According to the Cambridge Dictionary, the definition of a secretary is ‘Someone who works in an office, writing letters, making phone calls, and arranging meetings for a person or for an organisation’.
Here at SmartPA however, we would argue that this outdated, reductionist description does not even come close to the full breadth of skills and services our virtual secretaries provide.
So read on as we dissect this definition, explain how we do things differently, and reveal why outsourcing secretarial services to SmartPA is the ideal solution for modern businesses.
Changing the way you do business
For years, businesses had just one option – hiring an in-house secretary to take care of their administrative needs. For growing businesses, this involved an unavoidable element of risk. It is, after all, a huge commitment to employ a secretary full-time. Plus, it offers zero flexibility for seasonal businesses that experience quiet and busy periods throughout the year.
As technology has advanced, many organisations have embraced the modern approach of remote working. And most recently with lockdown restrictions effectively making remote working the only way for some businesses to continue to operate, those who formerly adhered to the traditional ‘9-5 office’ model of working have had their eyes opened to the ease and flexibility of working remotely.
Many business owners who previously hadn’t considered outsourcing their secretarial services could now start to envisage how easily a virtual secretary could fit into their business.
The SmartPA alternative
So, the Cambridge Dictionary definition of a secretary being ‘Someone who works in an office’ is clearly no longer necessarily true. Instead, outsourcing admin duties to a virtual secretary who works outwith your office is now widely recognised by businesses across a range of sectors and industries as the ideal solution for the modern workplace.
The reason? Virtual secretary support services offer a highly flexible and cost-effective alternative. With regards to SmartPA, for example, you only pay for our productive time. We charge for the amount of time spent on each task and nothing else. Plus, you can scale up and scale down your monthly package in response to your business’ needs.
So, whether you require the help of an individual virtual secretary, or your increased business demands requires a multi-skilled virtual team of secretaries, we offer responsive flexibility. To return to the Cambridge Dictionary definition once more, that ‘Someone’ can easily become a whole team of SmartPA secretarial experts at your disposal, as and when you require it.
Bringing a new perspective to your team
Each of our SmartPA virtual secretaries has valuable previous experience. They are proven professionals in their field and, as a result, they can provide constructive recommendations to improve the way your business manages secretarial tasks.
Each one also undergoes our training and accreditation program, ensuring all of our clients receive a service based not on what we do, but on how we do it!
But more than this – your specially assigned virtual secretary will study your brand guidelines and completely immerse themselves in your business processes so they have a thorough understanding of your direction and goals, and therefore integrate seamlessly into your existing systems.
Read our article on 5 reasons why you should hire a virtual secretary.
So much more than writing letters and answering calls
The second half of the Cambridge Dictionary definition implies a secretary’s tasks are limited to ‘Writing letters, making phone calls, and arranging meetings’. And whilst of course, a SmartPA virtual secretary can provide these services, we also offer a plethora of other secretarial support services including:
• Diary and email management
• Customer management
• Document production
• Data entry
• Bookkeeping and payroll
• Transcription and typing
• Personal assistance
• Receptionist duties
The modern way to hire a secretary
Forget spending weeks advertising the role of a secretary, sifting through endless CVs, and interviewing dozens of prospective candidates.
Hiring a SmartPA secretary starts with a simple chat. First, we will ask for a brief overview of the tasks you would like to outsource. After assessing your needs, we will tailor a flexible monthly package to suit your requirements and allocate you one of our highly trained virtual secretaries, or team of virtual secretaries, according to your needs.
Our aim is to hit the ground running, seamlessly taking on all your admin tasks and providing the agile, flexible, secretarial support your modern business needs.