Shift4Shop eCommerce Blog

How to Hire an eCommerce Virtual Assistant for Productivity

Written by Guest Author | Aug 7, 2024 3:00:00 PM

Running an eCommerce store can be extremely rewarding. It’s a chance to establish a brand, attract an audience, and most importantly, maximize online sales. Inevitably, though, achieving business growth is also extremely time-consuming. The last thing you need is to be bogged down in day-to-day administrative tasks like responding to emails or managing social media.

But what if these tasks didn’t have to consume all your time? Today, we’re going to explore a potential solution: hiring a virtual assistant.

 

What is a Virtual Assistant? 

A virtual assistant (VA) is a remote worker who handles administrative tasks on your behalf, freeing you to focus on more valuable growth-related activities. A VA isn’t a full-time employee; they work a fixed number of pre-assigned hours and likely serve several clients.

VAs can help with a variety of tasks, including:

  • Scheduling meetings and contacting attendees
  • Assisting with order processing
  • Managing payroll for small business
  • Handling customer refunds
  • Updating product descriptions
  • Completing inventory management tasks
  • Conducting research for planned content
  • Responding to customers via email, phone, or social media
  • Monitoring social media accounts and tracking engagement

 

What a Virtual Assistant Won’t Do 

It’s important to understand that a virtual assistant isn’t a full-time employee. They won’t run your marketing or sales campaigns or redesign your website. To maximize a VA’s value, identify repetitive and time-consuming processes within your online business.

For example, if you maintain a blog, you likely spend considerable time researching topics and keywords. By delegating these tasks to your VA, you can dedicate more time to writing compelling content.

 

The Benefits of Hiring a Virtual Assistant 

There are many benefits to hiring a virtual assistant, such as:

  • Access to worldwide talent: You can hire an eCommerce virtual assistant from anywhere in the world, giving you access to a vast pool of potential talent.
  • Increased growth: Eliminating the burden of administrative and repetitive tasks allows you to focus on activities that directly contribute to business growth, such as expanding your product offerings.
  • Cost-effectiveness: You may already be considering between an exempt vs non exempt member of staff for payment purposes. Hiring a full-time employee for administrative tasks can be expensive. A VA offers a more affordable alternative without the overhead of equipment and benefits.
  • Improved work-life balance: Running a business can strain your personal life. A VA can alleviate some of the pressure, providing you with more free time. 

 

Do You Need a Virtual Assistant?

Consider hiring a VA if the following statements resonate with you:

  • “I’m overloaded with admin tasks.” Burnout is a major risk for eCommerce entrepreneurs. A VA can reduce your workload by handling administrative tasks.
  • “I have a clear idea of the processes I need help with.” A VA is most effective when you’ve identified a specific role and tasks for them.
  • “I struggle with administrative tasks.” If organizational skills aren’t your strong suit, a VA can be invaluable. 
  • “I have the budget for a VA.” Hiring a VA requires financial investment. Ensure you can afford their services before proceeding.

 

How to Hire an eCommerce Virtual Assistant

So, you’ve carefully considered the benefits, and want to hire an eCommerce virtual assistant.

Here are the steps you should follow. 

 

1. Plan your job description.

The first stage to hiring a VA is ensuring that you hire the right person. Create a job description built around your needs. By being as thorough as possible, you’re more likely to attract the kind of people you want. 

Below are some of the factors you might include:

  • An overview of your business, including its scale and volume of customers
  • A list of jobs that a VA is expected to carry out
  • The skills needed to carry out the tasks described
  • The level of experience needed and any qualifications that you’re looking for
  • What you can offer the VA (resources, training, etc.)

To make sure you get the kind of applicants you want, include ‘employment keywords’. These are search terms that an applicant uses when searching for listings. For example, ‘administrative assistant’, ‘virtual administrative services’, ‘online assistant’.  

 

2. Don’t neglect onboarding.

As with standard employees, VAs should go through an onboarding process. Getting onboarding right is key to ensuring a VA settles into their role smoothly. 

Unfortunately, lots of businesses entrust VAs with important tasks early without considering this factor. This leads to misunderstandings and lots of back-and-forth communication. In effect, this defeats the purpose of having a VA: drawing your attention back to admin tasks. 

So, take time to show a VA the ropes before setting them onto new tasks. To kickstart strong communication, begin with a face-to-face video call. Clearly explain tasks and give the VA a chance to ask any questions they might have. 

 

3. Create clear guidelines.

Remember, a VA does not work for your organization. They don’t know its ethics, culture, or general approach. Unless you give them clear guidelines, they might not act in the ways you want them to. 

This means outlining how you expect them to interact with customers. Outline customer interaction expectations, including social media posting guidelines, refund response protocols, and other customer-facing activities.

It's also useful to document the ways you expect tasks to be carried out. For example, you might use video communication software such as Loom or Tella to record on-screen activities such as updating a product listing or blog. Other resources could include a sales script or instructions on how files should be formatted and saved. 

Gather all materials that you create in a central hub. This should be easily accessible to your VA so that they can gain information when needed.  

 

4. Be careful with data.

To reiterate, a VA is not an employee. They should only have access to the data needed to do their job. It's essential to trust your VA, but they shouldn’t be given free rein. Platforms like your website could contain lots of sensitive information that you won’t want your VA accessing. Your first step should be to have your VA sign a non-disclosure agreement. 

To further improve eCommerce security, carefully control access to your platforms. Create a VA account with permissions only for areas where VAs need to complete their tasks. Most collaborative platforms have some form of access control. Facebook, for instance, allows you to control which users can comment and post on your pages.  

For added security, use a password manager that prevents employees from seeing passwords. Additionally, make sure your VA is aware of any security protocols that you have in place. Make sure they have access to tools, such as a VPN, to keep data secure. 

 

5. Communicate regularly.

When you hire an eCommerce virtual assistant, communication is key. Sadly, it's also a factor that can be easily forgotten. Your VA is remote and might even be based in a different time zone. Your working patterns might not align, and you may feel it's easier to let them ‘get on with it’. This approach, though, is doomed to failure. 

Without frequent communication, you can’t know whether your VA is on track to meet their goals. If possible, opt for regular face-to-face video meetings or conference calls. Ask questions, seek progress updates, and share if any areas need to be handled differently. 

Of course, if your VA is based in a different time zone, face-to-face meetings may not be practical. In either case, asynchronous communication can be a good way of maintaining communication. Try some of the methods listed below. 

  • Create an instant message thread to keep one another in the loop. 
  • Follow ‘split’ working patterns so that your schedules align. 
  • Create cloud-based documents so that users can drop in and out and leave comments. 
  • Leave video or audio messages. 

 

6. Monitor and adapt. 

As with any member of the team, you’ll learn more about your VA over time. You’ll discover the tasks they excel at and those that they are less comfortable with. It’s important to adapt the role of the VA as you make these discoveries. 

Let’s say that you find that a VA is effective at writing engaging social media posts, but less effective when it comes to sales-related activities. If this is the case, you may change the scope of their role to focus more on social media. You could even hire a second VA to focus on sales. 

Monitoring software can be useful for tracking productivity and spotting areas for improvement. This doesn’t have to be anything too invasive. A simple time-tracking tool should provide you with the information you need. Careful monitoring can help you streamline a VA’s activities and improve workflows. 

 

An eCommerce Virtual Assistant: The Way Forward?

Carefully consider your budget, long-term goals, and current administrative workload to determine if hiring a VA is the right decision.

If you decide to proceed, prioritize thorough onboarding, clear communication, comprehensive resource provision, and ongoing monitoring and adaptation.

With careful planning and execution, a VA can be a valuable asset, contributing significantly to the growth and success of your online business.