Hire Virtual Assistant Philippines

What Is A Virtual Assistant?

A virtual assistant (VA) is a remote contractor hired, either full-time or part-time, to handle core administrative tasks.

Yet, a VA’s expertise is not limited to clerical and data entry duties only. They can have a variety of tasks in other critical areas, such as social media management, marketing, design, and content creation, among others.

Furthermore, a VA can also be an executive assistant, supporting management-level clients.

There are many types of VAs in the industry—they can either be generalists or specialists. It all depends on what you and your business need.

Virtual Assistants for Any Task

Filipino VAs are versatile. They’re capable of handling various functions to meet different business needs. Whether it involves customer support, social media management, web development, or data analysis, VAs have the skills and experience to take on and excel in any role.

With the rise of eCommerce, spearheaded by companies like Amazon and Shopify, and online marketing, experts predict that the global virtual assistant market will grow 34% year-by-year until 2027. In other words, you’ll have access to an even more extensive pool of talent that can facilitate various business operations.

What Does a Virtual Assistant Do?

Sometimes, there can be a shortage of qualified professionals within the local Australian talent pool. Thus, if you are a small business owner operating in NSW, Brisbane, or Melbourne, you often need to expand your horizons.

It can be easy to find yourself getting overwhelmed with administrative responsibilities. While fairly simple, these tasks can still take up a huge chunk of your day.

Here is where a VA can help.

A VA can take all the administrative duties off your plate so that you, as an entrepreneur, can direct your attention and energy to core functions only you can do, such as decision-making, operations, and other similar areas.

What Tasks Can a Virtual Assistant Help Me Accomplish?

A virtual assistant does a myriad of tasks. Again, what they do depends on your specific business needs.

Generally, they are often in charge of the following:

• Receiving phone calls and managing schedules
• Maintaining client databases and records
• Screening and responding to emails
• Creating reports
• Bookkeeping
• Filling out important paperwork and taking down notes during meetings

Your VA can also assist you with the logistics of your business travels. They can book your flight tickets and hotel reservations and help you devise an itinerary should you wish to combine work and leisure on your trip.

Certain VAs can also help with market research, which is vital when planning to improve or expand your business. VAs like the online business manager or the human resources manager can even help you manage daily projects, processes, and team members.

Other VAs can manage your social media channels by growing and engaging your audience.

A VA’s responsibilities are endless.

Virtual assistants can handle email management tasks, answer inquiries and video calls, and provide excellent customer care services, which enhance client satisfaction.

Two-thirds of the Philippine population is fluent in English. Hence, a Filipino VA can provide your business with clearer, more meaningful, and professional customer assistance.

By crafting and executing effective social media strategies, a VA performing social media management can help expand your business’ digital presence and reach more customers.

Whether to generate sales or keep in touch with existing customers, virtual staff handling telesales can work wonders for a company’s growth.

Many virtual assistants excel in managing Google Ads. Hiring a VA can maximise the impact of your digital marketing efforts and ensure your investment yields optimal results.

Like their expertise in Google Ads management, some VAs specialise in search engine optimisation (SEO). SEO experts can boost your website’s visibility, attracting a wider audience.

In today’s digital-dominated world, it pays to have an online platform that resonates with customers. VAs can unlock the potential of your website by creating a functional and user-friendly space where you can showcase your business’ offerings and strengths.

Harness the power of data through a virtual assistant and receive valuable insights that can assist you in making informed, data-driven business decisions.

Good web design can enhance customer engagement. Virtual staff specialising in UI-UX design can elevate customers’ experience by producing intuitive interfaces.

Streamline your appointment-setting process and increase your business operation’s efficiency by outsourcing the task to a VA.

Does your business need a mobile app? A virtual assistant can create and optimise your company’s mobile app to ensure it meets your customers’ needs and expectations.

Many VAs excel in debt collection. Refine your debt collection process and optimise your strategies’ effectiveness by outsourcing to the Philippines.

Skilled virtual professionals can enhance the accuracy and efficiency of your spreadsheets and reports, allowing you to focus on strategic initiatives.

A successful business meticulously maintains financial records. Hiring virtual assistants can enhance your bookkeeping practices and improve financial management.

VAs with expertise in payroll management can help simplify and ensure accurate and efficient handling of your payroll operations.

Utilise the skills of a VA to enhance your digital marketing efforts. With their expertise in various online marketing strategies, VAs can help you develop and conduct campaigns that drive business growth.

From creating eye-catching logos to designing engaging marketing materials, virtual staff can contribute to elevating your brand’s identity.

Whether managing emails, scheduling appointments, or organising documents, virtual assistants can ensure your operations run smoothly and efficiently.

A virtual assistant with strong organisational and communication skills who excels in coordinating and overseeing various projects can act as a project account manager.

A skilled copywriter can craft compelling and persuasive content for your site, social media, and marketing materials. The right candidate can help you engage and convert your audience.

What Are the Pros and Cons of Outsourcing to the Philippines?

Outsourcing virtual assistants to the Philippines comes with advantages and considerations. Let’s dive into the benefits and potential risks of this strategic approach.

Benefits of Hiring a Remote Staff Virtual Assistant

Partnering with Remote Staff for virtual assistants offers numerous benefits for businesses seeking growth and efficiency. These upsides include the following:

The Philippines is home to the world’s largest pool of highly skilled professionals, accounting for 13% of global VAs. With Remote Staff, matching suitable virtual assistants to specific businesses is a breeze.

With a diverse range of highly talented candidates, you can assemble a dedicated team to handle, streamline, and optimise your company’s operations according to your business goals.

By delegating tasks to virtual assistants, you can focus on your business’ core activities, increasing productivity. With Remote Staff’s virtual assistant services, you can quickly scale your support up and down as your company needs.

In-house employees can be expensive, especially in Western countries. While salaries vary depending on the nature of the job, Filipino VAs offer cost-effective solutions, as they have a lower wage bar than professionals from other countries like the USA.

Outsourcing reduces overhead costs associated with hiring, training, and providing workspaces for full-time local employees. One of the standout benefits of employing virtual staff is cost reduction, with studies showing that remote work saves a company $10,600 per employee annually.

You can find remote talent in many countries using several online platforms. However, hiring a virtual assistant with Remote Staff allows you to support the livelihood of many skilled Filipino workers.

Remote Staff provides accountability technology tools to track your virtual staff’s productivity and ensure clear communication and effective collaboration.

Due to their country’s history, Filipino virtual assistants, with a distinct Asian background, are well-versed in Western culture. This trait minimises potential cultural barriers, allowing you to collaborate more efficiently.

Risks of Hiring a Virtual Assistant Company in the Philippines

While the benefits are evident, it's essential to acknowledge the potential challenges of tapping into talents in the Philippines. These may include miscommunication, time zone differences, and the need for effective management strategies.

What to Keep in Mind When Hiring a Virtual Assistant From the Philippines

Understanding the qualities of a productive virtual assistant and their critical skills is crucial when integrating them into your business workflow.

What Makes A Good Virtual Assistant?

When hiring a VA, there are a few traits that you should look for.

One, your VA should be meticulous and pay close attention to details. Often, even a simple correction of a mistake can show your customers that you go the extra mile - and provide your brand with credibility in the process.

Another trait you should be looking for in a VA is the ability to multitask. A VA is almost always handling so many responsibilities all at once. They should be able to identify which task to prioritise.

Next, hire someone reliable. Your administrative assistant will mainly handle critical administrative tasks to keep the company running, for example. Thus, recruiting someone you can trust to deliver excellent results would be good.

Of course, you should hire a personal assistant with excellent communication skills. Your VA will be managing correspondence, so they must convey information well. Furthermore, as most of the VA’s work online, effective and open communication is key to a healthy working relationship.

What Are the Key Skills Virtual Assistants Should Have?

Here’s an overview of the must-have skills of the best virtual assistants:

• Skilled in communicating verbally or via writing
• Detail-oriented with outstanding time management
• Reliable and dependable
• Creative and resourceful

When Should You Hire a Virtual Assistant?

To help you decide on hiring a virtual assistant, here are some signs that you probably need one:

• You’re Experiencing Constant Burnout:If wearing different hats while running your business is taking a toll on your productivity and personal life, maybe it’s time to hire a VA.
  Delegating many of these tasks will help you find more time to rest and be more productive in the long run.
• Your Company Lacks the Necessary Expertise for Certain Tasks:There are certain parts of running a business, such as bookkeeping, that are better left to the experts.
  With that in mind, why not hire a VA proficient in these tasks and have them do these for you? Doing so helps you avoid costly mistakes and saves you the hassle of doing these tasks yourself.
• You and Your Current Staff are Overwhelmed with Administrative Tasks:Do you find yourself spending most of your day just shifting from one administrative task to another? And has this caused you to miss opportunities because you didn’t have enough time nor available staff to accommodate your clients?
  If so, then you need a virtual assistant. They’ll handle your more mundane tasks, so you can focus on more important things, such as growing your business.

The Ideal Work Environment For Virtual Assistants

As the name suggests, virtual assistants usually work from their home offices. Your VAs will likely have equipment, such as a laptop, phone, and internet connection.

However, paid subscriptions for software crucial to their jobs will typically fall to you, especially if you want your VA to use them. These types of software can include but are not limited to time trackers, accounting and bookkeeping software, image editors, word processors, etc.

Lastly, cultivate a positive working relationship with your VA, even from a distance. It is necessary to communicate well and often, especially considering you and your VA are in different time zones

Further, you should understand the cultural differences between the Philippines and Australia. Sometimes, issues might stem from conflicting communication styles.

How Remote Staff Can Help You Find the Right Virtual Assistant

There are typically two ways you can go about hiring a virtual assistant.

One is recruiting a full-time or part-time virtual assistant yourself. You usually start by posting ads on various online job boards for freelancers. Next comes sorting and going through all of the applicants before shortlisting candidates.

Then, you’ll also need to set interview schedules, which will rely on the number of prospects. It can be fulfilling to do all this, but the process can be extremely tedious and time-consuming, especially if it’s not done via automation.

Haven’t you got the time or patience to do that? Let’s talk about the second option, which is coordinating with outsourcing companies like Remote Staff.

Remote Staff streamlines the process (and constantly pools remote talent) so that all you have to do is review the resumes of VAs already within the database and then set a schedule for the interview.

Further, Remote Staff is a pioneer in the remote staffing industry. The company has been in business for 15 years now.

What sets Remote Staff apart is that even after the hiring process, the company continues to support you and your hired remote staff.

How to Hire a Filipino Virtual Assistant

The process of hiring a Filipino VA through Remote Staff is straightforward. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you find and integrate the perfect virtual assistant for your business needs:

Request a Call Back

Begin the hiring process by requesting a call back from our experts to discuss your requirements, expectations, and the specific skills you’re looking for in a VA.

Submit Your Job Description Form

Provide detailed information about the tasks and responsibilities your VA will be handling. Doing so ensures we understand your needs and match you with VAs with the appropriate skill set and experience.

Candidate Screening and Testing

We’ll rigorously screen potential candidates based on your job description, ensuring their years of experience, skills, and compatibility with your business requirements.

Client Interview and Testing

You can interview and assess applicants to ensure a perfect fit. Remote Staff will also conduct skill-based tests to guarantee a candidate’s suitability for your business.

Ongoing Support

Unlike other BPO (business process outsourcing) companies, Remote Staff offers continued support to assist with any concerns or issues that may arise, such as concerns during onboarding and training.

Billing and Payment

We negotiate fair pricing for our virtual assistant services. We also ensure competitive wages for our VAs that meet the standards and regulations of labour laws.

Hire Your Virtual Coworker

After finalising the details, you can officially hire your chosen virtual assistant. We will facilitate the necessary paperwork and ensure a smooth transition as your VA becomes integral to your company’s growth.

About Remote Staff

Remote Staff is a privately held company founded in 2007 by Sydney-based founder Chris Jankulovski.

We focus primarily on servicing the markets of Australia and New Zealand. However, we have lately begun expanding our services to the US and UK.

Our primary goal is accelerating business growth by helping entrepreneurs find, recruit, and onboard skilled Filipino remote talent.

Not only do we help connect the strong work ethic of Filipinos to growing Australian and New Zealand businesses. But we also facilitate a healthy and productive relationship between the two.

We ensure that the applicants we recommend are skilled and qualified in their roles so they can contribute great value and help nurture the success of businesses.

Why Choose Remote Staff?

Compared to other outsourcing companies, Remotestaff offers four unique advantages to its clients. These include:

• We’re highly experienced in matching skilled staff to suit specific business needs.
• We also have a deep understanding of Filipino and Australian/Kiwi cultures, enabling us to reconcile both in the best way possible, thus saving the business time and increasing productivity.
• We have a dedicated, experienced, and 100% Filipino in-house team to support our clients and staff.
• We offer businesses a reliable and adaptive workforce that provides good value while offering skilled staff, family-friendly conditions, and competitive wages.

Protect Your Business: Have Your Filipino Staff Sign Contracts

It is crucial to establish clear expectations and protect your interests when hiring virtual staff, regardless of their country of origin. One effective way to achieve this is through contracts.

Remote Staff ensures legal and ethical practices, offering protection for businesses and virtual assistants by outlining the terms of employment, responsibilities, and confidentiality agreements.

Describe Your Recruitment Process

We take pride in our meticulous recruitment process that ensures your business gets the most suitable virtual assistants. Our hiring process involves the following steps:

• Needs Assessment:The process begins by understanding your business requirements, tasks, and the responsibilities you wish to delegate to a VA.
• Candidate Sourcing:Our expert recruiters identify potential candidates from our pool of highly skilled and well-trained professionals based on your criteria.
• Screening:We conduct rigorous screenings to assess candidates’ skills, experiences, and compatibility with your business needs.
• Alignment:We allow you to interview shortlisted candidates. You can also choose the best one that meets your requirements.

How Do You Maintain Quality?

Quality is our priority, and we maintain it through continuous monitoring and feedback. This process begins in the recruitment stage to ensure we get high-quality virtual assistants. Regular check-ins with clients and the VAs allow us to address any concerns swiftly.

Are You Ready to Hire a Virtual Assistant?

If you're ready to enhance your business operations and increase efficiency and productivity, consider hiring a virtual assistant from the Philippines through Remote Staff. Hiring Filipino VAs gives you access to a diverse talent pool for various tasks and responsibilities.

With Remote Staff, we can make the hiring process more straightforward, matching you with personnel who can streamline your operations, reduce workload, and let you focus on growing your business.

Hiring a Virtual Assistant: FAQs

1.    Is a virtual assistant in demand in the Philippines?

The Philippines is one of the most popular destinations for hiring VAs, as Filipino workers are known for their work ethic, flexibility, and adaptability.

2.    How much does a virtual assistant cost?

The average monthly salary of a virtual assistant is AUD 500-600 for a 40-hour a week. However, other factors affect a VA’s compensation. These are:

• Scope of Work:Before you hire a virtual assistant, you must have a list of what you need them to do daily, weekly, and monthly. Be very clear about what you expect your VA to do.
  Doing this allows you to prevent most issues with your VAs since they’ll have a clear understanding and expectations of their role and responsibilities.
  Be very clear about what you expect your VA to do. Doing this allows you to prevent most issues with your VAs since they’ll have a clear understanding and expectations of their role and responsibilities.
• Skill Set/s Required:The skill set required for the job you need your VA to do will also influence the compensation they might expect.
  Most start as administrative support for executives and business owners, but quite a few specialise in more advanced tasks. Over time, your VA may also take on more specialised roles as you give them more duties and responsibilities.
• Other Relevant and Recent Experience:The more tasks a VA does, the more they learn. Business owners can take advantage of their VA’s skills and experience by crafting a role where they can use their skills to their advantage and add more to them. Later on, experienced VAs can also train, support, and help you manage new team members.

3.    What are some common types of virtual assistants that companies hire?

There are many types of virtual assistants companies hire based on their needs. These are:

• Administrative Virtual Assistants:These VAs are the most common type of virtual assistant. They function like any other executive assistant or secretary, except their jobs are done virtually. Their duties include managing your diary, scheduling appointments, maintaining your database, and handling emails.
• Social Media Marketing Virtual Assistants:These virtual assistants draw up ideas and/or create content for your social media channels. They also schedule your social media posts and monitor your stats. Great ones can boost your brand’s overall social media presence by keeping up with recent trends.
• Virtual Bookkeepers:Bookkeeping is a tedious and time-consuming process, yet it is necessary to keep your business running. For this, it helps to have a virtual bookkeeper. These virtual assistants usually have a background in accounting and, most importantly, are familiar with bookkeeping software. Excellent bookkeepers can handle payroll processing and oversee your business’ financial aspects.
• Research Assistant:These VAs specialise in conducting research for the businesses they work for. These include searching online for relevant statistics, connecting the dots, and laying out the resulting data in a format that’s easy to understand.
• Customer Service Virtual Assistants:In a nutshell, these VAs are responsible for handling customer communications and customer relationship management (CRM). They answer inquiries, troubleshoot concerns, and compile data from customer responses.
• Community Managers:Businesses that have already established and cultivated an online community need someone to moderate these and answer people’s questions while maintaining levels of engagement. These people are called community managers. They also ensure that the community follows the rules and regulations.
• Digital Marketing Assistants:If social media marketing assistants manage your social media accounts, digital marketing assistants handle your website. They’re usually skilled in SEO and digital marketing, and their updates can usually generate better traffic for your website.
• Real Estate Virtual Assistants:These VAs handle administrative and prospecting duties for their clients. Apart from managing your schedule and appointments, they can also assist with database management, lead generation, etc.

4.    Do I get a dedicated virtual assistant?

Many virtual assistant companies, such as Remote Staff, offer dedicated VAs who can work exclusively for your business.

5.    Can I hire virtual assistants part-time?

We recommend full- and part-time virtual assistants who can handle tasks and work depending on your requirements.

6.    Who trains the virtual assistant?

While VAs will need to familiarise themselves with your business processes, our screening stage ensures that candidates have the necessary skills and experience your business requires for streamlined integration.

7.    What kind of support do I get from my virtual assistant?

Depending on your needs, a VA can handle various tasks, from simple appointment scheduling to more complex duties like social media management and SEO.

8.    What if I’m not happy with my virtual assistant?

One of the benefits of utilising virtual assistants is scalability. Suppose you’re unsatisfied with a VA within the first month. In that case, you can terminate a remote contract immediately, and we’ll find staff who suit your business needs.

9.    How do I handle non-performing virtual assistants?

If any issues arise between you and your VA, our lead account officers will remedy the performance issues. We offer a lifetime replacement guarantee if the virtual assistant is still unable to meet your standards.

10.    How soon can the staff start?

Depending on your business requirements, we’ll match a VA who can work according to your schedule. A candidate can begin working with you as early as three business days.

11.    How long does it take to set up a team?

With Remote Staff, you can begin hiring immediately to build a team when there are available talents. Note that the processing period varies depending on the role you require.

For instance, it takes around 1-2 weeks for non-technical staff and 3-8 weeks for specialised, highly technical candidates.

12.    What if I have no systems and business processes set up?

Unfortunately, a VA can only effectively work if they understand your business processes. If you require help setting up systems and business operations, we can find candidates specialising in these areas.

13.    What timezone and hours do they work?

Filipino VAs have flexible working hours. If you need a virtual assistant to work within your specific timezone, we’ll find candidates who can.

14.    Can I provide the work hours? Can they work overnight?

If the VA is willing and able to accommodate such a schedule, you can set specific working hours.

15.    How do I pay my offshore staff?

We'll send you an invoice when you agree to hire a VA and adhere to our payment terms. This invoice will include your virtual assistant's salary, which we will credit to them.

16.    Is my company data safe?

With us, you can rest easy that your company’s data is private and secure. Our hiring process ensures that potential candidate identities are validated and comply with confidentiality agreements by requiring police clearance.

17.    Why is Remote Staff a frontrunner in outsourcing?

Remote Staff stands out as an excellent choice for several reasons:

• Efficient Recruitment:We've already completed the recruitment groundwork, enabling you to hire quickly and confidently. Our qualified remote-working professionals are ready to contribute to your business.
• Dedicated to Remote Work:Since our business’ inception, we've focused on facilitating professional remote working relationships, ensuring seamless collaboration.
• Tailored Remote Work Platform:Our custom-built remote working platform enhances the remote work experience, streamlining communication and productivity.
• Candidate Fit:We invest upfront to ensure you're matched with the right candidate who aligns with your business needs.
• Diverse Roles:With our enterprise-level recruitment capacity, we offer various talents you can hire for different tasks.
• Traditional Values in a Remote Landscape:We bring traditional employment values to the modern remote working environment, fostering a sense of professionalism.
• Client and Contractor Welfare:We prioritise the well-being of both clients and Filipino remote contractors, creating a balanced and supportive work ecosystem.
• Dual Presence:With a presence in Australia and the Philippines, we bridge the gap between businesses and skilled professionals.
• Innovative Billing Process:Our unique billing process promotes commitment, featuring 100% refundable unconsumed hours and a payroll guarantee.
• Benefits Management:We handle the administrative management of government-mandated staff benefits and contributions payments, ensuring compliance.
• Skill Development Program:Our custom-built Skills Development Program advances clients' and contractors' remote working skills.
• Dedicated Support:Our Lead Account Team is committed to assisting clients and Filipino remote contractors throughout their working relationship.