A virtual secretary can be hugely advantageous to many companies whether they are small or large, new or established. Virtual assistant services vary from call answering services through to message forwarding and having a professional representation of a company without the high costs of employing a full time secretary.

A virtual secretary provides clients with administrative services that they charge for only by actual time worked rather than entire days. Companies can save thousands of pounds each year on outgoings such as insurance, payroll taxes, expensive equipment, holiday pay and office space by switching to a virtual secretary

The Role of a Virtual Secretary

A virtual secretary performs the same employment duties as a regular secretary but with added reliability. Some of the most common services offered by most providers include the following:

• Telephone answering in a professional manner

• Following leads

• Business shopping

• Answering phone calls using the company name

• Message forwarding services via SMS or email

• Screening email and voicemail messages

• Filling order forms

• Social media marketing

• Scheduling appointments

• Updating websites

• Managing databases

When using virtual assistant services, company owners and managers don’t have to be concerned when they leave the office that phone calls will be missed due to meetings and unavoidable breaks. Company calls will be answered in a timely and professional manner ensuring that no phone calls will ever be missed again, which is a huge benefit to any business. Companies are usually assigned a team of virtual secretaries to enhance the high level of service.

Outsourcing your administrative tasks, you will find yourself with more time to dedicate to the jobs you are supposed to be doing rather than chasing unreliable secretaries or attempting to do the jobs yourself. With a virtual secretary able to provide a range of admin skills minus the high costs and added hassle of a fulltime employee, it is easy to see why the world of virtual office assistants is booming

The Benefits of Virtual Secretary

The benefits of a virtual secretary go deeper than simple monetary savings and here are some of the top benefits of using virtual assistant services:

• You don’t have to pay for office equipment such as computers as a virtual secretary will use their own resources

• A high level of flexibility as work can be completed outside of normal working hours

• A superior service is provided as a virtual secretary cares more about their profession

• There is no need to pay for a minimum amount of working hours – you only pay a virtual secretary for the work completed

• Temp agencies are prone to sending staff that are unskilled and largely unusable

• Virtual secretaries don’t require holiday pay, sick pay, maternity/paternity pay, superannuation, payroll etc

• They require no training or office space

If you want to grow and expand your business but you find that you are often occupied with different administrative duties that are not being done properly by your existing secretary or because you can’t afford to hire one, outsourcing these duties will also free up your time. How many more leads could you generate if you didn’t have the hassle of handling a fulltime member of staff and how many more sales you could complete? Think about what you could do with an additional 10-15 hours per week.