4 Things you Didn’t Know About Virtual Assistants
The term Virtual Assistant is quickly becoming a bit of a buzz phrase in the online world – but what does it actually mean? There are a plethora of stereotypes attached to Virtual Assistants, what it is we do and how we work, and while we’ve explored exactly what a Virtual Assistant is on our blog page before, we feel like there may still be some misconceptions flying around out there!
With this in mind, we thought we’d share 4 things you may not know about Virtual Assistants, what we can do for you and how we work.
4 Things You Didn’t Know About Virtual Assistants
- Not everyone is suited to being a Virtual Assistant!
Being a Virtual Assistant requires a very specific skill set, especially if you’re offering services that only cover a few specialist areas. Anyone in this line of work knows how vital it is to possess exceptional organisational and communication skills and have extensive knowledge and experience in any areas of expertise.
It takes a long time (years!) to build these skills to a point where they can be used to effectively support other businesses, and even then, there’s still room for more learning and growth! Here at The Edwards Company, all of our team members are specially trained in their area of expertise, whether that be credit control, data entry, admin or content creation. We’ve even got a few degrees under our belt!
Being a Virtual Assistant is more than replying to emails and putting paperwork in alphabetical order – it really does require some significant skill.
When seeking out a Virtual Assistant, be sure to read about their skills and experience on their website first so you can rest assured they’re fully qualified to support your business.
- Virtual Assistants aren’t Secretaries!
Another thing you may not know about Virtual Assistants is that, while some of the roles Virtual Assistants and Secretaries cover may be similar in some respects, there is actually a considerable difference between them. While secretaries work for you to help keep on top of administrative tasks, Virtual Assistants work with you to help support and grow your business as a whole.
Virtual Assistants are able to use their experience in specific areas to guide your business in the right direction while giving advice underpinned by knowledge to give your business the best opportunity at success.
As Virtual Assistants, we want your business to succeed as much as you do, which is why we go above and beyond to be as invested and as involved in your business as possible.
3. Not All Virtual Assistants Work from Home
When you picture a Virtual Assistant, you may envisage us sitting in our home office working independently to support clients. While this is true for many Virtual Assistants, it isn’t true for all of them, and it definitely isn’t true for The Edwards Company!
We’re a team of Virtual Assistants, and we support clients from our office in the West Midlands. Some of us specialise in credit control, some of us are trained in admin and data entry, while others specialise in content creation. We assign different Virtual Assistants to different clients depending on the client’s needs and the Virtual Assistant’s skills, or we work collaboratively to cover all aspects.
Working as a team in an office environment really works for us – we’re able to keep one another in the loop at all times, we don’t have to contend with the distractions that come with home working, and we’re able to provide a seamless support system for our clients.
4. Virtual Assistants are Flexible
One thing we’re sure you worry about as a business owner is entering into a contract that you can’t get out of if it doesn’t work out the way you expected it to. Whether that’s a contract with an external service provider or an internal contract with a new employee, it can be incredibly frustrating to feel like you’re paying for something that isn’t benefitting your business.
That’s why Virtual Assistants are flexible. Take The Edwards Company, for example – we have a range of support packages available, but these aren’t fixed. You can adapt and change them to suit your specific needs, and we’ll work around what works best for you. We even provide an ad hoc option for some of our services, including credit control. We understand that your credit control needs won’t be identical every single month. Our ad hoc services allow you to pick and choose when you need support, no strings attached. If you need 40 hours of support one month and only 30 minutes the next, our team will accommodate you.
The last thing you want to be doing is paying for something you’re not using and, as Virtual Assistants, we’ll never ask you to.
As far as misconceptions go, these are the ones we hear the most and the most common facts people don’t know about Virtual Assistants. As business owners, we know how vital it is for you to have a complete understanding of the service you’re using and know any Virtual Assistant team you’ll be working with has the best interests of your business at heart. At The Edwards Company, we provide a simple, flexible, no strings attached support service designed to better your business.
We offer support services in Credit Control, Content Creation, Data Entry and Admin. If there’s anything else you’d like to know abut Virtual Assistants or our services, please get in touch – we’re looking forward to working with you.