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The Detroit region is bustling with business! With more than 530,000 companies, 30+ educational institutions, and over 5 million people – there’s a lot of opportunity here. If you’re one of the many business owners in Metro Detroit, you’ve likely thought once or twice about hiring support. Or maybe you already have employees but feel like your staff is being spread too thin these days. In either scenario, there’s an economical and accommodating solution that might be worth considering for scaling businesses. Those looking to utilize highly experienced talent without the employee price tag might want to consider a Metro Detroit virtual assistant.
So, keep reading if you’re interested in learning more!
First, What is a Virtual Assistant?
A virtual assistant (VA) is a self-employed professional who provides support to individuals and businesses remotely. Since they’re self-employed, they are responsible for their own health benefits, taxes, equipment, workspace, and more. Virtual assistants come with a variety of skills and experience, and no two are the same. Some are incredibly efficient with administrative and customer support tasks, while others are social media gurus.
We occasionally refer to VAs as fractional service providers since they offer their expertise to multiple clients on an as-needed or part-time basis. This setup is incredibly beneficial to business owners because they get access to specialized skills and capabilities without the full-time employee commitment and budget. In short, you get more bang for your buck.
Why Hire a Metro Detroit Virtual Assistant?
Let’s face it: business owners often wear many hats. One minute, you might be wearing the email marketing hat, and the next minute, you’re handling human resource tasks. Before you know it, you’re spending more time doing everything but offering your core products and/or services. According to Forbes, the average entrepreneur spends more than 1/3 of their work week completing administrative tasks. And that’s just on administrative to-dos. If we add in the amount of hours spent on social media, customer service, and more – the results would be astounding.
Just imagine how much more you could do and earn if you handed off some of those tasks and prioritized the to-dos tied to revenue generation.
At Imperative Concierge Services, we can align you with a Metro Detroit virtual assistant who’ll help you refocus your time and energy on more important tasks that can drive your business forward.
What Qualities Does A Great Metro Detroit Virtual Assistant Have?
There are certain characteristics you want to look for when hiring a virtual assistant. We believe that the best ones have these traits:
- Time efficient: A great Metro Detroit VA should be able to adhere to deadlines and deliver high-quality work in a timely fashion.
- Reliable: Many business owners see their virtual assistant as their right hand, which requires that VAs be dependable without reminders or hand-holding.
- Organized: A good VA keeps things tidy and well-structured so digital files are easily accessible for the owner, required staff, and others.
- Superb communication skills: The best VAs have professional written and verbal communication skills that align with the brand they’re working with.
- Honest: Virtual assistants often have access to proprietary information, so you want one that’s trustworthy and of good character.
- Proactive: A knowledgeable VA aims to be proactive rather than reactive. They strive to be prepared and don’t wait around for other people to figure it out.
- Resourceful: If a good VA doesn’t know something, they’ll reach out to their network, do research on Google, or watch YouTube videos to find the answer.
When is the Best Time to Hire a Metro Detroit Virtual Assistant?
Hiring a virtual assistant can be a game-changer, but if you do it too early, it may feel more stressful than beneficial. Ideally, your business should be generating a solid stream of revenue and you should have a list of tasks to give to them. In addition, it helps to have some processes in place that document how and when you want certain things done.
You also want to avoid hiring a VA when you’re already incredibly overwhelmed and operating in a chaotic space. Adding a virtual assistant to that environment may further stress you out, as it is an added responsibility in the beginning. Although we identify skilled virtual professionals, they still have to be trained on how your unique business operates and how you want things done. That initial learning curve may require more of your time as they get acclimated to supporting you.
Nonetheless, here are some key indications that it’s time to get some extra support:
- You’re beginning to miss important deadlines
- You’re saying “no” to new clients because you don’t have the capacity to help them
- Your high-value staff members are spending more time doing mundane tasks instead of the skills you hired them for
What Tasks Can a Virtual Assistant Do?
This is one of our favorite questions! Virtual assistants can help with a number of tasks, but if you want to get the most out of them, hire based on specialty. For example, if you’ve made a list of tasks for them to do and most of them are responsibilities associated with social media, then don’t hire an administrative virtual assistant. It isn’t always clear how to pick the ideal candidate, which is where we come in. We learn about business owners’ needs and then align them with the right talent so they can get an efficient, high-skilled VA who can hit the ground running.
Nonetheless, here are some of the tasks a Metro Detroit virtual assistant could help you with.
Administrative Tasks
An administrative virtual assistant may assist with:
- Conducting research
- Completing data entry
- Bookkeeping
- Scheduling meetings
- Adding customer data to CRM
- Creating correspondence
- And more
Customer Support Tasks
A customer support virtual assistant may help you by:
- Interacting with and responding to leads and clients via email, text
- Following up on missed calls, text messages, and voicemails
- Messaging individuals using WhatsApp, social media channels, etc.
- Live chat support
- Cold calls
- Upselling products and services
- And more!
Social Media Tasks
Your dedicated social media virtual assistant might help with:
- Creating a social media strategy for Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and/or other platforms
- Developing and curating various types of content
- Scheduling posts using a scheduling tool like Planoly, Hootsuite, Buffer, etc.
- Answering questions in the comments section
- Managing giveaways
- Facebook Group and YouTube moderation
- And more!
Email Marketing Tasks
An email marketing virtual assistant could do the following:
- Create branded email templates
- Schedule emails
- Build an opt-in tool
- Set up automated emails to be sent when leads enter your funnel
- Upload names and email addresses into email marketing platforms like MailChimp, etc.
- Create different funnels for subscribers based on where they are in the sales process
- And more!
Technical Tasks
A tech virtual assistant may support you by completing:
- Website maintenance
- Landing page creation
- CRM set-up
- Online course set-up
- Email automation software set-up
- Membership set-up and management
Personal Assistant Tasks
Lastly, if you need help with personal to-dos, your virtual personal assistant may support you in the following ways:
- Identifying and scheduling vendors like house cleaners, plumbers, landscapers, etc.
- Shopping and ordering gifts for your clients, family members, etc.
- Arranging grocery delivery
- Planning vacation itineraries
- Scheduling doctor appointments for yourself and your family
- Arranging for transportation to the airport, events, etc.
- Researching childcare options
- Setting up pet care services
- And more!
How Can I Prepare for a Virtual Assistant in Metro Detroit?
Hiring a virtual assistant for the first time can feel intimidating, but there are steps you can take to make the process easier. Consider the following:
- Create a list of responsibilities that you want your virtual assistant to take on. These are typically tasks you don’t know how to do, don’t like to do, or that keep you from completing your revenue-generating to-dos.
- Document work instructions (aka SOPs) that outline how you want your VA to complete various tasks (if you want them to follow a specific method)
- Determine when you’ll need your VA to be available each day, week, month, etc.
- Come up with a monthly budget for hiring a virtual assistant, including any software they may need to work within your business
- Schedule a discovery call with Imperative Concierge Services so we can match you to the best virtual assistant(s) for your personal and business needs
Ready to Find Your Perfect Match Metro Detroit Virtual Assistant?
If you’re tired of doing everything in your business or simply need an extra level of support, let Imperative Concierge Services assist you. All you have to do is schedule a free discovery call so we can learn more about you and your business needs and answer any questions you may have.
We’ve been matching our clients with top-tier virtual assistants since 2015, and we’re ready to help you, too! By working with us, you don’t have to create or post a job description, read through hundreds of resumes, or try to schedule a ton of interviews. We’ll handle the time-consuming tasks because we know you’re already busy enough. Then, once you’re matched with your virtual assistant, we’ll be there to help you every step of the way.
