Qualities and Skills of a Virtual Assistant

The best virtual assistants all have the same qualities and skills that help a business improve efficiency, increase productivity, and grow! To get the most out of your virtual assistant position, you must hire the right individual with the skills and expertise to get the job done successfully. 

Qualities of a Virtual Assistant

1. Reliable

Virtual assistants often work for small businesses. Sometimes they’re the only help an entrepreneur utilizes consistently. The business owner relies on their assistant to help their business operations. Without the help, things get backed up, and disorder happens. 

You want a virtual assistant that you can rely on to be available when expected. For example, if they’re supposed to work at 9:00, you know, without a doubt, they'll be working on time. It’s like a breath of fresh air when you have a reliable virtual assistant you can delegate tasks to and know it will be completed perfectly and promptly. 

2. Honest

Anytime you hire help, you’re hoping they’re honest individuals. Honestly is definitely a quality to look for in a virtual assistant. Since a virtual assistant works from home or another remote location, you won’t be in the same office to oversee their work. 

You’ll want an honest person that you can trust who is always truthful. When you have a virtual assistant you can trust, it really makes for a great working relationship long-term.

3. Confidential

A virtual assistant sometimes has access to highly confidential business information or client data. To protect your business, your virtual assistant must honor confidentiality. Integrity is a character trait to look for in a virtual assistant. 

They will hold themselves to high moral standards and strong ethical values to ensure your private information is safe with them. 

4. Personable 

A quality to look for in a virtual assistant is someone who is personable. A friendly individual who is pleasant and likable will be a great person to represent your business when communicating with clients and vendors. Not to mention they will be your assistant so you will work closely with them daily and they will be enjoyable to work with. 

5. Positive attitude

One thing is certain, some people just have negative attitudes and are a drag to be around. Not to mention, someone with a bad attitude working with your customers will sink your revenue fast. A person with a bad attitude should be a deal-breaker as it can bring down morale even though they’re working remotely. 

A quality to look for in a virtual assistant is a positive attitude. Look for someone who doesn’t complain and maintains a happy demeanor, and always looks on the bright side will keep the business growing. 

6. Innovative and proactive

An extremely valuable virtual assistant is one that thinks up ideas of how to make your business better and takes the initiative to make it happen. Imagine your business improves efficiency, increases revenue, and reduces costs, all with little to no work on your end – it’s priceless. 

A virtual assistant that thinks about your business and how they can help you scale is a great player you want on your team. 

But not just any ideas person, look for a virtual assistant that's a proactive individual that does whatever it takes to put the play in action. People can have all the ideas in the world, but if they don’t take action, it doesn’t benefit your business.

Skills of a Virtual Assistant 

Communication skills

 Excellent communication skills are something to look for in a virtual assistant. The role involves communication with various people through multiple channels. You want an assistant that gives clear and effective communication.

Great communication skills include good listening skills. Sadly, listening is an underused skill by many. Successful virtual assistants are active listeners and pay close attention to key details that will help them best do their job.

Virtual assistants send emails, write documents, and provide information, so they must have excellent written communication skills to deliver with clarity. Miscommunication causes a lot of frustration and negatively impacts a business including loss of customers.

Organizational skills 

One of the top skills of a virtual assistant is organization. Virtual assistants often juggle multiple tasks and without an organized system, chaos is inevitable. An unorganized assistant can lose important documents, miss deadlines, and forget critical details. 

Organized individuals are known to be more efficient, ordered, and detailed. A virtual assistant that is highly organized will keep operations flowing smoothly and planned. So, definitely look at the organizational skills of a virtual assistant before you hire them. 

Interpersonal skills 

If you want to build great business relationships, you must have exceptional people on your team. Virtual assistants communicate with a variety of people daily. Some virtual assistants handle customer service inquiries, work directly with vendors, or schedule appointments on behalf of their boss. 

If your virtual assistant communicates with customers and vendors and represents your business, you want to be sure they have great people skills to build strong relationships and help build a positive image for your brand. Friendly, patient, and empathetic are traits of people with excellent interpersonal skills.

Time-management skills

Great virtual assistants have excellent time management skills to prioritize tasks and ensure they allocate the proper amount of time to each one. Without the right amount of time and attention in a project, it often results in poor quality work.

Problem-solving skills

If you don’t want your virtual assistant to bug you for every obstacle they come across, be sure to choose one with exceptional problem-solving skills. Great virtual assistants can quickly find effective solutions to most issues on their own.

When challenges arise, entrepreneurs often call on their virtual assistant to tackle time-consuming issues so they can remain focused on what they do best – growing their business. Having a competent virtual assistant means you can turn to them to deal with the hiccups and confidently know they will handle it successfully.

Computer skills 

The computer skills of a virtual assistant determine how much they can do for you and how fast they do it. A virtual assistant that is tech-savvy, can zip through software and programs with ease. They know the latest gadgets to improve efficiency and simplify your workflow. Definitely, a huge benefit, so computer skills are something to look for in a virtual assistant. 

Added Bonus 

Design skills 

Companies often need graphic design work done for different projects. Look for design skills in a virtual assistant to save yourself time and money. An assistant with the expertise to design brochures, ads, logos, and inserts is valuable. Your assistant knows your brand, image, and tone, making them perfect to do your design work. 

Social media

Depending on the size of your business, you may hire a social media manager that solely focuses on managing your accounts. Often, for a small business or startup it is not in the budget to hire a social media manager, so enlisting your virtual assistant to tackle the job is a workable solution. That is if your virtual assistant is knowledgeable and capable of doing so successfully. 

The social media skills of a virtual assistant will determine if the critical duty should be on their plate or not. Remember, your business’s social media pages are often the face of your company in the eyes of consumers, so be sure it’s nice and attractive.

Marketing skills

The marketing skills of a virtual assistant can directly add to the success of your business. Effective marketing is critical for a business. It’s important to know, marketing and advertising are different. Although, advertising is part of marketing. 

Let’s break it down. Marketing involves five P’s – Price, Product, Promotion, People, and Place. Advertising is the act of making your brand known to the public. Both marketing and advertising are super important, but your business can succeed even without advertising when your marketing is on point.

So, a virtual assistant that’s experienced and knowledgeable in marketing and advertising is super valuable and will add to your business growth. Marketing and design combined are top skills to look for in a virtual assistant. 

Conclusion

Virtual assistants bring huge value to a business, especially a small or startup. They help reduce costs while improving efficiency and increasing productivity. The qualities and skills of a virtual assistants determine how much value they’ll bring to your business and the level they contribute to your company's growth. 

Look for a virtual assistant that’s positive, personable, and reliable, as they will make your day-to-day work life less stressful. A virtual assistant that is innovative and proactive with excellent design and marketing skills is golden as they will directly help you scale. 

Are you ready to hire a virtual assistant to improve efficiency and increase productivity to take your business to the next level? If so, contact Awesome CX today, and we’ll show you our way! 

Sources:

Businesses Lose $75 Billion Due To Poor Customer Service | Forbes 

The Negative Impact of Workplace Miscommunication | Inc.com

Business Tools: The Art Of Listening | Forbes