They say size isn’t everything… but sometimes when you’re a small business or a one-person operation it helps to look a little bigger than you are.

Packing a mighty punch, despite your size, is one way to go shoulder to shoulder with larger competitors.

But it’s not just about looks. Imagine being able to run a lean business with full operational, customer support and sales capability while raising your profile. Sounds too good to be true?

The good news is you don’t have to hire more staff or rent expensive office space just to allow you to roll with the big boys (and girls). So how do you achieve it?

(I’m going to give you a clue – it involves using a virtual PA :))

Here are seven ways you can use a virtual PA team to operate like a big business, even if it’s just little old you:

1. First, stop doing EVERYTHING

We know the type of business where the owner does EVERYTHING.

They pick up the phone when it rings, they answer every email, they collect the post, buy the milk, travel to sales meetings and spend hours trying to fix the printer.

If this sounds like you…STOP and call me right now on 0161 820 6080!)

Hiring a whole team to take the small but essential tasks away from you is unrealistic.

However, outsourcing this job to a virtual PA means you reap the benefits whilst avoiding the heavy investment in time and money. A virtual PA becomes a part of your business, so most clients won’t be able to tell he or she isn’t in the office with you and they can do most jobs remotely.

(Ok, maybe not getting the milk… but they can arrange EVERYTHING else)

There are two main benefits. Firstly, you win back time and space to focus on what’s really important in your business. And, secondly, if people can see you have a PA and what appears to be a team around you (i.e. you’re not doing EVERYTHING), it gives them confidence in you. You’ve got things together. And that breeds confidence, which is great for business.

2. Get your own executive PA

Long gone are the days of hiring a virtual PA to just answer your phone or look after your diary.  With Mi-PA, at least, you are assigned a highly skilled PA with a broad range of experience and expertise, far more experienced than a traditional receptionist or PA.

Their range of abilities stretch to becoming a member of your team, more akin to an executive PA.

For an executive PA, businesses dish out anything upwards of £25,000pa. You’d have to be working for a big business to justify paying out this kind of wage and need them on a full time basis.

Yet, with a virtual PA you get the same level of service and expertise, delivered when you need it and charged for exactly what you use. You still get all the benefits, with a virtual PA gaining a deep understanding of how you best work and your routine.

3. Show you’re organised… and control your time

Having a PA answer simple questions and organise meetings for you doesn’t just take the pressure off your back and free up time, it demonstrates to clients there is a hierarchy below you.

Outsourcing small tasks like organising your events calendar and work schedule shows in the way you deal with clients. Clients who receive calls from your virtual PA will experience exactly the level of professionalism you want them to receive.

The whole psychology behind not being able to call you at any time shows customers you’re in-demand. Although this may appear to make the business seem less personable, it positions you ahead of any conversation or meeting. And it gives you back control of your time, so you’re not driven by others’ priorities.

If your business is visibly organised with clear objectives and deadlines you can’t help but be seen as more reliable. By extension, you’ll exude an air of effortless professionalism.

4. Build systems and processes

Trying to stay on top of everything in a small business without help can sometimes be chaotic and seriously detrimental to your productivity.

One of the benefits of working with a virtual PA is to help you develop systems and processes so you can hand off work more effectively. By building systems in your business you’re committing your business to more consistency, greater predictability in your outcomes and a better result for your customers.

At Mi-PA we use a clever little piece of software called Sweet Process to build systems and processes for clients for everything from call answering through to sales operations and customer support.

Developing processes is the secret behind successful businesses such as McDonalds, Starbucks and other franchises where predictable outcomes and good customer service is essential. By working on these with a virtual PA, you deliver “big brand” levels of customers service and operational efficiency.

5. Never miss a call and capture every lead

The last thing you want is hundreds of leads flowing in but no way of dealing with those leads, wasting all that marketing investment. Nightmare!

If you ARE too busy, a virtual PA can relieve the pressure by answering the phone, capturing leads and turning unwanted clients away.

Having this pressure removed means you need never answer the phone to anyone who isn’t a dedicated customer. (Urgh, horrible sales calls…)

6. Running a slick sales and marketing operation

One of the most time-consuming activities in a small business is setting up and running marketing and sales campaigns. This often involves drawing help from various sources and project managing this to conclusion. When you’re on your own, it may seem like it takes up all your time.

But sales and marketing are perhaps the most important function of any business… so how do you run effective campaigns, while still having time to breathe?

A virtual PA team can help. Working with your marketing and sales campaign, an outsourced PA team can take on all elements from printing, packing and sending mail to telephone follow-up and receiving inbound calls.

How do we know? Because we do exactly this for a number of our clients as well as increasing their online presence through social media posting on their behalf.

7. Dedicated customer support

Winning customers is one thing. Keeping them is a whole other skill.

When you’re on your own or your team is small, you often find yourself splitting your effort. Handling sales AND customer support is the fastest route to burn out as you struggle to keep your head above water.

What if you could hand over your entire customer support function to a team who already knew your business and whom you could track their effectiveness quickly and easily?

A great virtual PA service can handle your whole customer support function, leaving you to focus on the tasks that help you grow your business.

Having someone always there to answer the phone means there are no gaps in your customer service, even when you ARE too busy to take calls. It provides a consistent, reliable service to existing customers and elevates your business to another level in your customers’ perceptions… for much less than the cost of hiring an-inhouse customer support team.

These are just a few reasons why outsourcing your admin and hiring a virtual PA will transform your business in the eyes of your potential customers.

Using a virtual PA service allows you to open doors to help your business do more, reach more customers in need of your service or product and level the playing field with larger competitors with bigger budgets.

Discover all the ways we help entrepreneurs who want to make their business bigger here!

Ready to super-size your business with a virtual PA? Call me on 0161 820 6080 today and let’s get started.