Why Hire a Virtual Personal Assistant?

The key to effectively running a business is recognising when you need help. Whether you're working from home on a long-term basis or splitting your time between premises, certain tasks can begin to fall behind as a result of more intricate, demanding and complicated corporate governance.

Rather than giving your employees more work to do that isn't really within their remit, a virtual personal assistant can manage all of these duties on your behalf.

A virtual PA is an administrative professional whose role is to take all of the fiddly and time-consuming jobs off your to-do list and deliver them to set deadlines, all from their own home office. It's a highly efficient system that's probably a lot more affordable than you think, so read on to discover how they can help your business to thrive.

Call handling

Existing clients and prospective buyers will get annoyed if they can't reach you and are instead welcomed by your voicemail, as it gives off the message that you don't have time for them.

When you hire a virtual PA, they can take messages and set up appointments in your online calendar, which saves you tons of time and also ensures exceptional customer experience.

Your virtual PA will ensure that you never accidentally become double-booked and can also plan your diary around your workload, making your schedule more efficient than ever before.

Travel management

If you need to travel for business purposes, whether it's visiting a client in another city or attending an industry event, your virtual PA can book the train tickets, flights, taxis, accommodation and any insurance that may be required.

They can even set up any client entertaining you may want to offer, such as making restaurant bookings and buying gifts.

With a virtual PA, all you have to do is give them the basic info and they'll do the rest, plus they'll make sure to find the best deals and sign you up to valuable loyalty programmes.

This can save you a lot of money, plus you'll never misplace your digital train tickets and expense receipts ever again.

Admin support

It really is amazing how many hours commonplace admin tasks can take up each month.

From legal paperwork and confidential memos, to PowerPoint presentations and internal comms, a virtual PA can handle all of your documentation and ensure that it's properly written, distributed, archived and updated when required.

When you acknowledge that this kind of work doesn't have to be completed by the business owner, you suddenly free up a lot of time in your schedule.

This can be invested into more valuable actions, such as looking after staff, improving your service delivery, or best of all, spending more time with your family and friends.

Accurate transcription

This is a fantastic service that saves so much time and prevents potentially disastrous mistakes.

On average, one hour of recording will take around 3 hours and 45 minutes to transcribe, which most business owners and their teams simply don't have to do.

However, if your meetings aren't transcribed, there are bound to be details that get mixed up, forgotten about or incorrectly logged, which can lead to discrepancies, mistakes and even serious compliance issues.

When you have a virtual personal assistant, they can take the recorded meeting (audio or visual) and transcribe it to the highest standard. (Alternatively, they can attend your meetings and take the minutes right there and then.)

Once the transcription is approved, they'll also assume the responsibility of distributing it to anyone who requires these notes, such as meeting attendees, your senior management team and stakeholders.

The result is everyone being on the same page at all times, making for stress-free business operations.

Supplier management

When something needs doing, your virtual PA is there to make it run smoothly and on time.

From shopping around for more affordable stationery and utility providers, to booking venues, caterers and guest speakers, they'll make sure that everything is in place for the best possible price.

No more printed materials arriving late or the wrong printer toner being ordered - your virtual personal assistant is a stickler for detail.

Regular updates

Using your hosted desktop, you can keep in touch with your virtual personal assistant through emails, video calls, instant messaging or any other system that suits you.

They can give you regular updates on what's been done, what's still on their list, and also offer recommendations regarding further streamlining to operational processes.

When used to their maximum potential, a virtual PA will save you more money than you spend on their services, making it a relationship that's both productive and profitable.

Switch to hosted desktops

Want to work from home just as easily as when you're in the office? We'll transition you and your employees over to secure hosted desktops and show you how to use their features to full potential.

To get started, give us a call on 01482 751133 or email hello@gocloud.co.uk.