The majority of our clients – CEOs, solo-preneurs, principles – have never met their executive, virtual assistants. They work together every single day and share innermost details such as company visions, database access and operating procedures. Yet, they’ve never met in the break room and they don’t pass in the elevator.
Our team of American Virtual Assistants, based in Pittsburgh, PA, are professionals who perform work outside of their clients offices, only on an as-needed basis. This means that clients who hire Virtual Assistants only pay for work they need, when they need it. Virtual Assistants are the obvious choice for companies looking to minimize overhead. Not only do companies save on employee benefit costs and benefit from the flexibility, but there’s also equipment, office space or supplies to fund.
It sounds like a win-win situation, but there’s a catch. Clients will often ask: Can I trust someone I’ve never met? How will I know if they’re actually working?
Trust is crucial. Here are 3 tips to trusting your Virtual Assistant:
Screen carefully: Only work with reputable, well-known agencies over a solo Virtual Assistant. By looking for an agency or a multi-VA team, you’re almost guaranteed built-in credibility and marketplace recognition. Ensure that the agency does background and reference checks, as well as provides additional training in confidentiality and ethics. Allow for at least a month when searching for a long-term online assistant, just as you would when hiring offline staff.
Know where time is being spent: At Virtual Assist USA, we’ve employed an automated program that takes 6-10 snapshots (screenshots) of the VA’s computer screen every hour, to ensure that every minute is being accounted for.
Communicate frequently: Prior to starting work, discuss with your VA the frequency of check-ins that would make you comfortable. Many clients like to check in once daily, at the end of the day.
