5 Red Flags That Say You Have the Wrong VA
Partnering with a virtual assistant is a process and should not be taken lightly. There are 5 areas you are likely to be concerned about before you start to work with a VA. They are:
Competence
Time management
Organization
Personality
ConfidentialityIf you get red flags in any or all of these areas, beware. Here are some virtual assistant scenarios that indicate glaring RED FLAGS:
Competence – You need a really good editor and proofreader for your articles; someone who is a real stickler for minute details. The 1st detailed email you get from your VA is filled with typos and grammatical errors.
Time Management – You have your 1st phone meeting scheduled with your VA. You call her at the appointed time. No answer. You try again 10 minutes later. She answers all out of breath saying, she can’t talk right now because she forgot she had promised another client something that was due an hour ago, so she will have to call you back later and set up another time to meet with you.
Organization – You have managed to get past the 1st two items, keeping your fingers crossed. Now you have sent your VA a presentation to proof, add some art you sent her, and tweak the animation. Then she is to upload to your server. It needs to be ready for you when you meet with your team at 1 p.m. on Monday. She emails you at 10 a.m. on Monday that the presentation is uploaded, but she will have to send you the additional art by noon as she misplaced it and has to do a search on her PC when she has the time.
Personality – Your VA just called with a quick question, which is OK. But before she gets to the question, she wants to chat about something cute her 3-year old just said. You don’t have the time. You don’t mind chatting, but not at this time during the business day. You have a more direct business style, this VA is more social. What have you done?
Confidentiality – Your VA came to you as a referral from someone you trusted. You didn’t even request an NDA, you just started working together. The next thing you know, people are contacting you saying they saw your name, number, and information about your business on your VA’s web site. These are not your target audience. She is sharing your info without permissionThat’s it. The red flags are more than you can handle. You can no longer deny that you have hired the wrong virtual assistant.
