The business landscape of the 21st century is highly competitive, with every business striving to gain an edge over their competitors. It’s a difficult position to emerge successfully from, but not impossible. Many business owners are currently looking at virtual assistants for hire to help them push onwards, but knowing how to find a virtual assistant who best fits your business is tough. Luckily, Pineapple is here to provide a helping hand in getting started.
Virtual Assistants: A New Dawn
If you want your business to thrive, it’s essential that you understand the core concept of a virtual assistant. You’re no doubt familiar with traditional, in-house assistants, but virtual assistants for hire offer up a whole new world of exciting trends in staffing solutions.
Popular with businesses for around 15 years, thanks to the advent of high-speed internet connections, almost every industry can benefit from the power of virtual assistants. And this popularity has soared since the pandemic, when remote work became accepted as the new normal. Therefore, virtual assistants are an exciting prospect for any forward-thinking business.
But what is it that’s made virtual assistants a possibility? Well, it’s all to do with the rapid increase of internet technology. During the 2000s, broadband internet was quick enough to facilitate speedy browsing and music downloads, but it still wasn’t powerful enough to effectively cover telecommunications and the transfer of large data files. Thankfully, modern internet connections are more than capable of allowing significant data processing in milliseconds. This means crystal clear videoconferencing is now possible, and even the largest files can be accessed almost instantly.
This is why your business can now rely on virtual assistants, rather than a limited pool of local talent who commute into your premises every day. Yes, with just a PC and a high-speed internet connection, virtual assistants can connect directly to your IT systems. Sure, you’ll have to provide them with a set of login credentials, but that’s it, there’s no need for any IT equipment. And even though they’re working remotely, your virtual assistants can easily access databases, applications, phone systems, and emails.
Are Virtual Assistants for Hire the Answer?
So, virtual assistants for hire certainly sound an exciting opportunity, but how do you know if they’re what your business needs. After all, a fantastic innovation isn’t necessarily right for every problem. Accordingly, you need to look at your business and see if it’s facing these struggles:
Overwhelming Administrative Burden:
If your team is struggling with the sheer range of routine administrative tasks – e.g. scheduling, data entry, email management, or customer inquiries - there’s a good chance it’s time to find a virtual assistant. Okay, your in-house team can tackle these tasks, but this consumes valuable time they could be spending on core business functions. By bringing a virtual assistant into your team, you can ensure these duties are handled efficiently.
You Need Specialized Skills:
There are often times when your business needs to bring in a set of specialist skills, such as multimedia design, social media management, or customer service. However, hiring a full-time employee isn’t practical or cost effective when these are short-term needs. This is where a virtual assistant can fill the gap. With virtual assistants available in every possible skillset, your business can easily find the help it needs.
Scalability Challenges:
Every business wants to grow, but rapid growth is difficult to manage. Bringing new staff into your business at a moment’s notice is far from easy, and it’s even more difficult when this increase in activity is only temporary. It’s also expensive to employ full-time staff, and your budget may not allow this. The problem is that this compromises your ability to grow. But with a virtual assistant onboard, you can take advantage of short-term contracts and reducing operating costs by up to 78%.
A Need for Flexibility:
When your business operates across different time zones, or requires support outside of standard office hours, it can be difficult to fulfil this with local staff. And the impact on your customers can be significant. But rather than lose business, why not embrace the flexibility of virtual assistants for hire? With Filipino virtual assistants proving highly popular, their time zone position could quickly deliver the flexibility you need.
Be one of the many who’ve entrusted their virtual assistant needs with Pineapple.
Book a FREE Discovery Call today and let our Sales Specialists share to you the many ways a virtual assistant can help you and your precious business.
How Do You Evaluate a Virtual Assistant?
When you want to find a virtual assistant who’s right for your business, you need to conduct a thorough evaluation of each candidate. It may be a time-consuming process, but it’s critical that you explore each and every facet of your potential virtual assistants. In the long run, of course, it ensures that you get the perfect virtual assistant, one who will fit in with your business seamlessly.
Once you have a selection of candidates to evaluate, make sure you analyze the following:
Experience and Skills:
Take a long hard look at the candidate’s resume and portfolio to determine if they have the necessary experience and skills for the tasks you need help with. Identify specific examples of similar work they’ve done in the past and add bonus points if this has come in your industry. If they have a proven track record in areas like customer support and administrative tasks, it’s a good sign they can meet your needs effectively.
Evaluate Communication Skills:
Communication is crucial in business, and even more so when remote workers are involved. This is why it’s essential that, during the interview process, you assess how well the candidate communicates. Do they come across as clear, concise and responsive? This will indicate their ability to understand and follow instructions, the very fundamentals of being an assistant.
Test their Skills:
An excellent way to find a virtual assistant who can handle your workload is by presenting them with an example of a typical daily task they would need to complete. This should be directly related to their job responsibilities – such as handling a difficult customer. Tests such as these will provide you with valuable insights into how they will perform under real conditions. If they give you the right answers, you know they’re right for your business.
Always Check References:
It’s always important to check the references of your candidates. These references allow you to gather real feedback on their ability and work ethic. This allows you to determine whether they have truly handled tasks and met deadlines as effectively as they claim. And don’t forget, with many freelancers now having online reviews or testimonials, make sure you check for these for further insights.
Identify Their Technology Skills:
With virtual assistants working remotely, it’s vital that they have strong skills when it comes to technology. Therefore, ensure that the candidate is comfortable with the tools and technology your business uses. This includes project management software - such as Slack - and communication platforms such as Microsoft Teams. Ask them directly about their experience with the technology they will be using and evaluate how tech-savvy they are.
Knowing You’ve Got the Right Candidate
Once you’ve evaluated all the virtual assistants for hire, you need to decide which one is the best candidate to join your team. This is often a tough decision, but you can make it easier by looking for key indicators. As part of your decision-making process, make sure you consider these elements:
Match Your Company Values:
All successful businesses share one thing in common: they have defined company values. And it’s important that all your employees eat, sleep, and breathe these values. If a virtual assistant can demonstrate that they understand your company values, they’re already half-way there. The final part of the jigsaw is that they can also show this through their attitude and communication style. A good fit ensures the virtual assistant can integrate with your team and provide a positive contribution.
Strong Problem-Solving Skills:
Business is very much a series of ongoing problems which need solving. And the right candidate will demonstrate strong problem-solving skills during their interview, showing that they can think critically and contribute innovative solutions to real challenges. This shows that they’re perfectly placed to adapt to new situations and help your business succeed.
Enthusiasm:
You want your virtual assistant to show that they have genuine enthusiasm for the role and your business. This is evident when they ask in-depth and thoughtful questions about your organization and its direction A desire to make their contract a recurring and long-term possibility is another sign that this candidate has the dedication to transform your business operations.
Past Successes:
An excellent candidate will be able to point to specific achievements they’ve made in their previous roles. More importantly, these will be successes which are directly relevant to the role they’re applying for. So, if you’re looking to hire a legal virtual assistant, you should look favorably on those candidates who can show you that they have succeeded in this role e.g. previous long-term contracts in the industry and research projects they’ve managed. This improves the chances of you hiring a virtual assistant who can deliver results.
Pineapple Has Virtual Assistants for Hire
The need to find a virtual assistant should be a priority for any modern business which wants to reap the benefits of enhanced productivity and amazing value for money. But with the global range of virtual assistants, it’s difficult to connect with the very best. Worry no more, however, as Pineapple is here to help.
Our experience in the virtual assistant industry has allowed us to develop the expertise required to instantly identify best-in-class virtual assistants. Most importantly, this premium quality is more than affordable. With an unbeatable flat rate of just $8 per hour, you can find a virtual assistant who is perfectly matched to your business. This rate is free from hidden extras, so you don’t need to fret about being hit with contract or cancellation fees.
Best of all, our virtual assistants come with a rich pedigree of experience in their given industry. Not only does this mean they can hit the ground running, but you can also rest assured they will fit seamlessly into your organization. There’s also the added bonus that Pineapple’s virtual assistants are sourced from the Philippines, a region well-known for its strong work ethic where dedication and efficiency are national traits.
The logical step, therefore, is to connect Pineapple and discover the virtual assistants for hire that we can offer you. To find out more and start your journey, just click here to get in touch with us.
Be one of the many who’ve entrusted their virtual assistant needs with Pineapple.
Book a FREE Discovery Call today and let our Sales Specialists share to you the many ways a virtual assistant can help you and your precious business.
