In my last article, Virtual Assistant-Hiring Pitfalls we explored the common hot water items companies face when hiring virtual assistants and how to avoid them. Now it’s time to talk about possible performance pitfalls and how we can protect ourselves and the virtual assistant when hiring.What’s really most important when hiring a virtual assistant is doing your due-diligence before you make the hire. Just like anyone else, virtual assistants come with their own personality, life issues, and family situations. Making sure they mesh with what you need are paramount to ensuring smooth sailing after you’ve finally agreed to work with the VA.

Virtual Houdini – The Virtual Assistant Disappearing Act

Yes, it can happen. Back when you worked in the retro bricks-and-mortar world, how often did someone simply not show up for work? They quit, right? Unfortunately this can happen with virtual assistants as well. Perhaps not as often as in the bricks-and-mortar world but it does happen.

Why do virtual assistants quit, disappear, and move on? They do, for the same reasons they quit, disappear, and move on in the bricks-and-mortar world. Maybe they needed more money. Maybe they became ill and could no longer work. Maybe a better offer came along. Maybe they didn’t like the work. You can’t entirely avoid the situation itself but there are things you can do to minimize the damage if and when it does. Protecting yourself ahead of time for when it does and realizing that it could happen is your best defense.

• Online files. Not only does putting your files (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.) online facilitate working virtually, but it also protects you if and when a virtual assistant leaves. Simply change the passwords then she’s locked out and you don’t lose any files or have to go hunting them down. Check out www.xdrive.com or speak with your website administrator about putting your files up via ftp.
• Pay withholding. Why not put something in your contract with the virtual assistant that says you reserve the right to withhold pay until work files are returned?
• Passwords. As soon as a virtual worker leaves or is let go, remember to change your passwords on everything he or she had access to!

What I Say Versus What I Can Do

Would you hire someone to watch your children just because they say they’re capable of doing so? I didn’t think so. Then why would you hire a virtual assistant (or anyone for that matter) without first finding out what they can do and if they can do what they say they can do? I recommend several steps be taken to test a new virtual assistant contractor before contracting with them. These steps are modeled after our own company’s interviewing process, which has evolved over the years. It’s a lot of work on your part but very worthwhile. If you don’t want to take all of these steps then look for a good virtual staffing agency, like Team Double-ClickSM who does all of the work for you.However, be absolutely sure that you send the virtual assistant a 1099 Miscellaneous Income tax form (in lieu of a W2, which employees only receive) each year.

1. Job posting. In your case you’ll either need to make a posting on a job board, such as CareerBuilder.com, Monster.com, or Craig’s List. Or you can search those boards for virtual assistants looking for work.
2. Typing test. You want to know your new virtual assistant can type…accurately, right? Send him or her to www.typingtest.com and ask for the results back. Look for a high level of accuracy coupled with high speed.
3. Computer skills test. Again, you want to know your virtual assistant can use Word and Excel. Send her to www.expertrating.com, ask her to take the free Word and Excel (and any others you want to know about) tests and send you the scores.
4. First interview. Agree on a time and date for the first telephone interview. Then give the potential virtual assistant your number and have her call you. Have your questions ready. Did she show up on time? Did she answer your questions to your satisfaction? Do her skills still fit?
5. Work personality. You simply must know if the person you are about to contract is honest, has a high level of integrity, is a team player, and so on. We recommend www.totaltesting.com, where you can ask the potential virtual assistant to take such a test. Now this one costs a few bucks. It’s up to you whether you want to pay for it or require the virtual assistant to pay for it. Just remember – if you ask her to pay for it and you don’t hire her she’s not going to be a happy camper.
6. Second Interview. The cool thing about Total Testing’s work personality tests is that they give you another set of questions to ask the candidate during a second interview. Have a friend, spouse, or colleague interview this person the second time. Compare notes. How does each of you feel about this person? Will she work out?
7. Contract. If you’re ready to contract this person it’s time to pull out the non-compete, non-disclosure contract we discussed in the last article. Send it to the virtual assistant for review and signing. Be absolutely sure this is signed before putting him or her to work.
8. EIN and W9. We also discussed, in the last article, requiring the contractor to obtain a (free) EIN (employer identification number) to further protect you from possible employer/employee claims later on down the road. Now’s the time to ask for this, along with a completed W9 form.

This is the abbreviated version of our process. We throw in a few things like setting up a company email account, and we have a review process, which each virtual assistant goes through. A team of three HR pros discuss each candidate and determine if a contract will be offered. Because we’re a staffing agency, your screening process will look a little different from ours.

Give Me All You Got

Never send a virtual worker a ton of materials (letterheads, envelopes, brochures, etc.). It’s just a safeguard. While it is very rare that someone would leave and not return those materials to you, if they did, how much money would you have tied up in replacing all of those expensive printed materials? It’s just better not to do it in the first place. Send a virtual worker slightly more than what they need to perform the task at hand.

The Five Finger Discount – Identity Theft/Credit Card Number Theft

One of our clients’ biggest concerns has always been identity theft and credit card number theft. In all the years we’ve been staffing virtually, we’ve never seen this happen. It may be that the work personality profile is weeding out the people who might be tempted and our HR department is further ferreting out those who are less-than-desirable, but the other half of it is the contractor mentality of a virtual assistant as opposed to the employee mentality of an…employee!

You can minimize your risk by not giving out your credit card information to a virtual assistant. If you need to give the virtual assistant a credit card number for ordering products or services on your behalf, get a separate card that is used for nothing but items the virtual assistant orders for you. It’s much easier to check over your bill for erroneous charges this way.

Hours Availability

When hiring a virtual assistant, not only do you need to make sure their skills and abilities mesh with you and your business, but you must also be sure the virtual assistant has enough time to take care of your needs. Very simply ask the potential virtual assistant how many other clients she has, how many hours per week she is working, and how many hours she has to devote to you. Does it work with what you need? If not, move on.

The Rate

I don’t know about you, but I’ve never bought something without first knowing what it was going to cost. Important questions to ask before contracting a virtual assistant:

1. What is the rate per hour?
2. Are there different rates for different tasks?
3. If so what are they?
4. Do you round to the nearest hour or the nearest minute? To the nearest minute is the most desirable.
5. Is there a start up fee?
6. If so, how much?
7. Is there a termination fee?
8. If so, how much?
9. Is there a minimum usage?
10. If so, how much?
11. Can you work within my budget? In other words, if I can only afford 10 hours per week, what happens when you’ve reached 10 hours? How is that handled?
12. What are your future plans? How long do you intend to be a virtual assistant? Is this a career for you or a short-term venture for some extra cash?

My philosophy when hiring anyone, virtual assistants included, is to hire slowly and fire quickly. Trust your gut. If you don’t feel that a virtual assistant is working out, let her go immediately and don’t look back. Your gut is probably right. But do take your time hiring. Go through the paces to determine if he or she is the best fit for YOU; it’ll minimize the risk that he or she won’t work out for you later.

Note: Please look for another article in this series titled “Avoiding Virtual Assistant Performance Pitfalls”.

Team Double-ClickSM provides virtual assistance for small and home-based businesses. Visit Team Double Click’s Web site at http://www.teamdoubleclick.com or phone 888.827.9129. Click to receive your free report, 101 Ways To Work With A Virtual Assistant.

Submitted by: Dharminder Kumar

Today a high number of real estate professionals have a Real Estate Virtual Assistant as part of their team. This makes the Real Estate VA industry an increasingly competitive one. If you are a Real Estate Virtual Assistant who wants to find ways to serve your client better so as to become indispensable to them, here are a few tips:

1.Know your client s business inside and out. It is not enough to just know your job and do it well; familiarize yourself with all aspects of your client s business so you can find more ways to help them run it more smoothly and efficiently. Learn about real estate trends and developments especially in the area your client serves so you can suggest ways for them to stay ahead of the game. They will appreciate your effort in going the extra mile.

2.Take ownership of your work. Perform each task you are assigned as if you were the business owner; with the right mindset, you can give each task your 100% and the result will be a higher quality of work and increased productivity. Be protective of your client s business; look out for its best interest as if it were your own.

3.Be a person of integrity. Most people have to start at the bottom when entering a new profession, and the same may be true for you. However, prove yourself to be trustworthy and reliable with even the most mundane tasks and as time goes by your client will gain the confidence to entrust you with more important and critical tasks. Establish yourself as someone they can trust and on whom they can depend, and this may lead to great career growth opportunities for you.

4.Never stop learning. Develop a thirst for knowledge and the desire to continuously improve. You may think you are already a good employee who does their work well, but there are always new ways to do old tasks better, faster, more cost-effectively or more efficiently. Push yourself to keep learning and to stay competitive; this will not only benefit your client but yourself as well, as this is one great way to keep your job fresh and never boring.

5.Maintain a good working relationship with your client. Despite the fact that you work remotely and do not see your client face to face on a daily basis, with constant communication you can establish a healthy working relationship with them. Keep in touch with them regularly through email or by phone make sure you are always on the same page. Establish rapport simply by wishing them a good day or telling them to enjoy their weekend before you sign off at the end of the day.

These are just a few tips you can practice to become a better Real Estate Virtual Assistant. There are many more things you can do to become indispensable to your client, but start with some of the above and you are off to a great start.

About the Author: To know more about real estate VA visit us at

myoutdesk.com/

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Source:

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