Right now, more businesses and entrepreneurs are hiring virtual assistants than ever before. Many are making the mistake of settling for a Fiverr Virtual Assistant. Remote work has become the norm for many companies, and with the economic fallout of the Covid-19 era still likely to linger for a long time, it makes sense to outsource tasks that can be performed with a high degree of autonomy or versatility.
If this is an option you’re considering, there are a few things you should know. Just like any other industry, the virtual assistant space offers you a range of choices – some great, others not so much. And, for many business owners, finding the right virtual assistant for the job can be a minefield of guesswork and uncertainty.
Choosing The Right Virtual Assistant For Your Business
There are many excellent reasons to hire a virtual assistant:
- You only pay for the hours worked, and can choose a schedule to suit your needs and budget
- A virtual assistant is perfect for handling routine or ad hoc daily tasks that take up your time
- There are none of the additional costs of hiring a formal employee
- A virtual assistant works autonomously and provides reports and feedback
However, it’s important to realize that not all virtual assistants are at the same level. Many freelancers out there have not had any formal training and are willing to accept any brief, even if they don’t have the right kind of training or experience.
Understandably, this can lead to underperformance, mistrust, and a poor perception of virtual assistants that reflects badly on all the truly excellent VAs who are actually highly skilled and capable of providing a superb service.
To ensure that you’re getting the very best virtual assistant for your business, ask these questions:
What Kind Of Virtual Assistant Do I Need?
Contrary to what many are led to believe, virtual assistants are not all generalists who just somehow make magic happen. The ones who make magic happen are those who are trained in a particular skill set, understand the parameters and dynamics of what they can produce, and are great at communicating and delivering these skills to their clients.
A general virtual assistant by definition – like a Fiverr virtual assistant – simply can’t just suddenly take on graphic design or tech work, and someone who specializes in fields like these is often completely unsuited to administrative work.
When you surf the options on a gig-based site, you often don’t know what a virtual assistant’s actual qualifications or aptitudes are, and you have no way of verifying them.
Is There Accountability?
When you’re dealing with any kind of completely freelance remote worker, there’s often a gap between what you expect and what you get. This can be frustrating, because the responsibility rests squarely on you to fill the voids, communicate your needs (again!), and hope that there’s some kind of recourse in the event of something going wrong.
In a worst-case scenario, a gig-based service platform may offer you a refund, for example, but you’ve wasted time and energy trying to rectify a task that will now cost you more time and money to fix. Of course, this doesn’t happen often (and it isn’t the fault of the service platform, either), but it does happen.
So, ideally, you should deal with a reputable company that not only specializes in well-trained virtual assistants and remote personal assistants, but that also provides accountability and redress to prevent situations like these from occurring.
Is There Compatibility?
A good virtual assistant is more than just a mere contractor. A Fiverr virtual assistant may provide you with a service, but there are key aspects that may be missing. Why? Because a good VA is an extension of your business and should be able to easily adapt to your culture, your systems, and your preferences. In a best-case scenario, a good VA can sometimes know what to do without your direct input. This only happens when there’s a great working relationship, good mutual understanding, and experience that only comes from time and repeated exposure to a business model.
When you’re dealing with a gig worker who may sporadically be available one month and not the next (or is simply overloaded with clients), it’s virtually impossible to establish that kind of rapport. It’s also really difficult to establish suitability and compatibility upfront.
Working with a well-established agency is a better option, because it enables you to ‘try before you buy’ and adjust your preferences accordingly – so you get the virtual assistant that’s right for your business.
What A Good Virtual Assistant Agency Will Do For You
Your business is valuable. You’ve poured everything you have into it, and it represents your passion, your ambition, and your accomplishment.
Don’t risk taking on someone who isn’t fully trained or vetted.
A gig-worker platform may offer you access to a generic Fiverr virtual assistant. But there’s often a great deal of risk attached. A full comparison of virtual assistant agencies can give you a better idea of what’s out there.
Putting Your Mind At Ease
Here’s what a well-managed, reputable virtual assistant agency will do for you:
- Virtual assistants go through a thorough background check, giving you peace of mind and an assurance of their bona fides.
- Their skills are evaluated and rated according to industry standards.
- We train our virtual assistant is client relations and ensure they have a strong understanding of business processes and norms.
- The agency assumes responsibility for the quality and suitability of its virtual assistants. And you’re able to discuss your requirements in the knowledge that you’ll get the very best VA for your business.
- A good agency will have a backup virtual assistant in reserve. To ensure continuity. In case your virtual assistant falls ill or is temporarily unavailable.
- We give you a free trial, in addition to a discovery call. We carefully match you with a suitable virtual assistant and check that its a good fit. Because we want you to be happy with the choice.
- We offer you a range of packages to suit your business and budget, and you can scale up as you grow.
- Strict safeguards are in place to protect your privacy, your intellectual property, and your networks.
- An agency has regulations in place to prevent client poaching or conflicts of interest. Their virtual assistants must subscribe to a stringent code of ethics.
- Most of all, a good VA agency is invests in your success. They’ve built their reputation on consistency and excellence. By looking after you, everybody benefits.
Reliability, Reputation & Relationships
By comparison, an ad-hoc Fiverr virtual assistant is not in the position to offer you the same level of assurance. Or professionalism and sustainability. Reliability, reputation, and relationships are also the cornerstones of a good virtual assistant agency. And at MYVA360, we take our mandate very seriously.
Instead of simply making a buck or ‘landing a gig’, we put our clients first.
Which option would you prefer?
Book a free trial, and discover how a skilled virtual assistant can add value to your business.
