Choosing the right virtual assistant can transform your business, boosting productivity and allowing you more time to focus on growth.
With the range of options available, it's easy to feel overwhelmed. Our guide aims to simplify this process, offering tips to help you find the VA that aligns with your needs perfectly.
Make sure you choose a VA that has the skills needed to complete your tasks.
Our first tip might seem obvious, but people that go wrong here don't get the most out of working with a VA, and might find themselves back at square one when it doesn't work out.
Consider whether the tasks you need to delegate require a generalist or specialist virtual assistant.
Maybe you're looking for an experienced bookkeeper, which requires specialist skills, or perhaps you just need your inbox and calendar managed, meaning you can look for a VA with a more general set of administrative skills.
Either way, it's important to have a clear idea about the work you need done, and the skills needed to complete these tasks. Hiring a designer to do your bookkeeping or vice versa won't get you the outcome you are hoping for!
It may be that you choose to hire two VAs if you have two distinctly different areas inside your business that you need help with. Be wary of a VA that says they can do anything and everything.
Any freelance VA will either publicly advertise or be able to provide you with a list of their skills and experience. Choose someone that will fit into your team with the skills required to hit the ground running.
Tip: Look beyond resumes. Engage in discussions about past projects or request portfolio examples to gauge real-world capability and fit.
Next up, consider the personality type required to get the job done.
People tend to hire people that match their own personality, without considering whether this is the right personality type for the specific role and set of tasks required. People like people that are similar to them – it's how we’re wired.
Do your tasks require the kind of person who is highly analytical, methodical and accurate because they are going to be responsible for producing reports and dealing with numbers.
Maybe you need someone warm, approachable, and friendly because you want someone to take care of your customer service.
Make sure you're clear on this from the very beginning, and then choose the VA whose personality matches the requirements of the role. If you nail this step, you'll reap the benefits of working with someone that understands what's required of them and thrives at the tasks you delegate to them.
Tip: Consider conducting personality or work style assessments as part of your hiring process to ensure alignment with the role's requirements.
Ask yourself, what’s the real cost?
It’s undeniable that price will influence your decision when choosing a virtual assistant. We have a whole article dedicated to how much VAs across the industry cost, but to break it down into its most simple terms, the more you pay, the less you will have to manage your VA and the more proactive they will be.
If you find a VA that you like on the lower end of the price scale, you’ll likely spend a lot more time managing them to ensure that your tasks are undertaken accurately and efficiently and you’ll need to lower your expectation on how proactive they will be.
If you find a VA that you like on the higher end of the price scale, they’ll take a more proactive approach to working with you, needing less management.
Both are viable options, it comes down to what is most important to you in your situation.
Tip: Assess the potential return on investment (ROI) of a VA's contributions to your business rather than making a decision based solely on hourly or project rates.
Too much choice? Too many variables? If you’re working with a VA company with a team rather than searching for a freelancer, that VA agency will match you with a virtual assistant on their team that has the skills and personality right for you. If you’re unsure whether an agency is the right option for you, we cover this topic in depth in our Freelancer v Agency article.
Thinking that a VA agency is the right option for you? At Strictly Savvy, we proudly match each client with a virtual assistant that we know they'll love. Book a discovery call with one of the team here.
