Finding a VA (and how to use them well)

The Playbook

Most small business leaders I know have a bunch of repetitive, mind-numbing tasks they have to do every day, every week, every month. 

The problem: as a leader, there are things only you can do. So the opportunity cost of you doing busywork is enormous. 

As much of your time as possible should be spent on high-value tasks. 

Hiring a Virtual Assistant is a great solution — when you do it properly. They’re perfect for those tasks that need to be done, but don’t directly contribute to growing the business.

There are two benefits to hiring a VA. 

The first you’ve heard a million times: price. Hiring offshore is extremely affordable. You can hire someone for 30-70% of a regular salary, and they can work while you sleep.

The second benefit is often overlooked: quality of work. You are not choosing from minimum wage employees. With the exchange rate overseas, you’re able to afford a talented, highly educated, highly motivated person. 

What does a VA actually do?

Here’s some idea of the type of work you can offload.

• Email cleanup

• Prospecting/sales support

• Data entry

• Data tracking and analysis

• Onboarding customers/employees

• Providing a daily briefing

• Scheduling meetings

• Uploading new content

• Creating invoices

And don’t restrict your thinking to just administrative tasks. VAs can succeed in more roles than your standard EA responsibilities:

• Customer Service Rep

• Marketing Assistant/Copywriter

• Accountant/Bookkeeper

• Digital Marketing Manager

• Sales/Cold Caller/BDR

• Property Manager

• Logistics Coordinator

• SEO Specialist

So how do you actually hire them?

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How to hire a VA

Step 1: Figure out what tasks you want a VA to do.

The best way to figure out what tasks you need off your plate is an Eisenhower Matrix. 

First, make a list of everything you do in a week. Then plot each of those tasks in one of these quadrants. Pretty quickly, you’ll see how much you could use the help.

This will help you focus on what truly matters, and delegate or delay less critical tasks.

Step 2: Create a detailed job description based on your needs.

To find the right person, you have to communicate your needs clearly. 

Make sure you include your basic requirements, like responsibilities, full-time vs part-time, and education/skills required.

Then include some background information about your business, like your industry, your products, and who your customers are.

Finally, provide some details on their working conditions. Do you provide a laptop? What apps, tools, or software will they be using? What hours are you expecting them to work?

Step 3: Decide — agency or DIY?

It’s totally possible to hire a VA yourself. But I really don’t recommend it, based on how much time and effort it takes to find the right person. 

Going DIY
If you do decide to go the DIY route, the easiest self-serve options are platforms like Upwork or Fiverr. They’re best for short-term contracts or per-project work, but you don’t get much company loyalty since people are constantly exposed to a wide variety of job offers.

Since a VA should be a longer-term arrangement, you’ll want to spend time screening applicants for suitability, aptitude, and reliability. You’ll also likely need to give them access to your company’s data, so you’ll want to check references and credentials.

Going with an agencyThere are costs associated with going through an agency, but they will pay for themselves in time and effort saved. 

A recruiting agency will take care of the sourcing, credential checks, and shortlisting of best-fit candidates, at which point you can interview and choose. They can also guide you on salary, contract negotiation, and help you with onboarding.

Prices will vary, but I caution you against looking for the cheapest possible talent — you’ll be saving compared to an American salary no matter what. 

Many agencies also have “satisfaction guarantees”, where they’ll replace a candidate if they don’t work out. 

My recruiting company Near offers a 90-day satisfaction guarantee, and there are no fees unless you hire someone. They specialize in Latin America, which has a great culture fit with North America, and operates in the same time zones.

How to use a VA effectively

Let’s assume you’ve pulled the trigger and hired a VA. How do you use them effectively?

Here are my top tips.

• Provide clear instructions. Create an SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) for every task you put on their plate. Read the playbook: building SOPs.

• Set clear expectations. Your new hire needs to know what you expect of them. How long should tasks take? How quickly do you expect responses to messages? Without knowing what’s expected, they can’t succeed.

• Hold regular check-ins with your VA at least once a day for the first 2-3 weeks of their employment to develop a good working relationship.

• Start with low-hanging fruit. Something non-critical. Once you believe the VA can complete this task to your satisfaction and can do so over and over again, layer on the next task.

• Only give access to need-to-know systems. As a baseline precaution, don’t give your VA access to critical business systems until you’ve built some trust. Find other places they can help you out first.

• Create a feedback culture. Encourage them to ask questions and offer suggestions, and offer lots of guidance to them as well. The VA needs to feel comfortable coming to you with questions, issues and problems about their work. Offer positive reinforcement as much as possible (it’s more effective than negative.) 

There’s so much potential.