Should you own or manage an insurance agency and want to scale it but lack the funds to employ on-site employees, there is a cost-effective solution – hiring a virtual insurance assistant. You can delegate jobs to your virtual assistant (a remote worker) to complete.
This article will briefly provide you with an overview of this option. There are substantial benefits to hiring a remote insurance assistant. There is also a correct way of doing so. Firstly, we need to explain what the term insurance virtual assistant means.
What is an insurance virtual assistant?
A virtual insurance assistant works remotely, and as a consultant to your agency. This is not a formal employee of the agency. Instead, such a helper is contracted to complete specific tasks. Therefore, work is outsourced to a contracted employee or consultant to complete.
For instance, with Aristo Sourcing, most skilled virtual assistants are from native-English-speaking countries. By contrast, other agencies use virtual assistants from India or the Philippines. These assistants may or may not be in the same country as you. Many live and work abroad.
What are the benefits of using an insurance virtual assistant?
The most significant benefit to any company is cost savings. A virtual assistant can mitigate employee costs, and remove payroll taxes, which can instead be spent on growing the business.
Additionally, hiring a virtual assistant means onboarding great talent – thus, people with the right skills to complete the work. In many cases, these virtual assistants are so well qualified that you might not be able to afford them as an on-site employee.
Moreover, many businesses delegate their mundane and time-consuming work to a virtual assistant to complete. A virtual assistant can complete these tasks for much less than you or any of your core staff could, another cost saving.
The time-consuming tasks would include work such as phone reception or data entry. Many VAs are already trained in working with CRM or management systems. Therefore, less training needs to be provided, again saving you time and money.
What are the top tasks an insurance virtual assistant would be able to complete?
The main tasks that are typically allocated or subcontracted to a virtual assistant are:
- data entry – including the migration or reconciliation of data into AMS/CRM systems;
- underwriter warm-transfer;
- endorsement processing; payment processing;
- email inbox management; pipeline management;
- new business issuance;
- telemarketing cold leads and/or appointment setting;
- new business and preparation of renewal quote;
- phone receptionist.
When you hire a virtual insurance assistant, how do you make them part of the team?
Even though a virtual insurance assistant is subcontracted as an outsider assisting your team, it is best to include them in your team.
By closing this gap, you will have better working relationships between the core team and your VA. While seemingly an invisible assistant, a virtual assistant is still a person with own interests and hobbies. They are also hard-working, working long hours. It is essential to include them in meetings to add value.
Also, they can be handy in providing insights from an outside perspective on how some systems can be improved, suggesting the technology to be included in the day-to-day operations to speed up projects.
In conclusion
When you hire an insurance virtual assistant, you should do so because you need one, not simply because other major companies are taking such steps.
Yes, a virtual assistant will save you time and money, but only if you require such services.
Therefore, you need to analyze your agency to see where you are in terms of your growth and where you are facing issues.
We do suggest you approach an agency when you are ready. If by any chance the onboarding of a virtual assistant fails, this can lead to a waste of investment.
However, an agency such as Aristo Sourcing offers to monitor the assistant, thereby taking the pressure off you.