Better Support: The Future of Virtual Assistants (Business Process Outsourcing)

Virtual assistant services are quickly emerging as the next-generation business solution, with companies in nearly every industry investing heavily in these efficient and productive roles. The mass expansion of virtual assistants is creating an entirely contemporary class of jobs.

What is a Virtual Assistant?

The definition of a virtual assistant (or professional), is “an individual who provides personal administrative or business assistance to clients from a remote location via electronic means.” Common “administrative or business” assistance (the range of services VAs offer) includes prospecting, calling, marketing, customer service, and administrative support.

Virtual assistants (VAs) provide assistance in prospecting, calling, marketing, administrative, and customer service functions to their clients from a remote, home office, and typically from a different country.

Virtual assistants are career-oriented virtual assistants with proven industry and educational experience.

Virtual assistants (or “virtual professionals,” as we prefer to call them ) are everywhere now. They are used in every industry and have become ubiquitous in the workplace. The increase in virtual professionals worldwide is rapid and even dramatic.

The Future of Virtual Assistants (Business Process Outsourcing)

The VAs who are helping clients build their businesses are the ones who will serve as the vehicle for the next wave of disruption in a number of industries. Business process outsourcing (BPO)—the practice of taking over some or all of a company’s processes and functions, which would usually be done by employees, and having someone else fulfill those tasks—is becoming so widespread that it is starting to have an impact on every industry.

When you think about business process outsourcing you can think about it in terms of any industry or process that is run from an office. For example, even the most basic business like a small restaurant is going to have employees in the kitchen cooking food, servers waiting tables, and bartenders preparing drinks. When you think about it, nearly every business can be broken down into process and function components.

At some point in the future, even the people who own restaurants are going to realize there is an opportunity for them to save money and increase profits if they don’t have to pay traditional employees at a restaurant and can instead rely on a virtual workforce.

At this time it is only beginning, but already we are seeing virtual assistants interacting directly with customers of major corporations in ways that will eventually allow companies like Google or Apple to replace their entire call center staff with virtual assistants. That means you will have somebody you never met in person to take calls for your business processes.

Future Outlook

There are a number of reasons that all of these industries are quickly adopting virtual assistants. For instance, many companies have operations in different countries. They have offices in other countries that can help you with customer service and dealing with the production and selling of your product or service in those countries.

Companies also want to cut costs and increase profits, which is a key reason why all of these industries are adopting virtual assistance. It is also important for companies to have high-quality service delivered to their customers in a reliable way. You can’t afford to have any mistakes in your business process, or you will lose business.

Hybrid Business Model

Virtual assistants are a key component in the hybrid business model of the future. A hybrid model is a mix of two approaches: on-site and off-site. In this model, an organization retains core functions in its home office (such as accounting, customer service, etc.) but outsources the performance of low-value processes back to other countries.

At one point or another, all businesses are going to have to get rid of their employees and rely more heavily on virtual assistants. Business processes are so complex and there is so little that can be automated that you really need good people running your company for you to survive and function properly. Employees can’t do everything. Rather than bombard local employees with repetitive, and time-consuming tasks, virtual assistants can handle a lot of the heavy lifting in your company and make your business more efficient.

See For Yourself: A Closer Look at Virtual Assistants

The popularity and acceptance of virtual assistants will grow over the next decade. It is estimated that, in 2020, 40% of the entire US task force are virtual professionals. Today’s use cases for these task-oriented professionals are vast. “Freelance virtual assistant services” will be one of the biggest industries in terms of employment and global revenue by the end of the decade.

“Outsourcing makes the hustle better — because you’re not burdened with many/growing expenses that you’ll need to figure out how to cover and hit profit”