Things your VA could do for you - Part Five: Inbox Management

Whether you're out of the office for a couple of days at a trade show or even sunning yourself on the beach for a week or more (ooh, that sounds good), it's unlikely you've perfected the trick of being in two places at once. Keeping up with your inbox when you've got your hands full (or even when you're just trying to relax) can be a real headache.

Many businesses call upon a Virtual Assistant to look after the inboxes of key staff. This could be on an ongoing basis or just from time-to-time when the need arises. A Virtual Assistant is here to offer you flexible support that releases you to get on with the most important stuff and to help you manage the rest.

We can respond to email enquiries, clear out spam and unwanted mails and pick up on urgent messages that need a response and put together a digest on either a daily or weekly basis, highlighting actions that you need to take where appropriate.

For more information on how this could work for you, drop us a line: info@judesach.co.uk or call 07971 490462.

Things your VA could do for you - Part Four: Research and Surveys

Knowing your customers and competitors is fundamental to building a sustainable business. A key tool available to even the smallest business or inedividual entrepreneur is to conduct research. Customer research can take the form of satisfaction surveys and post-event feedback, while competitor research may include evaluations of products and service to identify points of competition and strengths and weaknesses in your own product range.

We have conducted training needs analyses, event feedback surveys, learner surveys, market research and competitor data gathering for clients and can even produce reports providing analysis of results.

Whether you need an online survey or a more detailed telephone interview carried out, talk to your Virtual Assistant about how we can help you. Drop us a line: info@judesach.co.uk or call 07971 490462.

All hands to the pumps

Well, today, down at Printshop they are busy... really busy. The printing presses are running at full tilt, the phone is ringing off the hook and the emails are pinging into their inbox as fast as the internet can carry them. Settling down to do any work, particularly stuff that requires your full attention like design and print, can be really hard to do under those circumstances.

Desk space is also at a premium down at Printshop as it's all hands to the pumps, so I'm delighted to say that they've asked me to look after their inbox and 'phone calls so they can get on with things.

I'm working remotely so they aren't tripping over me. I can access email via the web interface provided by their hosting service without the need for messy things like VPNs and so on. The phone is forwarded on to me and here I sit, poised and ready to go.

We've agreed that unless there's something particularly urgent, I will compile a digest of messages, filtering out the rubbish of course, that can be properly dealt with a little later on this afternoon.

Meanwhile, back at Printshop, there's just a little bit less to contend with, which means they can get back into their stride and look after their customers properly.

What's more, the sun is shining, the washing is drying on the line and the birds are singing.

Glorious!