Considering AI? Here’s How a Real Virtual Executive Assistant Is Better

1 What about scheduling and calendar management?

At Quickskill, we rigorously screen, train, and manage human virtual assistants who support executives and small to midsized business founders. A large part of this support is invested in managing calendars and scheduling meetings for our clients. We have an incredible amount of calendar management tips in our arsenal!

Scheduling automation is a task that many AI companies have targeted as a good use case to show off what AI can do for busy business professionals. Consequently, many of our virtual executive assistant employees ask if they will get replaced by AI.

Additionally, many of our prospective customers ask why they should spend money on our service instead of subscribing to scheduling automation software.

Scheduling is actually a perfect use case to illustrate how humans are better than AI. You can think of it in terms of a basic 80/20 rule. A virtual administrative assistant can embrace AI software to reduce the 80% of time spent on lower-order tasks and increase the 20% of time spent on strategic work.

This plays out in other areas such as sales.

Today, many sales people spend 80% or more of their time on the tactical aspects (e.g. menial tasks) of their role. The whole sales profession could be transformed with the help of a virtual executive assistant who can leverage AI to take on that workload and free up sales people to get better at that 20% of strategic work.

Here are some examples of the types of tasks that executives and small to midsized business founders can delegate to a real life human virtual administrative assistant:

Prospect Development and Lead Generation

• Identify potential prospects, research their contact information, and give you the context to reach out to them
• Conduct initial and/or ongoing research
• Setup a system or database to store all research

Nurture and Grow Your Client Base

• Monitor relationships and referrals by ensuring regular touch points through investment updates and other communications
• Follow up with customers and clients
• Send thank you emails and other reminders
• Liaison between you and your team members
• Email management and filtering
• Reply to customers and client’s enquiries via email
• Answer inbound calls on your behalf
• Make outbound calls on your behalf
• Answer support tickets

Document Preparation and Management 

• Ensure proposals, key investment documentation, and other reports are ready when you need them
• Create basic reports (monthly, weekly, daily, or annually)
• Create charts for board meetings

CRM Management

• Manage and schedule appointments or bookings
• Basic data entry
• Update contact lists

Calendar Management

• Manage and schedule appointments or bookings
• Schedule and re-schedule your meetings
• Confirm appointments

Travel Management 

• Book flight, hotel, car, etc
• Arrange meetings with customers or clients in-between stops
• Apply all necessary rewards and miles programs

CONCLUSION

AI isn’t capable of detecting novel patterns and new behaviors or presenting them in a uniquely nuanced manner. Therefore, there is an inherent level of human creativity and sophistication needed to manage and build upon all software applications, AI or otherwise.

AI cannot write emotionally compelling emails for your drip campaign or soothe a frustrated caller with personalized conversation. AI cannot decipher subjective purpose from meeting notes or read between the lines of your haphazard instructions given on-the-go.

That’s a huge deficit in our modern business world where the ability to adapt is more crucial than ever.

If you’d like real help from a real life virtual executive assistant who works proactively to move your business forward, contact us today.