Business Profile
The Virtual Office Secretary - Secretary of your dreams
13th March 2008
“Sarah is highly skilled and always adds the polish to many of our projects. She is responsive, fast and, above all, very good at what she does.”
“I love you with all my heart. Thanks. I’m having another rubbish day with loads of problems, so it’s great to be able to not worry about a job.”
When clients say such nice things so publicly, you know you’re getting it right. Sarah Rhoads (pictured) has been getting it right since she started providing virtual office secretarial services to clients in 2000, as her website www.virtualofficesecretary.co.uk will testify.
She started with a completely blank sheet, but bucketfuls of drive and determination, and a CV brimming with endorsements from managing directors who probably wish she still worked for them.
Seven years later, she is a sought-after and award-winning PA providing ad hoc and ongoing services for a long and diverse list of clients, who have made tangible business gains by using her.
Sarah’s best-selling point is that she is agile, skilled and highly organised. Her adage is that if she can’t find a way, she will make a way.
“A good virtual assistant can make a huge contribution,” she explained.
“I am proud to be one of the most expensive in the country, working at £35 an hour, but I believe I provide the best service and greatest value for money. I’m one of the most professional and committed virtual secretaries in the business.
“To give you an idea of the scope of my work, all documents sent out by Zurich have been formatted by me, and for another organisation with over 2,000 members worldwide, I’m responsible for all member services, new people joining and leaving, renewals, organisation of workshops and so forth. There’s no one sat in an office doing that job, so I’ve cut their administrative costs by about 70 per cent.
“If, for instance, companies were to send formatting work to a specialist, they would be charged £60 an hour. I have those skills in-house, and if a client needs work done, I will work until midnight if necessary.
“There are huge benefits for clients who have overseas offices, because with time differences, they can send me something last thing and find it back on their desk the next morning.
“It really boosts their competitive advantage.
“Most companies will pay £20,000 to £30,000 for a decent secretary, and you can double that when you add in holiday pay, pension payments, sick pay, maternity leave and so on.
“With me it literally only costs my client when I’m physically working. If the phone rings, I stop the clock.”
Sarah is probably also the most advanced virtual secretary in terms of technology. She took a natural interest in IT, built her website herself, learnt how to use software which makes jobs quicker, and communicates using Voice over Internet Protocol. This gives cost savings which she can pass on to her clients.
Not surprisingly, there is no mess on her desk. It’s something most of us would envy, but Sarah finds this amusing and explains that if there’s nothing there, it’s not critical. But that’s probably because she’s already sorted it before you had chance to ask about it.
The Virtual Office Secretary
Tel: (01672) 870309
Email: info@virtualofficesecretary.co.uk
