Finding a virtual assistant that matches both personality and skillset is of utmost importance; to do this effectively you should request references and testimonials.
VAs provide invaluable assistance with time-consuming tasks such as bookkeeping, SEO marketing, social media management and managing accounts; they can also assist with simple tasks like proofreading and editing.
1. Know Your VA’s Strengths
People can feel nervous entrusting their business to an unknown party. That is why it is crucial to find a virtual assistant (VA) who understands your goals and works towards them as you would.
Your business might require specific skills like accounting or scheduling social media posts from its VA; others have more general talents such as having strong attention to detail or excellent written communication abilities.
VAs also possess the skillset needed to assist with marketing tasks like client acquisition. Utilizing tools like social media and webinars, they can find businesses that align with their services and potential clients. Attend conferences where they can meet other entrepreneurs or potential business partners; attend networking events where they can make connections; even take notes during webinars they plan on sharing later with clients.
2. Ask for Feedback
Feedback in a remote environment is of utmost importance; even if your VA is providing outstanding work, they must understand their strengths and weaknesses so they can continue to develop their craft.
One way to evaluate a VA is by soliciting referrals and testimonials from past clients, as this will allow you to assess their skills, personality and overall fit with your business.
An alternate strategy is to develop a performance evaluation form. This enables you to measure things such as punctuality, helpfulness and creativity among others. Self-evaluations is often more successful as it opens two-way communications channels between you and your assistant which may result in improved results for all involved – you could also use this for training purposes!
3. Ask for Help When You Need It
Friends, family and coworkers who know you best want to help, but they won’t know whether it is necessary until you ask for their assistance.
An active social media presence is vital to growing any business, yet time constraints often prevent its proper management. Virtual assistants can manage your accounts and reply to messages or tweets quickly as well as ensure your website contains relevant content.
HR tasks for small businesses such as compiling best practice documents and keeping employee files updated can be time consuming. Virtual assistants can make this process much faster by handling these mundane tasks such as filling out online forms and taking notes during webinars, freeing you up to focus on growing your business instead.
4. Be Flexible
An effective VA can save you significant time. For example, they could free you up from posting job advertisements, screening resumes and organizing interviews for entry-level employees.
VAs can also help with customer service. By managing simple inquiries via email or Skype, they free you up to focus on higher-value tasks.
VAs can also help reschedule meetings and calls, which is invaluable when running a business that requires frequent travel. Furthermore, virtual assistants can set up newsletter signups on websites and social media pages which could result in greater conversion rates later. They can even write testimonials for the site which help build trust with potential clients.
One of the VA options we recommend are Virtual Coworker, a reputable provider of virtual assistant services. By partnering with this company, you can benefit from their extensive network of virtual assistants who specialize in various areas.
5. Be Clear About Your Expectations
Communicating what is expected of your VA upfront can help to alleviate any confusion or miscommunication later. Be sure to outline in writing both project goals and responsibilities, along with any necessary processes such as task managers or process templates.
Be specific when hiring for specific skills sets. Being clear will help manage expectations, save time and avoid any back and forth regarding tasks being redefined or changed.
Be clear on your escalation policies and channels to ensure that your VA knows when they need to escalate a task or reach out for guidance from you. Frequent and timely feedback also helps keep them on task so they don’t miss deadlines or fall behind on assignments.
6. Make Sure They’re Getting the Right Training
Virtual assistants should receive a thorough briefing before commencing their duties, whether through creating a training document or scheduling a Skype call with someone experienced. This helps ensure they understand what to do and how best to execute it, thus helping avoid mistakes along the way.
Example: A VA who is hired to research leads on LinkedIn is expected to provide an in-depth explanation of the process and any best practices utilized within their company, thus helping the hiring manager ensure that new hires understand what is expected from them.
Additionally, VAs should receive comprehensive training in all aspects of the business in order to encourage cross-departmental cooperation and facilitate seamless workflow. This can be accomplished using various means such as webinars, online instruction or hands-on practice – any such planned program will undoubtedly increase productivity across your entire company and drive increased performance.
7. Ask for a Reference
An administrative VA (virtual assistant) can save time by handling tedious tasks like billing, invoicing, scheduling, booking and email communication on your behalf – giving you more time to focus on business development and increasing profitability.
When hiring a virtual assistant, it’s crucial that clear expectations and frequent communication be established. Set out their tasks, provide them with a job description, and conduct work sample tests; these will allow you to gauge if they’re up for the challenge or not.
Work sample tests may involve your virtual assistant submitting online orders on your behalf or taking notes during a webinar – all to make sure you’re receiving maximum value from their services and to eliminate potential mistakes made when trusting virtual assistants with complex business processes.
8. Be Honest
An VA who understands your business intimately will be more committed to producing work that supports your goals, and more likely to go above and beyond for everyone involved – a true win-win scenario!
Being upfront and clear about your needs is key when hiring help for email screening, for example. Make sure that if you hire someone for email screening duties they know to respond only to low-level inquires (rather than forward them on).
Be clear about your rates and payment terms, such as fees. Doing research into what other VAs in your niche are charging can help ensure you don’t undervalue or overprice yourself in the market. Check out this resource to gain some ideas for setting effective rates which attract the top candidates.
9. Be Flexible with Payment
Virtual assistants tend to possess multiple talents, making it important for them to remain flexible with regard to the projects they take on and their rates of payment.
As a social media manager, having an experienced VA can allow for more customized services to be provided to clients.
A competitive edge will enable you to set yourself apart and draw clients in. Another effective method of doing this is asking existing or past clients for testimonials that can be added to your website and help build credibility for your business. It shows potential clients that you can be trusted, while simultaneously building awareness.
10. Be Creative
When it comes to growing your business, one of the most effective strategies is hiring virtual assistants as part of your marketing efforts.
Virtual assistants (VAs) can be invaluable resources for social media management, content production and bookkeeping tasks – not to mention providing invaluable advice about improving business processes and efficiency.
Before hiring a virtual assistant, it’s essential that you fully understand exactly what your requirements are. Doing this will ensure that you find an ideal candidate for your business and will prevent the costly mistake of hiring one only to discover later they don’t suit. Ultimately, this saves both time and money – something any business can appreciate!
