secretarial service Archives | Online Business Manager

Start Outsourcing to a Virtual Assistant with the Right Mindset

10 Oct, 2018

So you’ve decided to start outsourcing a Virtual Assistant. Hiring a virtual assistant is a huge step for any business owner or entrepreneur. It can mean giving up some control over your business but it doesn’t have to be too much until you are comfortable. But it’s also your first move towards scaling up your business so that it can grow beyond its current limitations plus build a quality team to support your business.

If you’re thinking about taking this vital first step, there’s a certain mindset that you should take on.

Learn to let go

When you hire a VA, you’re not giving away the keys to your business. But you are letting go of some part of your business operations, even if it’s just a handful of tasks.

Your business is your baby and virtual assistants understand that as well as they also run their own business . Up until now, you’ve done everything yourself. It’s easy to understand why outsourcing any item of your business is scary. The way to overcome this fear is to focus on the positive. Think about the immediate benefits you’ll receive from outsourcing certain aspects of your business and what you can fill in the place of that time.

You can also alleviate this fear by being careful about what you hand over until you are more comfortable with outsourcing. Keep the tasks limited but also ensure that you spend some quality time on procedures to ensure quality is maintained. Hire a VA you can trust and start simply by only sharing with them what they need to get the job done.

Outsourcing fees

It’s certainly true that hiring a virtual assistant costs money. How much does it cost? This depends on what you need done. The more simple tasks the less the price but the more extensive tasks will cost more.

You can lessen this risk by allocating a budget you can afford. Work out the numbers beforehand and make an offer that doesn’t break the bank. Hiring a virtual assistant, if done right, will earn you greater profits in the future especially once you build a good working relationship with them. This takes time.

One way to adjust your mindset is to think of hiring a VA as buying time. You pay for the VA to take tasks off your hands so that you have time to focus on more important things.

Managing others

One mindset challenge that many face is that they don’t want to become managers. Up to this point, you’ve only had to manage yourself and, for some of us, that’s enough of a monumental challenge. But now you have an employee and you are their boss.

Working with a VA isn’t the same as managing a busy office. First of all, as the name suggests, it’s “virtual.” You give the VA tasks to do and check in regularly to see how they’re doing. Once the training and onboarding is finished, they’ll require little management, and the investment you make in training will pay off with the time you gain.

Mitigating risks

You may have heard some horror stories about virtual assistants who caused issues for other businesses. Especially the first time, hiring a VA isn’t easy and there are many things that can go wrong.

While it’s true that it’s a complex and often a frustrating process, you can overcome this by being prepared. Carefully consider the tasks you need done, search for the right person, and prepare a good training procedure and onboarding process to get them started. It also helps to realise that a bad VA experience isn’t a business-ending event but a learning opportunity.

Want to learn how to hire the right VA and get started growing your business?

Download our Cheat Sheet to Outsourcing to start your first VA relationship on the right foot. Check it out here:

Secretarial Services that you should outsource now

21 Jun, 2017

If you’re a business owner, influencer or industry leader, we understand that you are already extremely busy and it is probably time that you look into outsourcing your secretarial services. While you might not notice it at the current moment, the truth is that outsourcing your secretarial services will do wonders for your overall productivity and profitability. It means that you can work on what you want to work on. If you find the right person, it is someone that you can run ideas through and also someone that can take care of your business while you are on holiday. It also takes the pressure off sorting the basic day to day things that can easily be outsourced. Here are some of the popular day to day services that many businesses outsource:

Transcription
Typing and document formatting
Diary bookings
Appointment setting
Template creation
Invoicing
Customer followup
Travel arrangements
Email replies and followups

Some of the above seem quite old school for 2017 but are still popular, below are some ways that these services have been rejigged into an online format, these include:

Uploading Blog Posts to your website
Social Media scheduling
Transcription of podcasts and interviews into blog posts
Email newsletters
Online file organisation
Database updates
Online training maintenance, followup and technical help

How it’s done

Thanks to modern technology and ability, you can now outsource all of your secretarial work. In past decades, most of this work would have to be done in-house, but because of the new technological advances, it’s undoubtedly something that could be handled by an outsourced contractor. Secretarial services might seem like something that aren’t easy to outsource but the easiest way to think about it especially if you do travel alot is to consider the secretary being back in the office and you need to phone them or email them with the work to be completed. Other ways to assign tasks is to use project management software such as Asana, Trello or Slack. But what about File sharing, I hear you ask. Well, there are many file sharing options available including uploading to a project management software (as indicated), Dropbox, Sugarsync and of course google drive.

The best thing about outsourcing your secretarial services is that if you find the right person to handle the job, they normally offer a 24 hour turn around, which means that you can have the work back on your desk the next day. Too often, a lot of people that run businesses have way too much work than they can handle so by getting the initial steps completed, it frees up your time to focus on running your business.

Susan Wilkin
Online Business Manager

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10 Tips For Customer Service Excellence

18 Jan, 2016

Customer service excellence always benefits a business and is a subject that comes with a number of short-term and long-term benefits. By providing outstanding customer service you will not only boost your business but will also boost your retention as well. Do you believe you’re achieving excellence with your customer service? Does it tick all the boxes?

Why? Why not?

When it comes to your business, the following is more likely true than not: Gaining new customers can prove to be incredibly difficult, even with the best of plans in place. On the flip side of that thought, losing them is considerably easier.

How to boost customer retention

Customer service excellence is a cornerstone of customer retention. You can have some of the greatest products or services in the world. However, if the path to those products is not filled with elements that make customers feel respected and valued, you’re going to lose more than you keep.

Here are ten tips for customer service excellence that will boost customer retention:

Do some surveys: Things like Net Promoter Score Surveys can help you get a sense of customer service satisfaction.
Be proactive: Don’t wait for customers to complain. Connect to them, and make it clear that you are available for any questions or concerns they might have.
Surprise them: Customer service can be a service that surprises. Thank-you notes or even small gifts can go a long way.
Accentuate your value: Look for ways within the customer service process that can highlight the value that you bring to the table. Obviously, you want to look for things that won’t be too obvious.
Reduce customer effort: An essential to customer service excellence involves making it as easy as possible for customers to get in touch with you, and making it as easy as possible for customers to find the solution they are looking for.
Reduce problem areas: The more guidance you offer with your services as a standard, the smaller your field of potential complaints will become.
Give them options: A vital component to customer service involves offering several different avenues for contact and communication.
Offer advice and education in a larger sense: Don’t just address specific problems. Create a situation in which you can become an advisor and educator to your customers.
Leave them with the feeling of a relationship: Your customers should feel as though they can come to you anytime.
Accept mistakes: Don’t make excuses. If you make a mistake, embrace it, and then deal with it. Chances are, your customers will respect you for that. Make your customers feel as though you’re actually listening.