- What is a Virtual Assistant?

- What kind of people should partner with a VA?

- What are the advantages of working with a VA?

- How is work performed?

- What are the quotation modalities?

- What kind of services can offer a VA?

- Which is the difference regarding hiring an assistant as a permanent employee?

- Which is the difference regarding outsourcing an assistant through an agency?

- How do I communicate with my VA?

- How are jobs delivered?

- What are the means of payment?

- Examples of services

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is a Virtual Assistant?

Virtual Assistants (VA's) are independent professionals with experience in real companies, that have been qualified to offer their services at distance, through advanced telecommunication technologies.

 

They work from their own office, making available to clients a wide range of tools to perform the job in a completely virtual form, allowing them to reduce their costs of structures.

 

Virtual Assistants can carry out any work with the same level of professionalism and efficiency of an assistant in a real office.

 

What kind of people should partner with a VA?

People most likely to partner with a VA are independent professionals, enterprising, consultants of companies without the necessary infrastructure to hire a permanent secretary, but need one in order to manage their business successfully.

Also businessmen and foreing companies that need a local contact to develp their business in the Argentina.

(See examples at the end of this section)

 

What are the advantages of working with a VA?

Working with a VA can bring many benefits to you:

- Reduction of structure costs (office, equipment, etc)

- Increase in productivity (by delegating unproductive tasks, though getting more available time for managing and growing your business).

- Access to the support of a qualified assistant, only paying for the services and materials effectively used.

- Professional training is the VA responsibility.

- Elimination of unproductive times (only pay for the used time).

- Elimination of labour costs (social security, insurances, benefits, vacations and legal leaves, severance payments, etc)

- Elimination of labour risks

- Better image for your company, by scheduling meetings and making contacts through an assistant, with no need of hiring one.

- MORE COMPETITIVENESS (as a result of all the above).

 

How is work performed?

VAs are qualified to perform a completely virtual work, through several telecommunication technologies (telephone, fax , e-mail, instant messengers, Internet, FTP, virtual conference rooms, etc). Any job can be carried out under this modality with the same level of efficiency than in a real office.

 

Details of the work, terms and conditions are specified by commercial contracts, which do not imply any kind of labour obligations.

 

Fp-VirtualAssistant.com respects the privacy of its clients, working under strict confidentiality policies.

 

What are the quotation modalities?

There are three modalities of quotation, depending on the client's needs:

1- Hourly rate: Often used for specific non-periodical jobs.

2- Project:  Price is estimated on the basis of complexity and duration of work. Expenses and materials are invoiced separately.

3- Retainer fee: When permanent assistance is required for certain periodical jobs. Fee is estimated based on the monthly hours required to performed the jobs, at a lower hourly rate.

 

Request your quotation here

 

What kind of services can offer a VA?

A Virtual Assistant can offer a great variety of services in diverse areas (secretarial and administrative services,

Marketing, Design, Translations, etc).

Click here to see what services are offered by Fp-VirtualAssistant.com

 

Which is the difference regarding hiring an assistant as a permanent employee?

Hiring a regular employee implies that your will have to consider for the following concepts, in addition to the offered salary:

- Gross salary (net salary + medical insurance, social security, and other concepts)

- Employer's contributions

- Life insurance

- ART (Aseguradora de Riesgos del Trabajo = "Labour Risks Insurance")

- Medical insurance

- Additional benefits

- And all the extra costs associated with having an employee working in your own office: Unproductive times,

vacations and legal leaves, unnecessary telephone calls, waste of office supplies, equipments maintenance, etc.

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Moreover, you will be the primary responsible for your employee, running the risk of having to bear severance payments or

face any labour conflicts.

 

Which is the difference regarding outsourcing an assistant through an agency?

Outsourcing an employee through an agency implies that you will have to pay almost twice what you offer as salary:

Gross salary (net salary + medical insurance, social security, and others)  + agency fee (generally 80% of the gross salary)

 

Additionally, you should take into consideration all the extra costs associated with having an employee working in your

own office: Unproductive times, vacations and legal leaves, unnecessary telephone calls, waste of office supplies, equipments

maintenance, etc.

 

Another issue is that you will be co-responsible with the agency for the employee, in case of legal claims or severance payments.

 

On the contrary, when hiring a VA, you only pay for the time, services and materials effectively used, given that your relationship with her is strictly commercial, with no labour responsibilities at all.

 

How do I communicate with my VA?

Communication with a VA can be as fluid as if working with an assistant side by side. You can contact her any time by telephone, e-mail, chat, instant messengers or free Internet voice services.

 

How are jobs delivered?

Depending on the nature of works, delivery can be made effective via e-mail, FTP, cd or hard copies, courier, virtual disks, among others.

 

What are the means of payment?

Depending on the origin country, payment can be effective by: check, cash, money transfers or wire transfers, credit card through secure gateway "2Checkout".

2Checkout.com is an authorized retailer for Fp-VirtualAssistant.com

 

Examples of Services:

 

Example 1:

You are an independent consultant needing help with you Power Point presentations, scheduling meetings, coordinating your business trips, searching some information in the Internet, etc.   

 

Example 2:

You are a conferencist, that needs someone who can organize your seminars, prepare your Power Point presentations, the materials and certificates to be delivered to the attendants. And after the conference, typing the audios is required to deliver digital or hard copies to certain groups of people. 

 

Example 3:

You are a person working independently, but the long list of administrative issues does not allow you to concentrate on your obligations. You need someone to pay your bills, contact clients, make payments and collections, ask for bids, make some telephone calls, and take care of all those unproductive tasks. 

 

Example 4:

You are a person working from home, but need a secretary to contact clients on your behalf, giving a better impression and image to your enterprise.  

 

Example 5:

You are an independent professional (doctor, coach, conferencist, etc) and need someone to transcribe your handwritings and return them to you in digital format, type and send reports, edit and give format to your texts, prepare handbooks, etc.  

 

Example 6:

You represent a foreign company interested in developing its business or selling its products in Argentina, but without a local contact as representative, it gets very difficult to make the necessary contacts. You need someone to investigate your potential clients, contact them and introduce your company, handle your correspondence, etc . 

 

Example 7:

You belong to a company outside Buenos Aires and need someone to attend your business locally, acting as a liaison between you and your clients.  

 

Example 8:

You are a frequent travel and need someone to attend your matters during your absence (answer the calls from your clients, handle correspondence, check e-mails and keep you informed of any urgent matter).

 

These are only a few of all the solutions a VA can offer to you. Click here to obtain more information.