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What Missing Information Do You Need Before Hiring A New Virtual Assistant?

The upsell is a great sales technique.

You think you know what you want, but when you go to checkout, you discover there are more options. There’s some kind of add-on that will make what you’re buying an even better deal. A sign at the counter informs you of a new model. An online review by another customer helps you make a different choice than you’d originally planned.

Maybe it seems like a marketing trick, but the upsell is based on a solid principle: the best decision someone can make is limited to what they know. Give them more information and they can make a better decision. 

Hiring a virtual assistant isn’t anything like going shopping, of course. But the principle still applies: more information leads to a better decision.

Today’s virtual assistant is a keystone position, working with many people and projects that require experience and capability. It’s a position of incredible importance for the future growth of your company.

Are you about to hire a virtual assistant without all the information you should have? 

This hiring decision is the difference between being merely satisfied with a virtual assistant and being blown away by how much they’re making a difference.  

What To Expect From A Virtual Assistant Service

Virtual work is a trend that isn’t going to end. That comes with good news: there’s no shortage of places to find a virtual assistant. The demand has grown, but so has the amount of people interested in this kind of career.

You might find a temporary freelancer, hire a virtual assistant directly on your own, or turn to a virtual assistant service (the easiest of the three). 

Typical virtual assistant services will offer you independent contractors. And there’s nothing wrong with using an independent contractor in the right circumstances. They’ll certainly do the work you need. However, you—not the service—are on the hook for legal obligations for independent contractors. Independent contractors cannot be treated as an employee, meaning you are very limited in the way you can work together particularly long-term.

Depending on the type of virtual assistant service you turn to, you might get a dedicated virtual assistant, or get stuck with whoever’s available next in the pool. The latter presents problems with continuity and forming long-lasting working relationships.

Even if you are assigned a dedicated virtual assistant, many virtual assistant services don’t put extensive work into matching you, the client, with your new team member.

Finally, you’ll likely sign a contract for a specific number of hours your VA will work for you, regardless of the time you actually need. 

While every virtual assistant service varies, this is a typical experience. This is fine if you think your organization is typical. But you know it isn’t.

Why You Need Virtual Assistant Plus

At Boldly, our approach to finding you a virtual assistant is different.

It starts before you even contact us. We get thousands of applicants who want to work for us, but only about 0.1% meet the standards we’ve set. We’ve built a virtual team with C-suite and Fortune-500 experience from all over the United States so that when you come to us, we only have the best talent available to offer.

That’s why, when we say that we offer a 100% guarantee with your virtual assistant, it’s not some empty marketing promise. We actually mean that, and we back up our promise in tangible ways. 

Great fit.

There are certain scenarios where you want to meet the person first before committing to future involvement. Your doctor. Your investment banker. Your business partner. Your staff and employees.

Strange, then, that typical virtual assistant services will assign someone to work for you without you getting a chance to meet them first. They might have listened to you describe what experience you need, and they might try to match up skill sets. But they don’t take work style and personality into account.

We take the matching process very seriously, because it’s a huge factor in how successful the working relationship will be. 

You tell us what your ideal virtual assistant would be like, and what kind of skills and experiences they will need. You tell us about your work style and expectations, and we match you with someone who compliments how you work. Then, before committing to anything, you and your new VA meet virtually to make sure things click.

Diverse work styles and personalities can either complement or conflict with each other. Conflict reduces productivity and effectiveness, which is why our matching process is so important to us. 

If you just wanted your to-do lists checked off, you could find a robot. But since people relate and connect with each other to get their work done, you and your new virtual assistant need to be a good fit.

Great focus.

Our focus is on people.

That includes our own team and clients. We want to make sure that the working relationship is, indeed, working for all involved.

Part of the way we create long-term working relationships between clients and team members that last years (unheard of in this industry) is that we hire our team as employees. They have the security of being our W2 employee, complete with benefits and a great workplace culture. They don’t have to be distracted chasing after more work in order to keep a steady income.

Because they’re our employees, you don’t have to worry about any of the independent contractor legal concerns. We take care of every compliance issue.

Our onboarding process involves you, not just the virtual assistant. We’re experts at how to make virtual work a success, and we give you advice that actually works. When you pair the best talent with someone who knows how to make use of it virtually, it’s an amazing result.

Great finances.

The subscription economy is all the rage, and we’re used to subscribing to what we want and need, whether it’s streaming TV or our mobile phone bill. It’s convenient and it works just as well for a virtual assistant.

As we noted, many virtual assistant services will have you sign a contract and force you to commit for a number of months. 

We think that’s a poor way to maintain a working relationship (and a budget), so we use subscription staffing instead of fixed contracts.

When you subscribe to your virtual assistant, you simply pay a monthly amount to us. If you need to scale up or down, you can adjust each month. We handle payroll, benefits, and all other associated costs that come with an employee.

This is a headache-free solution, and very friendly to your bottom line.

Great future.

Like you, we understand and expect that your business will change over time. We know that what you need now will be different in the future.

So, we walk with you as your company evolves.

Made some changes? Need an assistant with new skill sets or new requirements? We make sure you have the right virtual assistant for the place your business is at. 

This is very unusual in this industry.

Most virtual assistant services aren’t assigning someone who will stick around for years. They don’t have to worry about an evolving future because they have a revolving door to deal with instead. Longevity is something our team members are known for, which is why we care that what started out as a great fit is still a great fit as your business grows.

The upsell is this: instead of putting time and stress into how to choose the perfect virtual assistant, you can contact us and find the talented one we have waiting for you.

About the author Sandra Lewis is the Founder and CEO of Boldly. She's passionate about helping Businesses, Organizations and Executives increase productivity and move their work forward with the right skills and resources. Setting an example of the efficiencies gained working remotely, she’s been leading her entire team on a virtual basis for the past decade.

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