It’s not easy to find the best assistant to hire for your business. You must know what tasks to outsource, and you must find someone who can work with your team’s dynamics. What’s more, you have to choose among different service providers. For example, how do you decide between VAs from Wing Assistant vs. TaskBullet?
Trying to find the perfect virtual assistant for you? We got you covered! Wing has general and specialized VAs who will free up your time and take on everything from simple to-do’s to entire processes. We provide an end-to-end service—we handle everything from vetting and screening to supervision and payroll. Wondering how Wing VAs compare to assistants from TaskBullet? Keep reading for our detailed breakdown!
How Does TaskBullet Work?
TaskBullet was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Huntington Beach, CA. It focuses on providing streamlining services to small and mid-size enterprises following a U.S. business hour schedule. The company also features several areas of expertise on its website, including:
- Customer Service
- Real Estate
- Admin Support
- Data Entry
They also have an unusual approach to counting the number of hours they bill clients–instead of using periods of time, TaskBullet uses what they call a Bucket System.
What Are Buckets?
TaskBullet’s Bucket System informs their pricing structure. There are three plans available for customers: the Starter Bucket, the Light Bucket, and the Expert Bucket. The three plans provide 20, 60, and 240 hours of coverage respectively.
The company maintains that the bucket system is the best way to work with remote professionals. They claim that billing on a subscription basis will result in “wasted” hours, and they cite lack of productivity as a reason.
Besides buckets of hours, TaskBullet provides custom solutions for clients who need enterprise solutions or more assistants.
What Work Can TaskBullet Take On?
TaskBullet maintains that their VAs specialize in 9 areas of expertise–data entry, admin support, real estate, social media, WordPress, phone answering, marketing, sales, and research. They also provide examples of what their VAs can do within each area. For example, their Data Entry Virtual Assistants update medical records, create new user profiles, and keep CRMs up to date.
Just like TaskBullet, Wing Assistant provides a comprehensive list of tasks its VAs will handle for clients. Instead of areas of expertise, Wing has arranged its use cases by industry, allowing customers to see how Wing’s services fit into their organization’s existing processes.
Why Would an SMB Owner Choose TaskBullet?
TaskBullet’s main messaging revolves around the perceived flexibility of the bucket system. According to the company, their virtual assistants are only “on the clock” as needed, which could be interpreted as the client getting their money’s worth.
Another factor that could compel prospective customers is the supposed ease of doing business with TaskBullet. They claim to have no hidden fees, monthly billing, or contracts, something that many managed service providers offer as well.
Why Would an SMB Owner not Hire TaskBullet?
Still, hiring TaskBullet isn’t an all-in-one solution. For one, although they have detailed lists of tasks their assistants can do, the actual tasks listed are basic. What’s more, bulleted lists of use cases aren’t present in all service pages.
Furthermore, claiming a subscription model encourages workers to slack off is somewhat disingenuous. It’s because a great VA wouldn’t want to waste the hours they’re paid to work. When you find the right people for the job, they’d do the work expected of them during the hours they’re supposed to.
VAs are aware that their services are their “calling card,” and if they show that they’re not productive during hours they’re paid to work, it reflects badly on their professionalism. Consequently, they risk their ability to generate income.
Also, the bucket system is counterproductive for clients needing an “on call” remote assistant or one that provides coverage from 9 to 5 (e.g. CSR, sales calling, or receptionist services). After all, it only takes one irate and neglected customer for a business to go viral for the wrong reasons. If you purchase hours by the bucket, you’ll end up paying more than if you subscribe to a service with a flat monthly fee.
How Does Wing Assistant Work?
Irvine, CA-based Wing Assistant is a product-driven managed B2B marketplace. It specializes in connecting busy executives and managers with vetted, high-quality remote talent. Wing provides both general and specialized VAs surrounded by a team of support professionals.
Can You Really Assign “Unlimited Work” to a Wing VA?
Wing defines ‘unlimited’ as any number of tasks a client can assign to their virtual assistant within an agreed-upon 8-hour window. So, mileage would vary depending on the complexity of tasks assigned. VAs must also render work for 8 continuous hours.
This arrangement works best for busy startups and SMBs–since young companies have plenty of to-do’s and small core teams, having a VA would be a game changer in terms of productivity.
What is Wing? Is It Completely AI?
Although the global outsourcing industry has been around for several years, it continues to grow and evolve. For instance, Deloitte’s 2018 survey of more than 500 executives showed that automation and use of the cloud are disrupting outsourcing. One of those companies that blend AI and traditional business processes is Wing.
Wing’s QA system seamlessly blends AI and human oversight in several ways. One is by flagging negative sentiments in clients’ comments and notes to the VA. Wing’s quality assurance team catches these negative signals and alerts the VA or their supervisor about them.
Note, though, that although the company provides AI-supported and enhanced services, all tasks that a client assigns gets picked up by a human virtual assistant. Combining AI and human labor allows Wing to keep its offerings at such a competitive price.
Wing VAs are supported by team leaders, supervisors, and Customer Success Managers (CSMs) who all ensure that assistants provide the level of service for their clients. CSMs act as the liaison between the client and the company, and team leaders and supervisors interact directly with the VAs and monitor their work.
To ensure total client satisfaction, feedback that customers send through the Wing App goes directly to CSMs and the Quality Assurance team. The VAs themselves do not get to read the feedback, so customers are encouraged to provide their candid thoughts on their VA experience.
Wing Assistant vs TaskBullet: Comparing Services
Wing Assistant and TaskBullet apparently serve the same market, which consists of busy SMB and startup owners. However, Wing Assistant serves a wider array of clients. Wing also offers more specialized services. Comparing the use cases on the two companies’ service pages, Wing seems to be offering VAs with more industry-specific skills. TaskBullet’s offerings seem basic.
For example, Wing has separate pages for Sales Development and Sales Calling, as well as for Content Marketing and Content Writing. For businesses that expect to hire talent with a well-defined set of skills, Wing is the answer.
Wing has a highly engaged Customer Success Team. Once a client signs up, Wing’s CSMs schedule a planning call with them. In these calls, the client and their CSM will discuss the client’s goals and take note of everything clients need so they can get started.
Wing Assistant vs TaskBullet: Comparing Pricing
Besides services, we must also consider how Wing and TaskBullet set their pricing:
TaskBullet has three types of “buckets,” Starter, Light, and Expert:
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- Starter – $11/hr billed at $220.00 for 20 hours of VA services
- Light – $9/hr billed at $540.00 for 60 hours of VA services
- Expert – $6.50 billed at $1560.00 for 240 hours of services
TaskBullet’s pricing doesn’t provide much information on features or benefits–for example, in the “Expert” bucket you’re just getting 240 hours within which you can assign tasks to your VA. The company doesn’t specify what makes these hours “expert” hours. In fact, none of the buckets specify what the inclusions are other than the number of hours in the bucket.
Wing Assistant also has three main price points, Limited, Basic, and Pro:
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- Limited – $499 for 80 hours/mo of services ($6.24/hr)
- Basic – $899 for 160 hours/mo of services ($4.99/hr)
- Pro – $1,699 for 320 hours/mo of services ($4.68/hr)
Note that the Pro subscription grants access to 2 assistants. Clearly, Wing’s services are more reasonably priced. Their most affordable tier, Limited, offers 4x the number of hours than TaskBullet does, and at a lower per hour rate too.
Furthermore, Wing lists down all the inclusions in their price tiers, allowing customers to gauge which services are part of their must-haves, and which ones are nice-to-haves.
The Verdict: Wing vs TaskBullet
Business leaders have to put on different hats to keep their teams running. The smaller and newer a company, the more hats its managers must wear, which means more tasks potentially falling through the cracks. Fortunately, keeping your schedule in tip top shape is easy once you have an assistant.
When choosing between Wing and TaskBullet, it’s a no-brainer: Wing Assistant is the better option. Wing’s wider array of offerings, blended AI and human assistance, CSMs and QA team, and competitive price point puts it a cut above TaskBullet.
Want to find out more about how Wing Assistant helps businesses succeed? Speak with Sales today!
Aya is Wing Assistant’s blog manager. When she’s not wrangling content briefs, editing article drafts and handling on-page SEO, she is crafting messages for Wing’s other communication materials. Aya writes about SaaS startups, marketing for startups, search engine optimization, and pop culture.
