Keeping track of customers, leads, and opportunities is critical to the success of any business. It’s also time consuming and difficult to manage for smaller businesses that can’t afford to hire an entire team of people or intermediary services. Luckily, there are virtual assistants (VAs) who can help you keep your customer relationship management software organised.
A virtual assistant is a trusted advisor who offers assistance with day-to-day tasks that don’t require specific expertise. These types of services can save you time so you have more hours in the day for things that matter like creating content or developing strategic plans for your business, rather than logging sales contacts into a system or updating spreadsheets with new information from your latest meeting.
What is Customer Relationship Management?
Customer relationship management (CRM) is a software system that businesses use to track their customers, sales leads, and other key data. CRMs are great for organising sales information by customer, including details like name, company name, address, and contacts so you can easily find the right person when you need to make a call or send an email. They also offer insight into the history of your customers, which can help you create better content and make strategic decisions based on the data. For example, you may notice that most of your sales come from a specific region or industry, so you can create content around those subjects to further increase your sales.
Most CRMs come with an array of tools that can help you keep track of your sales data, marketing campaigns, and even your calendar. You can track your sales pipeline, see which leads are coming from which marketing campaigns, and even have reminders sent to your calendar for important meetings or events. CRMs can be very helpful for businesses of all sizes, especially if you are juggling multiple projects at once.
Why Hiring a Virtual Assistant is Worth It
As we’ve discussed, there are a number of tasks that can be delegated to a virtual assistant so you can spend more time on strategic activities. But, why is it worth it to hire a VA? Here are a few reasons that hiring a virtual assistant is worth it:
A trusted advisor - Hiring a virtual assistant offers you the opportunity to work with someone who is both knowledgeable and trustworthy. A VA can offer insight into the best practices and tools in your industry because they work with similar businesses, but they also offer you trust because they don’t have a stake in your company — they are just helping you out.
Save time - As we’ve discussed, a VA can take on a number of tasks that take you away from strategic planning, research, and other activities that matter to your business. These tasks can range from updating your CRM to creating content, and hiring a VA can free up your time so you can focus on what matters most to your business.
Create opportunities for focus - When you have the help of a VA, you can focus on what matters most to your business. This can help you create opportunities for strategic planning, research, or setting milestones for your business’s future.
Avoid burnout - Especially when you are just starting out, it’s easy to become overwhelmed by the amount of work there is to do. Hiring a VA can help you avoid burnout.
How to Find the Right Virtual Assistant
Before you start looking for a virtual assistant, you should have a general idea of what tasks you’d like them to take on. This will help you find the right VA for your business by outlining what you need help with and what areas you’d like to delegate. Now that you know what you want a VA to help you with, the next step is to find a VA. There are a few ways to go about this. You can search online for a VA company or search for freelance assistants. There are a few things to keep in mind as you start your search for the right VA for your business.
Find someone who has experience helping businesses - You want to find someone who has experience helping businesses with a range of tasks, including marketing and sales, project management, and customer service. Look for assistants who have worked with businesses like yours, so they have knowledge of the industry.
Hire someone who is trustworthy - A big part of hiring a VA is trusting them with sensitive data and tasks that are critical to the success of your business. You want to make sure you hire someone who is trustworthy, honest, and reliable.
Make sure they have the right skills - Just because someone has experience working with businesses doesn’t mean they are the right fit for your business. Make sure they have the skills you need, such as knowledge in your industry or proficiency in certain software.
3 Tasks Your Virtual Assistant Can Help With
As we’ve discussed, there are a number of tasks you can delegate to a VA to free up your time. Here are a few tasks a VA can help you with.
Sales follow-up - Chasing down potential customers can be time consuming, especially if they’re not ready to make a purchase. You can delegate the task of following up with sales leads to your VA. This ensures that you are following up with leads as soon as they come in, and your sales team has the information they need to make informed decisions. This task can also help you build a better relationship with your customers because you’re taking the time to reach out to them as soon as they become a lead.
Data entry - If you’re just starting out and you need to keep track of leads or customers you’ve worked with in the past, data entry can be time consuming. A VA can help you keep track of the people who matter most to your business.
Administrative tasks - There are a number of administrative tasks you can delegate to a virtual assistant, including creating calendar invites and setting up meetings.
2 Tools to Help You Manage Your CRM with a VA
There are a number of tools that can help you manage your CRM with the help of a VA. These tools can help you keep track of your sales team, your leads, and even your marketing efforts, so you have insight into how your business is performing.
CRMs - There are a number of CRMs you can use to keep track of your sales, leads, and other customer data. These programs are great for businesses of all sizes, and some of them offer a free plan so you can try them out before making a decision to upgrade your plan.
CRM apps - There are also CRM apps that work with your existing CRM so you can keep track of your team and sales data without switching apps. These tools can help you keep track of your important contacts, milestones, and goals, so you have everything you need in one spot.
Conclusion
Customer relationship management is an important part of any business, but it can be time consuming and difficult to manage for smaller businesses that can’t afford to hire an entire team of people or intermediary services. Luckily, there are virtual assistants who can help you keep your customer relationship management software organised. Hiring a virtual assistant is worth it because it offers you the opportunity to work with someone who is knowledgeable and trustworthy. A VA can help you save time by taking on a number of tasks that take you away from strategic planning, research, and other activities that matter to your business. A virtual assistant can also help you create opportunities for focus and avoid burnout, which are important for businesses just starting out.