Amazon, which famously started as a bookseller in 1994, is now considered the largest online retailer and prominent cloud services provider.
Amazon also gives the opportunity to other sellers to showcase their brand online and increase sales. Now, sellers can create stores on Amazon, and customers can check the brand collection online on both computers and smartphones.
Is it easy for the sellers to operate the online store by themselves?
Not at all! It’s not an easy task – unless you want to spend all of your time and energy on your online store instead of focusing on other things that might be productive for your business. There are a lot of tasks to perform in an online store, from organizing inventories to analyzing sales. These tasks require a lot of time and energy. And if you try to handle all this by yourself, you will be extremely frustrated, worn out, and exhausted at the end of the day. Working smart is better than working hard. So, it’s better that you hire an amazon virtual assistant rather than putting all of your energy into managing an online store.
You might be wondering what actually an amazon virtual assistant is?
An amazon virtual assistant does all those tasks that do not require your time and energy. They can work as full-time employees, part-time employees, and even just work for a few days a week. You can hire them for all those tasks for which you don’t have the required skills. Some of the tasks that an amazon virtual assistant can perform are as follows:
1. Helps with Administrative tasks
Hiring an Amazon virtual assistant means you’re now free from the worries of all administrative tasks. Your virtual assistant will take care of all the administrative tasks such as managing office supplies, scheduling meetings and events, and organizing the files and information of your store, etc.
2. Takes care of Customer Service
Customer service is an important element in creating the brand’s reputation. One has to spend hours on customer service because, if not handled properly, you’ll fail to expand your brand. Hiring a virtual assistant will relieve you from this stress as well. Your virtual assistant will handle the customer service department for you. Your VA will now solve all the queries of your customers using the proper information. They will be in charge of responding to reviews of customers and also deal with exchange items and refunds.
3. Product Sourcing
Product sourcing is another important and time-consuming task. But if you hire an experienced virtual assistant, they can help you with this difficult task as well. An experienced virtual assistant knows how to negotiate with suppliers and is able to expand your product range while keeping the cost to a minimum.
4. Better in market research
Market research is another hectic but key element in businesses. An experienced virtual assistant is better in market research than any other employee. Your virtual assistant will know what your competitor is up to, and they will figure out which product is more in demand on Amazon. They are also aware of different ways to improve your sales.
Now, if reading through this got you interested in hiring a virtual assistant, you might be wondering how to hire one as well. Below are the detailed steps of how to hire an amazon virtual assistant:
1. Set your scope of work
You should know why you want to hire a virtual assistant for your amazon store. If you’re only planning to hire them to handle the administrative department for you, you cannot expect them to do product sourcing or handle customer relationship departments. So, to avoid any confusion or misconceptions in the future, you should make sure that your scope of work is well defined.
2. Create a job posting
Creating a job post is the most important step in hiring an amazon virtual assistant. Mention all the skills and requirements that you want in your virtual assistant. It’s better to be realistic and direct with the job requirements in order to avoid any future conflicts or misconceptions.
While creating a job post, avoid using slang words as they have different meanings for different people and can be misinterpreted. Avoid using abbreviations as well. Make your job posting crisp and clear that explains your company’s vision and the skills you’re looking for in an Amazon virtual assistant.
3. Interview your candidates
No matter how many candidates you have to interview, you must take your time in interviewing every single candidate. You can interview your candidates on calls or video chats. Ask relevant questions like how many years they have been in this field. What are their skills? Do they have any other experiences than being a virtual assistant?
Asking all these questions will help you hire the right person for your job. And at the end of the day, you will be able to source the right person for your job.
4. Time for trial tests
After conducting interviews, it’s time for the test trial. Conducting trial tests is a win-win situation for both the candidate and the owner. Through a test trial, business owners can get the idea of whether the candidate is right for the job or not. You can figure out whether the skills and experiences your candidate talked about were accurate or not.
The candidate can also make sure whether or not they can work in the work environment that you are providing. Your candidate will also get the idea of what you are expecting from them. If the virtual assistant clears the test run, hire them ASAP.
The other thing you need to keep in mind is that your amazon virtual assistant cannot increase your sales or bring growth to your company just by spinning the wheel. Your amazon virtual assistant also needs some time to adjust and understand your brand and then steadily work on your brand’s growth.
Follow the above-stated guidelines when hiring an Amazon virtual assistant. And you get to focus on your other important business activities now. Your Amazon virtual assistant will take care of all such minor yet significant tasks for you!
