Our Review of Zirtual: 8 Pros & Cons

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If you’re a business owner looking to optimize certain workstreams and save time and effort by outsourcing certain tasks, virtual assistants might be a solid solution for you!

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Virtual Assistants (VAs) are remote professionals who provide a wide range of administrative, technical, and creative services to businesses and entrepreneurs.They work from a remote location, using digital communication tools to perform tasks that typically do not require physical presence. 

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Post pandemic, the flexibility and productivity afforded by VAs has taken center stage, and here’s how you can help your business or your team by hiring a VA:

• Save costs compared to a full-time employee. Businesses can avoid expenses related to office space, equipment, and benefits.
• Scale rapidly and easily. Because you can have VAs work on an as-needed basis, it allows you to scale the service up or down based on workload.
• They also help shore up skill gaps or specialization in your team, as they offer a wide range of skills - from administrative support to specialized tasks like digital marketing and customer service. Even if you’d prefer to keep specialized tasks in-house, delegating routine tasks to VAs allows you to focus on core activities, improving overall productivity.

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Despite the benefits, businesses often face challenges when seeking VAs, especially through virtual sources like freelancer websites and networking platforms. The first and most obvious challenge is that of any hiring - it’s difficult to assess the quality and reliability of VAs on freelance platforms, since reviews can be inconsistent, and past performance doesn’t always guarantee future results. Secondly, the hiring process itself is time-consuming and detracts from business critical functions.

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Why turn to specialized VA services?

Given the massive benefits of hiring a VA weighed against the many challenges in recruiting them, many businesses turn to VA services that specialize in matching companies with high-quality VAs. Here’s why we recommend this as a viable course of action, regardless of the size of your firm or the level of tasks you require from the VA:

1. Vetted professionals: Good VA marching services have rigorous screening processes, ensuring that businesses get qualified and experienced VAs.
2. Tailored matching: Just like not every skilled employee is necessarily a good hire, not every skilled VA will be a good fit. VA services match their staff with clients based on the specific needs and industry requirements of the business.
3. Ongoing support: While the initial search and matching is important, often it is equally important that you have guidance and assistance as the contract proceeds. These companies provide ongoing support and management, ensuring a smooth working relationship.
4. Risk mitigation: Specialized VA services often have policies and guarantees in place to protect businesses from potential issues. This is particularly useful if you or your business deals in sensitive data, copyrights, or high stakes transactions.

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What is Zirtual?

Zirtual is one of the most popular specialized VA services available today. They focus on providing high-quality, dedicated virtual assistants to businesses of all sizes. Zirtual’s VAs are U.S.-based, college-educated professionals who undergo a thorough vetting process. This ensures that clients receive reliable and skilled assistance tailored to their specific needs.

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How can Zirtual support your business?

Zirtual offers a wide range of services across various industries:

1. Administrative support: Email management, scheduling, travel arrangements, and data entry.
2. Customer service: Handling customer inquiries, support tickets, and client follow-ups.
3. Marketing support: Social media management, content creation, and email marketing.
4. Research: Market research, competitor analysis, and data gathering.
5. Personal assistance: Managing personal tasks, such as online shopping, event planning, and personal appointments.

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Industries that benefit from Zirtual’s services include startups, real estate, legal, healthcare, and e-commerce.

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We came across the following points that clients praised on public review sites such as Trustpilot. 

1. Professionalism: Zirtual VAs are praised for their professional demeanor and high-quality work.
2. Reliability: Clients appreciate the consistency and dependability of the services provided.
3. Time-saving: Businesses benefit from the time saved by offloading routine tasks to skilled VAs.
4. Customer Support: Zirtual’s support team is responsive and helpful, ensuring a smooth experience for clients.

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Now that we’ve taken a look at what Zirtuual is, and what it offers, we’ve prepared a list of pros and cons that you may want to consider before opting for its services. 

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How are Zirtual’s pricing plans structured?

Zirtual has 4 key pricing plans, and can be utilized by 1, 2, 3, and 5 users respectively. Plans start from $549/mo, with 12 hours of tasks included, and cap at $1699/mo with 50 hours of tasks included. This does come off as pricey, but you may want to reach out to the team to discuss the best pricing plan for your business needs before opting for one through the website. 

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Pros and Cons of working with Zirtual

Pros

1. High-quality VAs: Zirtual’s rigorous vetting process ensures that clients receive highly qualified and experienced VAs. This reduces the risk of hiring unqualified individuals and ensures consistent performance.
2. U.S.-based assistants: All VAs are based in the U.S., which minimizes time zone differences and cultural barriers. This facilitates smoother communication and better understanding of local business practices.
3. Comprehensive support: Zirtual provides comprehensive support and management, including regular check-ins and performance reviews. This ensures that the working relationship remains productive and any issues are promptly addressed.
4. Flexibility and scalability: Zirtual offers flexible plans that allow businesses to scale their VA support up or down based on their current needs. This adaptability is crucial for growing businesses with fluctuating workloads.

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Cons

1. Cost: Zirtual’s services are priced higher compared to hiring VAs directly through freelance platforms. This might be a concern for small businesses or startups with limited budgets.
2. Limited availability: As Zirtual VAs are U.S.-based, businesses operating in vastly different time zones might face challenges in syncing work schedules.
3. Service specificity: Zirtual specializes in administrative and personal assistance tasks. Businesses looking for highly specialized skills (e.g., advanced technical support or niche industry expertise) might find limited options.
4. Commitment requirements: Zirtual’s plans often require a commitment to a set number of hours per month. This could be restrictive for businesses with very sporadic or low-volume VA needs.

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Our review

Zirtual offers a robust solution for businesses seeking high-quality, reliable virtual assistants. Their U.S.-based, college-educated VAs, coupled with comprehensive support and management, make them a valuable partner for many companies. While the cost may be higher than some other options, the quality and reliability often justify the investment. However, businesses with very specific needs or those operating outside of U.S. time zones should carefully consider whether Zirtual’s offerings align with their requirements. Overall, Zirtual is a strong choice for businesses looking to streamline operations and improve productivity through dedicated virtual assistance.

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One other option - Hire a 1% executive assistant with Leverage Assistants

Founded by serial entrepreneurs, Leverage Assistants is a white-glove service that helps you find 1% assistants and then teaches you how to build leverage with them. If you're interested in a strategy session to learn how to use an assistant, click here.

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Stephen is one of the founders of Lumiere and a Harvard College graduate. He founded Lumiere as a Ph.D. student at Harvard Business School. Lumiere is a selective research program where students work 1-1 with a research mentor to develop an independent research paper.

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