A virtual assistant can be a game changer for your business. A virtual assistant (VA) can stay on top of the daily and repetitive responsibilities within your business and allow you to focus on your revenue generating activities that will help you scale and grow your business. All of this sounds amazing right? Yet if you do your research on virtual assistants, you will see a mixed bag of experiences ranging from the amazing to the horrible. So why are some more successful than others?
They Hire the Right People
Finding the right people to fill the right seats. This is the number one objective of anyone who is hiring, whether it’s in-house or virtually. The advantage of hiring virtually is that you have a wider pool of talent to choose from, especially since location is not an issue. Often times, through the rigorous process of creating a job description, posting it, sifting through applications, vetting applicants several times and finally choosing someone, there is the danger of choosing someone who is just “okay” as opposed to someone who is a perfect fit. Finding a perfect fit means careful review, research (personal references), and testing. Skills and experience are great but you need to consider your company culture and find a way to figure out if the applicant also aligns with it. (Read more about the importance of company culture HERE).
You don’t want to settle. When you settle for less than a perfect fit, you run a high risk of having to replace one virtual assistant after the other. Take the time to find that perfect fit or find an organization that can do that for you. When you find someone who is an A-team player on the same level as you are, you will find it easy to share your vision and you will have someone who will have the same goals and the same drive that you have.
They Take the Time To Train Their Virtual Assistant
We’ve seen this happen time and again. A business owner is ready to hire a virtual assistant, they get set-up and then… Nothing. They expect their virtual assistant to function with little to no training. Pretty soon, frustration builds on both ends and the business partnership goes sour. Some will blame their virtual assistant without realizing that they missed a major piece in the puzzle. Training and proper onboarding is a huge part of the foundation of a fruitful and long lasting business relationship with a virtual assistant. They are not a “plug and play” implement that you can just leave and expect to make a difference. No matter how skilled and experienced a VA is, you will still need time to train them because every business has a different set-up and they need to learn the one that is uniquely yours, not to mention learning how to use your systems and tools. If you feel like you don’t have the time to train your VA, then you can start by setting-up video tutorials, sending them links to materials they can study etc.
They Set-up Solid Business Processes
If you have solid business processes built around every area of your organization you are creating the framework for consistency and excellence all throughout your business, these will help when hiring someone new as well. Business processes are essential to every company no matter how big or small and taking the time to create them will always yield incredible returns. This is a fundamental component in your success with your virtual assistant. Setting up processes is the way to ensure that you experience the full benefits of having a virtual assistant and see the incredible results.
Scale Virtually is the only virtual assistant company that fully integrates processes with remote solutions and virtual assistant. (CTA here)
They Communicate Clearly
When you have remote staff or virtual assistants, communication is extremely important. Since you don’t have the luxury of popping-in to check on them in the next room or call them into your office physically, the channels and the manner in which you communicate can be complex. You need to be very clear from the get-go. Find the channel that best suites you, set the tone with which you communicate and then set very clear expectations. This is another major area which you need to set-up processes so that everyone on your team is always on the same page. How will you be tracking accountability and productivity? What do you expect to see daily, weekly and monthly? How do you want to keep track of everything and everyone? Create an open and honest way of communicating with your virtual assistant so you can build rapport and trust.
They use the Best Systems and Tools
Finding the best professional services (systems and tools) to use for different areas of your business is another essential element to your success with your virtual assistant. There are so many out there that perform different functions so you need to do your research. Find those that will suit your needs, fit your budget and that can be optimized by your processes. (Click HERE to read about our top 10 recommended tools.) Do you have a CRM? How about a project management platform? What other tools and systems could be useful for your business? The best doesn’t have to be the most expensive, rather, assess what features each system has and whether they can be utilized in your business.
These are a few of the vital factors as to why some businesses are highly successful with their virtual assistants.
Scale Virtually has developed world class solutions that fully integrate PEOPLE, PROCESS and PROFESSIONAL SERVICES to set your business up for success. We work with start-up entrepreneurs and seasoned companies that are looking for innovative solutions to reduce costs and scale their business. We take a dynamic approach to developing succinct processes specifically tailored to your business that consistently drive incredible results.