As a marketing and sales professional, I know the feeling of having a list of tasks stack up in front of me. Whether it’s entering client details into Mailchimp, updating my CRM or prospecting for new leads, hours of my day are filled with essential, but not high-value tasks.

Unloading some of the lower value steps of the sales process will free up your day to focus on higher-value tasks. This means you have more time to close a deal rather than search for one.

Virtual assistants, if utilized properly, can streamline the sales process by performing the following duties leading up to and following closed business.

How can virtual assistants help you?

Here are 5 ways a virtual assistant can benefit your business:

1. Research

As an experienced professional in your field, there is no reason you should spend any time doing research! Doing research is very important for finding your next networking event, company to contact, and so on, however, it is a task that a Virtual Assistant can do just as effectively!

Why not outsource research to a VA so you can spend those extra hours talking and interacting with customers? An experienced personal virtual assistant will be able to conduct research, analyse it, and deliver it back to you in a timely manner.

2. Updating CRM and mailing list

Having an updated and organized CRM is crucial to any effective sales process. It is your lead database and helps you interpret your sales funnel so you know which stage each one of your leads is at. The more business you get, the more time you spend adding, editing and changing details in your CRM.

Virtual Assistants have extensive experience with CRM systems and can easily take this tedious task off your hands. Your Filipino VA will update your CRM, inform you on which stage your leads are at and remind you when you need to get in touch with them.

3. Interact on social media

Social media is an effective tool that, even in today's technology-savvy world, not enough sales professionals use. Regardless of whether time constraints or a lack of understanding is holding you back, allow a VA to update your social media sites in order to engage with potential and existing customers.

They have experience with LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook, understanding how to use each medium to attract, interact and qualify leads.

4. Diary and email management

Sorting through emails in the morning can be a tedious and painful task. If a VA can save you just a half hour each day sorting out the junk from pertinent emails, that’s two and a half extra hours per week you have to try to convert a lead into a sale! The same thing goes with updating your online calendars.

These are simple tasks that an offshore Virtual Assistant can do just as efficiently as you! Hand your email account keys to your VA and let them perform these lower value, time-consuming tasks.

5. Data entry

Creating spreadsheets and reports are essential duties but tasks that most of us learned how to effectively do in high school. The repetitive nature of creating a spreadsheet can be agonizing. Why not outsource this to someone who quite possibly has more experience and efficiencies than you?

As they say, time is money. By delegating the lower value tasks you currently do yourself to an offshore VA, you create time to focus on the tasks that actually make you money. If you still aren’t convinced that a Virtual Assistant can make your life easier, let’s grab a coffee and continue the conversation.