The Top 10 Reasons to Consider Hiring a Virtual PA

The Top 10 Reasons to Consider Hiring a Virtual PA

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Virtual PA

We all hate having to do our business ‘housekeeping’ chores; whether it’s organising your filing, sorting out your business cards, typing up letters or just simply getting your tax return done… the list is endless. So how can a virtual PA help you become more effective, more efficiently? 

 

Top Ten Reasons to use a Designated Virtual PA 

 

  1. Got a big presentation to do? Let the professionals take charge!

With minimal supervision, we can turn around a document in Word, Excel, PowerPoint or even Canva and turn it from a jumble of numbers and words into a coherent work of art, fit for any boardroom. As businesses move from kitchen table to a more corporate environment, it’s more important than ever before to keep teams engaged. No death by PowerPoint over here thank you!

2. Flummoxed by figures, or simply no time to file that tax return?

Why not get us to take a look at the books and help you get back on track, whilst you concentrate on making the big bucks.

3. Give us an inch and we’ll go the extra mile 

We are never happier than when we have a new project to get our teeth into; whether it’s investigating new business opportunities, or following up existing leads, we like to help you make a difference. We know that some of the most important business research can fall to the bottom of the list. Let us cover this area for you and stay on top of what your competitors are doing whilst you focus on the day to day running of your business.

 

4. Lost for words?

As a team of experienced professionals, we are well-versed in the art of creating compelling copy and putting together savvy sales pitches.

Writing copy is time-consuming, we need to be more aware and sensitive than ever to our customers, clients and colleagues work/personal situations.

5. We do it, so you don’t have to! 

Don’t have time to enter all those potentially lucrative prospects into your system? All we need is a list and we can upload, annotate and amend to your heart’s content.

6. All dressed up and nowhere to go?

Networking can be a time-consuming activity, but just one well-connected contact can pay dividends. We can help advise on which groups are suitable and research any hidden costs or lucrative opportunities that you hadn’t considered.

7. Let us organise your life, leaving you free to concentrate on what makes your business tick.

We can coordinate meetings, arrange travel, type up minutes, compile documents, respond to email on your behalf and even contact previous clients for their feedback on your product or service.

Our PA’s are in touch with highly experienced travel professionals who can ensure both business and pleasure trips are fully managed.

8. Raise your game and we’ll up your ante! 

We can search for, and post, relevant, interesting, compelling content onto your social network profile pages, with the click of a mouse and the tap of the keyboard. We can also help you optimise your pages, reach out to your contacts and keep your pages fresh and relevant – leaving you free to go and do the networking you were born to do!

9. Take the chaos out of conferences

Use us to project manage your corporate events. We get to grips with the gritty details, ensuring no glass is left unfilled. Whether you need client hospitality, private banquets, or large scale exhibitions organised, we are there to calmly communicate and coordinate with your clients and suppliers.

10. Ever get that sinking feeling?

The superpowers of a good PA are often overlooked; whether it be the ability to efficiently manage calls, whilst juggling emails and monitoring a jam-packed diary, or tracking down lost and forgotten receipts. Being able to depend upon a reliable set of hands, eyes and ears can be the difference between staying on top, or getting mired in an administrative nightmare. Never is that more apparent when you are in desperate need and don’t know where to turn. Enter, Designated! We are often able to put you in touch with fellow super-powered assistants, potentially looking for a step up, down or change in direction. We can also vet CVs, write up job adverts or simply field responses until you have time to start interviewing.

 

So, if you are looking for your next PA or just know you need help but can’t justify the cost of hiring someone on a full-time basis, perhaps going ‘virtual’ is the best way forward – after all, you’ve only got time to lose. Get in touch and chat to us about how we can help.

 

To chat though how we can help, contact our Head Of Client Services Sophie Brown on sophie@designatedpa.com or call us on 020 7952 1460.

 

Designated’s top tips when choosing an accountant

Designated’s top tips when choosing an accountant

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Accountant

10 things to look for when choosing an accountant.

 It is important to take your time when choosing an accountant. Now that so many businesses and people are working remotely, location isn’t so much of an issue – meaning you can look to hire the best talent to suit you and your business, wherever they are located.

Designated has been able to recruit a team of dedicated accountants that will best suit our clients, here are some of the qualities that we looked for:

Highly Organised

Accountants have a very busy role, with several deadlines throughout the month or quarter, they need to be aware of what is coming up when and who needs to be informed within the organisation. Any data or information must be collected in good time to avoid any last-minute scrambles.

Excellent Time Management

Going hand in hand with being highly organised, one of the top qualities needed by your accountant is excellent time management skills. With so many tasks that will quickly pile up if they are not seen to, your accountant must be able to assess how much time is needed to complete each task. For a senior accountant, there may also be elements of team management and meetings with the company’s leadership that can take up a lot of their valuable time.

Highly Experienced (within your sector) 

Being able to offer a wide range of skills can only come with many years of experience. Your new accountant should be able to offer a selection of testimonials and references backing up their work. Your accountant’s knowledge and experience need to extend to your particular area of business. While ideally, a prospective accountant may have dealt with many different types of industries it is recommendable that they have worked with yours so that they can hit the ground running.

Attention to detail 

Your accountant should be analytical, paying close attention to detail with the ability to spot errors quickly and efficiently. Your accountant should have the skills to be able to review and identify inconsistencies in large amounts of data or information. Attention to detail is necessary to ensure consistency and accuracy in financial reporting. This information can be used to help make crucial business decisions so it must be correct.

Honest and trustworthy 

Your accountant needs to have a strong sense of ethics. Integrity is a valued characteristic within an accountant, they must know right from wrong and always display integrity in their accounting and bookkeeping work. You need to be able to trust your accountant, you also need to know that if something goes wrong and if they make an error, they will be confident and honest enough to discuss this with you so that the mistake can be rectified.

Flexible

Your accountant may be analytical and structured but it is also important that they have a sense of flexibility in their work. Not everything is going to go to plan and they’re not going to always be able to gather the information that they need from a business owner or senior leader when they need it. Another reason why time management is important for this role. A high level of agility is also necessary for quick response to regulatory changes in the industry only then can they provide quality service to the business.

Up to date with the latest technology

If you’re searching for an accountant, you need to know and understand the latest technology that your prospective accountant can use. Designated is a Xero bronze partner and our finance team are all zero certified advisors trained by Xero to deliver you the best financial support. Xero is the perfect finance solution for most businesses providing a fully integrated suite of services, for example, Xero integrates with your bank account to enable easy reconciliations. 

 Up to date with ongoing training and certifications

If you’re searching for an accountant you must ensure they have maintained the proper certifications and are continuing their training and development within the industry. Thanks to the digital age, things are changing all the time, though it may not affect their workload right away, over time technology trends will continue to transform the accountancy industry.

Communication Skills 

Your accountant needs to possess excellent communication skills. They must be able to inform senior leadership of updates and changes in clear and easy to understand language. Accountants can impact critical business decision making, so they must be heard and understood. They may also need to collaborate with employees in different departments, with perhaps little financial experience, so explaining things in a way that will be understood. This leads us nicely onto our next point.

Collaboration

A good accountant can recognise their place within an organisation, make the most of networking and getting to know their colleagues. Accountants are team players and provide support to different departments in the organisation – that’s why they should be able to efficiently communicate the knowledge of their expertise to clients and decision-makers.

At Designated, we believe that a good accountant is needed throughout the year and not just at year-end to prepare your annual accounts and self-assessment. Your dedicated Designated accountant will do this and so much more.

  • Bookkeeping
  • Monthly management reports
  • Payroll
  • Accountancy
  • Strategic financial support

If you would like to know more about working with Designated’s accountancy team, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with Michelle for a friendly chat: michelle.elliott@designatedgroup.com

Why is it important to understand your customer journey?

Why is it important to understand your customer journey?

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Customer Journey
In today’s world, consumers are more informed than ever before. They have a range of tools to help them with decision-making when it comes to buying a product or service, which is why it’s important to understand how your company (brand) is perceived and the reasons why.

Company perception is driven by a range of different things for consumers and they will see and experience different things depending on where they are in their purchase or research journey.

For example;

  • How easy is it to find you on the internet or social media?
  • Do you look credible and trustworthy?
  • Can they find your contact details?
  • Do you answer the phone or emails?
  • How do you correspond with clients
  • What do others think about you?
  • If you’ve used them before have they remembered you?

So, customer experience is key to business success, because if you give the customer a positive experience then they will remember you and become an advocate for your business. A loyal customer is a more profitable one because they will promote your business free of charge and return to you in the future! If they have a poor experience, then they will tell everyone and anyone who will listen which can be very damaging, especially when it’s broadcast across social media.

That is why understanding the customer journey is so important. Knowing that all the customer touchpoints for your business are on brand and up to date and that your internal processes are set up to truly deliver a positive customer experience.

A typical customer will research and evaluate your company and your competitors before deciding whether to purchase a product or service. By understanding this journey, and the influencing factors that help with their decision-making, you can better position your product or service to meet their needs as well as deliver a positive experience throughout the process.

 

Typically, consumers go through 3 different stages before making a decision.

1. Awareness stage – a consumer is looking to solve a problem
During this stage, a consumer will be researching and looking for educational information about the problem they want to solve or the need that they have.
At this stage, consumers will be looking at these channels; Google searches so SEO is important at this stage, website, Google My Business, social media and any advertising.

2. Consideration stage – a consumer is considering options to solve the problem
During this stage, consumers will be reading what you offer on your website and competitor websites to see who offers what. They may also be reading articles and case studies. Most importantly consumers will be looking to understand what other people think of you so they will be influenced by testimonials either on your website or on trusted customer satisfaction websites e.g. Trustpilot etc.

3. Decision stage – the consumer evaluates and decides on the business that will help them solve the problem
At this stage, they will make contact with the company, either by email, telephone or through the contact form on your website. This is the stage where internal processes are key to ensure the consumer experiences a good customer experience and finds out any specific information they require. They are kept up to date and informed about the service or product they are interested in and feel valued.

Just as important as the 3 stages above, is the post-purchase/service experience, which is when you can really make a customer feel valued and turn them into a loyal customer. This is the time to ensure you have all the relevant contact details and GDPR compliance to make sure you can keep in touch with the customer in the future either through newsletters or emails.

Capturing customer satisfaction through surveys or testimonials is also important for your business. If they’ve had a positive experience then they will become an advocate and give you a good customer satisfaction rating or testimonial which money can’t buy!

What to do now?
So now is the time to review all the customer touchpoints for your business, and make sure that all your customer-facing marketing channels are up to date and relevant. Review your internal processes so that you understand what happens when someone gets in contact with you and how is it managed internally to ensure they receive a positive customer experience.

This is the customer journey and by understanding all of the elements that contribute to this, you will be able to successfully grow your business and ensure it is better than your competitors and deliver a positively memorable customer experience.

If you would like to find out more about how Designated can help with understanding your customer journey, please do get in touch:

Michelle Wheeler, Marketing Director, michelle@designatedgroup.com 020 7952 1460

Accountancy vs Bookkeeping

Accountancy vs Bookkeeping

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Accountancy vs Bookkeeping

 

For somebody who doesn’t work in finance, it can be difficult to distinguish the difference between accounting and bookkeeping, as there are some administrative areas that can overlap depending on the structure of a business and how many employees it has working in its finance department.

However, while bookkeepers and accountants share common goals, they do support your business in different stages of the financial cycle.

Bookkeeping is more administrative, recording financial transactions. Accounting is more subjective, giving you insights into your business’s financial health based on the information provided by bookkeepers.

If you’ve ever wanted a clear definition between accountancy and bookkeeping, keep reading.

What is a Bookkeeper?

Bookkeeping is a legal requirement for all businesses of any size to carry out, and it refers to the recording of the financial transactions of a business, whether a sole trader, a partnership, or a limited company.

A bookkeeper will record all transactions either manually or within an ERP system like XERO and keep copies of all invoices, receipts and evidence of these incomings and outgoings.

The role of a bookkeeper will include:

  • Recording financial transactions
  • Posting debits and credits
  • Producing invoices
  • Preparation of financial statements (balance sheet, cash flow statement, and income statement)
  • Maintaining and balancing subsidiaries, general ledgers, and historical accounts
  • Completing payroll

What is an Accountant?

An accountant has expert knowledge surrounding taxes and accountancy. A business needs to consider more than just the in’s and out’s calculated by a bookkeeper, the right accountant will guide and act as financial business partner, ensuring all allowable expenses are claimed and all decisions are tax efficient to not only the business but the owners, directors, and partners.

The role of an Accountant will include:

  • Preparing adjusting entries (recording expenses that have occurred but aren’t yet recorded in the bookkeeping process)
  • Reviewing company financial statements
  • Analyzing costs of operations
  • Completing income tax returns
  • Aiding the business owner in understanding the impact of financial decisions

Designated Accountancy Services

All business owners want to have complete control of their business finances and have an up-to-date view of their financial performance. Our team of Designated accountants are experts who work with you on a flexible basis, whether you need support one day a month, one day each week or more.

Designated is a Xero Bronze Partner and our finance team are Xero certified advisors, trained by Xero to deliver you the best financial support.

Do you wish you had answers to questions like these?

  • How much tax will I need to pay next year?
  • How much profit did we make last month?
  • What do you mean by Tax Digital?
  • Am I managing payroll in the most effective way?

If so, then our Accountancy services may be your solution, please get in touch:

Vicky Garbett, Head Of Accountancy vicky@designatedgroup.com 020 7952 1460 

What skills should you look for when hiring a Marketing Manager?

What skills should you look for when hiring a Marketing Manager?

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Marketing Manager Skills

If Marketing were easy. Everyone would be doing it. Sometimes it feels like they are. All experienced marketers will be able to share examples of when they’ve been approached with some ‘helpful social media or marketing ideas’ from IT/Sales/HR/Finance, pretty much everyone who isn’t working day to day in the field.

In an industry as competitive as marketing it can be difficult trawling through hundreds of CV’s to search for ‘the one’. At Designated we have worked with freelancers and full-time marketers for many years and can quickly identify the character and skills that sets apart the stand-out candidates.

With so much noise out there these days, it’s no secret that you’ll want to get the most out of your marketing efforts and your marketing manager must decide how best to use limited resources to create an effective strategy.

We believe your marketing manager should possess all of the following skills on some level:

Social Media Savvy
Love it or loathe it, social is here to stay. A good marketer will know their way around the platforms as well as the most suitable ones for your audience. There is no ‘one size fits all’ approach with social media and it takes a lot of time (and money) to get things going. Finding the right mix of content, frequency, and engagement for each network can be a challenge.

We mention money as social media is still considered (by some) a free marketing tool. It is not. Organic social can often feel like going into a dark room, locking all the doors and windows and then shouting about your company. Social media is a pay to play game, but it’s not all bad. Paid targeted campaigns can give you data-driven insights to help you pinpoint who your audience is and how best to market to them. An experienced marketing manager will have paid social media experience and can help guide this process.

Creativity
Marketing has always benefited from creative types using their gifts of coming up with campaigns and slogans which make the masses laugh, cry, think, and most importantly, purchase.

One of the biggest challenges today in creative marketing is standing out in a saturated market. Your marketing manager won’t always have new products or updates and so a bit of creative thinking is required to re-market and re-introduce existing content or ideas in new and interesting ways.

An eye for design is always beneficial and if they have the technical design skills, even better! They can turn content around quickly and independently. This is especially useful in social media, to piggyback on trending topics or news stories.

A Clear Communicator
A marketing manager needs to be able to communicate effectively and start with asking what is going to be the end goal of a project. It often involves gathering lots of information from several departments.

Avoiding miscommunication online and offline is key, and there will be many times your marketing manager will be required to explain a strategy or plan that might initially feel quite alien to other key stakeholders. A great marketer will be able to get the rest of the team/company excited about the campaign helping to excel employee advocacy.

Resourceful
We cannot stress the importance of this skill. If you’re a business owner or senior leader, you are going to need your marketing manager to be resourceful. Their work may often involve making something out of nothing depending on the size of your organisation. They need to be able to make the most out of the tools available to them and where additional resource is required, make their case for additional marketing tools or team members.

Multi-tasker
Any marketer can attest to multi-tasking being a necessity. Having thirty tabs open at any given time, flicking between programs and projects is often second nature to experienced marketing managers, who are trying to cram a lot in during their working day. With so many platforms and technical processes, a seemingly simple task can actually take a lot of time. As well as multi-tasking we would also add highly organised with excellent time-management to this point. 

Data-Driven
If you’re looking to hire marketing manager, it is important to consider a candidate’s analytical skills. From social platforms to email and website insights to CRM systems. Marketing is as much about the numbers as it is about something looking good.

Data-driven marketing bases brand communications on information that has been gathered through research or previous campaigns. Testing and optimising will form the basis of many marketing strategies, great marketers will need to be able to read the data and adjust accordingly. Marketers need at the very least, to have a knowledge of what their benchmark is and know what impact their campaign is having. Marketers who are naturally curious do well in this area of the role.

Marketing managers are a great asset to a company. They ensure that the business they work for gets noticed by consumers and consumers can communicate directly with them if they have any questions or concerns. It is a job that requires persistence, intelligence, discipline and patience among all of the skills above. No doubt there are many more we don’t have room for in this article, but if you take one thing away from this blog post, it is that some of the top marketing managers can bring a tremendous amount of value to your organisation.

At Designated, we have sourced some of the best marketing talent to save you the time. So, if you’re looking to hire a marketing manager for 5 hours a week or 35 hours a week, we can provide the best person for the job based on your specific requirements.

We don’t pretend to know your business; you know your business, but we will ask questions and push for answers through our business review/discovery sessions. This will ensure we have a full understanding of your goals, what your market looks like and how we can position your message clearly, to give your brand value in the marketplace and ensure you are a consideration for your target audience.

If you’re looking for support in the areas of Marketing, Accountancy, Bookkeeping or PA we’d love to talk.