The Role of a Virtual Assistant
The role of a virtual assistant is typically defined by the needs of the client. Virtual assistants work from their homes and in many cases, may be across the country or halfway around the world from their client. Virtual assistants may work on simple tasks or more complex tasks, largely depending on merging their particular skills with the needs of their clients. The role of a virtual assistant may include any (or all) of the following responsibilities:
Customer service follow-up
Small business owners who have websites that allow their customers to ask questions through an online service such as instant chats or through an email service. A virtual assistant may be charged with responding to questions either as they come in or on a schedule that is set by the business owner.
eCommerce verifications
Thousands of eCommerce stores require someone to follow-up on order that are placed for information. This may include age verifications, address verifications or other information that is necessary for order processing. eCommere sites may request that a virtual assistant handle these types of follow-up calls in order to free up staff that is involved in processing orders.
Accounts payable and receivable
Virtual assistants that have the ability to perform simple bookkeeping processes may be asked by clients to process their accounts payable and receivable. Many companies utilize forms of online billing that allow their clients to pay via PayPal, Google Checkout or credit card. Virtual assistants may be responsible for setting up new client accounts, following up on past-due payments or verifying proper crediting.
Writing tasks
Virtual assistants who are competent writers may help business owners provide website content, newsletter content or help create emails for clients. There may also be instances where a virtual assistant is asked to contribute regularly to a company blog.
Social networking tasks
Another aspect of virtual assistant roles may be performing social networking tasks. These tasks can vary from maintaining a Twitter accounts, setting up Facebook fan pages or social bookmarking tasks. This will largely depend on the nature of the client's business and the individual skills of the virtual assistant.
Summary
The role of a virtual assistant is as varied as that of an administrative assistant in a company. Competentvirtual assistants are becoming more in demandas entrepreneurs launch businesses from their homes and as other companies search for ways to keep their expenses down. Competent virtual assistants will likely find that the role of a virtual assistant is as varied as the skills that they bring to their clients.
