by Jo | Sep 6, 2023 | AI, Automation, BLOG, Business Tools, Productivity |
In the digital age, technology and AI-driven advancements have become useful tools in various industries. In the realm of coaching, where personalised guidance and support are essential, VAs who use AI have the potential to revolutionise your client interactions and practice management. So, let’s explore how VAs can use AI to support and empower your business with the tools to enhance productivity, efficiency, and client satisfaction.
How VAs and AI can Benefit your Business
VAs using AI bring an array of capabilities that can transform the coaching landscape. These intelligent technologies have the power to automate time-consuming administrative tasks, offer personalised support based on client data analysis, bridge language barriers, provide analytical insights, and even optimise marketing efforts. By harnessing the potential of AI and VAs, coaching professionals can enhance their productivity, efficiency, and overall client satisfaction. Here are just a few ways in which it can assist businesses in the coaching field:
1. Streamlining Administrative Tasks
Coaching professionals often find themselves consumed by administrative duties, leaving little time for their core expertise. Enter the AI-powered VA! A VA can use tools to efficiently handle scheduling, appointment reminders, and even client intake forms. By automating these time-consuming tasks and using AI insights to improve their management, coaches can focus their energy on delivering high-quality coaching sessions, ultimately improving client outcomes and satisfaction.
2. Personalised Client Support
VAs using AI can gather and analyse vast amounts of data, allowing them to tailor personalised experiences for clients. They can mine information from client surveys, progress reports, and session notes to gain insights into individual goals and preferences. With this knowledge, VAs can assist coaches in customising coaching plans, offering relevant resources, and providing timely feedback, resulting in more effective and meaningful coaching relationships.
3. Language Translation and Communication
With coaching becoming a global industry, VAs with language translation capabilities have become essential for coaches working with clients from diverse linguistic backgrounds. AI-powered VAs can seamlessly translate and transcribe conversations, documents, and even coaching materials, ensuring effective communication between coaches and their clients, regardless of language barriers. This enables coaches to expand their reach and connect with a wider audience, also promoting inclusivity and diversity.
4. Powerful Analytical Insights
AI-equipped VAs possess the ability to analyse data and track progress, offering coaches valuable insights for optimising their coaching approaches. By collecting and analysing data from various sources such as client feedback, performance metrics, and industry trends, VAs can help coaches identify areas for improvement, refine their coaching strategies, and adapt to the evolving needs of their clients. These data-driven insights enable coaches to continuously deliver exceptional coaching experiences.
5. Automating Marketing and Client Acquisition
Using AI, VAs can streamline marketing efforts for coaching businesses. By utilising data and analytics, they can assist coaches in identifying potential leads, creating targeted marketing campaigns, and managing social media platforms. From automated email campaigns to personalised content creation, VAs help coaches establish a strong online presence, attract prospective clients, and foster customer engagement, ultimately growing their coaching businesses.
AI-Powered Virtual Assistants: The Future of Coaching at Your Fingertips
The integration of virtual assistants and AI technology is revolutionising the coaching industry by streamlining processes, enhancing client experiences, and driving business growth. Coaches who embrace this technology can unlock new levels of productivity and efficiency, while also delivering personalised support to their clients.
As the coaching industry continues to evolve, coaches who leverage the power of virtual assistants and AI can stay ahead of the curve. By doing so, they can maximise their impact, attract more clients, and ultimately achieve long-term success.
If you are looking for support with your business, feel free to schedule a call!
by Jo | Jan 11, 2023 | BLOG, Freelancer, Online Business Manager, Outsourcing, Tips, VA |
For many business owners, stepping away from their business can feel like a daunting prospect. After all, your business is your baby! As your business grows, it can be increasingly difficult to keep up with all the responsibilities that come with it. But there are some very real benefits to stepping away, and leaving your business in the hands of a capable team. You could also consider increasing your team members by outsourcing. Here are some reasons why you should consider letting go of the reins once in a while.
1. Delegating tasks allows you to focus on growth opportunities
When you’re bogged down in the day-to-day running of your business, it can be easy to be too busy to take on bigger projects that could help to take your company to the next level. By letting your team handle the essential day-to-day tasks, such as accounting or customer service, you free up time and energy that can be put towards achieving more ambitious goals.
2. Helps to stay competitive
By delegating certain tasks to professionals who understand the market, you can make sure that you’re up to date with the latest trends and best practices in your industry. This will ensure that you remain competitive in an ever-evolving landscape.
3. Outsourcing increases efficiency
When work is outsourced to a third party, they often have access to better resources and technology than what is available to you in-house. This means that tasks can be completed more efficiently and with greater accuracy than they were before.
4. Reduces costs in the long run
Of course, outsourcing does come with an upfront cost. However, it’s often worth it in the long run when compared with trying to do everything yourself or relying on expensive full-time employees who may not be as productive as external specialists would be.
5. It gives you time for other areas of life
Sometimes, running a business means you put other important areas of life on the back burner. This may be spending time with family, looking after your health and well-being, or neglecting personal projects that you want to do. With a good team around you, you can take some time to focus on other things.
Is Stepping Away Right for You?
If you’re not sure whether leaving the responsibility of your business to others is right for you, here are some things to consider:
- Are you struggling to keep up with the demands of running your business?
- Are you finding it difficult to find time for the things you love outside of work?
- Are you feeling burnt out and in need of a break?
- Are your profits stagnant or declining?
- Are you having trouble scaling your business?
If any of these things resonate with you, then delegating might be something worth considering for your business. It can take some of the pressure off, free up your time, and allow you to focus on the things that matter most to you.
Stepping away from your business isn’t always easy, but it can have numerous benefits if done correctly. By outsourcing or delegating certain tasks, you’ll be able to focus on high value activities while staying competitive and saving money in the long run – all while giving yourself some much-needed breathing room!
Hiring an OBM
One of the best ways to step away from your business and leave it in capable hands is by hiring an Online Business Manager (OBM). OBMs specialise in taking on the day-to-day tasks of running a business, so that you can focus on the big picture, or take some much-needed time for yourself. But that’s not all! They can manage your team and help them be more productive, help you develop and implement strategies that will drive growth, and provide valuable insights and feedback based on their experience in the industry.
Whether you are in the coaching industry, or a small business owner, I can help you achieve your business goals while you take a break. Feel free to book a call for a friendly chat, and gain back some time for yourself!
by Jo | Oct 28, 2022 | BLOG, How To, Tips |
Is Your Work-Life Balance Causing You Stress? Here’s How To Fix It!
We all know that work-life balance is important, but what does that really mean? We’ve all been there… you work from home and the kids are off school, so your attention is divided. Or, you’re working long hours that eat into your personal time. Maybe you are under financial pressure and feel you have no choice but to prioritise work over family time. When you are spinning many plates, it brings many feelings, including guilt, worry and stress!
What if we thought about it in a different way? Life is messy, unpredictable and full of surprises, so forget trying to achieve a perfect balance. You will never get there!
Instead, think about work-life integration. Work-life integration means being able to bring your work and personal life together seamlessly. It means making choices that make sense for you, your family and your job. It’s not about balancing things out, it’s about integrating everything as best you can to suit your lifestyle and make life that little bit easier. Here are my top tips for achieving work-life integration:
1. Take regular breaks and get outside every day
If you’re working from home, or even if you’re not, it’s so important to take regular breaks throughout the day and make sure you get outside, even if it’s just for a short walk around the block. Getting some fresh air helps clear your mind and makes you feel more refreshed when you return to your desk. It also means that you can get some exercise in whilst fitting it into your day without having to make time for a separate workout later on. Win win!
2. Set your own hours and stick to them!
If possible, set your own hours and try to stick to them. For example, if you start work at 9am, then aim to finish at 5pm (or whatever time suits you). This means you have some time in the evenings with your family or doing something fun. This might not always be possible but it’s worth aiming for.
3. Set boundaries
Having clear boundaries for yourself is essential to your well-being, and the structure helps you stay focused and organised. One quick change you can make is to not take work calls or check emails outside of work hours. It can be difficult to switch off from work when you’re always connected, so setting boundaries will help you integrate work and life in a healthy way.
4. Make time for the things that matter to you
You can’t have a healthy work-life integration if you’re constantly putting your job before everything else. Make sure you take time for the things that are important to you, whether that’s your family, your friends, your hobbies, or just some time for yourself.
5. Don’t be afraid to ask for help
If you’re struggling to find balance in your life, don’t be afraid to ask for help from a friend, family member, or professional. Sometimes we need a little bit of help to get back on track. Accept that you’re only human, and that you can’t do everything all of the time.
As an OBM and VA, I can help you take back control of your time and find a better way to integrate work and life. Outsourcing some of your work can help you handle the mundane tasks that eat up your time, help you stay organised and on track, and give you more time for the things you love.
The modern way of working means that the lines between work and personal time are increasingly blurred. With the help of a VA, you can get more of your personal time back and create a work-life routine that helps you thrive. If you are ready to make some changes, feel free to schedule a call!
by Jo | Sep 6, 2022 | BLOG, Online Business Manager, Productivity |
SOP stands for ‘standard operating procedures’ and are the backbone of many larger organisations. Having SOPs in place allows work and other business-related procedures to be carried out in a repeatable and organised way. Think of SOPs as a set of rules that everyone follows in order to do a task. When everyone is on the same page, it is clear what needs to be done, by whom, and in what order. It also helps to solve problems, in that the SOP can be referred to should a staff member be unsure of the next step.
The bigger your business becomes, the more important it is for operations to be done in a standardised fashion. By completing tasks in a coordinated manner, it reduces the risks of errors and miscommunication, while maintaining efficiency. This not only applies to tasks themselves, but to an array of business functions such as health and safety procedures and making sure your business complies with various legislations.
How are SOPs created?
One of the best ways to create an SOP is to use a document to show each process involved in completing a task, and have that information available to staff. That way, all employees have the same understanding and ‘blueprint’ to refer to. If a change in procedure is needed, the document can simply be updated and employees made aware. This step-by-step approach shows each stage of a procedure, and it is documented, displayed and stored in an accessible format.
Where can I store SOPs?
Once you have your SOPs created in a document, you may be wondering where they can be stored so that employees have access. Unless all your staff are onsite, using cloud-based options is recommended. With the rise of virtual teams, it makes sense to store your SOPs on a platform that anyone can access with internet, as long as permission is provided. Here’s a few options:
- Google Drive – this is a popular way to store documents such as SOPs. It gives you several different formatting options such as spreadsheets, word documents, slides and more. It is easy to use and anyone that has shared access can view the required SOPs.
- Excel – using the cloud-based version of Excel is an excellent way to create and store spreadsheet documents. This format allows you to present information in a variety of ways, and it’s easy to locate specific items to edit and update when necessary.
- Airtable – a useful platform where you can manage team collaboration and more. This includes creating a master list of SOP documentation, and having access all in one place.
- CODA – this innovative platform is designed for teams. As well as a familiar document interface, it also allows for interactivity between team members. It is a useful option for both creating and storing SOPs.
- ClickUp – a free, work-sharing, project management and team collaboration platform that is a great option for storing data such as SOPs. Also, there are specific ClickUp SOP templates to help make creating your SOPs a breeze!
SOPs are essential in communicating information to employees, whether it is a blueprint for completing tasks, setting out health and safety rules, environmental operations and more. Improving communication reduces risks of error, improves efficiency, and brings cohesion to your team. If you are looking for advice on the best tools to use, how to structure your SOPs, or want to brainstorm your procedures, feel free to get in touch!
by Jo | May 24, 2022 | BLOG, Business Tools, Online Business Manager, Productivity |
For any business that requires clients to make appointments, an online scheduling system brings many benefits. They’re a straightforward, efficient solution that can improve business productivity by streamlining processes.
Some of the top benefits of online appointment scheduling include:
- Less time spent answering calls for booking enquiries. This means you can be more productive in other areas of your business.
- Your diary is managed on one system, rather than going back and forth between different ones. Again, this saves time and improves efficiency.
- An online booking system is always operational. This allows potential clients to book an appointment whenever they want, 24/7. It also increases your sales because you are not restricted to working hours.
- Clients can easily make bookings thanks to the convenience of online appointment scheduling. It is also easy cancel or reschedule. This increases client satisfaction with your services and your business.
- Less ‘no-shows’ – clients who use online booking systems tend to keep their appointments. This may be due to interactions with their own online calendar or email, as they are reminded ahead of time that they have a commitment. You can also set up text alerts for your clients. With less ‘no-shows’, you don’t miss out on revenue due to clients not turning up.
- Many scheduling apps or software come with additional features that bring a deeper insight into your business. For example, it may gather details about your clients that you can use to understand them better, and ultimately create services to better meet their needs.
What is the best appointment scheduling software?
There are many different booking applications out there, and what works for some might not be the best for others. Also, you will need to factor in considerations such as price, usability and decide what features you need. Here is a quick overview of some of the most popular appointment scheduling systems.
- Calendly – one of the most popular apps, Calendly has a minimalist interface that makes it appealing and easy to use. There are also mobile apps and plug-ins that make sharing your schedule simple.
- ScheduleOnce – this integrates with many other apps and is good for teams. You can easily add booking pages to your website as well as send calendar invites. There is a free plan available.
- Acuity Scheduling – this is a versatile and adaptable app that can handle a wide range of appointment scheduling situations. There is a seven-day free trial period, however there is no free plan. They offer email and chat support to customers.
- Simplybookme – what makes this app different is that it has usage-based pricing. In each pricing plan, you can select a set number of features. They provide customer service via email, chat, and mobile applications.
- YouCanBookMe – allows you to connect your calendar and only share the times you want with your clients. They book directly into your schedule. Clients receive their own notifications, reminders, calendar invites, and other services.
- TidyCal – a simple way to book and schedule meetings. It also integrates with many other office apps and can be customised. You can add TidyCal to your website using a simple widget.
An appointment scheduling system will let you and your clients know where you stand. When your calendars are synchronised, clients are reminded to arrive on time for their appointments and you can plan your day accordingly. This gives you more time to focus on other tasks that are essential to your business.
As an online business manager, I’m here to help you implement methods that will improve how you run your business. If you would like advice on scheduling systems, or any other business operations and processes, feel free to book a call!
