Working with a Virtual Assistant

Why shopping locally for your Virtual Assistant is best for business

Today I’m going to have a rant on behalf of all those Virtual Assistants who are helping our industry be recognised as a high quality, professional business service.

Last week I met a business coach. When I told him I was a Virtual Assistant, he quickly responded: “You’d better be careful about what you charge because there are lots of people in the Philippines doing the same for a lot less.”

Somehow I kept my cool, but I was gobsmacked.

For a business coach to be encouraging an experienced professional to devalue their work and lower their prices to compete with the cheapest possible international option is outrageous.

How does this stand up for quality, good value and British industry?

Let Go and Let your Virtual Assistant

For the client of a Virtual Assistant, getting a good working relationship up and running often involves a lot more than realising they need help with their business - a shift in mental attitude needs to take place, too.

It's about developing the trust it takes to let another person have a hand in running their business – or care for their baby, which, for a self-made businessman or woman, may well be how it feels!

A client needs help to make the most of a Virtual Assistant’s services, and if they’re still holding on to jobs they either enjoy doing themselves, or don’t want to entrust to others, this can take time and patience.

There are three main ways we do this at Kaleidoscope:

Virtual Assistants - how to walk your talk

What kind of guarantees do you offer to your clients? Do you feel the need to tell them you will be honest, careful and trustworthy, or do you think it should simply go without saying?

The GrittyVA, also known as Danielle Keister, an American VA and blogger with a great website, has created the ‘Virtual Assistant Chamber of Commerce’, complete with a Virtual Assistant Ethics Pledge and a badge which her admin colleagues can display on their website.

It leads to a web page containing promises such as: “I will do what I say I will and only make commitments that are within my power and abilities to deliver,” or “I take pride in the craft and quality of my work. I will accept responsibility for the work I do, admit mistakes and do my part to rectify any problems that arise.” So much so laudable... but what does this pledge actually say about you and your business?

Why a Virtual Assistant is good for business

Is your administration taking over, are you spinning too many plates or finding it difficult to concentrate on the important stuff because the little jobs are getting on top of you?

I know the concerns about taking on a Virtual Assistant – it can be hard to let go of some of those essential tasks, especially in a business you’ve set up yourself from scratch. Maybe you really feel you should do everything, you don't like asking for help, or you’re not sure whether you trust anyone else to value your business and clients as much as you do.

But a good Virtual Assistant is worth their weight in gold. It won’t take more than a week of working with one before you wonder why you ever held back.

What is a Virtual Assistant, anyway?

What’s in a name? A Virtual Assistant by any other name may well decline to help your children with their maths homework, tag your Flickr photos for you, or fix your iTunes account.

The length and breadth of the tasks people are encouraged to delegate to Virtual Assistants is endless. Personal Assistant was always a bit of a woolly job title that meant many things to different people. And it seems VAs are no different.

Virtual Assistants – know your worth

I’d like to introduce guest blogger Nikki Thurston.

Nikki is a Kaleidoscope Associate Virtual Assistant and my own VA. She has a cautionary tale to tell new VAs about knowing your worth and having the confidence to communicate it clearly:

“When I started out as a Virtual Assistant I had some mentoring sessions with Catherine, when she gave me a lot of coaching about not allowing myself to be pressured into reducing my prices. The danger is that you’ll end up working for nothing, being unable to cover your own expenses and certainly not making any profit.

This really came in handy not long after I advertised my business, Cloud 9 Admin in a local magazine, and was eagerly sitting by the phone when I received my first business enquiry from a woman who was interested in using a Virtual Assistant.