Virtual Assistant – THE Blog About Our Industry

About the Virtual Assistant industry for VAs and for clients

Monthly Archives: August 2007

The Importance of Follow Up

As a Virtual Assistant looking after a number of clients, it is really important to diarise items that need following up.

With the increased number of emails, phone calls, and information to read and take in, it is very easy to get in overload mode and not realise that someone didn’t respond to your email or phone call till several days later, or even weeks later. I usually do make a note to follow up on behalf of clients but often forget to do this for my own personal things. I mean, you just expect that people will respond and return phone calls or reply to emails but they just don’t, do they?

Two cases in point:

1. A client emailed me at the beginning of this month to get a mail merge letter out on her behalf – she knew I was going on holiday soon and was keen to get this done before I went away. After all I had given her (and all my clients) over a month’s notice so they could get work in – before the last minute. However, she didn’t check to see if I’d gotten the email and rang in a panic over a week later, a few days prior to my leaving, because she’d not heard from me.

I hadn’t received her email at all so was unaware of this job to be done and it ended up being an urgent one that had to be fit in amongst all the other last minute stuff that clients gave me last week – something I had hoped to avoid by giving them all over a month’s notice in the first place! If the client had made note to contact me just a few days later to see if I had received the job it would have saved her some panic, and me some stress in trying to fit something else in.

2. I contacted an organisation about my forthcoming book launch but didn’t chase them up when I didn’t receive a response because they’d been slow in responding the last time I contacted them. However, a good 2 weeks had passed so I rang them only to find out they had emailed me the very day I had spoken to them last – again, it left me with last minute activity before I go away.

Now, I know you’re thinking, what’s up with her email? Usually, nothing – it works 99% of the time, but email is not 100% proof, and emails can get held up in spam filters – even if I check it regularly just in case. And it’s always the case the Murphy’s Law will strike when it’s least needed. But the above should help emphasise how important it is that we put in our diaries follow up activities when we are expecting a response – just in case the person we contacted didn’t get our message or it got lost in a filter or just the general busy-ness of life. KMT

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I love surprises!

This year has been a very different year for me as I’ve made some shifts in what I’ve been doing in my business. Moving some clients onto other VAs as I made room for increased writing activity and public speaking. I have a passion for helping women who want to work at home and be there for their families, just as I have been blessed to do for the past 13+ years.

All the same, I felt bad for ‘abandoning’ those clients – although I know that’s not the reality. They have very capable people looking after them and I really did not have the time to put into their needs properly. But it’s almost like parting with family sometimes – when you’ve been servicing them for some years and know the way they like things done and what is expected of each other.

The past few weeks have been difficult with some unexpected happenings (all businesses have ups and downs – I was experiencing some downs :-( ) so when I got two things delivered today, it was a wonderful surprise, and totally unexpected.

The first was a handwritten card in the post from a client of one of my team members – I’d connected the two and it was a thank you to me for helping the client find the right VA. I’ve occasionally had phone calls and emails in the past, but this is the first time I’ve received a card in the post. That helped make my day straight away – and Kylie’s too (she knows who she is).

But the second delivery was the biggest surprise of all. A most beautiful bouquet of edible blooms from an Association I’ve recently finished up with. I have moved on with all the other things happening in my business and my life and I hadn’t really given much thought, except on occasion to the VA now supporting them, answering her questions and assisting when required so she can settle into the role. So this gift really did take me by surprise and I can’t share them with you through the computer, but at least you can appreciate what they looked like before I began to devour them :-) Chocolate is definitely one of my weaknesses although I don’t remember telling this client that – perhaps the new VA who took over told them as she does know ;-)

I don’t look for gifts but it’s sure nice to receive them and in the case of current clients, tends to make you want to go just that bit further for them too. Whether or not your clients are the type to give gifts, it is always best to do your utmost for them – you never know who they’re going to tell or how they’re going to show their appreciation! KMT

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Virtual Assistant or Virtual Worker?

As the VA industry evolves and more people become aware of this excellent way of working, it is only natural that there are going to be companies developing who have a staff of virtual workers. We’ve been seeing this in India for sometime but now it’s expanding to other parts of the world, with at least one that I know of in the US and I became aware of another in the Philippines recently. I’m sure there are others too. And that’s not to mention the agencies that tap into the VA market – there are many of these also.

There is a very real difference between these companies and the Virtual Assistant networks which I want to share here. And I’ll add a comparison for you too.

My husband is an IT consultant who is employed by a sub-contracting company. They pay his wage, his holiday leave, his superannuation, taxes and any other entitlements. They also do the advertising, gain the clients and then advise my husband when he needs to do work for another client. He receives regular payslips from them but very rarely visits their office or has direct contact with the employer company. He actually does the work for one of their clients on the client premises or occasionally works here in our home office. My husband is an employee of that firm and it is that firm that gets paid by the client – not my husband. His wage is drawn from those funds.

Me – I’m a Virtual Assistant. I work for myself and have several clients. I invoice them on a regular basis for work that I’ve carried out. I belong to several Virtual Assistant networks and pay annual subscription fees to some and benefit from their joint advertising and promotions but must be pro-active in responding to job requests and securing the work, i.e. liaising with the client. I do not have an employer and I am responsible for my own taxes, insurances, superannuation, and whether I put anything away for annual leave. I’m also responsible for my own advertising and promotion and if something goes awry I really don’t have anyone else I can lean on for back up support – although I can post help! messages to VA forums for advice.

I see the Virtual Staffing companies in much the same light as my husband’s employment mentioned above. People who work for these companies are virtual workers but they are not Virtual Assistants, and I know that there have been discussions about this. Virtual Assistants are self-employed business operators, they are not employees of virtual staffing agencies.

I know that there are groups and agencies out there looking to develop in this area and they will be wanting to connect with existing Virtual Assistant networks so that they have a ready source of workers who are already well versed with working in this way, however there is still much work and discussion to be made in this area. VAs are used to setting their own rates and whilst some will take on sub-contract work (which is always at a somewhat lower rate) not all VAs will do this. It is a great idea for those just starting out, wanting to get experience and some regular income, but ultimately it could tie up their time from gaining clients of their own at a more reasonable rate, i.e. what the client will pay direct to the VA, not what the virtual worker receives from the agency.

If you’re looking to join the VA industry, do your homework and get connected with some of the VA networks out there. It is really worthwhile learning from those who are already working in this way and you’ll find that if you follow their footsteps you will achieve also. But, if you’re looking for the security of regular income and you don’t want to negotiate with clients for the work and pay, then joining the virtual workforce of a staffing agency might be the best option for you. KMT

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Seeking a VA – price and where to search?

I was having a chat to someone recently about places to seek Virtual Assistant support and elance.com and guru.com were mentioned. I immediately thought ‘oh, oh’ and waited for him to finish speaking before I tackled this aspect of our conversation.

Earlier in the week I’d had another business operator contact me looking for support for their business and because they know I have a network of Virtual Assistants in 15 countries he wanted to know which was the lowest cost country he could get support from.

I get concerned when people start looking in the wrong places or thinking about price only when seeking the support of a VA. First, it is important that clients realise that Virtual Assistants provide specialised support and they are not just (untrained) people sitting at home with a computer and internet connection. It goes much deeper than that.

Many VAs have well over 5 years corporate experience in admin/support areas and lots have more than 20 years’ experience. They are not going to compete price-wise with someone from Elance or Guru who quotes only $5 an hour and their finished work will produce something that is far above the standards of those who do not have the skills for this role.

I’m not saying that there aren’t quality people at Elance or Guru – there are. I sourced an excellent graphic artist to do my book cover through Guru recently and I’ll be using his services again. But I can tell you also that I did not pay bottom dollar for the job. I was amazed at some of the bid responses I got to the project I posted. Some did not provide portfolios or examples of their work – they just told me what they could do. Others obviously did not understand what my project was about and so they were dismissed immediately.

I’d not had experience with posting a project before so was curious as to whether my experience would be successful and it was. However, I’ve heard so many stories about people seeking a Virtual Assistant via this same process and then ending up with people who were not literate with the English language, who had poor typing, spelling and grammatical skills, let alone no knowledge on how to format a document so that it presented well. This then meant they had to pay for someone else to format the document and make it presentable for their business.

I was thinking about this and it occurred to me that no-one would seek an Accountant or similar through Guru or Elance would they? I actually did a search and found there are Accountants listed there, however I honestly could not see myself seeking one via that process – at least not the business people I know. And the list of those there and their earnings seem to indicate that few others do too. So why seek a Virtual Assistant there?

Virtual Assistants are best sourced through the various VA networks that exist online. These networks provide a screening process in most cases and also continued education and certification for the industry. Searching through Google will bring up thousands of references to VAs and you can visit their websites, or their listings via the networks, and get a good idea of their skillset and experience. And have confidence that they could produce the quality work you’re seeking.

Their rates are going to differ – considerably, for many reasons.

  • First, there is no legislation for this industry so there are no ‘set prices’ for different services being provided.
  • Second, cost of living has to come into it – where the VA lives will have a bearing on the rates they set for the services they provide.
  • Third, no two VAs are alike – we all have different background experience and abilities. Some will specialise in one area and others in another. We will all have our own preferences to the type of work we’d like to do, and the types of clients we service. Because of this the rates will also depend on their speed, knowledge, experience, etc. If, for example, you wanted a document typed, someone who types faster will most likely have a higher charge rate, than someone who types slower.

You need to do the sums – will someone typing a document in 2 hours @ 95wpm be cheaper in the long run than someone who does it in 4 hours @ 65wpm? In many cases they will be. And yet often people will only look at the $$ per hour rate assuming that is their best option for the dollars they have to spend.

I want to encourage you to look beyond what might seem to be the ‘cheap’ option and instead look at the professionalism of our industry and seek support from the right places. It will save you time and dollars in the long run. KMT

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When There’s An Event On

Are you aware there is a site that announces Virtual Assistant courses, seminars, training events and other things? No? Then you need to go over to www.va-announcements.com and subscribe to the list.

Many of the VA networks list their events regularly at this site, plus place announcements and it’s a good one-stop-shop for the industry. So make sure you head over to www.va-announcements.com and catch up on all that’s happening for the industry right now! KMT

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