Finding Success with your Very own Virtual Secretary

While it is given that only the best virtual receptionist or assistant can contribute to the success of your business; many a times if your executives are not able to optimize these services for their benefit, success becomes a distant dream.

Even the best virtual secretary will not be able to contribute to his or her best capacity if you are not able to leverage this arrangement in the correct way. Here are some crucial points that you need to keep in mind while dealing with your online assistant-

1. Developing a Good and Effective Working Relationship

Considering the fact that your home-based assistant works from a distant location, opening doors to a transparent and straightforward communication strategy is important. It is also important that you are able to trust your virtual receptionist. Having faith in the work patterns of your assistant and how they implement the tasks you assign them is crucial to how healthy your relationship will be.

Remember that a good working rapport is directly related to how successful your company can be.

 2. Studying the Tasks that you Outsource

While hiring a virtual receptionist may give you back a lot of your time that went in organizing your schedule, it is still important that you are always aware of the responsibilities you assign to your assistant. Whether it is making your appointments, organizing your virtual folders, managing your email, your website or your accounting work, it is always good to be consistently aware of what your assistant is working on at any given point of times.

3. Managing your Assistant’s Learning Curve

While many appointments and business matters can be planned in advance, it is not practical to take this for granted. A number of matters tend to crop up last minute, and it is thus all the more important for your online assistant to come with a learning curve that allows him or her to manage these responsibilities from a distance. Organizing this may take a few weeks, but once you are able to set effective systems, control will come more easily and comfortably. 

4. How are you communicating?

One cannot overstake how important it is for an executive and his or her virtual assistant to develop a foolproof communication pattern. One of the many factors that influence productivity is how well you are connected with your assistant. Before you hire your assistant, make sure all parties involved are clear about the mode of communication that will be used. Make sure you agree on an effective solution when it comes to regular reporting and internal communications.

Ask your solution provider if they offer any standard options that are tested and tried among other clients which they cater to. Many virtual assistant solution providers offer interfaces with easy to use email and instant messaging services. You can also leverage video calling options to make sure your communication strategy is comprehensive and effective.

The better you are able to leverage the services of your online assistant, the higher will be the chance of you and your virtual team driving your business to success!