If you’ve never worked with a VA before, we know it can be a slightly daunting experience. Even more so if you’ve never outsourced anything for your business before! But don’t worry, a VAs job is to make your life easier, without you needing to fret about how. The only thing you need to worry about is making sure you’re following some of the best practices when outsourcing to your VA, so that the relationship can be as successful as you want it to be. Not sure what they are? Let us enlighten you with a few suggestions.
Know What You Need
This should be something you figure out before you even get as far as finding a VA, let alone hiring one. Understanding what support your business needs is the starting point. So as yourself, what are you spending hours on with little return? What tasks do you absolutely dread doing, so you put them off until the very last minute. Is diary management taking you an age? Can you not cope with the volume of calls coming into your business at key working hours? Is raiding quotes and invoices stopping you from delivering actual work? All of those are prime targets for outsourcing to a VA. And putting together a clear picture of what’s draining your resources will help you work effectively with a VA, allow them to deliver the best service and give you the most bang for your buck.
Build a Good Working Relationship
A VA isn’t just someone that you send work off to and that’s that. When you work with a VA, you have a partner who can help you grow your business and achieve your goals. But all of that starts with having a good working relationship. Start with your introductory meeting, having an in-depth chat and making sure you get along, you can trust them, and they click with you and your business. When you’ve made your decision, make sure your onboarding process is sleek and includes everything they will need to know, communicate regularly to build trust and create that personal relationship that allows VAs to reach their full potential. It will take some time, but building a good rapport and relationship with your VA will help you both work more effectively and efficiently.
Communicate Regularly
This flows on from the previous point, but communication really is the key to successful outsourcing in any capacity. Make sure you regularly touch base with your VA to make sure they’re prioritising the right things, update them on how things are going in your business, and ensure you’re not working at cross purposes. Schedule regular catch-up meetings to discuss everything. And you’ll be able to avoid a lot of confusion in the process.
Check Their Security
The safety and confidentiality of your customer data should always be at the forefront of your priorities. But working with a VA means allowing them to access some or all of that data – so it’s important that you do your due diligence first. Talk to your VA about their data security processes, make sure they are rigorous and meet your standards, and if you have any concerns, voice them now. If your VA is handling money for you, as about their anti-money laundering qualifications, get an outline of their process step by step, and make sure you’re comfortable with how they will approach things on your behalf. This goes a long way towards building trust and gives you peace of mind about your data security.
And if you’re ever unsure about something, you can always ask us! At Your Admin Hub, we have years of experience working with business owners looking to grow their business, offering support and advice on all things admin. If you have any questions, or want to know more, just drop us a line to chat with one of the team today.