What To Expect When Working With Me – Working With A Virtual Assistant
I wanted to include a post with what to expect when working with me. Perhaps you’re considering hiring me to assist you or you’re curious about what to expect when working with a Virtual Assistant in general?
I’ll go through everything you need to know and what you can expect when working with me specifically.
What Is A Virtual Assistant
A Virtual Assistant is a remote independent contractor that provides administrative support to clients. The Virtual Assistant will provide this service from their own location such as a home office or coworking space.
Virtual Assistants run their own business which means they are not your employee and they are the ones in charge of their own equipment, taxes, subscriptions and everything else related to having a business.
Virtual Assistants will generally specialise in a few particular services such as social media, blogging or inbox management. Although some Virtual Assistants are general admin Virtual Assistants because they like the variety.
When a Virtual Assistant is at full capacity with clients, sometimes they either set up a waiting list for their services or they expand their business and take on associates to work on behalf of them.
Most of the Virtual Assistants that I know are very particular about choosing their associates and rightly so. The associate Virtual Assistant will be working under their brand name and so they need to be able to trust them to do the work properly.
What To Expect When Working With A Virtual Assistant
Now a lot of Virtual Assistants will have their own onboarding process which is basically the process they go through to take you on as a client. However, there are some parts that will be the same no matter which Virtual Assistant you choose to work with.
Now I’ll include what to expect when working with a Virtual Assistant so you have an idea of what this process looks like.
Step 1 – Discovery Call
It would be unlikely that you would consider hiring a Virtual Assistant without meeting them first… If you’re quite shy and you’ve already decided that you want to work with a Virtual Assistant, you might decide to hire someone without having a call with them. However, I would say that this is not a normal situation.
Having a call with a Virtual Assistant is great because you can ask them questions and tell them specifically what it is you’re looking for in a Virtual Assistant.
It can also help you to decide if they’re a good fit for you and your company/brand. This is very important because you want to work with someone who understands your business or is willing to learn and understand your business and/or industry.
Step 2 – Signing Of Contracts
Please never ever start working with a Virtual Assistant until you have a contract! Contracts are essential… even if you have decided to get an agency to find you a Virtual Assistant, you’ll still need to sign a contract.
I know it’s boring but having a good read of the contract and make sure you understand what you’re signing. Pay attention to their payment terms and notice for cancelling the contract.
If you decide you’re happy with the terms of the contract then get it signed and returned to the Virtual Assistant.
Most Virtual Assistants will require either full or part payment for the service once the contract is signed. I’ve talked to other Virtual Assistants online and there are a few that don’t mind working first and then invoicing clients at the end of the month.
It’s just something to bear in mind so you don’t get a big shock if you receive the invoice right at the start.
Step 3 – Access To Login Details
Next you will need to allow the Virtual Assistant access to your details, depending on the services they are providing for you. How you do this will depend on your preferences.
Some clients like to put their login details onto a Google doc or something and share that with the Virtual Assistant. Some like to share passwords through a service such as Lastpass so that they’re encrypted and less likely to get intercepted.
If your Virtual Assistant is going to provide Inbox management services for you, you’ll need to delegate them access to your Inbox. The process is going to be slightly different depending on the provider but you can look this up online.
This will be a similar process if you are asking your Virtual Assistant to write blog posts for you or manage your website. WIthin the admin settings for your website you should be able to find the section where you can assign admin rights to the user. You can hide certain parts of your website from the Virtual Assistant if you want.
Step 4 – Regular Updates
Most Virtual Assistants should make sure to keep you regularly updated on their progress on tasks and projects. This is important because a good Virtual Assistant will have excellent communication skills and you should never be wondering how they’re getting on with certain projects.
If you prefer a certain communication style like emails rather than messages or all communication on Slack/Asana or any other project management software – make sure you tell your Virtual Assistant from the start.
As a Virtual Assistant we have to work out when’s the best time to contact you, whether we need to save up our questions to ask at a weekly meeting or whether we can send them to you as we think of them. It’s a learning curve so if you have an idea that would suit you the best, make sure you tell your Virtual Assistant so you’re on the same page.
What To Expect When Working With Me
Now let’s get to what to expect when working with me specifically.
I follow all of the steps listed above so starting with a discovery call so we can meet and discuss options.
If we’re a good fit then I normally follow up by sending a contract to be signed and a quote proposal as well. I like to include a quote proposal which outlines exactly what I’ll be doing for you because I think it helps both of us to understand exactly what I’ll be doing.. whether it’s a certain project or something more regular like Inbox management.
Once contracts are signed and payment has been made, I’ll get your details and get to work shortly after.
That’s definitely the fun bit, getting stuck into the work. I research clients quite a bit before I decide to work with them and I find that really helps to get a better idea about the business as a whole.
When you’re setting up something like email marketing or a blog, you need to know the brand voice that you’ll be talking in. Every business has its own unique way of talking or the way they want to be portrayed on social media and in interactions. It’s so important to get that right as a Virtual Assistant.
I’ve recently written a Virtual Assistant case study about setting up email marketing and a blog, if you wanted to learn more about how I work with specific clients.
My Core Values
I might just be a business of one, for now anyway.. but it was very important for me to have core values for my business.
There are certain principles that I use for my business and in my personal life that I think really reflect the type of person that I am. If my business ever grows to be more than just me, these are the things I will be looking for in people that work with me as well.
Authenticity
Sometimes the term authenticity is thrown around a lot and I think that leads to misunderstanding about what it really means.
The definition of authenticity is: the quality of being real or true, of being authentic
“Authenticity is a collection of choices that we have to make every day. It’s about the choice to show up and be real. The choice to be honest, the choice to let our true selves be seen.”
I consider myself as being quite self aware and I think that’s why authenticity is something I’ve included in my core values. It’s important for me to be myself yes, but to also be the BEST version of myself in my business and life in general.
Do More Than Expected
This is a great one and I’ve also included this on my family rules (much to my son’s annoyance). Doing more than expected is just something I like to do to prove my worth and because I’m conscientious by nature. Whether that’s by doing a bit extra for a client without being asked, or creating some sort of content as an extra on a project for a client.
I’ve always been a hardworker and that really helps. I like to be busy and even though family life keeps me fairly busy, the quality of my work is important to me as well so I’m always striving to be better than I was yesterday.
Doing that bit extra and taking the time to help clients in any way I can is soo important to me. I like to solve problems and try and find the most efficient way of doing things for the benefit of the client and myself.
Honesty
Honesty is such an important value! In a world which can have a lot of corruption and deceit, we have to be honest and transparent about our businesses.
I’m always honest about whether or not I have done tasks. I’ll admit if it’s not something that I’ve done before because I don’t think it’s good practice to pretend you know how to do something when you don’t. I don’t think inexperience should get in the way of working, just because I don’t currently have experience in a certain software or program – doesn’t mean I can’t learn and adapt.
My client recently asked me to do something accounting related for him, I admitted that I don’t have much bookkeeping experience but I would give it a go (while secretly freaking out because numbers are not my thang). It turns out it was just creating a few invoices and I quickly learnt how to do it, phew!
My point is that honesty is so so important. If I make a mistake, which does happen.. I am human after all.. I’m always honest about it, accept ownership of it and finally I fix the problem as quickly as I can.
That’s why I have my packages available for everyone to view on my website. I would never consider buying a product or service without having an idea of how much it’s going to cost so I extend this courtesy to everyone. There’s really no point in wasting my time and your time if you can’t afford my services.
Humour
Ah this is a good one! Probably my son’s favourite as he loves to make up jokes and tell me them on a regular basis. 😅
Life can be serious and certainly when it comes to business, things can be generally be very serious. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t have a bit of fun!
Being able to laugh at yourself and being able to take a joke as well is very important to me. I think people that know me very well would probably say that I’m mostly serious but I do have a weakness for funny memes, gifs and silly humour.
The same applies to how I view business, just because you’re working doesn’t mean you can’t have a bit of fun. With the appropriate timing and people of course.
Respectful
Always be respectful, In business partnerships you aren’t always going to agree with everything the other person says or does. Despite this I will always be respectful and polite, regardless of the situation and I would expect my client to do the same.
As well as just generally showing respect to clients and everyone else that I communicate with, I also aim to be just as respectful with my clients time.
Let’s be fair, if someone has had to delegate tasks.. they probably have very little time and due to this I try to make our weekly catch ups no more than 15 minutes.
Being professional, respectful and polite are just traits that come naturally to me and I would ensure anyone working with me in the future is the same.
Phew, this post is longer than I expected. I just started writing and all of a sudden 2k+ words! I hope I’ve helped you know what to expect when working with me. If you want to hire me and make your life soo much easier, you can book a call with me here.
Damaris
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