Imagine a real vacation.
No messages. No Slack notifications. No virtual meetings you need to call in to. No “I know you’re on vacation but…” phone calls from co-workers or employees.
Instead you’re taking a step away from the daily operation of your company and are going to get the R&R you very much need.
Seems like a nice fantasy.
But it’s not going to happen, right? After all, according to a Harvard study, the average CEO still works 8-out-of-10 weekends and puts in 2-hours per day every vacation.
Maybe you’re like most business leaders who dream of taking this kind of break, of letting your mind rest and letting the stress flow out of you, but you don’t think it can actually happen. In fact, the thought of getting away to this extent almost makes you ill. What disaster would you find when you arrived back on the job?
There’s good news, though: use a premium virtual assistant company, and you wouldn’t find any disaster at all.
Putting A Virtual Assistant Company To Work For You
Making the leap to a virtual assistant company goes both directions.
You must be ready to delegate, but not every executive finds it easy to let go of lesser tasks. They hold onto the things that take lots of time, have to get done, but have a low return.
It’s strange, but often the more you need to be delegating tasks, the more difficult it is.
Giving up control can be tough. You got to where you’re at because of a work standard that you worry others just don’t have.
Maybe you struggle to explain what you want done when you hand off work? Or maybe the idea of holding people to expected standards sounds like too much work, and it feels easier to do it yourself.
It’s easy to not trust others to care as much as you do.
The virtual assistant company has two tasks: they must offer virtual assistants who stretch their personal limits to perform brilliantly, and they have to make sure the chemistry clicks.
Great virtual assistants build their skills. They learn languages. They take classes to stay on top of trends and information. They familiarize themselves with technology. Through experience, they learn to anticipate what needs to be done.
Chemistry is about fit, both individually and in work culture.
A great virtual assistant works well with your style and personality. They understand your expectations and have an emotional intelligence that almost predicts what you want from them.
No chemistry, no trust.
No trust, no delegation.
And no peace of mind.
The Difference Is A Premium Virtual Assistant Company
Most virtual assistant companies can’t offer that peace of mind, the one that lets you take your real vacation.
They might assign you the next available virtual assistant, which is less about chemistry and more about rolling the dice. They can give you good workers who complete tasks and check off to-do lists, but it’s not enough to entrust your operation for days or weeks.
Why?
The difference between a typical virtual assistant company and a premium virtual assistant company is simple: W2 vs. 1099.
Typical virtual assistant companies operate like a free agent roster, where contract workers are in the queue and are simply assigned to you. You let them know the tasks that need to be completed, and those are assigned to an individual or a pool of assistants. There may be a lack of consistency in the quality of work done for you. There’s not much done to make sure someone is a good fit for how you work. The only difference between directly hiring a 1099 contract worker is the middleman.
A premium virtual assistant is completely different.
They employ their people.
That means that the virtual assistants you find there are part of a positive company culture with the security of salaried employment and job security. They receive benefits, employment protection, and even paid holidays. There is incentive for them; they are motivated to stick around.
Contract workers might chase the next dollar with little other incentive to maintain a long-term relationship with a client. They aren’t part of a cohesive positive company culture, but are on their own. Employed workers have security and the freedom to stick around and invest and care in the work they do for you.
Remember, you’re looking for someone who cares as much as you do. So are you looking for a short-term transaction, or a long-term working relationship?
There’s also the cost of short-term working relationships.
You already know that employee turnover is expensive. Not just monetarily, either, but also in time costs. The more someone does something, the better they get at it. Long-term workers are productive workers. They get more done in less time.
An executive assistant is no different.
The more they work with you and understand what you expect, the better they’ll be.
Get Up And Running Quickly With A Premium Virtual Assistant Company
The best virtual assistant company shouldn’t launch you into a frustrating foray into training, either. Premium virtual assistants should immediately be able to handle key tasks (and save you 15+ hours per week in the process).
Things like:
- Executive administration
- Remote work tech setup and admin (they’re already remote-first pros)
- Personal support
- Project and data management
- Customer support and relationship management
- Calendar management and scheduling
- Meeting agendas and notes
- Bookkeeping, invoicing, and financial reporting
- Newsletter and blog management
- Writing and editing
- Marketing and social media
- Process and systems improvements
- And even multilingual services
A premium virtual assistant company will set you up to hit the ground running. They have people with 10–15 years of relevant experience that’s brought to the table immediately.
It’s not at all like the traditional hiring process, because they’ve already handled the hiring. They did the screening, the interviewing. They selected the most qualified people. They’re handling the legal compliance issues. When you are ready, it’s simply about matching the right person with you.
Why Subscribe?
We have subscription TV and delivery services. You pay for what you want. You can increase or decrease your subscription. Remote staffing via subscription makes perfect sense right now.
With subscription staffing, you get:
- Hand-matched, Fortune-500 trained talent. This can be hard to find on your own, but with subscription staffing, you can access that level of virtual assistant from day one.
- Cost certainty. Subscription staffing lets you pay only for the hours you need. The average worker is productive for less than three hours a day—a premium VA will provide productivity and visibility into everything they’re doing.
- Scalability. Scale up or down easily, as your needs change. You don’t need to hire, you simply need to request more time.
The model is simple.
You avoid the hassle of recruiting and hiring. You pay a monthly subscription fee for the amount of hours you want for each staff assistant you need. You get a perfectly matched assistant. And a long-term working relationship commences.
Voila! Your costs are lower and completely manageable while your virtual assistant has skills off the charts.
It’s a complete win for you and a path to the vacation you desperately need.
Are you ready to make the change? Skip the hassle and get only what you need by starting here.
May 2022 Update: Times have changed, and Virtual Assistants with this level of expertise are now typically called Remote Executive Assistants.
Topic: Remote Executive Assistant
