Hiring the right virtual assistant and making it a success!
If you’ve never outsourced before, it can be scary. It’s your business and you want delegation to be a breeze, not create extra work.
I’ve got some top tips from my years of experience to help you ensure you not only hire the right person, but how you can set them up for success.
Hire the right fit
Connection is key. You need to click with the right person to make it work. Do your values align? Does their personality mean you’ll work well together? And the best way to find out… get on a call together. Have an informal chat. Find out about their background and why they became a VA. Ask them about their hobbies, what brings them joy, their favourite movie. Although you’re not looking for a BFF, getting on well will be super important. You want them to become part of your team and to be enthusiastic about your business.
Check out their testimonials online. Ask for references if you need to. What are previous clients saying? What did they like the most working with this VA? What transformations took place for them? What success stories do they have?
Don’t be afraid to ask for a sample of work or to see their portfolio, especially if they are going to be writing or designing graphics for you.
Set up a trial period, say 3 months where you both get to know each other more and you can see the VAs quality of work.
Look for experience if it’s an area that needs a touch of expertise. For example, have they set up an email campaign before or have they been a PA before?
Setting them up for success
What you SHOULD do:
✅ Share your branding and values
✅ Be clear on what you need and how you want it delivered
✅ Set expectations / boundaries from the start
✅ Give deadlines when sending over work
✅ Trust the process and be open minded to new systems/processes
✅ Consider that you might need more than one VA
✅ Communicate regularly
✅ Be willing to use online tools to collaborate
What you SHOULDN’T do:
❌ Treat them like an employee or subordinate
❌ Micromanage (unless you are working with an inexperienced VA who needs more instructions)
❌ Forfeit quality over $$$
VAs usually have similar qualities; they are perfectionists, meticulous and detail orientated. They’re also normally very curious and eager to learn… or maybe these are all just me! Either way, what you need to do is ask yourself, are you looking for someone to do X, Y, Z and that’s it, or do you need more? Perhaps someone to come in and look at all of your systems to see if you’re using the right ones. Or someone who can not only build you a sales funnel, but they can also write copy?
⚡TIP⚡
Write a job description for the VA role you are looking to fill. This will help you outline expectations, experience, details of the role and the type of person you’re looking for.
Remember, like all recruitment, it can be difficult to know if you have the right hire until they are in the role so be patient and here’s a biggie – prepare to be part of a team. When you’ve been working alone for some time, you might find it hard to delegate so try and allow yourself to let go and be open to ideas.
Lastly, always look at hiring a VA as an investment. Take a look at all the stuff you do (that you shouldn’t) and how much you are worth. Consider that more client time = more ROI for you. Don’t waste your time doing menial tasks when you could be serving others and earning more.
Best of luck! If you have any questions, let me know!
