What is a Virtual Assistant – and 47 Tasks They Can Do for You

A reader asks:

What does a virtual assistant do? And how can one help my business? I run a small business but the volume of emails and customer inquiries has exploded. It’s challenging to stay organized. Yet we can’t afford to hire a full-time administrative assistant or office manager — nor do we have the space, because our office is tiny. A colleague suggested I hire a virtual assistant. Can you give me some idea of the types of tasks a virtual assistant can do?   

— Howard from Albuquerque, New Mexico 

Howard, this is a great question. Yes, we will explain exactly what a virtual assistant does.  We’ll go one better for you. At the end of this article we outline 42 different tasks a virtual assistant (VA) can do for a small business, so that you have examples to draw on.  But first, let’s answer some basic information.

---

---

What is a Virtual Assistant?

A virtual assistant is an independent worker who assists with administrative, business development, social media, marketing or other tasks.  By taking on recurring tasks and administrative work, they free up time for small business owners, entrepreneurs and managers.

The virtual assistant works remotely, often from a home office.  Virtual assistants may be US-based but may also be located in another country.

VAs have become incredibly popular with small businesses over the past decade because they are a flexible workforce.  A virtual assistant can be part-time or full-time, depending on your requirements. Need 20 hours a week? No problem. Need 30 hours? What about 40?  VAs are available.

Virtual assistants may be paid an hourly rate. Or they can get paid a fixed fee per week or month.

Often you can get a better deal and deeper benefit by hiring a full-time virtual assistant, for several reasons:

• Prices can be surprisingly affordable, especially for offshore workers.
• It’s easier to integrate a full-time assistant into regular workflows and get deeper benefit from the arrangement.
• A full-time VA will be better positioned to learn any special software apps you require, develop cordial relationships with co-workers and customers, and grow with you as the business grows.

Some virtual assistants work as independent freelancers. Others are part of a company or agency where you hire the company to provide a flexible workforce.  When you work with a virtual assistant company, you dealing with a manager who will discuss your needs and find the best fit.

Benefits of a Virtual Assistant  

Virtual assistants can do a lot to boost your business’s productivity. Think of it this way.  How an owner spends his or her time might be the biggest factor in the success of the business.  So business owners (and key managers) need to spend their time on high-value activities.

Rob Levin, Chairman of Work Better Now, puts it this way, drawing from his own experience.

“In order to spend time on high-value activities, it was important for me to spend less time on lower-value activities. This is why I not only hired a virtual assistant 5 years ago but why I co-founded a company, Work Better Now , to provide virtual assistants to other business owners.”

Levin’s partner Andrew Cohen and Work Better Now’s CEO, says the most common question asked by the company’s prospective clients is “what can a virtual assistant do for me?”

To answer that question, Cohen provides a list of 47 tasks a virtual assistant can do.

47 Tasks a Virtual Assistant Can Do

A virtual assistant performs a variety of tasks. These range from scheduling appointments to screening and responding to emails. But scheduling and emails are just the tip of the iceberg. If it can be done online, a virtual assistant can probably do it.

Here’s your ultimate guide to virtual assistants, what they are and what they do.

Calendar Management

Managing your calendar, both professional and personal, is one of an entrepreneur’s greatest challenges. From providing reminders to scheduling appointments, virtual assistants can make it effortless for you.  They can:

1. Coordinate and schedule calls and appointments. This alone typically saves owners about 10 hours a week and keeps them from doing these tasks that they dislike. The key is to give your assistant rules about when and who. VAs also schedule calls for some team members.

2. Confirm appointments. A best practice is to give the virtual assistant a list of appointments to confirm, such as the next day’s appointments. This eliminates wasting time when the other party forgets or waits until the last minute to cancel.

3. Provide reminders about calls and appointments. There are times when you might forget to make a call, especially when out of the office or in back-to-back meetings. The virtual assistant can call or text you a few minutes before to ensure you don’t forget.

4. Reschedule calls and appointments. While you may try to avoid it, sometimes, you need to reschedule. Your VA can handle this for you.

5. Provide notice of schedule changes to others. The virtual assistant will also provide notice to the other party and get the rescheduled time confirmed.

6. Protect time. It can be hard for business owners to say no to someone who wants to meet for a coffee to “catch up.” The VA can be the bad cop.

7. Send and maintain a “pending list”. Each week, virtual assistants can send you a list of people that have not responded to requests for setting up a meeting or a call so you know when you need  to get involved.

8. Inform significant others when you will be  out of town. As part of a travel process, the VA gives significant others a calendar invite with the out-of-town dates along with flight and hotel details. This keeps them informed.

Email and Contact Management and Communications

If you’re buried under a ton of emails — or if you  need someone to update your contact list — take note.  A good virtual assistant can save hours of time by doing the following activities:

9. Screen emails. Based on rules you set, VAs will delete, respond, forward or flag emails for your attention.

10. Add people to contacts. When you have a call, meeting or some other form of engagement with someone new, the virtual assistant can add that person’s details to your contacts.

11. Update people’s info to contacts. Sometimes, a contact’s phone number or other  information is not known right away. A VA can add information to contacts as it becomes available — say from an email signature.

12. Add contacts to CRM. One of the main reasons that small businesses don’t use their CRM app is due to the time involved in entering data.  Virtual assistants can add to and organize your CRM system.

Phone Tasks

If you need some light receptionist work done, or phone interactions, a virtual assistant can do certain tasks.

13. Perform light receptionist duties. When expecting important calls that you may not be available to answer, calls are forwarded to the virtual assistant.

14. Transcribe voicemails. As most voicemails can now be received by email, these are forwarded to the VA for transcription.  And any necessary follow up activities.

Travel

Arranging flights and hotels for business travel could eat up way more time than you realize.  Isn’t that time you could better spend working on your business? A virtual assistant can:

15. Research flights. A virtual assistant can screen flights to meet you criteria and present options to you. By providing them with airline, seat and other preferences, the VA will save an amazing amount of time over the course of a year.

16. Research hotels. Similar to air travel, by providing the virtual assistant with hotel preferences, including any special rates you get, they can present a shortlist to you.

17. Book flights and hotels. By providing the VA with credit cards and frequent flyer information, they can book travel once you’ve decided.