Quickskill: One of the Best US-based Virtual Assistant Companies

2Benefits: Marketplace vs. Managed Service Provider

Marketplaces provide a space for people to connect. That’s it. They do not perform background checks, verify work history, or check references for you. This means that your already limited time will be spent doing everything from searching and interviewing to onboarding and managing. At their best, marketplaces like Upwork and ODesk are great examples of virtual assistant companies that can work to the advantage of consumers, albeit at a far less productive pace.  

A few dollars an hour may buy you a virtual administrative assistant who can help with setting up a restaurant reservation or trolling for a good buy on Craigslist, but if you’re truly busy why would you even consider putting this amount of extra work on your plate? It certainly won’t save you time, which means you’ll be leaving a lot of money on the table just to nickle and dime yourself. 

Managed service providers are the best choice for intricate, relationship-based virtual administrative assistant services that require an intimacy of knowledge and trust, which are in direct opposition to the anonymity of a marketplace.

Working with a managed service provider like Quickskill gives you a number of strategic benefits, including:

• The support of a competent team that includes a project manager, primary assistant, and back-up assistant in addition to an internal managerial cohort.
• High touch onboarding services that review your needs, requirements, desires, and goals.
• A proactive company culture that provides systematic and well-defined feedback, development coaching, ongoing educational opportunities, and in-depth mentorship to your primary and back-up virtual assistant.
• The aptitude and resourcefulness to scale rapidly and better match your business needs to your costs.
• The ability to delegate high-value tasks such as prospect development and lead generation, CRM data entry and maintenance, travel arrangements, scheduling, expense reporting, document preparation, email management, incoming and outgoing calls, and so much more.
• Access to well-documented insights that will elevate your underused or non-existent systems, processes, and internal technology solutions.
• Thousands of collective hours managing the workflows for executives at Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 companies.
• Highly specialized, educated, English speaking assistants who are experienced with the tools and processes needed to support your business.
• A purpose-driven, dedicated company culture that will guarantee your success.

Additionally, you only pay a flat rate for your dedicated virtual administrative assistant and accompanying team. There are never any extra add-on fees or hidden costs associated with your membership. 

You can view Quickskill’s flat-rate pricing information here.

3Cost: In-house Employee VS. Virtual Executive Assistant

When a business wants a salaried employee, the business must pay hard costs for advertising, screening, interviewing, hiring, training, benefits, taxes, IT infrastructure and support, facility costs, work computers, and more. 

Additionally, a new hire for an entry-level or mid-level position means that a business will have to pay between 30-150% of their salary just to bring them aboard.

On the other hand, when you hire a virtual assistant, your costs will be 50-75% of what it takes to hire an in-house employee at the same level. Since virtual assistants (or the service providers that manage them) cover the costs associated with hiring, you never have to shoulder those costs.

This reduces the risk factor considerably more than if you were to hire an in-house employee to do the same job.

Another cost that is often overlooked is the management of in-house employees.

When considering an in-house employee, you must also consider that an in-house team or individual is responsible for developing and guiding the processes for employees, which can add an additional 20% to your annual in-house cost.

These costs can be offset by hiring a virtual administrative assistant through a managed service provider like Quickskill that deals with:

• Recruiting: They identify, assess, screen, and hire candidates for the role.
• Training: They ensure that their virtual assistants are experienced with the tools and processes needed to support your business.
• Personal Development: They provide feedback, development coaching, and mentorship.
• Turnover: They maintain trained backups and manage transitions.

4Culture: Do Virtual Assistant Companies Have It?

Technology has given virtual assistants the ability to redefine the ecosystem of work and the boundaries of business. Advances in tech provide the global workforce with access to remote collaboration through video conferencing software, group communication tools, and cloud-based storage applications.

These tools enhance comradery and morale rather than detracting from them. They also allow companies to tap into a greater level of workforce diversity, which has been proven to be better for company culture and better for business.

When you hire a virtual assistant from a managed service provider, they are already an employee embedded in a company culture. So, there’s no issue with them feeling like they aren’t a part of a team. But that’s not to say they can’t be absorbed into your company culture and make positive, lasting contributions.

This happens more often than not, because those who hire virtual assistants quickly view them as indispensable additions to the team, and find that their prior objections were largely unfounded.

CONCLUSION

A workforce that contributes to a healthy bottom line is a combination of financial, social, and technology-enabled collaborative factors.

When you hire a virtual assistant from a managed service provider, you receive that combination in spades. Quickskill’s highly trained team of managed, dedicated assistants help each other to help our clients. 

Want to learn more about what it’s like to work with a Quickskill virtual assistant? Download our free guide to find out what makes us different from other VA providers.