Finding the right virtual assistant (VA) for your business needs can be a challenging task.
From skills and experience to communication and security, there are several essential considerations to keep in mind before bringing someone new into your team. But, if you have never worked with a VA before, it can be difficult to know what these are.
So, we’ve put together a list of 8 crucial things that we think are essential to consider when hiring a VA to ensure you find the right candidate for your business needs…
1. What process are you looking to delegate?
The list of jobs that a VA can help with in your business is pretty much endless. So showing up to an initial call asking how they can help you isn’t necessarily going to get you the best results and exact help you need in your business. We can make a good guess but no one knows your business better than you do. When you’re looking at bringing a VA into your team, take a look at all of your existing processes. What’s running smoothly? What isn’t? And where could you do with some extra help? Going in with a plan is a sure fire way to ensure you’re getting the most cost effective support for your business. (Check out our services page for help getting you started)
2. How many hours of support do you need?
This is something that a VA can help you with on a call, but having an idea of how many hours of support you expect to need can help you to compare any quotes you’re sent more accurately. It will also help you to check that a potential VA has your businesses best interests in mind and that they’re not massively over quoting you.
When you’re looking at how many hours of support you need, it’s also often beneficial to make a list of all the essential support you need in your business and also one with a couple of ‘nice to haves’ included to talk about on a call. This is because those ‘nice to haves’ might not actually have too much of an impact on their time requirements or the overall cost so could be easily included in your package.
3. When do you need them to start?
This might sound obvious, but having an idea of when you need them to start within your business can really help you to narrow down your options. If you need someone to start straight away, it’s really important to let them know on a call as some VAs have a waitlist.
4. How much experience does your VA have?
When we talk about experience here, we’re not talking about checking if they have a masters degree in ‘X’ or so many years experience in the industry. We are actually talking here about their past and existing customers. Do they have lots of great reviews and testimonials online? And, do they have any case studies available so that you can see how they have worked with clients in the past?
5. How much time do you have available to support your VA with meetings and keeping communications up to date?
The thing a lot of business owners forget to consider when they first bring a VA into their team is how much of their time will be required. So that we can make sure we’re delivering the results and service that you expect, we expect to have regular meetings to update you on progress, so you will want to include this in your considerations when choosing between multiple VAs.
6. Does their availability and time zone work with your schedule?
If you need support during specific hours such as bank holidays, weekends or evenings, you will want to make sure that a potential VA is able to fulfil this and their schedule aligns with your needs. It’s also important to consider whether they are based in the UK or that the time zone they are in will allow them to work during your required hours.
7. What is their hourly rate?
Does their hourly rate match what you expected? The average hourly rate for a VA in the UK varies depending on several factors, including their location, experience, skills, and the services they offer. Generally, though, hourly rates can range from £25 to £45 per hour. Determining your budget in advance of your call can help to narrow down your options. If your budget doesn’t cover all the services you would like to begin with, it can also help your VA to advise your top priorities to begin with until you are able to scale up your support.
8. Do they share your attitudes and values?
As logical and strategic as we like to think we are in our businesses, we still base a lot of our decisions (especially when it comes to staff and support) on gut feeling. Sometimes a person can look like the perfect candidate on paper but something just doesn’t sit right when you’re talking to them in person. And sometimes you just click with people. When you’re considering a virtual assistant, you want to know that you’re hiring someone who shares your attitudes and values, so that you can feel comfortable and confident in the work that they’re doing.
If you’re considering bringing a VA into your team and would like to find out more about how we can help, book a free initial call with us today.