Is a Virtual Professional Right For My Insurance Agency?
The terminology of an assistant has spun upon its head in only one year, the year where the pandemic hit and people with physical files and trunk loads of work had nowhere to hide. The world realized that “work from home” is a true commodity available to mankind but never exercised. A similar story followed people who owned any kind of business. The use of an assistant in front of your eyes was no longer an option and hence they relied on virtual assistants.
However, now with the dust settling in the post-pandemic era, the importance of a virtual assistant for any industry has increased many a fold. Moreover, if you own or run an insurance agency, you may not have the time at your disposal to do everything yourself. This is where your ace virtual assistant steps in. We weigh the pros and cons of a virtual assistant in the insurance agency setting as the basis of this post.
The Muddy Puddle
The biggest advantage of a VA in your line of work (insurance) that he or she gets to do the groundwork which took a massive amount of hours in a day. This includes cultivating excel sheets, making cold calls, or those dreaded data entry tasks that you never liked but couldn’t rely on anyone for them. The VA is your one-stop solution to all the dirty groundwork!
Phone Calls
The average phone call (business or personal) lasts about 3 minutes and 15 seconds. However, a call not intended for you lasts 1 minute and some seconds. Imagine getting 20 of each in a day making you lose precious 60-120 minutes every day. Moreover, that one led that you might miss because of not attending all your calls. Your VA is the answer to this problem. Not only will he take these calls, but can also provide you with an end-of-the-day report where you get to chose which people are to be called back!
Emails
On average if you reply to 50-100 emails a day, it takes off about an hour from your day. Most of these emails are one-line replies that can be just sent through templates. The same can easily be done by your virtual assistant. Not only do you seem highly responsive to your clients (which they love) but also provide special care to the one requiring urgent or immediate assistance.
Re-Work
Two-thirds of Americans will get their insurance renewed. This comes with an easy set of paperwork or emails but can take you hours to settle. However, this is an essential part of an insurance agency and cannot be ignored. Again, the superhuman on your side will handle this recurring part of your business at a low cost and especially providing you time to handle new leads.
No More Coffee Runners
One of the downsides of course is the fact that you will have to get your coffee (no pun intended). You may need to get it yourself or get a new runner if you have made it to that point of financial authority. However, it is a small downside of what you gain with a VA.
Not Available To Print The Paperwork
Once again, due to non-physical presence, you may have to make your copies and prints. However, this can be resolved if you either go digital with your paperwork or provide access to your printer to your VA. Either way, it is a small glitch that can be worked around.
You do not need mathematical calculation to find out that a VA in your insurance agency will be more beneficial than harmful. You may not be used to this at the start but the whole social distancing thing grows on you! Remember, it’s the new way of life and there is no way to ignore it, especially if the pros outweigh the cons.
By Mehar Ijaz