Hiring remote employees is a great way to increase your workforce without having to buy new equipment or move to a bigger office. It also gives you access to a global talent pool, and since even on-site businesses are using project management platforms and people in the same office are chatting via Slack, there are a few good reasons not to do it.
This is especially the case when it comes to virtual assistants, people who are handling administrative tasks that wouldn’t require in-person presence either way. To explain how this works a bit better, here are the top five industries that are revolutionized by virtual assistant services.
1.Real Estate Industry:
Real estate agents should focus on client relations and property sales, but how can they do that when their schedule is filled with mandatory research, data entry, instances of scheduling, etc? There are so many administrative duties that have to be handled right away before you can start your work that you’ll have your platter full. Why not delegate all of this to a virtual assistant?
You don’t even have to look for a freelancer on your own. Instead, you could always look for an agency that acts as an intermediary in offering real estate virtual assistant services. This simplifies your hiring process. You don’t have to vet the assistants yourself, you don’t have to manage the payroll (just pay the agency their fee), and you get people with actual experience in the field.
The biggest problem here is that the responsibilities of virtual assistants in the real estate industry vary greatly. So, you need to set the exact expectations from the very start and clearly define their role within your enterprise. This is not as simple as it sounds.
2.Technology and IT industries:
In the IT, specialist salaries are outlandishly high. Now, when you take into consideration that you’re paying them so much by the hour, does it make sense to have these specialists handle things like technical documentation and customer support? No, you want your specialists on their core tasks and virtual assistants on the administrative and support issues.
You can also have virtual assistants in charge of project management tasks. You can have them do the research and provide assets to the specialists. You can have them track deadlines and do whatever they can to help the specialists increase their productivity. This way, not only are you keeping specialists on the tasks, you’re helping them be more efficient.
Keep in mind that, for all of this to work, you need to use an adequate project management platform. This way, you can restrict access and assign people to projects that won’t distract them. You can compartmentalize and make everyone’s working experience unique. The bottom line is that you can mold this platform and the activity of virtual assistants to their specific needs.
3.E-Commerce:
The reason why so many people underestimate the role of virtual assistants in e-commerce in 2024 is that the majority of these tasks and activities are automated and handled by AI-powered tools. In the past, virtual assistants were in charge of inventory management and order processing, but today, this task is best left to tools.
On the other hand, digital marketing and customer service, which are arguably the most important aspects of e-commerce, still require humans. This means that they still require virtual assistants.
Integrated platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce can help keep everything tidy and organized; however, this also means that you’ll have to put a bit of extra effort into the preparation of onboarding materials. This way, your e-commerce activity will be streamlined and optimized.
Remember that, with these new tools (even when you do all the automation-related tasks), you still need human oversight. It’s more cost-effective to use a virtual assistant.
4.Healthcare:
In the healthcare industry, virtual assistants can work the reception, handle patient appointments, and handle billing. The thing is that maintaining electronic health records and communicating with patients, although important, represent just a portion of the responsibilities that you’ll have to deal with.
You need to understand that the healthcare industry has two aspects. On the one hand, it’s all about providing suitable medical care to your patients. At the same time, it’s an organization with bureaucratic requirements and a business that needs to make money in order to keep running.
Most hospitals have been employing the practice of separating these roles into healthcare providers and administrators for decades. It is just a method that delivers the best results and outcomes. At the same time, you now have the option to hire remote workers to help you out. This means a more convenient way of handling your administrative tasks, as well as a deeper talent pool.
5.Marketing and Advertising:
There are many marketing tasks that require a veteran marketing specialist; however, virtual assistants can perform the majority of marketing-related tasks.
First of all, they can engage in the creation and curation of content. They can manage social media accounts, send out emails, and analyze the results of campaigns. The majority of these analytical tools are pretty simple, and you can have them get the results, go through them, and turn them into graphs and even infographics.
Preparation of materials for presentations and further work can save so much time. With modern generative AI tools, it won’t even take that much effort from your team.
No matter what you do in digital marketing, you need great briefs, and there’s no better way to get them than to have them generated by virtual assistants. This way, your specialists can focus on their field of expertise and have the bulk of outreach, reporting, and scheduling done by remote employees.
Wrap Up:
At the end of the day, it’s so important that you understand the principles, not the actions or tasks, that make virtual assistants effective and viable in these industries. The bottom line is that they’re great for secondary, repetitive, and administrative tasks. All the tasks that you wouldn’t necessarily describe as core within an industry can go to a virtual assistant. This boosts productivity and makes the company structure a lot simpler.
Disclaimer:
CBD:
Qrius does not provide medical advice.
The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS Act) outlaws the recreational use of cannabis products in India. CBD oil, manufactured under a license issued by the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, can be legally used in India for medicinal purposes only with a prescription, subject to specific conditions. Kindly refer to the legalities here.
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Gambling:
As per the Public Gambling Act of 1867, all Indian states, except Goa, Daman, and Sikkim, prohibit gambling. Land-based casinos are legalized in Goa and Daman under the Goa, Daman and Diu Public Gambling Act 1976. In Sikkim, land-based casinos, online gambling, and e-gaming (games of chance) are legalized under the Sikkim Online Gaming (Regulation) Rules 2009. Only some Indian states have legalized online/regular lotteries, subject to state laws. Refer to the legalities here. Horse racing and betting on horse racing, including online betting, is permitted only in licensed premises in select states. Refer to the 1996 Supreme Court judgment for more information.
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