Real estate agents and brokers have long struggled with scaling their businesses to keep up with increased demands, but the simplest solution could simply be outsourcing tasks to a virtual assistant.

Unfortunately, growing your real estate business means the workload of in-house staff increases with it- usually, coming in the form of paperwork and other administrative tasks.

But despite these being important, they do not drive revenue, and many companies would be better to delegate these tasks to qualified real estate virtual assistants.

Before getting into the specific workload you can delegate to an offshore staff, here are some key takeaways to look out for in this article:

Key Takeaways

Outsourcing to countries like the Philippines is a cost-effective way to streamline your business process. Aside from saving on labor costs, you also get access to talented individuals from a large population pool, so you don’t have to compromise quality.

Virtual assistants (VAs) in the real estate industry provide remote administrative, technical, and creative help to agents and brokers, freeing them up to concentrate on core tasks.

Many things go into this category, such as basic the following:

• bookkeeping
• property research
• website administration
• digital marketing
• appointment/ open house scheduling

With that in mind, here are some of the tasks you can assign to real estate virtual assistants if you’re considering outsourcing.

What Tasks Can I Delegate to Real Estate Virtual Assistants?

Generally, you want to delegate non-core tasks. To have a better idea of the tasks you can assign, here’s a table for reference:

In the table above, we see that non-essential tasks like searching listings for buyers take up a lot of time per week. This, and other similar tasks, could easily be outsourced via delegating to a virtual assistant.

Furthermore, you can also assign these specific tasks:

Broker’s Price Opinion

BPOs (Broker’s Price Opinion) are real estate professionals’ valuations of properties. BPOs are used to set a property’s list price, similar to a CMA, and in foreclosure or short-sale situations.

A real estate agent or broker determines the BPO depending on various parameters. A local broker performs BPOs.

Our industry specialists examine all BPO reports for the correctness and address any issues or concerns. Customized BPO services are also available as Global Strategic can provide a curbside broker pricing opinion or a detailed report with trend summaries and market intelligence.

Here are some of the Broker’s Price Opinion-related tasks you can delegate to a virtual assistant:

• Subject Property Condition
• Price Recommendation
• Prior Sales & Listing History Report
• Repair or Renovations
• Details Of Property and Neighborhood Conditions
• Information on “Just Sold” Properties
• Comparative Market Analysis (CMA)

REO Billing and Reimbursement

A Real Estate Owned (REO) property is a home the bank owns after a foreclosure. As such, there could be a lot of documents that need to be processed.

In this regard, virtual assistants can help with the following:

• eviction services
• redemption
• property maintenance, including debris removal, repairs, and landscape services
• market analysis
• marketing services
• title services
• sales, and
• closing services.

Moreover, you can also assign administrative-related tasks such as the following:

• MLS Entry
• Uploading listing to websites
• Scheduling Buyer Tours
• Coordinating Contracts with Buyers / Sellers
• Assisting with Buyer Purchase Due Diligence
• Creating and Posting Ads on Free Sites
• Listing Maintenance
• Adding Clients into Databases
• Proper Filing of Documents
• Updating Website

You can also assign your real estate virtual assistant to schedule personal appointments, prepare comparative market analyses, open house schedules, and more.

Social Media Marketing

You can hire specialized virtual assistants to do niche tasks like social media marketing. Anything from creating logos, and banners, to property listing graphics can be done through a remote VA.

If your business doesn’t have a social media presence or already has one but isn’t updated, VAs can help with that too. Among the task you can assign are:

• Account Creation & Management
• Targeted Advertising Campaigns
• Respond to Comments & Posts
• Monitor Spam
• Progress Reports

Social media can also be used for lead generation through organic or paid advertisements.

Accounting and Bookkeeping

Accounting and bookkeeping is another specialized facet of virtual assistants. Here, you can hire remote staff that can handle the following:

• Invoice and Payment Processing
• Customer Invoicing
• Credit and Collections
• Bills Payment

At Global Strategic, we have access to licensed accountants who can use QuickBooks, AppFolio, Buildium, and more.

When it comes to providing our clients with accurate and reliable service, we adhere to GAAP and apply stringent information security processes.

Conclusion

Outsourcing is a big business investment with some dangers if you don’t choose the right BPO provider. A little research and effort, along with advances in technology, training, and experience can mitigate these dangers and provide you with all of the benefits of outsourcing.

Global Strategic can assist you to start outsourcing and provide you with a Strategic Advantage to beat the competition. Contact us today and learn how outsourcing to the Philippines can help your business flourish.

The post Outsourcing Tasks To Real Estate Virtual Assistants appeared first on Global Strategic Business Process Solutions.

Businesses, especially those in a critical growth phase have owners wearing too many hats. During this period, administrative tasks wear in-house staff thin. Thus, management often de-prioritizes duties such as bank reconciliation.

But who could blame them? This task gets repetitive, is time-consuming, and isn’t dollar productive.

So, you could get businesses that do bank reconciliation whenever with the assumption that that’s enough to keep the books in order. Unfortunately, as you all already know, this can have costly repercussions down the line.

Luckily, there’s a simple solution for this issue – Outsourcing! Industries such as Property Management, Real Estate, Accounting, and more are already outsourcing tasks such as Bank Reconciliation.

As a result, studies show an increase in productivity, massive savings on operational costs, and managers having more time to focus on streamlining and growing the business.

That said, here’s a quick rundown on when you should schedule bank reconciliation.

How Often Should Your Business Reconcile Bank Statements?

The number of times you should reconcile your bank statements depends on how you run the business. But, as a rule of thumb, the main thing you need to consider is that it has to be consistent.

Bank Reconciliation could be done monthly, daily, or even longer than a month depending on if an account has low activity. Here’s an in-depth guide you can follow:

Monthly Bank Reconciliations

All businesses should do monthly bank reconciliations.
Banks send monthly statements at the end of each month that can be used for bookkeeping. Online month-to-date statements can be used to perform a bank reconciliation at any time.

Seasonal businesses or those with time-sensitive client deliverables may shift their reconciliation to a less busy time of the month. Gathering bank reconciliation information ahead of time or using software to generate information is a smart way to avoid wasting too much time at once.

Daily Bank Reconciliations

High-volume and fraud-prone businesses should do more bank reconciliations. Daily bank reconciliations are more appropriate in these cases to ensure cash flows properly.

Additionally, reconciliations allow businesses to identify unauthorized ACH debits and block them before the money is transferred, mitigating fraud loss. This non-standard approach can be helped by online bank statements.

Daily bank reconciliations can be challenging due to the high volume of in-transit deposits and withdrawals in most business accounts, but they are important for a company’s financial health.

Low Activity Accounts

Low-volume accounts that don’t need to be reconciled monthly should be closed, and recurring deposits or debits should be transferred to more active accounts. Account consolidation simplifies bank reconciliation.

Why Should You Prioritize Bank Reconciliation?

Fraud, unauthorized withdrawals, and bank errors are all possible outcomes for companies that don’t perform regular bank reconciliations. These problems, if unaddressed, can lead to cash flow leaks that impede operations and growth in a company.

A business that doesn’t conduct regular bank reconciliations is more likely to have checks bounce and electronic payments rejected. Supplier and partner relationships can be damaged if payments are not made on time, resulting in higher fees and stricter payment terms.

The legal protections that apply to consumer accounts do not apply to business accounts, which means that simple mistakes like bank errors can be fixed, but fraud is typically not covered by banks. As a result, companies are on the hook for discovering and preventing fraudulent activity.

Routine account balance checks and investigations into any transactions that don’t match up are necessary for this kind of policing. Thankfully, businesses can hire property management virtual assistants to help keep bank reconciliation consistent.

Benefits Of Outsourcing Bank Reconciliation

The primary goal of reconciliation is to determine if the discrepancy is the result of an error rather than a miscalculation in the time. Using our high-tech tools, the bank reconciliation process will become more accurate.

Small business owners can rely on our bank reconciliation services as an extension of their own accounting departments. You can save up to 40% to 50% by outsourcing all of your bank reconciliations to us. Having only one client at a time helps each professional develop the specific knowledge needed for that client.

Here are the benefits of Outsourcing Bank Reconciliation Services:

• Improves the efficiency with which financial records are kept
• It is easy to spot a discrepancy between the amount of cash and the bank passbook.
• Staff in the accounting department will be able to focus on more pressing matters.
• The biggest winners are corporations with a large number of accounts.
• Confidence is reduced by reducing the amount of paperwork.

If you’re ready to start your outsourcing journey, Global Strategic can help with your business needs and give you the Strategic Advantage needed to edge out the competition. Talk to us today and more about how offshore outsourcing to the Philippines can help your business and future business growth.

The post Outsourcing Bank Reconciliation – When & How Often Should You Do It? appeared first on Global Strategic Business Process Solutions.

As the saying goes, “you get what you pay for” and certainly you can go online and find an ocean of people willing to do VA work for incredibly low rates. But will that freelancer improve productivity for your in-house operations or cost you more in the long run whether in prolonged training, mistakes (big and small), loss of reputation, and eventual loss of clients, revenue, and business?

Choosing to outsource can already be an intimidating and daunting enough task for most companies and knowing who to trust can muddy the waters even further. So, where do you go to get the best value and how do you know you have made the right decision?

Process of Onboarding Virtual Assistants

When selecting a virtual assistant, property managers don’t just spend money – they also spend time and resources. Choosing a freelance virtual assistant for property management does come with lower rates, but there are caveats.

You will still need time to train them and supervise them- which outsourcing companies often will do for you, at least to some degree. And, if the freelancer doesn’t work out you need to repeat the process again and again while potentially losing all of the data that you entrusted them with.

You also will have to deal with more technical issues, no escalation or remediation process, no legal recourse, no official payment structure (ie. remittance), and massive data security risks. Some companies are willing to accept these pitfalls and forge ahead while others require a more complex and official relationship that can be counted on for years down the road.

For those that don’t work out, instead of getting more free time – you’re stuck using resources to source talent and continue the same process. Meanwhile, hiring an outsourcing company can handle all of this with ease.

To put it into an everyday example, perhaps you need a birthday cake for an upcoming party. Certainly, you can save a little money by baking your cake at home, but have you really cost out your time, energy, equipment, and the end result vs the cost of buying that cake from a well-regarded baker?

Granted, there are some excellent hobbyist bakers and that might be you, but for the rest of us, we generally prefer to rely on the experts and know that we are going to get the right cake required with no surprises and to the right specifications that we need.

Back to non-cake-related terms, instead of going through all that trouble, a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) company can do it for you. Moreover, you don’t need to worry about VAs suddenly leaving or ignoring your messages if they work in a BPO. You always will have layers of support and escalation. You will have confidence that they are using the right technology. Maybe most importantly, if you partner with the right BPO team, you will know that your critical data is safe and not being pilfered away by someone who can simply go dark on you and walk away with your trade secrets.

Usual Rates for Filipino Virtual Assistants in Property Management

Some freelance Filipino virtual assistants charge $3 – $5 per hour on the low end, which again, comes with its own potential drawbacks. Meanwhile, hiring locally can cost you an average of $16 – $20 for entry-level, and more for higher-skilled roles. Looking at the price difference alone is enough to urge any business to start outsourcing.

Studies suggest that businesses that outsourced repetitive administrative tasks save 70% – 90% in operational costs. Currently, 89% of property management businesses already outsource to service providers. Meanwhile, 67% of landlords or leasing agencies already invested in outsourcing.

Still, we can’t just look at the lowered costs as the only factor when choosing a virtual assistant. Looking through online real estate forums, we’d see several mixed reactions when it comes to hiring property management virtual assistants.

One property manager said they had a poor experience hiring freelance VAs as they couldn’t handle complex tasks. On the other hand, one said that hiring a PMVA worked out for them, but they added that it took a bit of time to find the right one. Keep in mind that when hiring outside of your locale, there will be specific knowledge that is simply impossible for you to have, that took years for others to obtain, and that allows them to provide their expertise in the process whether it be in assessing, hiring, training, or managing. It is not impossible for you to eventually acquire this knowledge, the same way one can learn to bake a great cake, but don’t discount the 10,000 hours benchmark of expertise in any industry, especially outsourcing.

In contrast, the rates for Filipino virtual assistants that work in BPO companies depend on the minimum wage in the Philippines. Currently, the Philippines still has a low cost of living. As a result, the minimum wage is also lower and thus rates from Philippines-based companies can be lower than many of their other counterparts while also providing high-level English ability as well as a good attitude and strong technical skills.

Administrative Tasks You Can Easily Outsource to Property Management Virtual Assistants

The learning curve for property management admin tasks can be steep. However, thanks to innovations in technology and the rapid expansion of the industry, virtual assistants can be easily trained in a short amount of time.

When it comes to freelancers, their experiences may vary. The same can be said about their training in the property management niche.

On the other hand, VAs working with a BPO company are professionally trained in-house and by property management professionals. Among the tasks you can outsource to a Filipino VA include the following:

• Phone and Email Support
• Creating and Processing Work Orders
• Creating Bills/Invoices
• Reconciling Bank Accounts
• Screening Property Applicants
• Status Reports
• Listing and Online Management

Cost Of Outsourcing to The Philippines

There are several things to account for when considering the cost of outsourcing to countries like the Philippines. For starters, we need to take a look at labor costs, services, and government-issued charges, not to mention any other overhead in terms of operating the company. There is a wide range in pricing when outsourcing and it will depend on the role, skills required, technology required, and the company itself.  

Naturally, not every Business Process Outsourcing company has the same pricing model or structure. However, every company still needs to follow certain guidelines and adhere to laws that could affect how they charge clients. Any salesperson within one of these companies should be able to break it down for you and generally the majority of companies who decide to outsource wind up doing so with a private company rather than engaging their own freelancers, sometimes after taking their lumps via the freelance method. Many businesses often do not realize the hidden costs that are present with this model and the large risks that they are undertaking in choosing to outsource in this manner.

If you want more information on the pricing structure and how outsourcing can save you money, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. If you think a Virtual Assistant may be a good fit for your business, contact us today to learn more about how Global Strategic can help solve your staffing needs while also saving you money.

The post Virtual Assistant For Property Management Rates In The Philippines appeared first on Global Strategic Business Process Solutions.

Currently, the biggest companies in the US heavily invest in outsourcing virtual assistants. Based on a study from Fortunly, 54% of businesses across the world already outsource key property management services. Meanwhile, the Philippines account for 10-15% of the global share.

As your company gets bigger, you’re going to have less time to manage your work. That means you’re stuck doing repetitive tasks, missing calls, and struggling to grow and push your business further.

Because of this, virtual assistants become an important part of property management businesses as they help reduce the workload of repetitive tasks. That said, here are the benefits you get from hiring property management virtual assistants.

Should I Hire A Property Management Virtual Assistant?

Now, the question becomes “should my business get a property management virtual assistant?“. As we mentioned earlier, a good PMVA helps you free up much-needed time for you to do income-generating work.

So, instead of doing tons of data entry work, you can hire a VA to do that for you. Meanwhile, you can focus on talking to clients. Furthermore, you can also have your VA answer important emails and phone calls so you don’t miss out on potential clients.

The reality is that VAs are versatile. Chances are, hiring good VAs won’t just help your business it’ll also help you get some peace of mind.

Any appointments, schedules, or meetings you have- your VA can help cover or remind you. More importantly, outsourcing a virtual assistant also means you get cost-effective services. This is especially true when compared to hiring locally.

Hopefully, you’ve got a good idea of the importance of hiring a property management virtual assistant. If you think a Virtual Assistant may be a good fit for your business, contact us today to learn more about how Global Strategic can help solve your staffing needs while also saving you money.

The post Importance Of Hiring A Property Management Virtual Assistant appeared first on Global Strategic Business Process Solutions.

PROPERTY MANAGEMENT – There are several niches a Virtual Assistant can specialize in – property management, being one of the most popular. But, what exactly is the job description of a PMVA?

In this article, we are going to take a look at the tasks and responsibilities of a remote Property Management Virtual Assistant. So, whether you’re a client looking to delegate tasks to an offshore VA or a VA who wants to specialize, you should definitely stick around.

Similar to a Back-Office Associate, a PMVA’s tasks would depend on the client. Some clients need email and phone support, meanwhile others need an invoice and outvoice services.

As such, clients may find difficulties when looking for the perfect VA for the job. On online job boards for freelancers such as Upwork, you’d see thousands of Virtual Assistants from across the globe.

But, choosing the right one could become an issue. Some VAs could have experience in some aspects of your business. However, others may need extensive training. For that reason and more, many US-based companies outsource their property management tasks to business process outsourcing (BPO) companies in the Philippines.

That’s because most VAs within a company are trained to cover a broad range of job descriptions to cater to each client’s needs. With that in mind, here are some of the daily tasks a PMVA handles:

Property Management Virtual Assistant Job Description in BPO Companies

Phone and Email Support

There are several studies that show investing your time and resources into good customer service is an integral part of your business’s growth. According to an article from Buildium, good customer service is the key to achieving sustainability for a business in a competitive industry such as property management.

As a Virtual Assistant, your role here is to leverage your experience with property management software to assist clients and their customers. Listings and online management of properties as well as booking appointments need to be timely.

More importantly, to become truly great at this job is to be an active listener. This means that you need to be genuine when answering a customer’s queries.

Creating and Processing Work Orders

In a perfect world, property managers want to have renters that are responsible and reliable, especially when it comes to paying rent. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case. There will always be times when a tenant skips out on payments or damages the property.

As a property management virtual assistant, it’ll be your job to create eviction notices, move-in and move-out documents, handle repairs and maintenance, and more.

Creating Bills/Invoices

Another important task of a PMVA is creating bills and invoices. Your duty as a Virtual Assistant is to help your client automate the billing process so they can focus on more important business driving factors.

They help make sure that the bills and utility invoices are paid on time. Moreover, they are also tasked with managing payroll or sending out payment notifications along with filing receipts or bills.

Reconciling Bank Accounts

Reconciling Bank Accounts in property management means creating a statement that summarizes your client’s banking and business activities with the bank’s financial records. Through this, a bank can confirm that payments were processed.

As a PMVA you need to balance out the statements of your client including money orders and checks you’ve received from property tenants.

Screening Property Applicants

There are a lot of people that want to rent or lease a property and look like a great tenant, but despite what they say, you need to check the facts on paper. For Property Management Virtual Assistants, this task is amongst the most important.

Your job here is to ensure that all client requirements have been provided before sending out an application overview to the owner and property manager. This way, your client can ensure that the applicants are eligible to lease or rent.

Status Reports

Making reports is part of the day-to-day tasks of a PMVA. Your job is to give your clients updates regarding the status of each of their properties.

This means checking listings for available properties, updating databases, and more.

Listing and Online Management

Much like other Virtual Assistant niches, property management VAs have their own set of tools or software. In the case of a PMVA, you need to learn how to work with industry-standard property management software such as the following:

• AppFolio
• PropertyMeld
• Rent Manager
• Propertyware
• Showmojo
• MLS
• Zillow
• Buildium

Is Specializing as a Property Management Virtual Assistant for Me?

If you have excellent organizational skills, a willingness to learn, and are adaptable to changing circumstances, then becoming a PMVA should be a perfect job for you.

There are several pros and cons of specializing in property management. You can always go for freelancing or get a job in a BPO company, depending on what you want.

To learn more about this, we did a comprehensive deep-dive into freelance vs office-based virtual assistant jobs. Either way, the pros of becoming a VA in both freelancing and within BPO definitely outweigh the cons.

Whether you are looking to become a Virtual Assistant or already are one and want to take the next step in your career journey, Global Strategic wants to hear from you. Apply today and become our newest Back Office Associate or talk to our Recruiters about our other roles and whether or not you would be a fit.

The post Property Management Virtual Assistant Job Description – Tasks & Duties appeared first on Global Strategic Business Process Solutions.

For the longest time, Property Managers have struggled with scalability issues. As such, you’d often see stagnant growth within a once thriving firm.

But, with the help of a PMVA, you’ll have more time to focus on core activities – ones that drive profit to your business. As a result, firms get more time to look for new clients while all the heavy, repetitive document-related tasks are outsourced.

There are essentially two ways you can get a PMVA – Freelancing and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Companies.

Currently, the Philippines is hailed as the “BPO Capital Of the World”. Clients from the US and other countries continue outsourcing their work to the Philippines to Business Process Outsourcing providers at a record pace.

For several years, top high-performing businesses have used outsourcing as a powerful tool to drive productivity. Furthermore, clients can expect to save big on labor costs if they choose to outsource.

If you find the right partner with industry-trained PMVAs, you can ensure that your property management business is in good hands.

Even before the pandemic, the Philippines saw a rising trend in virtual assistant work. And, companies such as Global Strategic have capitalized on this shift and developed some of the best property management VAs the country has to offer.

With a strong post-pandemic drive toward remote work, Global Strategic has positioned itself as an in-demand service provider for companies across many industries, with Property Management being at the forefront.

To give a quick rundown, PMVAs can provide clients with several services including, but not limited to the following:

• Phone & Email Support
• Creating and Processing Work Orders
• Creating Bills/Invoices
• Reconciling Bank Accounts
• Screening Property Applicants
• Status Reports
• Listings & Online Management

Additionally, Virtual Assistants can still work within your typical working hours despite the difference in time zones. As such, you could easily contact your offshore virtual assistants if needed and communicate with them the same way you would someone working in your locale.

So with this in mind, here are some ways a PMVA can help your business flow.

How Can a Remote Property Management Virtual Assistant Help My Business?

As mentioned earlier, there are several tasks that a virtual assistant can help you with. So, in this part of the article, we are going to discuss the importance of hiring a PMVA.

Hiring a PMVA is only one step of the process- good communication is needed in order to ensure that operations run smoothly.

Thus, clients need to make sure that tasks delegated to their remote assistants are clear. With that in mind, here are some duties that a PMVA can help with on a day-to-day basis.

Tasks To Delegate to Your Property Management Virtual Assistant

Administrative Tasks

At its core, a PMVA is going to spearhead the administrative tasks of your organization. This includes documentation, receipts, invoices and outvoices, bank accounts, and more.

However, these are merely surface-level duties of a virtual assistant. A VA does phone and email support for clients, ensuring that customers are kept up-to-date.

Creating And Processing Work Orders

Without the help of outsourcing and remote virtual assistants, the bulk of your time can be spent sending out eviction notices, documents on moving in and out, or maintenance. But, businesses that invested in outsourced work order processing already provide value by freeing up time and resources.

Additionally, a VA is in charge of following up on rental properties, repair items, and more. Obviously, local or in-house personnel can be hired for this task, but chances are that you’d still need to pay a premium for this alone.

Screening Property Applicants

Another document-heavy task is screening tenant applicants for leasing properties. In a perfect world, clients would immediately give all the necessary documents. The reality is that oftentimes, you are stuck chasing after missing documents and files.

Luckily, a PMVA can do all of that work for you! Your remote staff can make sure that all requirements are provided before sending an application overview to the owner or property manager.

Listing & Online Management

Global Strategic’s team consists of highly-trained remote assistants experienced with using Property Management software such as, “AppFolio, PropertyMeld, Rent Manager, Propertyware, Showmojo, MLS, Zillow, Buildium”, and more.

Through this, clients are assured to receive consistent updates on listings the moment they show up on the market.

Reconciling Bank Accounts

Bank Reconciliation is a huge deal when it comes to outsourcing property management tasks. As such, a remote property management assistant is also trained in balancing sheets with your bank statement.

Moreover, they can look at the differences between the two and resolve discrepancies. In doing so, a PMVA can also identify if there are any fraudulent transactions.

What Are the Costs Of Hiring a Property Management Virtual Assistant?

When it comes to outsourcing, the number question would probably be “how much does it cost?”. Well, the answer would depend on your needs.

Each organization has different needs. And, for each of those needs, you can definitely apply a different pricing model. To learn more about these pricing structures, check out our article below on the costs of outsourcing to the Philippines.

But, to give you a quick overview, let’s take a look at the cost of freelance virtual assistants in the property management niche.

A quick job search from Upwork shows that the average hourly rate for virtual assistants in the property management niche is around $12-18 an hour. But, even with the recommendations and the success rates – hiring freelancers can still be up to luck.

What works for other companies might not work for you. More importantly, you might still get issues other than salary. In the Philippines for example, a large majority of the population is susceptible to power outages, storms, loud parties, and even roosters crowing in the background.

You can definitely go for cheaper freelancers. However, you’d often run into problems where your freelancer needs extra equipment, training, and more.

Office-Based Outsourcing

Going freelance can work. But this definitely takes time. When it comes to choosing this route, consistency may become an issue as not all freelancers are the same.

Meanwhile, if you choose to outsource to a BPO company in the Philippines, the issues stated above are more than likely to be resolved. You would have additional layers of supervision, management, training, and escalation, and also access to a broader range of skills and remediation in the event of any problems or even the need to replace or add more staff.

By choosing a reputable partner with experience you also mitigate your own risk which can be especially crucial when choosing to outsource your work across the world.

Benefits Of Choosing Office-Based Outsourcing

Another benefit of choosing outsourcing to a BPO company is that you are paying a service provider to handle the salary, government filings, taxes, benefits, and all other necessities. Rather than absorbing the responsibility and liability of a staff member yourself, you are only engaging the BPO provider who then handles these issues, allowing you to focus on your business and not time-consuming overhead tasks.

If you think a Virtual Assistant may be a good fit for your business, contact us today to learn more about how Global Strategic can help solve your staffing needs while also saving you money.

The post Property Management Virtual Assistant – Outsourcing PMVA appeared first on Global Strategic Business Process Solutions.

Within the Philippines’ rapidly expanding BPO industry, two jobs are sought out the most – Virtual Assistant and Back Office Associate positions. But what are the key distinctions between the two?

In this article, we are going to give detailed examples of the differences between a Virtual Assistant and a Back Office Associate in the Philippines. Furthermore, we’ll discuss their key functions to help you choose which career path you should take. Before we jump into things, let’s first give a brief rundown on what a Back Office Associate (BOA) is.

A Back Office Associate describes a person tasked with administrative work. They’re called “back office” associates because the majority of their duties won’t include in-person client-facing responsibilities, though they likely will have a high degree of interaction with their client (remotely). BOAs are integral to any organization as they do the work that keeps a business running and handles a lot of tasks behind the scenes that allow for the smooth operations of a business.

At Global Strategic, the job description for a Back Office Associate may include the following:

• data entry
• order processing
• online research
• customer service
• virtual reception
• handling appointments
• calendar management

To learn more about the position, check out our previous article here: Back Office Associate Job Description – Duties & Responsibilities Of BOA. Now that we’ve gone through what a BOA is, let’s talk about the Virtual Assistant role.

What is a Virtual Assistant?

Clients from around the world are looking for outsourcing opportunities to help them automate their workloads. Being a world leader in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, the Philippines has been a go-to for large and medium-sized companies, and even small start-ups.

With that said, this presents an incredible opportunity for Filipinos to find job opportunities at a monumental scale. Every day, companies are looking to fill up job positions for Virtual Assistant roles that connect Filipinos to international clients.

Alternatively, you can start your Virtual Assistant journey as a freelancer. With this, you gain control of your work schedule and have more free time. However, starting out as a freelancer can be tough considering the amount of competition in the industry.

For example, a study from Payscale revealed that the median Virtual Assistant hourly rate in India is roughly $2.68. Meanwhile, some go even lower just to gain more clients. So, starting out as a freelance VA means you’d have to compete with experienced professionals that ask for lower rates.

On the other hand, working as a Virtual Assistant under a BPO company means that you’d have a steady source of income, access to insight from industry professionals, insurance and health benefits, and excellent career development opportunities.

Virtual Assistant VS Back Office Associate in the Philippines

In the Philippines, the responsibilities of a Back Office Associate may be similar to that of a Virtual Assistant and vice versa- although this generally depends on the client’s needs.

A Virtual Assistant’s job description could include tasks done by a Back Office Associate. Similarly, Back Office Associates can work with international clients virtually. With that said, what exactly is the difference between the two?

When it comes to BOA vs VA, it all comes down to terminologies and semantics. A Virtual Assistant is someone that works virtually with a client to do a broad range of tasks which include that of a BOA.

VAs or Back Office Associates can also specialize into specific niches such as Property Management Virtual Assistant (PMVA)

Meanwhile, a Back Office Associate is someone tasked primarily with administrative duties. The responsibilities of a BOA could range from data entry jobs, invoicing, customer service, and other tasks. Thus, there could be different tools, software, or applications used to conduct these tasks.

Work Environment of a Virtual Assistant & Back Office Associate

Another important aspect of VA vs BOA that we need to consider is the work environment. Traditionally, a Virtual Assistant is viewed as someone that can work from home or remotely. Meanwhile, a Back Office Associate would be someone that reports straight to the office.

But, with the age of technology and the advancements in industries such as BPO, this dynamic has changed drastically! Nowadays, you’d see Virtual Assistants thriving within the BPO industry. Likewise, Back Office workloads are becoming more and more outsourced.

According to an article from Fortunly, 54% of all businesses across the world outsource their services. Of that, the Philippines continues to become one of the most dominant destinations in the outsourcing world, covering 10-15% of the global share based on an article Outsource Accelerator. As such, there has been a huge spike in the number of back office opportunities presented in the Philippines.

Where can you apply as a Virtual Assistant or Back Office Associate?

Whether you are looking to become a Virtual Assistant or already are one and want to take the next step in your career journey, Global Strategic wants to hear from you. Apply today and become our newest Back Office Associate or VA today!

Fresh graduates or those with at least two years in college could also apply. Applicants are expected to have basic knowledge of common applications such as Word and Excel and should also be comfortable on a computer. No experience is no problem, Global Strategic will train you and help you start and build a promising career in the highly popular Business Process Outsourcing industry.

The post Virtual Assistant Vs Back Office Associate In The Philippines appeared first on Global Strategic Business Process Solutions.

When we talk about the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry, the first thing that comes to mind is call centers. However, some applicants are opting to be Virtual Assistants instead when joining BPO companies.

So, if you’re wondering if Virtual Assistants can be part of the BPO industry, the answer is a definite yes! In essence, as long as you have a client outside of the Philippines, you are “outsourced“. Thus, even if you’re a freelancer, your clients are still outsourcing talent from another country.

With that out of the way, what exactly does a Virtual Assistant do in a BPO company?

Basically, a VA in a BPO does whatever a freelance VA does. However, the biggest difference would be financial stability.

When you freelance, clients pay you depending on your rate. In that sense, if you don’t have any clients in a particular month, you don’t get a revenue stream. Meanwhile, if you work for a BPO company as a VA, you get a consistent cash flow in the form of your salary. Additionally, you get healthcare and insurance benefits. Furthermore, working in a BPO gives career advancement opportunities.

But, if we want to get into specifics, a Virtual Assistant’s task would depend on the client’s needs. For example, a client might ask you to do emails, inbound and outbound invoicing, or scheduling.

Another difference between a freelancer and a VA working in BPOs is the teams. With freelance work, you’d generally be riding solo. On the other hand, a virtual assistant in a BPO works with a team. As such, tasks are distributed among team members. Moreover, a team can also handle multiple clients at once.

Knowing all these, what does the day-to-day look like for a Virtual Assistant in the BPO industry?

Daily Tasks of a Virtual Assistant in BPOs

Another thing we need to consider if we want to work with BPOs is the schedule. Due to time zone differences, foreign clients are usually awake when the Philippines is asleep, so Virtual Assistants in a BPO setting (or freelancers) are likely to work the night shift. Some have no problem with this, others need to adjust, but keep in mind that at least you do receive a night shift differential and a much better commute due to less traffic.

Now, what can a Virtual Assistant expect after going to work and clocking in?

All BPO companies have different work requirements for employees. Moreover, since VAs would be working for clients, each client can have different requirements.

However, it’s possible that VAs will need to do the following if they work in a BPO:

Check/review company and client emails – Working in the industry means working as a team. As such, reviewing company emails is an important part of a Virtual Assistant’s daily tasks. Also, clients might have follow-up requests that need to be addressed.

Inbound and outbound invoicing – An invoice is basically a document that itemizes transactions between a buyer and a seller. In a Virtual Assistant’s case, this would be directed toward your client, his/her business, or others.

Sending emails to tenants/owners – If you’re working with real estate clients, then one of the things you need to be doing is send emails to tenants or owners of properties. This could range from sending out important documents, reminders, or appointments.

Create daily report tasks – Virtual Assistants in BPO companies are sometimes required to make a report of what they’ve done during the day. Maintaining a detailed record allows you to get insight into a project and improve its performance and productivity.

A virtual assistant’s job would depend on the specific niche they’re in. For example, a property management virtual assistant would likely have duties such as managing property listings, following up tenant concerns, and more.

Now that you know the daily tasks of a VA working in a BPO company in the Philippines, it’s time you take your next steps toward fulfilling your career goals!

Whether you are looking to become a Virtual Assistant or already are one and want to take the next step in your career journey, Global Strategic wants to hear from you. Apply today and become our newest Back Office Associate or talk to our Recruiters about our other roles and whether or not you would be a fit.

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BEGINNER VIRTUAL ASSISTANT JOBS – If you want to find a job as a Virtual Assistant in the Philippines with no experience, then you came to the right place! 

When it comes to entry-level jobs, pursuing a virtual assistance career is one of the best choices. Because of its wide array of job descriptions, beginners who then pursue specializations can target different niches. 

From data entry all the way to real estate, there’s an entire world out there for virtual assistants to explore. But with that being said, everybody has to start somewhere. And if you’re reading this – it’s likely that you’re a beginner who wants to take the first step toward your career goals. 

WHAT IS A VIRTUAL ASSISTANT?  

A Virtual Assistant is someone who helps clients remotely with administrative tasks. Generally, these people work for Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) companies that connect them with clients overseas.  

Global Strategic is one of these companies and is a rising name in the thriving BPO space. With the help of the company, hundreds of Virtual Assistants have started their careers. Now maybe this time, it would be you who’s telling your own success story. 

Global Strategic Business Process Solutions has career opportunities for Back-Office Associates or Virtual Assistants. Even if you have no prior work experience or are a fresh grad, the company is more than open to hiring and always looking for talented, enthusiastic, and motivated individuals who want to not only find a job but who want to start their career in a growing company in a thriving industry. 

QUALIFICATIONS FOR A ENTRY-LEVEL VIRTUAL ASSISTANT 

Being a beginner Virtual Assistant means that you’d be starting from the ground up. However, there are still some qualifications that you need in order to successfully land that next VA application.  

To start, any Virtual Assistant must have good English communication skills. Due to the nature of the job description, one must be able to speak and email in fluent English, Additionally, you should also have at least two years of experience in college.  

But, if an applicant has not completed any college, they can always present a vocational or short course certificate. Fresh graduates of nearly any course are strongly encouraged to apply. With that being said, here are some of the qualifications for a beginner level Virtual Assistant position in the Philippines: 

• Reliable 
• Resourceful 
• Knows how to manage time 
• Computer literacy  
• Adaptability 
• Positive attitude
• Can communicate in English

So, if you want to ace your VA interview, make sure to take note of these qualifications and highlight your strengths. For more information on the top tips for Filipinos going to a Virtual Assistant Interview, check out this article below: 

Virtual Assistant Interview Questions – VA Interview Tips For Filipinos 

JOB DESCRIPTION OF ENTRY-LEVEL VIRTUAL ASSISTANT 

A beginner Virtual Assistant could be given a wide range of administrative tasks. Among the responsibilities you could expect are working on: 

• Administrative Support 
• Customer Service 
• Website maintenance 
• Graphic Design 
• Social Media Marketing
• Sales
• Accounting and Bookkeeping

To learn more about these, check out our overview of what a Virtual Assistant provides. 

Because of the broad spectrum that a Virtual Assistant covers, one must remain flexible and willing to jump from one task to another. With that in mind, here are some specific responsibilities that a beginner VA might have: 

• Scheduling appointments – One of the main reasons why clients hire virtual assistants is to free up space in their busy schedules. This task requires you to make sure meetings and appointments are scheduled on time 
• Managing email accounts – Clients can have several inbound emails that need filtering. It’s your job to manage these emails and present the most important ones to your client while handling the ones that don’t require their attention.

Whether you are looking to become a Virtual Assistant or already are one and want to take the next step in your career journey, Global Strategic wants to hear from you. Apply today and become our newest Back Office Associate or talk to our Recruiters about our other roles and whether or not you would be a fit. 

The post Beginner Virtual Assistant Jobs In The Philippines – Hiring This 2022 appeared first on Global Strategic Business Process Solutions.

If you’re into real estate, then you should already be thinking about hiring virtual assistants from the Philippines. Just what sets the Philippines apart from the rest as your top outsourcing destination? 

Naturally, virtual assistant services always provide immense value to any business, especially in today’s time. No matter if you’re a seasoned veteran, or someone who’s just starting out, you could always find value in hiring a virtual assistant. 

 In this article, we’re going in-depth on the benefits of outsourcing to the Philippines. Furthermore, we’ll be talking about how outsourcing real estate VAs can push your business forward. Not a lot of people know how competitive the real estate industry can be. And, knowing how cut-throat it is, professionals can’t afford to slow down. Unfortunately, massive workloads can definitely hinder your businesses’ growth. That’s where virtual assistants come in! 

 With the help of professional real estate virtual assistants, you can focus your energy toward doing the thing your best at – closing deals. Now, you can go out, meet clients, build partnerships, and negotiate contracts. Meanwhile, you’d have someone that’s handling administrative tasks and handling cold calls for your business. And no one does this better than Filipino real estate VAs.

 Among the services you can expect from your trustworthy real estate VAs from the Philippines could range anywhere from appointment setting all the way to transaction coordination. As a result of this free time, you get to pour your efforts into face-to-face client activities. More importantly, you get to offload your repetitive tasks to virtual assistants which gives you more time to do things that you love or spend your free time with your family and friends. 

 With that being said, here are the top 5 reasons why you should outsource your real estate business to the Philippines. 

 PHILIPPINE VIRTUAL ASSISTANTS ARE GLOBALLY COMPETITIVE 

According to an article from Awesome Outsourcing, the Philippines ranked second in the entirety of Asia when it came to English proficiency. Moreover, you can find skilled workers with years of experience as a real estate VA. This is thanks to the rapid expansion of the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry in the country.

Because of this, Filipino VAs like those under Global Strategic received extensive communication training.  Additionally, with years of BPO experience, the Philippines is no stranger to the needs of clients from across the globe. As such, you’d find a wide variety of services related to several industries. 

COST OF HIRING FILIPINO REAL ESTATE VAs 

Hiring a Filipino real estate VA can cost a fraction of the price of hiring someone locally. Because of this, one might think that you’d be compromising quality for the lower price. But, when it comes to Filipino VAs, that is never the case. 

Aside from having a high literacy rate and English proficiency, the Philippines also allows for cost savings for any business. You save not only on the cost of the employee but also the overhead and other costs of having to hire someone locally.  

BOOSTING PRODUCTIVITY FOR YOUR BUSINESS 

Hiring virtual workers from the Philippines can definitely make your business thrive! Although outsourcing has its challenges, years of experience have made Global Strategic a staple name in the BPO industry. 

The company not only excels in providing virtual assistance for real estate businesses, but we also provide Data Entry, Call Center services, Legal and Business Support, Mortgage Servicing Solutions, Accounting, Property Management, Digital Marketing, and more. 

For the real estate industry, some of Global Strategic’s services include:

• Broker’s Price Opinion 
• REO Billing and Reimbursement 
• Social Media Marketing 
• REO Administrative Solutions 
• Accounting and Bookkeeping 

Global Strategic provides a wide variety of real estate services to help real estate agents and brokers make the most of their time and focus on what really matters: getting sales. By working with us, you get access to skills, resources, and talents that enable you to direct your efforts to your core competencies. 

You can schedule a business strategy session through our online portal.  

FILIPINO REAL ESTATE VIRTUAL ASSISTANTS ARE EFFICIENT 

According to an article from Gulfnews, Filipinos are considered some of the most hard-working employees, and this sentiment is definitely echoed when it comes to working in the BPO industry.  

Although each Filipino is different, the majority still wants to work hard to earn a decent living for themselves and their family.  

“Filipinos are known to be hard-working multitaskers. Putting our love and dedication into our work is a way of showing pride in our country.” 

EUGENE TAMBOLERO CANTARA, Product specialist/medical representative 

Filipinos are fast learners. So, when given the proper training, Filipinos can become extremely efficient in whatever job you put them in be it as a Real Estate Virtual Assistant or anything else. 

Immediate Labor Pool Availability 

In a previous article, we discussed how the Philippines is the perfect place to outsource your business. Among the reasons why is the availability of workers ready and willing to take on new jobs. Based on the article, the Philippines has a high volume of fresh graduates and educated adults who would be suitable.

Among the industries that most Filipinos want to work in our Legal and Business Support, Accounting, Information Technology, and of course, Customer Support Services.  Thanks to the advancement of technology and new businesses flowing into the country because of the BPO industry, many are looking into Virtual Assistant positions. This demand for BPO jobs within the country has attracted some of the best and brightest individuals, allowing employers and outsourcers to hire high-quality, talented individuals who are an asset to the company they work for and the clients that they serve.

The BPO industry in the Philippines is rapidly advancing and has not shown any sign of slowing down. Learn more about how outsourcing to the Philippines can help grow your real estate business with the help of our virtual assistants.

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