We’ve welcomed some fantastic new clients to Vi-VA recently. We’ve built wonderful relationships already, and their feedback has been great – we’re delighted that we’re having such a huge impact on the way their businesses run.
This got me thinking – what makes a great relationship between a client and their VA? What’s the best way to work with a Virtual Assistant, that leads to such successful outcomes?
Let’s have a look at 5 key areas that will help you and your VA to understand each other from the word go.
1. Accept that you will have to invest time initially
Time spent with your VA at the start of your working relationship will be invaluable in the long run. The more time spent explaining what you want done, how you want it to be done and what you want to achieve at the beginning, will mean the less time you will need to spend overall. An extra few minutes at the beginning will save you the same amount of time on every task as you move forward.
2. Be specific with instructions
You can never be too specific with your instructions to your VA, especially at the beginning. The more specific your instructions are, the more efficient your VA can be. Do you want a train ticket booked? Or do you want a train ticket booked with no changes and a seat with a power point? If you let your VA know specifics from the outset – you will always have the right outcome.
Never worry that you are giving your VA too many instructions or “patronising” them – they will prefer to know exactly what you want. Additionally, encourage your VA to ask questions, especially in the formative stages of your working relationship, and to give you feedback on your instructions – this will save so much time in the long run.
3. Keep in regular contact
Decide how often you want to have an update with your VA and get them to put this in your diary so it will definitely happen. Work out what you’d like to review in these sessions, so your VA can prepare in advance and have the relevant information or stats ready for you to look at. Make sure you plan to catch up regularly. With a recurring agenda, these meetings can be kept quite short, but they will allow you both the opportunity to discuss anything pressing.
4. Ask yourself if your VA could do it
Once you’ve established a strong relationship with your VA, it’s a good idea to keep asking yourself the question – can they do this quicker than me? If the answer is yes, delegate that particular task to your VA. This will free up your time to do the things you are best at, and most importantly, the things you enjoy! You lighten your load, and your VA gets to know more about your business – it’s a win-win!
5. Don’t underestimate your VA’s capabilities
Most VAs are highly educated, intelligent and skilled people who are capable of a lot more than administration and typing. If you ask most of the Vi-VA VAs what they spend their time doing it won’t be typing or diary management, it will include marketing, writing proposals, social media, bookkeeping, sales calls and writing press releases, alongside the day-to-day running of the businesses they are working with.
If you need help with a new project, ask your VA first as they might have experience in that area. If your VA works for a multi-VA company, there may be resources readily available to you that you are not using – your VA can manage these for you. Your VA is a massive resource – make sure you use them to their full potential.
