FAQs About Virtual Assistant Services: Your Burning Questions Answered

Virtual assistants are one of the most versatile solutions for meeting the demands of today’s fast-paced business environment. However, even with the surge in the popularity of virtual assistants, most businesses are still reluctant and distrustful. This post compiled some of clients’ most common questions and concerns when hiring virtual assistants. 

1. What is A Virtual Assistant?

A virtual assistant or VA is a remote-working professional who offers administrative, technical, or creative support services to businesses or individuals. VAs come in different types and the type you hire depends on the nature of support you require. You can hire an administrative VA if you need administrative support or a technical writer VA if you need technical writing support.

2. What Services Can a Virtual Assistant Provide?

The services a VA provides are essentially limitless. With the right tools, proper training, and effective management, a VA can handle any task as well as, if not better than, any traditional worker. These are the most common services that a VA can be hired for:

• Administrative Service – Includes scheduling, email management, data entry, document management, and personal tasks like planning travel arrangements and events
• Customer Service – Includes answering customer questions, processing orders, resolving issues, and gathering customer feedback
• Social Media Management – Includes using social media marketing tools, strategizing campaigns, engaging target audiences, and researching social media trends.
• Content Creation – Includes researching topics, preparing drafts, and creating marketing copies for advertising campaigns
• Bookkeeping – Includes data entry, reconciling books and bank data, and creating financial reports
• Research – Includes collecting information, summarizing data, compiling reports, and conducting interviews or meetings to collect or share information

3. Can VAs Work in Any Industry?

Yes, virtual assistants can work in any industry requiring VA services, including:

• Healthcare
• Law
• Real Estate
• Manufacturing
• E-commerce
• Marketing
• Information Technology (IT)
• Finance
• Education

4. How Can a Virtual Assistant Benefit My Business?

Here are the main benefits that a VA can provide a business:

• Cost Savings – Hiring a VA helps you save on office space, equipment, employee benefits, and other operational costs. Also, you only pay VAs for the working hours or output they make, helping you reduce your salary payments.
• Time Savings – Hiring a VA allows you to save your time doing routine tasks and focus this time on core business activities or personal development.
• Increased Productivity – Hiring a VA also lets you accomplish more tasks and prioritize more essential business activities.
• Access to Global Talents – Hiring a VA lets you access varied skills and talents from anywhere around the world and leverage them to your business’s advantage.
• Scalability – Hiring a VA provides more flexibility than a regular employee, allowing you to scale up or down on services depending on your business needs

5. How Do I Interact with My Virtual Assistant?    

The modes of communication or online working space you use with your VA depend on your preference or the type of services you need. Typical communication channels used by VAs include:

• Email
• Instant messaging like Skype or Slack
• Project management platforms like Trello or Asana
• Video calling like Zoom or Google Meet

6. How and How Much Do I Pay my VA

The amount you pay your VA depends on the type of work you delegate or the VA’s work basis. Hourly rates vary from $5 to $100. You can also opt to pay on a per-task or per-project basis. Some clients also prefer a retainer-based payment wherein they pay their VAs a fixed monthly fee. Whatever rate or payment basis you choose to pay your VA, make sure that you communicate the terms to them clearly and that they are in complete agreement with your terms.

7. How Do I Find a Qualified Virtual Assistant?

You can try the following ways to find qualified VAs:

• Freelance platforms like Upwork or Fiver
• Virtual assistant agencies like Remote Raven
• Referrals from your social or professional network
• Posting ads on online job boards or social media

8. What Should I Look for When Hiring a VA?

The best VA is the one that best fits your needs. First, consider the tasks you need to assign or delegate. From there, you can list the qualifications and skills needed to execute these tasks successfully. On top of the VA’s qualifications, consider also their:

• Communication abilities
• Availability and time zone differences
• References and reviews from previous clients
• Rates and payment terms

9. How Do I Onboard a Virtual Assistant?

Once you’ve chosen the best VA for your requirements, the next step of the hiring process is to onboard your virtual assistant. Effectively introduce your chosen VA to your company’s processes by:

• Clearly defining their roles and responsibilities
• Providing the necessary resources, tools, or training sessions
• Setting up regular check-ins and communication channels
• Letting the VA ask questions and answering them to further clarify details
• Establishing expectations and goals
• Restating payment rates, work hours, and similar information

10. What Tools Do VAs Use?

The tools used by VAs depend on the work required from them. Aside from project management and communication tools, you may also need to set up the following tools for your VA:

• File-sharing platforms like Google Drive or Dropbox
• Time tracking software like Hubstaff or Toggl
• CRM (Customer Relationship Management) Systems like Salesforce and HubSpot
• SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Analytical tools like JungleScout or SurferSEO
• Writing tools like Grammarly or ProWritingAid

Experienced VAs are more likely to have access to these tools already.

11. How Do I Evaluate the Performance of a VA?

Perform the following steps to evaluate the performance of a virtual assistant:

1. Set clear performance metrics and goals.
2. Discuss your expectations with your VA and ensure they understand and agree with your goals.
3. Regularly review your VA’s work and provide feedback.
4. Monitor task completion and assess the quality.
5. Recognize excellent performance and give constructive feedback where necessary.
6. Assess your VA’s capabilities and workload capacity. Adjust your performance metrics if necessary.

12. How Do I Maintain the Security of My Information? 

First, make sure that you are working with a trustworthy VA. Perform the necessary background check and contact as many references as you can. Next, maintain information security through the following measures:

• Ensure the security of communication channels by using encrypted email services or secure messaging apps.
• Have your VA sign NDAs (Non-Disclosure Agreements) to legally protect sensitive information.
• Use password management tools like LastPass or 1Password to securely share and manage passwords.
• Update your software and systems regularly to keep them protected from vulnerabilities
• Set up different levels of access to limit your VA’s access to sensitive information and systems.

13. What are the Customization Options When I Hire a VA? 

Hiring a VA comes with numerous ways to customize their services to match your particular business needs and requirements. For one, you can choose the types of tasks to assign and the VA’s work hours or time zone range to match your business hours. You can also customize your VA services by choosing your preferred communication tools, project management systems, and workflow. Finally, you can train your VAs on new tasks or duties like using your custom business management system or other tasks unique to your business.

14. How Long Does It Take to Hire a Virtual Assistant? 

Depending on your method of hiring, hiring a VA can take from 1 day to a few weeks. If you leverage your connections or hire VA agencies like Remote Raven, you can have candidates to interview instantly. You don’t need to do extensive background checks because the candidates are already vetted for you. Having your task assignments and training resources ready while interviewing your potential VAs also helps speed up the process. You can onboard a VA and have them start right away as soon as you have made your choice. 

High-Quality VA Services from Remote Raven

If your VA questions and concerns are not included in this list, please feel free to contact Remote Raven. We will be more than happy to provide the necessary information based on our extensive experience and long-term presence in the VA industry.

You can also ask about leveraging Remote Raven’s large network of professionals for your VA needs. Discuss these needs and requirements with our experts and, in no time, you’ll be interviewing highly qualified experts for the position. Remote Raven also takes care of the time-consuming tasks of time-tracking your VA’s work, managing their payments, and supervising their productivity. So, all you need to do is choose, delegate, and enjoy the VA benefits!

Avail of your free consultation with Remote Raven and start using your ideal VA today!