Take the Time to Invest in Your VA!

I have been asked several times by other Virtual Assistant friends and team members “How do you get a long and like your clients so much?” They go on to tell me how they have clients that do not invest any time to get to know them, respect boundaries, or share the products that they with them.

This is a common problem I hear around the “virtual water cooler”.

The best advice I can give business owners using virtual assistants (and really any kind of assistant) is to take time to invest in them. Granted, you pay your virtual assistant for the work they do but believe me you will get a lot more if you invest in them as a person too.

This needs to be real and not a passing question that is later swept under the rug… but one from your heart. It only takes a few minutes a day/week to get to know your team member and the rewards will be endless! Does your virtual assistant have a family - do you know their names? There ages? How about “working hours” and “working days of the week”, do you know them and respect them?

Too many times business owners are so caught up with what their project is or needs are that they are expecting a lot from their VA and expecting it immediately. Is that really fair? Would any business owner allow them to be treated that way, even if they were doing something in a joint venture? I think not.

Several business owners will not share their product line with their assistants - this is silly… you want them to know everything about what you do right? You want them to invest a piece of themselves in your business and success, this is a very inexpensive way to invest in your VA - build on their education.. trust me it is a win win for you both!

As a Virtual Assistant I love what I do! I love helping my clients and making them shine! I have great relationships with them and we understand one another. I have taken the time to get to know them as a person not just a client and they have gotten to know me and my family. It makes a difference when you are called upon at 6:35am on a Sunday for help.. I can promise you that!

As a Productivity Consultant working with Business Owners and their teams, I cannot stress that the relationship between the client and VA is the most needed part of a strong working foundation.

Good luck, go and bond.

Top 5 Ways to Add to the Productivity Between a VA & a Client

Virtual Assistants are here to do just that ASSIST business owners. When VA’s work with business owners there is a bond that should be created. A personal relationship and an understanding of what the business owner’s plans for their company is. Working together for a common goal increases the productivity along with the success of the business. Beyond the “bonding” between a VA and their client, there are some key elements that can increase the productivity of that “assistance”…

5 top ways to add to the productivity are:

• Needed Programs Available & Understood by both VA and BO
• Realistic Due Dates (scheduling is key)
• Authority Given to VA to Complete Tasks (of course once trained properly)
• A Repeatable Process for Tasks
• And TOP #1 WAY to increase productivity - CLEAR INSTRUCTIONS & COMMUNICATION!

Don’t Think You Can Afford a VA? The Question is Can You Not Afford to Have a VA in Your Business?

Do you ever say to yourself, “I wish I had some help in my business, but I just cannot afford to hire someone?” or “My friend just hired an assistant, I wish I could find the funds to hire one too.”  Money these days is a sensitive issue for everyone around.  As business owners we tend to cut corners in the administration areas and don’t hire the support  “staff” to get the job done.  It is easy to say “I can just cover the follow-up” or “I will enter these new contacts in my database” - the “I can do” and “I will do” statements tend to build up and our “to do” list grows out of control.  Are you really saving money by doing it all yourself?  Are you able to put the proper amount of time and focus ON YOUR business?  Are you able to keep up with follow-trough, follow-up and customer/client relationships?  When you sit back and think about it, it just may be costing you more in the long run by not having that support staff.  Hiring a Virtual Assistant can help free you up to focus on building and growing!  There are several types of Virtual Assistants out there - you can find VA’s that specialize in office work, bookkeeping, webmasters, blogging and so much more!  Look into it!

Networking and Collecting Business Cards – what do you do?

What do you do with the “tons” of business cards you have collected while networking??  Can your VA help you with this?? The answer is a bellowing YES!!  Networking is fun and sometimes can be a chore in itself.  You are out there at Chamber events, and sometimes multiple Chambers too.  You belong to a networking group, or two.  You attend “meet your neighbor” events and other locally sponsored events.  All of this is done to get your business out there and in the eyes of consumers and other business owners in order to attrack business.  But in doing all of this “networking” you have collected business cards by the masses and leads by the handfuls, what do you do with them all?  Staring at the piles can be overwhelming and some of us tend to do nothing and those leads and relationships can go cold.    A virtual assistant can help you create a data-base from those items.  Your VA can scan or hand input each one and delivers them to you via mail, email or even creates a shared database for the two of you to keep up to date!  This is a daunting admin task that is a time stealer for business owners!  Pass this task to your VA and free time for you to actually tend to those leads and relationships!

Your Virtual Assistant can help you with Hosting an Event!!

Many small business owners host throughout the year - these could be “open house” for a new business to lectures and workshops.    The events might be big and they might be a bit more intimate and special invite only.  Virtual Assistants can help set up ways for announcing the event, (newsletter format, email blast, regular mail, and website advertising).  VA’s can help by handling registration or RSVP’s (organizing them on a chart).  VA’s can take payment for the event through the business owner’s merchant account or paypal account if it requires payment to attend.  VA’s can follow up on the details of the event with the guest, confirming they have everything they need.  Wow, I am exhausted just going through all of the steps that need to happen to take note of RSVP’s and registrations for an event.  A VA can also help secure a location, secure food and speakers if needed.  There are so many tasks to hosting one event, why do it alone?  It would not make sense for the business owner to go through all of these administrative tasks to host an event without any help!   Check into a Virtual Assistant and see how they can assist you at your next event!

Your Virtual Assistant can help you with on-line Shopping Cart programs!!

Many small business owners have product for sale.  Products can consist of tangible “touchable” items like books, CD’s or DVD’s.  Products can be digital too like e-books and MP3 downloads.  Products can also be service or event based like counseling time, coaching time, seminars, webinars and workshops.  All of these items can be managed online through your website and programs called “shopping carts”.  There are several shopping cart programs you can subscribe to, 1Shopping Cart is just one to name for the moment.  Your VA can create items within your shopping cart and create a link to be put on your website.  Customers then can purchase or register right through the website.  Your VA can also set up “auto responders” so that your customers receive immediate messages regarding their purchase.  You can also use the shopping cart for reports on your product sales, tracking your customer’s purchases along with sending global “news blasts” to the data base that has been created by your customers.  Having a shopping cart is a great way to begin to automate your business and employing a VA to run it can even makes it more hands free for you!

Your Virtual Assistant can help you with E-mail Blasts and Newsletters!!

Are you one of those business owners that are finding precious time lost in their day/week just in creating E-mail Blasts or monthly Newsletters to their contact database.  Why not hire help for this task?  V.A.’s can help design and maintain your monthly mailings (yes even real paper mailings as well as digital)!  There are several software options out there to create monthly/weekly mailings like Constant Contact, Swiftpage Aweber, iContact and Get Response just to name a few.  Personally, as a VA that has used all three types mentioned, I prefer Constant Contact.  It is easy to use and maintain.  The reports are very easy to follow.  As far as Outlook, there is a limit as to how many contacts you can send to at one time and it will shut you down to prevent spamming.  Swiftpage integrates with your Outlook so you only maintain one database but it was difficult for me to manipulate and create Newsletters. I also feel the look of the Newsletter was not as “pretty to the eye” as the Constant Contact templates.  Aweber and Get Response offer a double opt in feature for your newsletter or email receivers to help protect you from “spam” reports.

Virtual Assistants are HUGE Contributors to the Success of Their Clients

Virtual Assistants take on the non-core tasks that busy entrepreneurs are finding themselves bogged down in.  A Virtual Assistant can free up time for that busy entrepreneur allowing him or her to build their clientele.  What would other areas would you be able to focus on in your business, as a business owner, if you had help with emails, customer service, scheduling and confirming appointments, invoicing and payment reconciling or any other administrative task that slows you down and takes up your time?

Who Uses Virtual Assistants?

Associations, Foundations & Organizations

Attorneys

Business Consultants, Writers, Sales Reps

Coaches—Business & Life

Contractors—Plumber, Electricians, etc.

Corporations

Entertainment Industry—Producers, Actors, etc.

Event Planners

Home-Based Business Owners

Import/Export Consultants

Marketing Companies

Non-Profit Organizations

Religious Organizations

Retail Shops/Stores

Specialists—Accountants, Attorneys, Architects, etc.

Travel Agencies

Just to name a few!

Your Virtual Assistant can handle your Calendar!

Appointment Scheduling, confirming and follow-up are several ways a VA can help a business owner maintain their calendar.  How many appointments have you double booked, missed or had down on the wrong day?  Hiring a VA to coordinate your calendar and make sure you are on task is a great way to alleviate some of the stress.  You can direct your clients, costumers or business associates to contact your VA, either by email or phone, and set up appointments there. Or you can contact your assistant to follow up with people and schedule appointments.  There are several software products out there today VA’s work with that will “share” a calendar so you both have access like Google calendar and Outlook just to name a few.  Step back from the center workings of your business and look around, is this an area that  can be handed off and help “distress” your life?  It is not as hard to delegate tasks as you think….

What is a Virtual Assistant (VA)?

A Virtual Assistant, or VA, is a highly skilled professional who provides administrative support and other services to executives, businesses, entrepreneurs, sales professionals, and others that might have more work than the time to do it.

VAs work as independent contractors.  VAs  use different forms of leading technology to communicate work assignments and the completion of them, such as, Internet, email, disk transfer, and sometimes even regular mail, overnight shipping and even pick-up and deliver work if in a local area.

VAs services will typically include email handling, database management, “shopping cart” data entry, invoicing, appointment scheduling and confirming, customer service, webinar moderator, general follow-up with customers of their client, reminder services, bulk mailings, and information processing.  They can also include such tasks like; meeting and event planning, desktop publishing, bookkeeping, web design and maintenance and paralegal tasks.  The services VAs offer to the business and corporate worlds today can be endless!

Take a moment to look at your business and the non-core tasks that are taking time each day and each week – can any of them be delegated in order to free up your time to build your business?