Entries by Swapnil Dhamankar

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Why Should Businesses Rely On Virtual Assistant?

Why Should Businesses Rely On Virtual Assistant?

The process of initiating business was only limited to the geographical location before the introduction of the internet. Entrepreneurs had to rely upon the services which they could avail from the local market. Due to limited resources, the growth and development of the concerned firm were also restricted to a certain level. In order to penetrate the international market companies had to invest a significant amount of money, However, the entire landscape of business changed with the evolution of the internet.

People could now get in touch with international clients with just one click of a button. Consequently, the potential of every firm reached a whole new level as business corporations could now outsource their additional work to professionals who excelled in a certain field. This was the advent of Virtual Assistant Services. The concept of virtual assistance is gaining popularity in the present economy as both small businesses, as well as larger firms, rely upon the assistance offered by these Virtual Assistant Service providers.

It is obvious that an individual cannot be a perfectionist in every field. There are multiple segments to a business such as finance, marketing, and general operations. Managing all the spheres of a business can be overwhelming, to say the least. Also, it takes a considerable amount of time and effort to keep track of these activities. This is precisely why corporate firms now look to avail Virtual Assistant Services as it is a much more convenient and reliable option to depend on.

Let us now identify some reasons as to why you should outsource your additional responsibilities to Virtual Assistant Service providers:

  1. Specialized services – The primary reason why should you avail Virtual Assistant Services is that these firms only work with specialists which come together and offer freelance services to various companies. From expert accountants to marketing pundits, Virtual Assistant firms shelter a large volume of professionals who possess diverse skills and knowledge within a particular field. Therefore, you will be able to gain specialized assistance as per your business needs and requirements. 

  2. Convert Fixed Costs into Variable Costs – Maintaining a separate team can be expensive as you would have to pay a fixed salary at the end of a financial month to every employee, regardless of the amount of work assigned. This step can be extremely risky for start-ups as the concerned firm still is trying to establish its presence in the market. With Virtual Assistant Services, you can outsource work on an individual project basis. Hire freelance services based on the specific needs of an assignment. Therefore, it is a fantastic option that every small business must take into consideration.

  3. Free time – When you outsource your additional responsibilities to an external party then you as an entrepreneur will have more time to supervise your business and allocate more time into monitoring the operations. The additional stress of maintaining accounts, tracking mails, formulating marketing strategies, etc. can be controlled by the Virtual Assistant Service provider.

So if you’re struggling to cope with all of your business responsibilities it’s time for you to get in contact with a company that provides virtual assistant services to make use of effective solutions.

December 20, 2019 /0 Comments/by

4 Common Misconceptions About Customer Support Virtual Assistant

4 Common Misconceptions About Customer Support Virtual Assistant

Virtual Assistant is a boon to busy businesses that find it difficult to catch up with everything that’s going on. Probably the first casualty that strikes a growing business is Customer Care and Helpdesk. The reason is simple, in this connected world, people have to come to expect responses to email within 24 hours and replies to social media posts within the hour. 

Normally this would require dedicated in-office teams. But even with a dedicated team the customer support needs often surpass the team availability. Hence, smart businesses are now getting Customer Support Virtual Assistant onboard to handle helpdesk query resolution, answering customer support calls, responding to customer support queries on social media.

While these tasks are generally par for course. Often businesses form some misconceptions regarding their services. Here the most common ones.

  • Customer Support Virtual Assistant win clients – Often businesses expect their VAs to win clients for them. The reality is that Customer Support Virtual Assistant will often fall one step short of it. The reason is simple, the Virtual Assistant will disseminate information and answer all queries from a potential client. However, if your business requires face-to-face client interaction or if it requires an in-depth understanding of your business then it falls under the purview of the Business Development function of your business.

  • They do one-off jobs – Customer support is an ongoing activity for any business. By corollary, a Customer Support Virtual Assistant will engage with you for an ongoing period of time looking after your Customer support function. Hence, expecting Customer Support Virtual Assistant to handle traffic for a small period of time or to just finish a particular task wouldn’t be appropriate. For such requirements, you will be better off engaging with freelancers. However, it is possible for your existing Virtual Assistant may squeeze in extra hours to deliver the service.

  • They are strategic experts – In plain words, Customer Support Virtual Assistant do the grunt work for you while you focus on improving service delivery. Expecting them to provide a strategic input or direction to your Customer Support function or even your organization would be demanding too much of them. Nobody knows your business as well as you. You understand the intricacies of your consumer and hence you are the best person to steer your business through strategic inputs.

  • They are a luxury – This is a rampant misconception in the eyes of most businesses or entrepreneurs. The rationale is that customer support is a very crucial function and it should ideally rest with the company for the longest time possible. The logic is countered very easily with the cost economies that they provide along with the diverse and rich experience they bring to the table.

Lastly, Virtual Assistant for Customer Support needs to be given a little leeway for any kind of downtime in internet connectivity or computers, as these are factors beyond human control.

Abroad Assistant understands how crucial uninterrupted customer support is for businesses today. Hence, you would find that every resource here is trained to provide the highest level of service quality with a smile. Every resource is legally bound to the confidentiality of all data so that you can rest assured that your consumers get maximum support with minimum efforts from your end.

December 13, 2019 /0 Comments/by

Tips To Be The Best Virtual Administrative Assistant

Tips To Be The Best Virtual Administrative Assistant

Making a career out of being a Virtual Assistant is the rising global trend. This is probably a very good time for choosing Virtual Assistant as a career as businesses and entrepreneurs are actively seeking out good Virtual Assistants and service providers.

Virtual Assistant offers a variety of services including Administrative Services. Administrative services form the backbone of a streamlined and a smoothly functioning office. Hence if you are planning to become a Virtual Administrative Assistant then you should have the skills and resources to provide a highly satisfying experience for your clients.

Being a Virtual Administrative Assistant requires a unique skill set. Here are a few tips on how you can be one of the best Virtual Administrative Assistant.

  • Be a stickler for time management – As a Virtual Assistant, you will have several tasks in your to-do list in a day for a client. Then you may have more than one client to service in a day. Add your personal jobs to the list and you may have an unwieldy day. The secret is to manage your time effectively. Be alert and don’t spread yourself too thin and most importantly stick to deadlines as nothing ruins your credibility as a missed deadline.

  • Learn new things – As a Virtual Administrative Assistant, you will be required to do a variety of tasks. Keep updating yourself with the practices in offices so that you can attend to them effectively. Pick up on new software or automation tools that may help you perform repetitive tasks automatically and efficiently.

  • Ace your communications – Maintain an active communication schedule with your client. Prefer to inform the client at the beginning and end of each task. However, there are clients who prefer to just be notified when a task is complete, while some may expect only an email from you. Customize your communications for clients but always stay on top of it.

  • Be resourceful – This point cannot be stressed enough. Your client is paying you to be a resourceful Virtual Administrative Assistant. You have to use your smarts and find your way around problems. You cannot expect to go back to the client and ask for his help to sort out problems. Yes, it’s alright to do so in tough situations but it’s always good that the client knows about your abilities beforehand.

  • Manage expectations – Being a Virtual Administrative Assistant is as much about performing administrative tasks for your clients remotely as much as it is about letting the client know the extent of your service delivery. Confidently let them know what you can do and what you cannot. An expressly expressed statement of capabilities helps the client know well in advance what to expect from you, helping him plan his business accordingly.

At the end of the day, being a Virtual Administrative Assistant means being a change agent for your client. Through your services, the client should be able to focus on core business decisions thus helping him increase his productivity. Hence, it is your duty to be resourceful, efficient and forthcoming.

Virtual Administrative Assistant from Abroad Assistant understands the importance of seamless delivery of administrative tasks and is equipped to service the most demanding of tasks using their years of experience and technology-enabled tools. Reach out today to see how you can benefit from our expert Virtual Assistant.

December 13, 2019 /0 Comments/by

Role of Virtual Assistants in Small Businesses

Role of Virtual Assistants in Small Businesses

Imagine you are the promoter of a new small business that has a groundbreaking idea that has the potential to redefine the market. Now, what will you like to devote your maximum efforts to? Your first option is the small, repetitive tasks that are a must for any new business or pouring your heart out in providing the creative impetus and direction to your business. 

Needless to say, you will go with the latter choice. Who wouldn’t want to hire task-based individual virtual assistants who don’t even need to be micromanaged? As Virtual Assistant are resources who provide their expertise to small businesses from remote locations, businesses stand to gain the maximum by opting for their services. Besides the cost advantage, the Virtual Assistants also have some other roles to play in small businesses.

  1. Cost saver – Virtual Assistant for Small Businesses presents one of the most lucrative advantages over an in-office employee. That is cost savings. By the very nature of being located in different geography without the need to commute daily to your office, Virtual Assistants are an economic cost saver to Small Businesses.

  2. The perfect resource – Small Businesses generally don’t have larger budgets for hiring, training and retaining employees in the beginning. Virtual Assistant, on the other hand, is a highly experienced person who is already an expert in a specific field. Small Businesses just need to get the VA on-board and start getting high-quality work almost immediately. It isn’t rare to find cases where small businesses inducted their Virtual Assistants employees in their team.

  3. Expert – Small Businesses struggle to attract talented Human Resources in the initial days due to budget constraints and also due to the relatively lower brand recognition. Virtual Assistants for Small Businesses are aware that they are working for small businesses and bring on board their years of experience of working with different organizations. They can help entrepreneurs in setting up processes, company culture, and policies which are the foundation of the future success of any company.

  4. Helping hand – When a Virtual Assistant joins a small business, chances are that she would take over repetitive lower-level tasks. That would leave the promoter with very little time to focus on business priorities like formulating the growth strategy, implementing it, etc. Hence a Virtual Assistant can be rightly viewed as the helping hand to entrepreneurs.

Virtual Assistant for Small Business offers every small business a window to scale up comfortably without having to worry about non-core activities. Small businesses across the globe are trying individual virtual assistants as well as Virtual Assistant companies. Companies are more preferable over individual virtual assistants due to higher accountability and structured interactions.

Abroad Assistant is an ideal choice if you are in the market for Virtual Assistant for Small Business. Besides the obvious cost advantage, Abroad Assistant provides a host of other benefits like a Virtual Assistant for every key function needed by a small business. It’s time to take your business to the next level by integrating Virtual Assistants in your workforce.

December 13, 2019 /0 Comments/by

Virtual personal assistant – A Helping Hand For You

Virtual personal assistant – A Helping Hand For You

Being an entrepreneur is not like employment, it’s a 24X7 engagement where you have to have a 360-degree control over your activities. Needless to say, there’s very little respite given that you have to do core productive work as well as support functions of your business and then be a contributing member.

Enter the Virtual Personal Assistant who will complete a wide range of tasks as per your requirement. Having a virtual personal assistant is like having the luxury of having a Personal Assistant minus the exorbitant cost of having to hire one. 

Like every Virtual Assistant, even the Virtual Personal Assistant offers her services remotely from an offshore location. The difference is in the expertise of a Virtual Personal Assistant. While other Virtual Assistants offer services according to their area of expertise, the domain of the Virtual PA lies in accomplishing tasks more personal in nature and hence sometimes the Virtual PA is also called a helping hand of the entrepreneur.

Know What is a Virtual Assistant?

Let’s take a look at what the Virtual PA delivers.

  • Travel Management – Researching on travel options, locations, flights, hotels, etc. Going ahead with the actual bookings. Forming out well-planned itineraries. Obtaining necessary permits. Keeping you updated with your travel details and giving you timely updates all fall under the purview of managing your travel. 

  • Personal Research – We live in an online world, where a lot of online research generally takes place before we purchase something or even enroll ourselves or our children in schools or other institutions. A virtual personal assistant can handle all these online research for you and supply you with ready answers on all these topics.

  • Online Business Research – Like our personal lives, our professional lives too have come to depend a lot on online research. Your Virtual Personal Assistant can provide in-depth insights into your Competition, can keep tabs on upcoming opportunities in your field of business and even research on the most competent and preferred Service provider relevant to your business. This kind of research is highly invaluable and can prove to be a vital edge in running your business.

  • Planning events and parties – Event planning is a tiresome activity that may keep you or your employees away from productive office work. Virtual PAs can easily shoulder the responsibility of planning an official event like a conference or a seminar as well as a party for personal celebration. From researching the venue to available dates to decorations to all other things associated with planning a successful event you can be sure that the Virtual PA will come through.

Virtual PA’s responsibilities are not limited to the above tasks, but as pointed out they are adept at any task assigned to them. The Virtual PA’s from Abroad Assistants embodies the very spirit of efficient delivery. Each of our Virtual Personal Assistant has been selected through a rigorous selection process that vets them for confident virtual Personal Assistantality, flexibility and the willingness to go beyond the call of duty.

December 13, 2019 /0 Comments/by

4 Signs You Need a Virtual Assistant

4 Signs You Need a Virtual Assistant

While the awareness about Virtual Assistant Services is on the rise and businesses are realizing the potential benefit of hiring a Virtual Assistant. However, the adoption of Virtual Assistants is still through word-of-mouth or stumbling upon such services.

While entrepreneurs are aware that Virtual Assistant Services are provided by experts from a remote location and their associated benefits, more often than not they think that it is not for them.

The ideal scenario would be when businesses and entrepreneurs understand the position of their company and make an informed decision about the right time to avail Virtual Assistant Services. Here are 4 common signs which tell you that the time is right to avail of the services of a Virtual Assistant.

You are scaling up rapidly – Companies in the rapid growth phase find it difficult to scale up their teams at the same pace. As a result, some business function or the other suffers. At this point, the entrepreneur spends their time simply managing a hygiene level of service delivery until a proper team is in place. If you are facing a similar situation, this is a sign that you need Virtual Assistant Services.

Your costs are escalating disproportionately – Businesses undergo phases of escalated costs some time or the other. This may be due to a variety of reasons ranging from capital expenses to employee-related expenses and sometimes losses. The need of the hour is to reign in costs without compromising on the quality of services. Enter the Virtual Assistant Services which are cost economical as compared to in-office employees due to the simple reason that there are no hiring, training or retention costs involved.

You plan to diversify – If you are planning to offer a completely new service to your clients, then it may be a good idea to try out delivering the service through Virtual Assistant Services on a pilot basis. The idea is to simply gauge the response from your consumers before committing any investments to that service. Also, since the Virtual Assistant is a highly experienced and qualified resource you are assured of a strong performance from day 1.

You are a start-up – If you are the promoter of a Start-up you very well understand the importance of hiring the best resources for your business while keeping the costs at a manageable level. No matter if you are a well-funded start-up or a bootstrapped one it’s always a question of finding the most productive resource for the company. The good news is that with Virtual Assistant Services start-ups can get the best of both worlds. World-class qualified experts with years of experience at economical costs.

If you find yourself facing one or more of the above signs then its time to lookout for a good agency providing Virtual Assistant Services. Abroad Assistant offers a wide range of business solutions and virtual assistant services to individual clients and small businesses across the world. It is trusted because of stringent hiring protocols of professional experts as well as its no-compromise attitude on confidentiality and privacy. Focus on the important priorities of business while Virtual Assistants handle other tasks for you.

December 8, 2019 /0 Comments/by

Why to Outsource Email Management to a Virtual Assistant?

Why to Outsource Email Management to a Virtual Assistant?

Have you ever noticed that a very large proportion of working hours goes into email correspondences? The time that should ideally be spent on focusing on business growth and developmental activities ends up going into the black hole of email communications.

According to research, a person on average spends over five and a half hours a day checking and responding to emails. Email is the most essential part of a business and the most preferred way of business communication compared to chat, phone call and text messages. So what’s ideally the biggest business enabler is ironically the biggest guzzler of time and productivity. And the significance of emails is expected to only increase in the days to come.

In today’s connected world, a quick response to an email is expected and appreciated by business associates as well as customers. However, handling emails 24X7 is not easy. A virtual assistant can help respond to your customers’ emails almost immediately, increasing your business’ engagement with them. Here are a few reasons why you should consider outsourcing your email management to a Virtual Assistant.

Organized – Most of our email inboxes are chaotic and cluttered beyond recognition. With more than a dozen subscriptions emails on an average the chances of missing out on crucial emails are very high. Sometimes these emails may mean a missed business opportunity or worse may have serious legal implications. If you don’t have the time to get your inbox under control, a virtual assistant will organize it for you. The assistant will unsubscribe from irrelevant emails, opt out of others, delete unnecessary ones and may even create separate folders for each email head.

Cost-effective – Email Management Virtual Assistants are generally available at the affordable end of the spectrum. Investing in an Email Management Virtual Assistant will turn out to be one of the most prudent business investments.

Email deaddiction – A 2014 research shows that a person checks her email on an average of 15 times a day. That’s once every half an hour. If you are one of those people who checks your email every half an hour or less then you should consider outsourcing your emails. As it will not only reduce unwanted stress but also prime your brain to work on productive issues at hand.

Deal with disturbance – With an avalanche of spam and unsolicited emails hitting our inboxes every day. The incessant pings can be irritating. Also, every new email comes with the expectation of engaging us meaningfully. But 80% of emails are unwanted which takes us away from our work. Outsourcing email management can leave you dealing with your emails for a maximum of 4 times in a day. This has shown to exponentially increase the productivity of the brain.

Email Management Virtual Assistant from Abroad Assistants use software with advanced algorithms to intelligently sift through your emails and automate a big chunk of them according to the guidelines provided by you. It’s time to feel lighter and more productive with Abroad Assistants by your side.

December 8, 2019 /0 Comments/by

What does a Virtual Personal Assistant do to lower your workload?

What does a Virtual Personal Assistant do to lower your workload?

Entrepreneurs and businesses that have a laser focus on their defined objectives generally want someone reliable who can handle non-core business functions. Once free from work which doesn’t contribute directly to the bottom line, entrepreneurs can then direct their energies towards their profitability and strengthening their brand. Virtual Personal Assistant have emerged as the best ways to do so.

So how do Virtual Personal Assistant prove to be useful? You could reason that hiring a Virtual Assistant for other specialized tasks could still add to your company’s profitability, but how could a Virtual Personal Assistant do that? Here’s a look at some reasons that will tell you the importance of Virtual Personal Assistant and how they can lower your workload.

  • Ease your travel – With a Virtual Personal Assistant by your side all the tedious parts of traveling like researching travel options, locations, flights, hotels, etc. are taken care of. So is doing the actual bookings and chalking out interesting itineraries. A virtual Personal Assistant can do this for both your personal and professional life so that you travel in style.

  • Researching on the WWW – We live in an online world, where a lot of online research generally takes place before we purchase something or avail of any services. A virtual personal assistant can handle all these online researches for you efficiently with her knowledge and supply you with intelligent answers.

  • Providing Business Intelligence – Today businesses turn to the internet like never before to gather important information. Rather than scouring the net yourself, you can let your Virtual Personal Assistant do it. And you will be surprised by the information you get on your Competition, upcoming opportunities in your field of business and even competent and preferred Service providers.

  • Organizing events – Businesses and our personal lives are dotted with events. Although they last for a couple of hours, there’s intense preparation that goes behind the scenes for days or sometimes weeks on end. A Virtual Personal Assistant is an elegant solution for event planning. From researching the venue to available dates to decorations to all other things associated with planning a successful event you can be sure that the Virtual PA will come through.

These are just some of the ways a Virtual Personal Assistant can prove useful to you. The beauty of a Virtual Personal Assistant is that they are highly trained to complete a variety of tasks and go beyond a specific specialization.

Virtual PA’s responsibilities are not limited to the above tasks, but as pointed out they are adept at any task assigned to them. The Virtual PA’s from Abroad Assistants embodies the very spirit of efficient delivery. Each of our Virtual Personal Assistant has been selected through a rigorous selection process that vets them for confidentiality, flexibility and the willingness to go beyond the call of duty.

December 8, 2019 /0 Comments/by

Role of the Virtual Administrative Assistant

Role of the Virtual Administrative Assistant

Running a successful business is challenging. Not only does an entrepreneur have to ensure excellence in delivering the core proposition but also look after myriad functions ancillary to the existence of the company itself. That’s how an administrative department eventually crops up in every company. It is an important department that ensures that the company operates in its core area without any hiccups.

Many businesses are now waking up to the possibility of outsourcing their entire administrative function to Virtual Assistants. A virtual administrative assistant is actually a virtual assistant that provides administrative assistance to their clients remotely from an offshore office.

Having said that, let’s take a closer look at the tasks that come under the scope of services of a Virtual Administrative Assistant.

  • Booking appointments with clients

  • Performing basic follow-ups with your clients and customers

  • Calendar management

  • Answering support tickets with standard replies

  • Writing and sending invoices to your customers

  • Producing graphs from your spreadsheets

  • Setting up to-do-list reminders for you

  • Offering basic customer support

  • Managing accounts payable and accounts receivable

  • Managing your email inbox by responding to basic questions

  • Setting up meetings on your behalf

  • Ensuring the timely payment to vendors

  • Sending newsletters to your prospects and customers

  • Market research

  • Making professional travel arrangements

If the role of a Virtual Administrative Assistant were to be defined briefly it would be of a business enabler who takes over day-to-day office management in an efficient manner leaving you to focus on business and things that you love to do.

When you bring on board a Virtual Administrative Assistant, the resource not only provides seamless services to you from a remote location but also comes with a host of benefits. Some of them being –

  • Expertise – Virtual Administrative Assistant bring years of experience at managing a variety of routine office tasks. They are able to deliver a variety of tasks at a much faster speed due to their experience and proficiency. This leaves you with more time and headspace to focus on other important things.

  • Cost Savings – An in-house admin personnel is more expensive to a Virtual Admin Assistant due to investment in salary, workspace, other benefits, etc.

  • Automation – Once the Virtual Admin Assistant is explained rule-based tasks or handed over guidelines for handling tasks, you can be pretty much assured that the Assistant will deliver results with 100% accuracy time after time. Imagine the benefit to your business with such a resource by your side.

Virtual Administrative Assistant offered by Abroad Assistants are typically handpicked for their efficiency and proactive attitude. They have years of experience in handling most administrative tasks expected of them. Besides being adept at regular tasks, Abroad Assistants are open to delivering on tasks that are new and a result of the evolving workplace. After all, flexibility should be the hallmark of an administrative resource.

December 8, 2019 /0 Comments/by

Advantages of Hiring a Data Entry Virtual Assistant

Advantages of Hiring a Data Entry Virtual Assistant

Perhaps the job profile lowest in the pecking order in an organization is data entry. Also, it is the job which is the most important as it’s the foundation of all other data manipulation and analysis that follows. Any person in your business who updates records, enters information on new sales leads, logs billing information, creates user profiles, populates spreadsheets with data, keeps your CRM updated, scheduling, and enters payment or delivery information in the systems is performing Data Entry.

Since Data Entry is a very important cog in your business, it is imperative that it is performed on-time, every time and with zero errors. Here’s why hiring a Data Entry Virtual Assistant has a lot of benefits vs getting this done in-house.

  • Boost employee morale – It’s the duty of businesses to ensure the work satisfaction and career growth of employees in their organization. However, repetitive dull work can sag the spirits of the brightest of people. When a Data Entry Virtual Assistant handles the work, it frees up your staff to engage in meaningful work giving their work-life more meaning and enthusiasm.

  • Error-free work – Virtual Assistants are specialists. By the very definition of the word, they are trained, qualified and experienced in doing especially this work. The result is error-free work, which ultimately results in a boost to your business.

  • Cost savings – Data Entry Virtual Assistants are generally the low hanging fruit for any business. In a straight comparison, a Data Entry Virtual Assistant is always more cost economical than an in-office resource as it involves hiring and training costs as well as the costs of potential mistakes.

  • No downtime – Data Entry Virtual Assistant do not take a break. So even if you or your business is on a holiday, you can be assured that your work is being handled all the time to ensure that you have timely access to 100% accurate information. Hence, there’s no additional cost of absenteeism as well.

  • Lean organization – Needless to say that Data Entry being a huge task requires a dedicated team to do so. Which means additional layers of hierarchy. Imagine working through all that to get access to your data. With Virtual Assistants managing your data entry, your organization can be lean and flexible which means faster decision making and a nimble structure.

  • Beyond Data Entry – Virtual Assistants are going beyond the cursory entering of data into your systems. They can also analyze your data for you and generate basic reports, cleaning up the data, checking for accuracy thus making the data absolutely ready for consumption.

Abroad Assistant works to enhance your business profitability by helping you outsource repetitive yet crucial tasks like Data Entry. The Data Entry Virtual Assistant offered by Abroad Assistants are experts with years of experience and have time and again consistently demonstrated error-free work in record turn around times. The time has come to set your business free from the Data Entry function.

December 8, 2019 /0 Comments/by