Have you ever considered the benefits of multi-skilled VAs?
Today’s business leaders and entrepreneurs are overwhelmed by ever-growing to-do lists and crucial tasks. Even though the average CEO works around 62.5 hours a week, according to the Harvard Business Review, most still struggle to stay on top of their schedule.
When it comes to accessing crucial support, leaders have two options. They can either hire a niche professional to focus on a specific task or business process, or they can request the assistance of a versatile Virtual Assistant (VA).
So, why would you consider choosing a VA to elevate your company’s efficiency and productivity rather than just hiring multiple niche experts?
Let’s find out.
What is a Multi-Skilled VA?
The role of a Virtual Assistant is highly diverse and multi-faceted. In the past, companies used to assume VAs were little more than glorified receptionists, responsible for handling phone calls organizing calendars. However, while virtual assistants can certainly help with administrative tasks, they can also offer various other valuable forms of support.
VA’s can help you create amazing resources for marketing, designing newsletter campaigns, or editing and publishing podcasts on your behalf. They can conduct research into your target audience and competitors, assist in designing compelling landing pages, and even help you unlock new forms of revenue with course creation.
Of course, every virtual assistant is different, with their own unique skills, and specific approach to offering services. Most commonly, the types of VAs you can hire as a business leader or entrepreneur fall into two categories:
- Niche specialists: Niche specialists are virtual assistants that focus specifically on one particular area of the business. They might concentrate on helping you to grow your social media presence, handle financial records or bookkeeping tasks, or deal with data entry on your behalf. They can be excellent if you need help with a specific issue.
- Multi-skilled VAs: Multi-skilled VA’s aren’t “Jacks of all trades and masters of none”. They still have specialist skills, but they offer a broader range of services. For instance, rather than just focusing on social media management, a multi-skilled VA could help with everything from podcast creation to blog research, email newsletters, and video editing.
The Benefits of Choosing a Multi-Skilled VA
There are times when a niche specialist may be the ideal solution for you and your business. If you’re struggling with your email marketing campaign and nothing else, you might prefer to choose a VA that specializes in this area. However, more often than not, companies that choose to hire a VA need help with more than just one task.
Multi-skilled VAs ensure you can tap into the full benefits of a highly versatile and adaptive assistant. You don’t just hire an extra set of hands for your marketing or customer outreach team, you access the support of a chameleon capable of adapting to your changing business needs.
Some of the most significant benefits of working with a multi-skilled professional include:
1. An Ever-Growing Collection of Skills
Businesses are constantly evolving and changing. The support you need from a VA tomorrow might not match the skills and abilities you’re looking for today. Working with a professional focused on a specific task or process means you’ll be limited in the expertise you can access.
A VA focused on social media management might help you adapt to all of the latest algorithm changes on Facebook or Instagram, but they won’t be able to guide you when you’re struggling to optimize your schedule, organize your team, or make the most of your human resources.
A multi-skilled VA on the other hand, focuses on cultivating a broad selection of relevant and transferrable skills that can help your business to thrive. They don’t just learn about the latest marketing trends or scheduling tools, they also stay up to date with changes in the marketplace, to ensure they can deliver as much value as possible to each client.
2. Resilience and Adaptability
Most Vas, whether they focus on a specific niche, or offer a wide range of services, are committed to constant learning and growth. VA’s, know they need to stay on the cutting edge of any industry they serve, so they commit to lifelong learning and development.
However, a multi-skilled VA can be a little more adaptable than a niche professional. Because these experts regularly explore and interact with different tasks and landscapes, they’re more comfortable pivoting to suit the needs of your business.
Some professionals will even be willing to invest in training and education in their own time, to ensure they can better serve your company in the future.
3. Saved Time
As mentioned above, many business leaders hire VAs because they need help balancing a number of different tasks and projects. If you need someone to help you with creating your email newsletter, cleaning your contact list, organizing your calendar, and promoting your podcast, hiring different experts for each task isn’t just expensive, it’s time-consuming.
You’ll need to spend time searching for the right staff members, vetting them, conducting interviews and onboarding processes, and even training new team members. While VAs don’t usually require a great deal of training, they do need insights into your brand and business goals so they can deliver consistent results for your company.
Choosing a single multi-skilled VA instead can save you a lot of time and effort. It also reduces the risk of working with multiple different team members who may interpret your instructions differently.
4. Saved Money
Probably the most obvious benefit of working with a multi-skilled VA is that it’s likely to cost you a lot less. Although the prices these experts charge for their services can vary depending on the type of support you need, you’ll usually find hiring a single expert is much more cost-effective.
A multi-skilled VA can work on multiple projects while ensuring you just have one hourly bill to pay. You can even hire your VA on a retainer basis to ensure guaranteed quick turnaround times. Not to mention, you’ll save money on trying to train new team members and manage in-house employees.
The right multi-skilled VA will be able to tailor your package to your specific needs, ensuring you’re paying exactly for the support and skills you need, and nothing else. This means you can rest assured you’re getting the best possible value for your money.
5. Simplicity
The role of any VA is to make your life as a business leader easier. No matter who you choose to work with, you can usually expect your VA to go above and beyond to ensure you’re exerting minimal effort, to get incredible results. However, a multi-skilled VA can make things a little simpler.
Hiring multiple professionals to work on different tasks means you need to devote more time to communicating with each partner and following up on their progress. With a multi-skilled VA, you only have one contact to worry about.
Not to mention, because you’re working with your professional on a one-to-one basis, rather than asking them to collaborate with a team of other assistants, you’re likely to face fewer conflicts and communication issues. You can build a relationship with your VA faster, ensuring they fully understand the needs, goals, and priorities of your company.
Do You Need a Multi-Skilled VA?
Ultimately, a Virtual Assistant can deliver incredible benefits and value to today’s overwhelmed business owners. The right VA can help you organize your business, improve productivity, and achieve your goals much faster. While a niche specialist can offer benefits at times, a multi-skilled professional offers a far more versatile and adaptable solution to today’s business leaders.
With a multi-skilled VA, you access not just specialist skills, but a host of transferable and relevant abilities that can support your business growth. Multi-skilled VAs are adaptable, quick to learn, and ready to customize their services according to your needs.
They can save you time and money, while ensuring you never have to compromise on an excellent level of service. If you’re thinking of hiring a VA to support your business, reach out to Lune Valley VA today, to discover the benefits of working with a multi-skilled professional yourself.