Every choice you make about how to run your business is important, but few things have as much impact as how you handle administration. All of those things that seem boring and small are actually what keeps your business going. If you decide to go this route, then choosing a virtual assistant is a big decision.

Think of yourself as a customer and ask yourself if you would be happy with anything less than the best you can offer. How could you expect them to choose your service if it wasn’t good enough? No, because you know they want the best. So why shouldn’t you?

Why getting the right VA is key

Whether you hire a full-time or part-time assistant, this person will be in charge of some of the most important, private, and sensitive parts of your business. Because of this, it’s very important that you can completely trust the virtual assistant you hire. If you don’t trust that the job will be done right, you won’t be able to delegate without worrying.

With a good VA service, you can let your business grow and change while knowing that you are fully supported and that your daily to-do list is being taken care of. Full-time virtual assistants can help you keep and grow your online presence, keep track of your finances, plan your travel, and help you take on new challenges with ease. Check out our blog post “How a virtual assistant can change your business for the better” to learn more.

Also, it takes time for new people and services to fit into your business, so it’s in your best interest to make the right decision the first time.

How to choose the right service for you

There are a few things you can do to make it more likely that you’ll find the right virtual assistant the first time. Here are our top tips:

1. Depth of knowledge

The job title “virtual assistant” is not the same for everyone. How virtual assistants work and what they can do depends on the skills and experience they have. To find the right VA for you, it’s important that their skills and knowledge match what your business needs now, tomorrow, and in a year. One thing is to know how to format an Excel spreadsheet. Another thing is to know how to use pivot tables, vlookups, and the “de-duplicate” function. In the same way, it’s pretty easy to post a tweet, but it’s something else to be able to help build a digital marketing campaign across multiple digital platforms, support it with good SEO knowledge, and increase engagement. It is very important that the partner you work with has the right level of experience. It will save you the time it would take you to do it yourself, and an experienced VA could probably do it much faster and for less per hour than you are worth to your business in other ways.

2. Breadth of expertise

Now, it’s great to find the best match for right now. But what will happen in a year? Your business will need more help as it grows, so it makes sense to look for a virtual assistant service that specializes in more than one area. If you need someone to do your bookkeeping and credit control right away, but you also want to use online marketing to grow your business in the future, it will save you time, effort, and money to find a company that can do both. The skills and experience needed for each are very different, and you won’t find them all in one freelancer. However, a service provider can put together a package of services that fits your budget and needs, so you can get exactly what you want at a price you can afford. Being “future-fit” isn’t just about making financial plans and projections; it’s also about your working environment, capacity, and resources. This is where a good virtual assistant service can really help your business grow.

3. Team vs individual

Now we can move on to our next point. Whether you hire someone or hire someone else, it will take some time to get used to a new resource. If you hire someone, you have to work with the skills they bring with them unless you spend a lot of time and money training them. The same is true when a service is outsourced that requires a fixed set of skills. In this case, training is not even an option. By outsourcing to a flexible team, you can be sure that they can adapt to the changing needs of your business. If you don’t want to have to go through the selection and breaking-in process over and over again, it’s probably best to choose the most flexible resource you can find from the start.

4. Communicate your expectations

Communication that is clear and to the point is important in all parts of business, but it is especially important to be clear about what you need and want from a virtual assistant. The best way to start is to write a job description. By doing this, the VA organizations you’re thinking about will know what you want, and it will also help you understand the situation better. This way, you won’t waste time on services that aren’t good enough or don’t fit. For example, if you need someone who can maintain your website, answer calls, and do virtual administration, but you didn’t tell the person you were hiring that you needed these skills, you will probably be disappointed. Look for a service that can make a package that fits the needs of your business. As we’ve already said, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution to this problem, so a company that offers a customized service will be worth its weight in gold in the long run.

5. Packaged or next available VA vs tailored VA

In the same way, you should think about whether a package or “next available VA” service will work for you. Every business has its own culture, working practices, and processes that are shaped by the industry it is in. If an outsourcing service wants to be successful, it needs to treat each company as an individual and customize its services for each client. Could a package provider who just gives you the next available attendant offer this level of custom service? Unlikely. So it’s a good idea to look around for a service that will take the time to fully understand your business needs and then find the best solution for you. This means that the support service you choose can become an important part of your team, even if they work from home and don’t add to your business’s HR problems.

6. Follow proper procedure

Would you hire someone on your staff without meeting them first? No, that’s obvious. So why wouldn’t you follow the same steps when hiring a virtual assistant? If you do your research in this area, it could be one of the best decisions you make. You’ll be able to make sure they have the right skills and knowledge, but you’ll also be able to see if they fit in with the company’s culture and have the work ethic you’d expect from any other employee.

7. Know your deal-breakers

Before you talk to a VA organization, you should make a list of the five things that you can’t change. These can be traits or skills, but they should be the things that you and your business value the most. For instance, it might be very important for the company you work for to have all of the privacy and data protection rules in place.

If you use these tips, you could soon have your own virtual assistant service to help you stay on track and keep your business running smoothly so you can focus on creating, networking, and growing. We can’t think of a better reason why you should hire the right virtual assistant.

If you need help choosing a virtual assistant to keep your business running smoothly, we offer a free consultation to help you decide if our virtual assistant services are right for your business. If you want to know more, you can call us at +1 323-955-1001 or use the contact form in the menu above.