A virtual assistant is a professional who remotely handles part of your business's work: email, customer service, calendar, follow-ups, admin tasks or prospecting. She works in your tools and on your hours, without being on your payroll. At Wepeps, we've been doing this since 2012. Here's what to know before you hand over part of your day.
A simple definition
“Virtual” doesn't mean a robot. A virtual assistant is a real person who works from somewhere other than your office. She logs in to your inbox, your CRM or your online store with the access you give her, and she moves forward on the tasks you assign.
Don't confuse her with voice assistants or chatbots. A virtual assistant understands an unhappy customer, adapts her tone, makes simple decisions and lets you know when something needs your attention.
What a virtual assistant can do for you
She takes on everything repetitive that pulls you away from your real work. And more: with clear guidelines, an experienced assistant also handles more complex tasks specific to your business. Here's what our clients hand over most often.
Customer service
- Answering emails and chat
- Tracking orders and deliveries
- Handling returns, refunds and complaints
- Replying to reviews and comments
Admin tasks
- Sorting and handling your inbox
- Managing your calendar and appointments
- Sending invoices and following up on payments
- Keeping your CRM and spreadsheets up to date
Prospecting
- Finding prospects who match your target
- Prospecting on LinkedIn and by phone
- Booking qualified meetings in your calendar
Operations support
This is where an assistant goes furthest. She doesn't just execute: she tracks, follows up and flags issues. You have someone running operations while you move forward on everything else.
- Coordinating your projects, teams and contractors
- Tracking client files from first contact to delivery
- Tracking deadlines and following up on quotes
- Handling the back office: orders, suppliers, invoices
- Preparing your weekly report: numbers, progress, blockers
- Checking deliverables before they go to the client
- Documenting your procedures, so nothing depends on a single person
What she doesn't replace: your expertise. You keep the decisions, the relationship with your best clients and your core business. She handles everything around it. To learn more, see our pages on customer service, lead generation and qualified meetings and operations support.
3 ways to work with a virtual assistant
A freelance assistant. She works alone, for herself. It's flexible, but you hire her, train her and manage her schedule. If she gets sick or goes on vacation, the work stops.
A matching platform. There's a wide choice of profiles and you can switch easily. But hiring, training and follow-up stay on your plate.
An agency offering a managed service. The agency hires, trains and supervises the assistant, and replaces her when she's away. You delegate the work, not a person to manage, for a fixed monthly price. That's the Wepeps model.
Comparing several agencies? Our guide Virtual assistant agencies in Madagascar: how to choose the right one lists the questions to ask before you sign.
What it looks like day to day
With a managed-service agency like Wepeps, everything falls into place in four steps:
- A 30-minute discovery call, free, to understand what you want to delegate.
- Scoping the work: the tasks, your tools, your hours, your rules.
- Training the assistant on the way you work, then the start, 7 days after your go-ahead.
- Follow-up: a written update every Friday on what's done, what's in progress and what's blocked, and a 20-minute call once a month.
The full process is on our page How it works.
Does remote work really work?
Yes, under two conditions: strong language skills and compatible hours. Our assistants work from Antananarivo, Madagascar, where French is an official language alongside Malagasy, and they also work in English. Antananarivo is only 2 hours ahead of Paris in winter and 1 hour in summer, and for businesses in other time zones, such as Quebec, the team works around your business hours.
We explain all of this in detail in our article Virtual assistants in Madagascar: how it works, and on our page virtual assistant in Quebec.
Frequently asked questions
No. She's a real person who works remotely. “Virtual” just means she isn't in your office.
Not with a managed-service agency. You sign a service agreement: the assistant stays employed by the agency, which handles hiring, payroll and absences.
At Wepeps, 7 days from your go-ahead to day one, including scoping and training the assistant.
No. You can start part-time, or hand over a one-off project for a busy period. The volume then adjusts to your needs.
It depends on the volume and the tasks you hand over. At Wepeps, it's a fixed monthly price, worked out with you during the discovery call, with no minimum term.
Let's talk about what you could delegate
In 30 minutes, we look with you at the tasks that take up most of your time. You'll leave knowing what a virtual assistant can take on for you, and where to start.