Executive assistants are an entrepreneur’s most trusted allies.

They offer support, help and advice in the professional and private lives of their employers. Additionally, they are often the ones who take care of the backend work to keep everything running smoothly.

Executives depend on their assistants for everything from administrative tasks to project management. And in the digital age, where deals are done online and meetings are held virtually in different time zones, the traditional 9-5 is no longer enough. Not even the classic job profile of a management assistant.

You need someone who can adapt quickly to change, act proactively and be competent in multiple roles. A person who can be your executive assistant, your personal assistant and your CEO at the same time. In short, you need a virtual assistant.

In this blog, we discuss how a virtual assistant can fulfill all your executive assistant expectations and more, and how a VA can be an indispensable asset to your business.

Source: Unsplash

Executive Assistant vs. Virtual Assistant

Executive Assistants work mainly in-house and help with administrative tasks. They traditionally work on a 9-5 schedule. EAs are internal employees; the employer bears salary, insurance, social benefits and other expenses.

Virtual Assistants are 100% remote, work from home and can take on multiple roles depending on your needs. Working remotely allows them flexibility, and they can work different shifts as needed and needed. VAs are often contractors; Their salaries and other benefits are managed by the agency they are outsourced from. The employer is responsible for paying a monthly/weekly fee based on the number of hours worked by the virtual assistant.

Now let’s discuss some key differences between executives and virtual assistants.

Costs

The average salary for a Executive Assistant is around US$54,000 per year. A Virtual Assistant from Wishup will cost you much less. Virtual assistants also do not incur any additional expenses such as office space, equipment or other infrastructure costs.

recruitment process

In the case of an executive assistant, the hiring process must be handled by the employer. You must shortlist and select the candidates yourself. With a virtual assistant, the agency handles the recruitment and training process. Each agency has its own selection process. At Wishup, we only hire the top 0.2% to ensure you’re working with the best talent in the industry.

professional roles

Executive Assistants are highly efficient, super organized, excellent planners, meticulous and have impeccable time management. They assist their customers with administrative tasks, customer care, managing their schedules and organizing data. They often already have experience in offices in administrative functions.

Read our Top 10 Skills for Executive Assistants blog to learn more.

Virtual Assistants were originally hired for administrative tasks, similar to EAs. However, over time, as businesses went digital and e-commerce became popular, VAs evolved over time and now specialize in multiple roles. You can manage various tasks such as administration, lead generation, marketing, corporate governance, sales, talent acquisition and more. The best thing about hiring assistants from virtual service providers like Wishup is that you can state your requirements in your preliminary meeting and the agency will put together a package of services tailored to your needs.

What if we told you that you could get the best of both worlds? The efficiency of an executive assistant combined with the diverse skills of a virtual assistant? A dedicated employee who can single-handedly manage the backend operations, leaving you enough time for more important tasks?

If you are someone who needs full support, be it in managerial roles or running your business, you can benefit significantly from a virtual executive assistant.

Source: Unsplash

What tasks can a virtual executive assistant take on?

A virtual executive assistant can support executives and business owners in operational, backend and administrative tasks, freeing up time for networking and growth strategy, and helping their employers achieve a better and healthier work-life balance.

Let’s examine the tasks you can delegate to a virtual executive assistant.

Organize your inbox

You can hire a VA to help you organize your inbox, make sure you don’t miss any important emails, and keep your inbox free of spam and other unwanted email.

Manage your calendar

Your virtual assistant can keep track of important events, birthdays and meetings, making sure you don’t miss any deadlines.

Take care of the travel arrangements

Tired of looking for the best flight deals and the hotels closest to your meeting locations every time you need to go on a business trip? Your virtual assistant can help you with all of these things and plan the perfect itinerary, including top attractions and restaurants to visit in your free time.

You are responsible for internal and external communication

Your VA becomes the point of contact between you and other internal departments and customers. They may submit important information and announcements on your behalf.

Make presentations

If creating presentations and reports for meetings takes up some of your time that can be devoted to more productive endeavors, let your virtual executive assistant do the work.

organize data

VAs are excellent at organizing and storing data. You can fill out forms, collect surveys, manage email and online data processing, and present the information collected in sheets or reports.

Conduct Research: Whether you’re trying to analyze the market, study your competitors, or get to know your target audience better, your VA can help in-depth research.

project management

When you’re running multiple projects at once, it can be overwhelming to keep track of. Trust your virtual assistant to oversee projects, provide you with regular updates, and ensure project deadlines are met.

Minutes of the meeting

Whether in virtual or face-to-face meetings, your virtual assistant can be present and take note of important learnings from the meeting.

Help with recruitment

As mentioned earlier, setting it up can be tedious and time-consuming. Your virtual assistant can help you shortlist and narrow down candidates before you interview them.

Sending gifts and thanks

Networking is a big part of a leader’s life. Your virtual assistant can send gifts and thank you notes to colleagues and clients on your behalf.

Managing Social Media

Your virtual assistant can help keep your social media fresh by scheduling posts and blogs, optimizing content, and engaging with your audience online.

Source: Unsplash

Why should you hire a Wishup Virtual Assistant?

In addition to being incredibly skilled and very affordable, virtual assistants have other benefits as well.

flexibility

In fast-paced, fast-growing environments, traditional 9-5 roles are no longer enough. You may also need support after your regular work shift, especially executives who work with clients in different parts of the world.

Because virtual assistants work remotely, there is scope for flexibility in their working hours. For example, you can decide whether you need them for the day or night shift. Additionally, if you need 24/7 support, you can hire two virtual assistants and still pay less than what you would normally pay for an in-office executive assistant.

Easy scalability

It is not plausible to hire more assistants in the short term when there is an oversupply. There are long-term contracts that cannot be easily terminated.

However, with virtual assistants, you can grow your virtual team in a matter of hours. Plus, since the virtual assistant agency handles the hiring, you can onboard additional virtual assistants in under 24 hours.

No long term contracts are required as you can pay by the hour and opt out of their services once you decide they are no longer needed.

Trained assistants

While hiring a quality assistant can take months, onboarding procedures must be completed before an employee can begin work in the office. This includes training and learning about tools used in your organization.

In the case of virtual assistants, the training part is taken over by the agency. At Wishup, all of our virtual assistants go through a four week training process where we prepare them for various aspects of the role and train them on over 70 tools commonly used by organizations around the world.

We also believe in continuous improvement and learning and often offer our virtual assistants continuing education courses and opportunities.

Free trial and instant replacement

While internal employees are on a probationary period, they continue to be paid for their time in the organization. There is no concept for a trial period with office staff.

At Wishup, we offer our customers the opportunity to try out virtual assistant services before committing to a subscription.

Read our blog: 7-Day Free Virtual Assistant Trial – How to Make the Most of Your Wishup Virtual Assistant to learn more.

Additionally, we offer our customers an instant replacement at no additional cost in the event their primary virtual assistant is unavailable, so their work is not impacted.

Work with the best talent in the industry

At Wishup, we value quality above all else.

We have a rigorous hiring process and only 2%, 1 in 500 applicants, make it. We are hiring virtual assistants based in both the US and India so you can choose which one is best for you based on your needs.

We specifically recruit college graduates with relevant experience with pre-existing skills and knowledge of the position. We then use our internal training resources to improve and refine these skills.

Hire a virtual assistant today and stay on top of your tasks

A virtual assistant can fulfill all your expectations of an executive assistant and then some. There is no doubt that a talented virtual assistant can become an indispensable part of your business and contribute to the growth of the business.

If you’re ready to join our team of 500+ happy customers, click here to schedule your free consultation today or email us [email protected]and we will get back to you soon.