Virtual Assistant – THE Blog About Our Industry

About the Virtual Assistant industry for VAs and for clients

Monthly Archives: November 2007

Prospective Client Gets Rejected II

Further to my previous post, I was pleased to see that Valerie visited here and added comment. She advised that she did research transcription companies before looking further afield. She just hadn’t indicated that in her article and it might have helped those of us who commented on her article to see a more complete picture before commenting.

It is important to note here that transcription companies don’t necessarily mean Virtual Assistants and vice versa, although Valerie had mentioned both in her comment to my post. Virtual Assistants are generally people who provide assistance virtually – originally those who were PAs in the corporate world, but their range of skills and experience far exceed that these days. This means VAs provide a wide variety of support services which includes transcription services and not all VAs provide the same set of services. So, in contacting a transcription company, you may or may not get a VA who provides other services, but if you contact a VA network you will get a variety of services provided by those VAs.

I’d like to say also that I have no problem with VAs in other countries securing work from Australian businesses. That wasn’t my point and my apologies to anyone who may have gotten that idea. My point was that Valerie is writing a column for Australian business and the focus of this particular article tended to give readers the idea that they needed to search overseas for Virtual Assistant support.

Readers of this blog will know that I encourage new VAs to network locally when starting out in business as often this is where their client base will begin. Over time and as they build their confidence they will gain clients further afield, interstate and overseas. I still remember the excitement of my first overseas client.

Equally so I feel that businesses need to do the same thing – shop for products and services in their own backyard, but if they don’t find what they’re looking for, then start looking further afield. Sometimes time constraints mean that you need a job completed overnight and someone on the other side of the world would be the perfect choice.

In fact if you have a VA already they could assist with this search, even to the point of locating a VA in another country if that is your need. Through the various existing VA networks and communities Virtual Assistants get the opportunity to develop good working relationships with VAs in other locations. Sharing jobs, collaborating and sub-contracting to one another becomes a normal practice.

If Valerie had contacted one of the VA networks here in Australia I know she would have received quotes from Australian VAs and overseas VAs, whilst still going through the Australian network. Perhaps her own Australian VA might have been able to do this as well. Just another option when seeking support.

Prospective Client Gets Rejected

Interesting article in The Sydney Morning Herald last week about writer Valerie Khoo getting rejected when trying to get some transcription work done.  She’d contacted the Indian company mentioned in Tim Ferriss’ book about the 4-hour week, only to find they were too busy to do the work for her and would need to outsource it.   After shopping around via Guru.com and getting quotes from a few countries, including her own (Australia) she settled on a transcriptionist in the US.

Many VAs have commented on this article at the newspaper website.   Whilst Valerie did do some shopping around to find someone to assist her, it seems she completely missed checking to see what is available in her own country.  Instead of contacting a Virtual Assistant network or transcription companies in Australia, she went through guru.com instead.  Valerie is writing an article for business in Australia and yet looks overseas to find a solution for her needs.

Outsourcing is good but it doesn’t mean that outsourcing must also mean offshore – competitive rates can be found in her own country as well.

It’s funny how some clients insist on someone local for work that can be done truly virtually and then someone who is writing for the business audience in Australia starts promoting to go outside of their country to source what they need – when there is local support available.  There has to be a balance there somewhere…

More than a reminder service…

I read a posting on a blog written by a man who was talking about his Virtual Assistant (girlfriend). This VA was rather different, in that it was really an email and web based reminder service that he could use to assist him with remembering actions, meetings and other activities throughout his busy day.

It’s amazing what the term ‘virtual assistant’ gets attributed to these days.

I can’t blame Eric for thinking that way though – I know in the past, when I was working in the corporate world, some bosses would think I was only there to serve as their appointment manager and make sure they didn’t double-book themselves, when in actual fact my skills and abilities were far more than a reminder service. I had to spend time training them in how to use me as their secretary and admin support. Not all bosses were like that but I had my fair share I had to break in, because they weren’t used to having that support. In fact, that’s how I met my husband, but that’s another story… :-)

Eric mentions he had a PA before he left the corporate world in 1996 and so perhaps he’s forgotten what abilities a PA can have, or maybe in his case, his PA really did only look after his diary and appointments.

It is so important that all VAs spend time helping to educate others on what we can do and how we can best assist them with their needs. And we can do this through simple means, by talking to existing clients and offering additional services (much like ‘… would you like chips with that?’), encouraging clients to tell others about you (give them some extra business cards to pass on), send out a newsletter to existing and past clients, and any prospective clients, be prepared to speak up at networking events and so on. Have fun!

Watching Out For Scams

As a Virtual Assistant, your contact details are going to be on display for the whole world to see, so it is very possible that you will be approached by a scammer for work to be done.

  • This can take many forms but for the most part they are out to get your money, so you need to be very aware of what to look for. First of all, money exchanges are definitely OUT. By that I mean if they are seeking for you to process payments into your own bank account and then send them their share of the payments, then this is a definite ‘no, no’. Basically they’re seeking to either launder money or are give you payments that won’t be honoured. Either way you are going to end up out of pocket and possibly into court once the authorities work out that you’re involved in an illegal practice. Steer clear.
  • Businesses that are seeking an office in another country. This is a difficult one because there are genuine businesses out there seeking to do exactly that. Some things that can help determine your action are:
    • Do they give you a business name or only their name?
    • Does their email address come from a genuine domain representing that company or are they using a free email account such as hotmail, or similar?
    • Have they given a genuine address?
    • Can you confirm that address matches the postcode given? There are suitable websites for doing that.
  • If the money sounds too good to be true – it usually is.
  • Contact the company in question and ask if the person who contacted you is a true representative of that company.

Other things you can do to help confirm validity are Google searches – if it’s a scam the name or subject heading will show up as a scam alert on the web. Contact other VAs you know – usually via forums – and ask if they have heard of that person or had a similar request? You’ll soon find out if that’s the case.

For those you still are not sure about but think might be genuine, you could always contact a government department in your country and enlist their support in determining if the client is genuine. In Australia that organisation is Austrade and there have been several occasions when I’ve contacted them for assistance and confirmation.

It’s important you protect yourself and your business so setting some procedures and practices in place are worth doing from an early stage – even if you don’t have to end up using them.

Sub-contracting to other VAs

As the Virtual Assistant industry gains increasing interest and more and more clients come on board, many VAs have taken to sub-contracting work to other VAs in order to cope with sudden workload increases. This is a good sign that things are picking up, but there are some things that all VAs should take note of.

  • If you use a contract for clients, then you should do the same with the sub-contracting VA.
  • Set boundaries or ground rules – be clear about your expectations and don’t leave it to chance or ‘assumption’.
  • Be clear about when payment will be made and follow through. If a setback occurs (your client hasn’t paid) you need to be upfront with the VA and let them know. If the amount you owe is small, you should pay it anyway.
  • Return emails and calls and don’t leave the other VA hanging wondering where things are at. We know you’re busy – that’s why you sub-contracted the work in the first place but the other VA deserves respect.
  • Don’t forget the VA community is still relatively small – many of us know each other and word travels quickly if you do the wrong thing.

If you have never been in a sub-contracting position or role before, then it’s good to get a feeling for how it works – don’t forget you can ask questions at the VA forum you belong to.  Enjoy the work!

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