Many new organizations make the mistake of not hiring enough people, as a means to save money, but most business experts agree that it’s important to invest in a solid and complete team for long-term business success.
One vital part of every business team is an administrative assistant. In this article, we’ll discuss seven reasons why an administrative assistant is important for your company.
What Is an Administrative Assistant?
An administrative assistant is responsible for providing secretarial, clerical, and administrative support to an organization. They perform a variety of tasks, including but not limited to: answering phone calls, scheduling appointments, preparing documents, handling correspondence, and managing databases.
Luckily, you don’t have to hire a full-time employee for these services anymore. Instead, you can hire an online administrative assistant—also called a virtual assistant (VA)—through a freelancing platform.
VAs offer all services that a traditional admin assistant does, but they work remotely, are more flexible, and are far more affordable than a full-time employee.
Now, let’s discuss seven benefits of hiring an administrative assistant.
1. They Keep the Office Organized
An administrative assistant is responsible for maintaining organization in the office. This includes tasks such as preparing documents, handling correspondence, and managing databases. By keeping the office organized, they help keep your business running smoothly.
In case you hire a virtual assistant, they can help keep your digital workspaces like email inboxes and Trello work boards organized. If left unattended, digital workspaces can quickly get out of control, leading to interrupted workflows and business losses.
2. They Manage Schedules
A good administrative assistant will be responsible for managing your company’s schedule. This includes things like setting up appointments, booking meeting rooms, and sending out reminders. All of this ensures that your business runs efficiently and your team stays productive.
In some cases, your virtual assistant might also save you money by booking flights and accommodation well in advance, allowing you to get the best deals.
3. They Take Care of the Paperwork
One of the most important duties of an administrative assistant is taking care of the paperwork. They do this by filing documents, preparing reports, and handling contracts, among other tasks.
All of this is extremely important in ensuring that your business is compliant with the law. For example, if you’re a freelance graphic designer, your contract with a client needs to be watertight in order to avoid any legal issues.
In this case, your virtual assistant can help you prepare the contract and make sure that all the necessary clauses are included.
4. They Do the Research
Another important duty of an administrative assistant is doing research-related tasks, like finding suppliers, researching new products, and investigating potential competitors.
In this context, an admin assistant can help you make informed decisions about your business. For example, if you’re thinking of launching a new product, your virtual assistant can help you research the market and find out if there’s a demand for it.
Similarly, if you’re in the digital marketing space, a VA can help you keep tabs on your competitors and find new opportunities for your business.
5. They Handle Customer Queries
An administrative assistant is sometimes also responsible for handling customer queries. This includes tasks such as responding to emails, answering phone calls, and providing information about the company’s products and services.
By handling customer queries, they help ensure that your customers are satisfied with your level of customer service. In turn, this helps you build and maintain relationships with your customers, which is essential for any business. This is especially true for small businesses, which might not have the resources and expertise to develop a full-fledged customer support team.
6. They Prepare Presentations
Another common task that an administrative assistant is responsible for is preparing presentations. This includes tasks such as creating PowerPoint slides, researching data, and writing speeches.
You might underestimate the importance of presentations, but you should know that well-prepared presentations can help you effectively communicate your ideas and proposals to clients, investors, and other stakeholders. In turn, this improves your chances of securing deals and investments.
7. They Can Help With Marketing and Social Media
If you’re in the digital marketing space, an admin assistant can be very useful to you. This is because they can help with tasks such as creating and managing social media accounts, designing marketing materials, and writing blog posts.
They are also very useful for small but time-consuming tasks, such as running plagiarism checks on your blog posts, adding images and meta-descriptions, and uploading content to your content management system (CMS). This is especially true for VAs, who are tech-savvy and can spare you a ton of time and effort in this area.
Make sure you review these questions to ask at an interview for an administrative assistant so you can find the right person!
