Virtual Executive Assistant Services: What They Are and Why You Need Them

Are you looking to leverage virtual executive assistant services this year? You just found the ultimate guide to hiring one in 2022.

In this article, we will look first into the difference between an administrative assistant and an executive virtual assistant. Here, we’ll discuss which you should hire and why. Second, we will go over the things an executive virtual assistant can do to help you and your business. Third, we will discuss the characteristics of the perfect VA. And lastly, we will delve into the details of how you can find one!

What Is the Difference Between an Administrative and Executive Virtual Assistant?

There might be slight confusion about the similarities and differences between administrative and executive virtual assistants (EVA). After all, EVAs are also full-time employees who perform tasks that are administrative in nature. Much like administrative assistants, they also handle emailing, scheduling, and data entry tasks, among others.

The two definitely share some responsibilities. However, one can still be distinguished from the other by looking at their skill set, education, and professional experience. In all three, EVAs are expected to rank better. This is because they’re also expected to perform more complex tasks for their clients and have a wider area of expertise.

They usually take on more managerial and leadership responsibilities within a company, as well.

An EVA may be able to complete tasks and manage all admin, marketing, prospecting, and managerial tasks. However, an administrative assistant would just handle administrative tasks or act as a virtual personal assistant.

If you are wondering which of the two roles would match the opening in your company, you could simply ask: Who needs support?

EVAs are more suited to supporting high-level company members or executives or even leading large teams. Meanwhile, administrative assistants work to support the clerical activities of entire departments or a business as a whole.

What an Outsourced Executive Assistant Can Do for You 

You might be asking yourself, “Do I really need an executive assistant?” 

We suggest you ask yourself these questions instead: Do you have other tasks you would rather focus on? Are non-revenue generating tasks consuming so much of your time? Would you rather have time for the 20% that produces 80% of the results?

Below, we listed some time-consuming tasks an EVA can tick off for you.

Replying to Messages

Emails, texts, calls—you name it. An executive virtual assistant can respond to each one so only the most relevant reaches you.

An average worker receives 121 emails per day. Delegating email management alone can save you a lot of time. Not only that, an EVA can make sure that you do not miss the one or two most important ones while going through so many.

Scheduling Appointments

An executive virtual assistant can help you stay organized and productive. Scheduling and calendar management are two things they are highly trained to do. With their help, you will have increased visibility and control over how you spend your time. 

Calendar management can be particularly challenging for professionals who have to attend multiple virtual and in-person meetings a day. Virtual assistants can help make the process hassle-free. You will no longer have to worry about things like planning details, calling attendees, and tracking schedule changes.

Answering Calls

With an executive virtual assistant, you do not have to have your phone around with you all the time. You can relax. If you have important messages that you need to hear yourself, they can be recorded and given to you by the end of the day. They can relay this either over the phone or in an email paraphrased for short consumption.

EVAs are trained to respond professionally to business calls. They can filter all the incoming calls and only make sure you get the really important ones. Not only that, they can initiate conversations and follow up with your leads. 

They are seasoned professionals at giving the best customer service and customer support.

Attending to Payroll Concerns

If you have been a business owner long enough, you have probably encountered common payroll problems like misclassified employees and ineffective time records. Dealing with these concerns is another task you can delegate to your virtual executive assistant. 

Good employers ensure that every one of their employees is paid accurately and in a timely manner. EVAs can help you deliver this task. They can help develop a payroll system that will work best for your company.

Managing Client Relationships

Bring a valuable addition to your team by hiring a Customer Relationship Management Specialist as a virtual assistant. With this kind of expertise, you can increase retention rates and pull up data on existing clients to leverage your business.

Overseeing Projects

Project management involves organization, communication, risks, procurement, and quality, among others. It is a complex and tedious task that is better delegated to an expert.

An EVA who specializes in project management can set you up for success. They can help you determine goals and priorities, break down and delegate tasks, allocate resources, and document progress toward completion. 

Supervising Teams

Hire a virtual executive assistant to communicate regularly with your employees and serve as your point of contact. This EVA can focus on setting expectations, monitoring performance, engaging team members, and delegating tasks. With someone like this on your team, you can reach your maximum productivity.

What To Look For in a Virtual Executive Assistant

By now, you already have an idea of how to use virtual executive assistant services. You may have a list in mind of the tasks you think an EVA can help you with. In this section, we listed some characteristics all our virtual assistants here at Virtudesk have in common. We think you should be looking for these, too, when hiring your EVA.

Has Good Credentials

Credentials are one way you can measure the credibility of your prospective virtual assistant. You can look at their degrees, certifications, awards, licenses, portfolios, and so on. This can help you set apart competent candidates from others during the initial stages of the hiring process.

Possesses Excellent Communication Skills

A virtual executive assistant will often speak on their client’s behalf. Because of this, they must have excellent verbal and written communication skills.

Exhibits Stellar Work Ethic

It is important that virtual assistants uphold the right work ethics, especially because they are working from home. They must be able to show up on time and communicate in real-time with their client.

Can Multitask

EVAs are often tasked with a number of crucial business matters. It is important that they know how to manage their time, set priorities, and work simultaneously on different projects.

Is Backed by Trusted Remote Executive Assistant Companies

Companies that connect virtual assistants with clients often conduct a series of interviews, training sessions, and background checks prior to the meetup with the client. In other words, there is quality control for hiring already in place in these companies. 

Only a select few, the best virtual executive assistants, will be able to pass the final stages of the application process. Clients looking to hire highly-trained virtual assistants fast should look into companies like Virtudesk that ensure this for them.

Key Points To Discuss When Interviewing a Virtual Executive Assistant

There are a number of hard and soft skills that you would want your executive virtual assistant to have for them to be successful in their post. In this section, we go over some of the most common and important points that you should discuss with EVA candidates. 

Area of Expertise

Executive virtual assistants have varying degrees of knowledge in areas such as project management, social media management, and CRM management. Be clear on what your priorities are when hiring. Determine which skills an EVA should already have prior to onboarding and which you can train them for. 

Years of Experience

Learn how many years of professional and volunteer experience each candidate has. Also, ask them how their experience matches the competencies required for the position. This will help you gauge how much they know about the responsibilities of the role they are applying for. At the same time, it will help you determine which of them is the best fit.

Working Hours

It is important to discuss working hours, especially if you’re hiring a person from another country. Outsourced executive assistants can work remotely from anywhere in the world. Time differences and boundaries need to be established early on for a successful and healthy employer-employee relationship.

Availability

If chosen for the position, how soon can a candidate start? You need to be informed about this in order for you to have enough time to prepare for a transition period.

Technological Know-How

An executive virtual assistant position is heavily reliant on technology. Have a list of the hardware and software programs you require for EVAs. Even better, indicate this in your job posting. Prepare assessments for these technical skills and include them in the selection process.

Watch: Mock Interview of a Virtual Assistant

Where To Hire the Best Virtual Executive Assistants

There are a lot of remote executive assistant companies to choose from. However, keep in mind that only a few offer the following:

• Highly-trained virtual assistants
• Time-flexibility 
• Competitive rates
• Cybersecurity insurance

Here at Virtudesk, we offer these features and more! By connecting with one of our Account Managers, we can work with you to determine what your needs are and what types of tasks you need to delegate, including who in our talent pool would be a good fit for your company. 

After meeting with an Account Manager, you can schedule interviews with three to five virtual assistant candidates we paired you with. You can decide which one you want to hire and then start the hiring process. All you have to do is get started here.

Bottom Line

When you consider hiring a virtual assistant for the first time, it’s essential to identify the needs of your company, where you need the most help, and where time should be devoted to producing bigger results.

Not only do you need to ask yourself those questions, but it’s important to think about how that person’s role will grow and adapt over time. Will that person need to lead teams in the future, and will it benefit you to have a right-hand person to help you implement ideas?

If that’s the case, then hiring an executive virtual assistant would be a perfect fit for your business.

If you’re interested in hiring an executive virtual assistant or other virtual assistant services, fill out this form, and one of our Consultants will reach out to you.

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