but it’s actually something everyone on your team can participate in. By creating an environment where everyone is focused on their own personal growth and development, each individual will play their role in developing new strategies for your business as a whole.
Each member of your team needs their own personal set of goals that reflect their strengths and interests so they know how they can contribute to improving the company as an overall entity–this way no one feels left out or useless during meetings!
Data Analysis
Data analysis is the process of transforming and modeling data with the goal of discovering useful information, informing conclusions, and supporting decision-making. The data analysis process can be divided into five steps:
- Collecting
- Organizing
- Cleaning
- Transforming
- Modeling
Event And Meeting Planning/Coordination
Event and meeting planning is a vital part of most businesses. If you’re going to be attending an event, it’s important for your administrative support team to know what needs to happen in order for the event to run smoothly.
For example, if there is an after-party with food and beverages provided by your company, they’ll need to make sure that all of the food gets out at the right time so there isn’t any leftover food on tables or empty cups lying around.
If you have meetings scheduled throughout the week or month, your administrative support staff should be well-versed in creating agendas and sending them out ahead of time so everyone knows what topics will be discussed at each meeting.
They can also help set up conference rooms with whiteboards if needed; this way everyone has easy access when writing down notes during meetings as well as having ample space where ideas can be sketched out before being added onto paper later on or shared via email with other members within the organization who weren’t able to attend but would benefit from being able to see them!
Are you a freelance administrative assistant looking to make your job more enjoyable? Discover practical strategies and tips in our article on Freelance Administrative Assistant: How to Make Your Job Fun to bring excitement and satisfaction to your work.
Conclusion
In the end, you can hire an administrative support person to do a lot of things for your business. You can hire a virtual assistant on a part-time basis or full-time basis, depending on your needs and budget. There are many benefits to hiring an administrative support person, including saving money and having more time to focus your energy on other aspects of running a business.
Further Reading
Here are some additional resources that you may find helpful:
Become the Best Administrative Assistant: Discover tips and strategies to become the best administrative assistant in your role.
Essential Skills for Administrative Assistants: Learn about the essential skills that every administrative assistant should possess to excel in their position.
10 Essential Management Tools for Small Businesses: Explore a list of 10 essential management tools that can help small businesses streamline their operations.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best way to hire an administrative assistant?
The best way to hire an administrative assistant is to conduct a thorough job search and interview process. You should look for candidates who have previous experience in similar roles, as well as those with a strong work ethic and good communication skills. You should also consider how long they have been working in their field and how much they know about your industry or profession.
What Is The Average Salary For An Administrative Assistant?
The average salary for an administrative assistant varies based on location and experience level, but it can be anywhere from $40,000-$60,000 per year depending on what city they live in and what kind of experience they have had in their position.
What Are The Benefits Of Hiring An Administrative Assistant?
Hiring an administrative assistant can help you save time by allowing them to handle tasks like scheduling meetings or taking messages when you’re not available on certain days so that you don’t have to worry about them when things get busy at work (which happens often). It also gives you more time away from your desk so that you can focus on more important tasks than answering phone calls all day long!
What Are The Drawbacks Of Hiring An Administrative Assistant?
The most common drawbacks of hiring an administrative assistant are:
Cost
It can be expensive to hire someone to work as your assistant. You’ll need to pay them a salary, and any benefits they might receive (such as health insurance).
Time
You’ll need to devote time to training your new employee. And if you’re not careful about setting boundaries for the tasks you delegate, it could end up taking away from the time you have for other projects.
Conflicts
If your employee doesn’t have the same vision for your business that you do or has different values than you do, it could lead to conflict when they don’t agree with how you want things done.
Costantine Edward is a digital marketing expert, freelance writer, and entrepreneur who helps people attain financial freedom. I’ve been working in marketing since I was 18 years old and have managed to build a successful career doing what I love.