25 Realistic Tasks to Outsource to a Virtual Assistant

Virtual assistants can be a huge benefit to small businesses that often are inundated with administrative tasks and responsibilities. Hiring full-time or even contractor is often beyond the financial reach of a small business. Virtual assistants such as Davinci Live Receptionists offer a cost-effective alternative. Small businesses only engage them as needed. This on-demand model helps control cost while enabling small businesses to focus their virtual assistants on tasks and activities that matter. 

Studies show many small businesses are interested in leveraging virtual assistants to help tackle the pile of tasks and projects that are overwhelming them, suffocating their productivity, thwarting the time spent engaging with customers, and inhibiting business growth. But many of those same small businesses have never used a virtual assistant. So, why the disconnect? It seems many simply don’t know where to get started; they don’t know what tasks to outsource to a virtual assistant.

What is a Virtual Assistant?

A virtual assistant (VA) is a professional who provides administrative, technical, or creative assistance to clients remotely from a home office or any other location. Virtual assistants come from differing professional backgrounds and can offer a wide range of services.

Virtual assistants can handle tasks that are traditionally performed by an in-office assistant, but without the need for a physical presence. Instead, businesses can hire VAs on an as-needed basis.

The following are some of the ways virtual assistants can help a small business to focus on its customers, products and services, and growing its business:

25 Realistic Tasks to Outsource to a Virtual Assistant

1. Incoming calls.

Answer routine questions, routing those that require immediate assistance to the right person on the team, and pushing others into the correct voice mail. 

2. Incoming emails and texts.

Filter incoming email and texts—answering those with basic questions and routing others regarding support and sales inquiries to the appropriate member of the team.

3. Calendar management.

Set up appointments in response to incoming emails, texts, and calls with prospects, customers, partners, and third-party vendors.

4. Outgoing administrative email and texts.

Sending thank you emails and texts and other reminders.

5. Sales live chat support.

Manage live chat support for incoming sales inquiries on the website. May include configuration and management of the live chat tool, proactive live chat engagement based on website visitor behavior, and live chat conversations with prospects.

6. Customer service live chat support.

Manage live chat for customer service inquiries—customers who have questions or are experiencing problems with product and/or support.

7. Marketing research.

Research support on topics for blog posts, newsletter, and other outbound marketing activities.

8. Database building.

Updating email and contact lists in the company’s customer relationship management (CRM) system (e.g., Salesforce, Hubspot, Zoho, etc.).

9. Travel logistics.

Book flights, reserve hotel rooms and rental cars, and build travel itineraries (including meetings and booking of rented meeting space such as Davinci Meeting Rooms).

10. Outbound marketing.

Manage the company’s marketing automation system (e.g., Salesforce, Infusionsoft, MailChimp, ActiveCampaign, etc.). Potential activities include list management, email development and scheduling, landing page development, autoresponders set up and management, coordination with sales, among others.

11. File/document management.

Organize files using an online file management system such as Dropbox, Google Drive, Box, Microsoft OneDrive, etc.).

12. Meeting minutes.

Attending meetings and scribing minutes (subsequently sent to meeting attendees).

13. Basic reporting.

Creating basic reports on a regular basis—financial, sales, marketing, operations, etc.

14. Social media.

Set up and management of the company’s social media accounts (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, etc.). Includes proactive outreach for search engine optimization (SEO) to drive traffic back to the company website.

15. Blog management.

Answer blog comments and even proactively comment on third-party blog posts to drive traffic back to the company website and blog. Also includes management of blog editorial calendar and management of writing resources.

16. Third-party boards and forums.

Participate in third-party boards and forums, posting comments and answer questions where relevant (e.g., Reddit, LinkedIn groups, industry forums and groups, etc.).

17. Liaison with the team.

Serve as a liaison between business leadership (president, head of sales, et al.) and the rest of the team (filtering emails, scheduling meetings, etc.).

18. Coworking, day office, and meeting space.

Reserve coworking, day office, and rented meeting space for the team—for everything from ongoing daily work, to team meetings, to business travel, to customer and prospect meetings.

19. Prepare PowerPoint presentations.

Help prepare PowerPoint presentations for sales, customer, internal, and partner meetings. 

20. Transcription.

Transcribe meetings and voice mail used by sales, marketing, and other teams.

21. HR recruitment.

Manage job postings, help vet applications, screen applicants, and schedule interviews.

22. Freelancer support.

Search for and vet freelancers to support different business activities (e.g., graphic artists for content design and layout, professional voice-over talent, writers for blog posts and other marketing content, etc.).

23. Event management.

Identify and reserve meeting space, manage logistics such as catering, compile and send invitations, confirm attendees, construct and distribute the agenda, among others.

24. Video and podcast editing.

Edit audio files, remove background noise from audio and video, set up and manage podcasts on iTunes and SoundCloud, and publish videos to and manage them on YouTube.

25. Website management.

Conduct keyword research for blog content and webpages, maintain the sitemap, ensure all pages are optimized for organic SEO, manage Google AdWords, vet new technologies for your website and make appropriate recommendations, among others.

This list is certainly not comprehensive, and I could add even more to it. But compilation is a good starting point. Improved productivity, better coordination and collaboration with customers, partners, and employees, and even new revenue opportunities are right around the corner. Stop procrastinating and engage with a virtual assistant—a Davinci Virtual Receptionist is merely a click away.

About Patrick Spencer

Patrick Spencer (Ph.D.) is the President and Founder of TIRO Communications that helps companies develop, build, and manage content, customer, advocacy, and demand-gen programs. Included in its offerings is TIRO Cognition Insights, a data analytics tool that enables B2C and B2B businesses to pinpoint what their customers and competitors’ customers are saying and to identify corresponding actionable product, services, competitive, sales, and marketing intelligence.

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Website: www.tirocommunications.com