Have you decided to hire a freelance virtual assistant to reduce your workload? As a new recruiter, you may be confused about where to start. Sourcing a reliable partner is the biggest challenge. Many companies prefer to hire freelance virtual assistants from marketplaces like Fiverr, Upwork, PeoplePerHour, freelancing.com, guru, etc. But you can get the best return on your investment by hiring agency-based virtual assistant services.
As a long-term provider of the sector, we have come across some undeniable reasons that make freelance virtual assistants a less feasible option. Agency-based virtual assistants might be an alternative option. In this article, we aim to guide you to pick the right source for hiring a virtual assistant service.
What is a Freelance Virtual Assistant?
The term freelance means a non-contract-bound implementation of a specialized set of skills or services. A freelance virtual assistant is a person who works individually on virtual tasks without being captivated by any contract. They usually work remotely. Marketplaces are the best options to find freelance virtual assistants.
What is an Agency-Based Virtual Assistant?
An agency-based virtual assistant works under the supervision of a certain company that assigns them to clients. They can work remotely or onsite depending on the contractual company guidelines.
Usually, business process outsourcing providers hire a large number of virtual assistants. The clients reach the agencies to hire their required VAs. The agency will recommend the best suitable VA for the client.
Top 6 Reasons You Should Not Hire Freelance Virtual Assistants
Since the pandemic happened, many people have moved to remote jobs rather than office jobs. However, we all know that employees who work in the office are more productive than employees who work from home.
Let’s now talk about the reasons you should not hire freelance virtual assistants.
1) Lack of Accountability
Accountability is closely related to commitment to work. Freelance virtual assistants work under minor or no supervision. Thus, they lack accountability for their performance. Lack of accountability causes many problems like delayed deadlines, unsatisfactory outcomes, and reduced productivity.
2) Communication Problems
Communication is the biggest problem with a freelance virtual assistant. Business progress requires clear and straightforward communication between the parties involved. Offshore freelance virtual assistants often work from different time zones. At times, it becomes difficult to communicate with them. Some freelancers do not respond promptly. Eventually, you might miss the deadline for your valuable work.
3) Lack of Commitment
Freelance virtual assistants do not work long-term on one project. Suppose, you have a long-term project and you need a virtual assistant for that. It is not possible to keep a freelancer hooked on the same project for a long time since they work with multiple clients at the same time. If you want virtual assistants with a long-term commitment, you should hire a virtual assistant from a business process outsourcing company.
4) Security
Whenever you hire an employee, you have to share your company information. Sometimes, the information you share with your virtual assistants is very confidential. It is easy to maintain security with a contractual employee. You can not maintain an equal amount of data security with freelance virtual assistants since they work remotely.
5) Possibilities of Being Scammed
Freelance virtual assistants are not registered with any company. The market is full of scammers. You must take extra caution verifying the details of the freelancer. Besides, they often ask for an advance and never complete the job after getting paid. They also dispute making improvements after getting feedback from their assigned task.
6) Quality of Work
You can not just find someone on marketplaces or social media, then trust them with your valuable project. You can not ensure the quality of work with a freelance virtual assistant. Agencies have supervisors to monitor the tasks of their virtual assistants. Thus, the quality of work from an agency-based virtual assistant is better than a freelance virtual assistant.
The Benefits of Hiring Agency-Based Virtual Assistants
Starting from the hiring process to project completion, agency-based virtual assistants have numerous advantages. Your company will benefit more from hiring from an agency rather than hiring a freelancer.
BPO companies usually have a few stages in the hiring process. They ensure that the virtual assistants are highly qualified. You do not have to stress yourself with all the extra processes like job posting, interviewing candidates, and choosing the right one.
BPO service providers have built-in communication channels, high-speed internet connections, and other technical facilities. Your VA will not face any unnecessary discrepancies while working if they are registered with a BPO.
You do not have to waste any time training your virtual assistants. The company will be responsible for the training. Besides, they also assign supervisors to monitor the performance of the virtual agents. The VAs will perform with utmost productivity even under minor or no supervision.
You will have the best in class experience with your virtual assistant from BPO. The cost of a virtual assistant from dedication virtual assistant agency is comparatively lower than hiring a freelancer.
Data security is another big advantage of outsourcing from a BPO. They maintain an end-to-end security protocol. You can also choose to sign a nondisclosure agreement (NDA) to ensure the confidentiality of the data you share with your virtual assistants.
Why ASL BPO Virtual Assistants are The Best
ASL BPO is a business process outsourcing company aimed at providing top-notch virtual assistant services around the world. Many of our clients have reviewed us to be the best and most cost-effective virtual assistant provider. You can hire virtual assistants for only $6/ per hour from ASL BPO.
You will get access to highly professional virtual assistants on demand. All of our virtual assistants work in-house. Thus, we can take full responsibility for your assigned project. Contact to find out more about ASL BPO Virtual assistants.