Michelle Ofiana
Many businesses that established their presence online, including dropshipping businesses, have considered hiring or may have hired a virtual assistant already. And if you are one of those entrepreneurs who have loyal VA’s, you know that the hiring process can be tedious and thus you want to keep them as much as possible. Let’s first define what is a virtual assistant.
What is a Virtual Assistant?
The Balance Small Business gives us a short and brief description of what is a virtual assistant and what they can do for your business.
A virtual assistant (VA) is a person who provides support services to other businesses from a remote location. The term originated in the 1990s as the ability to work virtually due to technology improvements, such as high-speed Internet, document sharing, and other advancements, made working remotely a reality.
While many company owners are happy with their hired overseas help, there are many who have experienced a high turnover of staff, working from one VA to the other. Chances are that the VA help you got could not be meeting your requirements or you could be doing something wrong.
Hiring a VA could be the best decision you make for your online business. GIPHY
So let’s take a look at how to treat and manage your virtual assistant to keep their loyalty and help your business for many years.
How To Manage Your Virtual Assistants (and your staff)
Virtual Assistants are People too
First and foremost, it’s nice to remind yourself that VAs are not just hired help. They too are human beings who have the same feelings as we do. They are sensitive, they get tired, and they can be very happy with simple praises. Acknowledging your virtual help is a good start of a lasting working relationship.
Keep open communication with your Virtual Assistants
Open communication in a place of work has offered several successes that resulted in business progress. Business leaders account these reports to the effectiveness of using the openness of all the staff within the company. The more employees are open to you, the more they turn to be open to feedback and do work at their best. Make sure to hold regular meetings and check-ins to keep your virtual team communication at a steady level.
Prepare proper documentation of processes and SOPs
Creating proper documentation of processes can make life easier for you and your virtual assistant. Additionally, to make the payroll process smoother, generating detailed pay stubs may help your virtual assistant keep track of their earnings and understand deductions. This is true with SOP documentation too. These documents establish your expectations and your VA understands what is expected of him or her. Use Google Documents to put your processes into writing or other applications such as Evernote.
Provide proper training
The most important part of working with a VA is training. You cannot expect your VA to know everything at the onset of hiring. Everything will need to be laid out initially for proper knowledge. Your process and SOP documentation will help a lot at this stage. You can use screen recording tools, videos, and other forms of communication to connect and train your VA.
Give them easy access to tools and apps needed to get the job done
Provide them with necessary access to tools you use to get the job done. For instance, train and provide them with the right access to your dropshipping management tool.
Note: You will have to familiarize and master the tools yourself in order to delegate the right tasks to your VA. For those in the dropshipping arena, you can choose what access your VA needs to manage the tool and your business as a whole.
See video from Jack Pittman as he demonstrates how to get your DSMtool ready for your Virtual Assistant.
Allow your VA to get better at getting better
Learning never stops. It is, in fact, a continuous process. With each day that you spend with your VA, you allow them to learn and grow with your business. The Kaizen philosophy pertains to good change. When your VA is able to grasp a new set of skills, it’s a whole new level of improvement that benefits you and your business. Share your knowledge so that they can be better at what they do.
Make them feel important
Treat your VAs with respect. Make them feel important. Let them know that they are part of something big, that the job they do is essential. Praise them for the work they do even with small things done that benefited your business. Little tokens of appreciation is something that they will appreciate highly from you.
Provide support and communicate regularly
Virtual Assistants are a great help in any business. But they can be as ineffective if you lack the support they need. While they can be super at what they do, they can only do that with proper resources and support from you.
Communication is crucial. Your VA would like to hear from you from time to time, for them to let you know issues encountered or some matters that need to be discussed. So make it a point to communicate with them at least three times a week if daily is not possible.
The bottom line
Virtual Assistants can be as effective as you want them to be so long as you connect with them regularly, provide proper access, and the right tools. They can be your most powerful arm to get your business moving and allow you more time to focus on expanding and developing your business. Keep open communication and treat them well by letting them know their importance and by acknowledging their needs.
Wondering where to hire the best virtual assistants for your business? We’ve got it all covered for you. Check out our post on best places to find the right virtual assistants.
