To ensure that you receive support from an assistant in the virtual world the same way you would receive if someone was sitting in your office, you should follow these steps:

1. Make sure that you can take a test drive with a Virtual Assistant. If you have to sign up and pay a monthly retainer right from the get go, you may waste your money for that month. First, see if you can hire by project-based. That means if you have a project in mind, and not one that is VERY important, like a PowerPoint presentation you need the next day to help you land that BIG client. This means, something small that you’ve been pushing back for a while and just can’t seem to get to it. Outsource that ONE project to a Virtual Assistant. See how they do!

2. When you hire a Virtual Assistant for that FIRST project, you want to look at how that VA responds to email correspondence. If they are taking up to a few hours to return an email, this may be a red flag to you in future projects. You want a Virtual Assistant to respond almost immediately. If you can’t get in touch with a VA in regards to ANY projects you have her or him doing, this will hurt your business. Especially, if a project was turned in and you have immediate questions right before you have to present that particular project to a client, OR if you need a contact number right away. The same goes for phone and fax. If they don’t return you call or confirm that they’ve received a fax that you have sent to them, these are red flags, especially in the beginning. A GOOD virtual assistant will make every possible step to ensure your trust, ESPECIALLY in the beginning, and will continue throughout your contracted duration.

3. Make SURE you sign an outsourcing agreement with an independent virtual assistant or a virtual assistant company. If they don’t supply their clients with an outsourcing agreement, then move along. This will cover you financially, if you are not happy with their services OR if they did something illegal by selling your ideas/information to someone else, you can go back to them and request a FULL refund; this line should be in the agreement. Of course, we all know the impossibility of refunds when doing business, but at least your have a free mind when and if your Virtual Assistant does something unethical and you DO have a legal document in case it’s something major that you have to seek legal advice. An Outsourcing Agreement CLEARLY spells out client confidentiality AND the nature of the job, whether it be retainer-based, on-going assistance or JUST one project.

4. Listen to the tone of your virtual assistant on the phone and how they explain their business and handle the conversation. You want to make sure that if this person grew with you and your business, that they are capable and competent to speak to potential clients, confirm appointments or negotiate deals. How they speak to you about their business is how they are going to speak to YOUR clients, if the need arises. You also want to find out what their background was prior to starting their VA company!

5. AND LAST, ALWAYS ask about the virtual assistant’s capacity. Meaning how many hours/week or month they can take on and if they have a back up plan in case that virtual assistant gets more clients AFTER you. She/He may not be busy right now, so they will be able to give you their undivided attention, HOWEVER, with Virtual Assistant companies becoming more and more popular, YOUR virtual assistant who was very good at returning emails/phone calls and turning your projects around really quickly, may get to the point where your communication with her/him starts to slow down. SO, in the VERY beginning ASK about capacity, and then ask about back-up plans, ESPECIALLY if they are just an independent virtual assistant. At the same time, if you have become very comfortable with your va, ask during the initial interview: “If things start picking up with you and we have been working together for awhile, am I going to just be pushed to a different virtual assistant”. This is very important to ask, b/c you can request to continue to use you. YES, maybe some of the projects might be pushed to another VA, but you want to CONTINUE to correspond with your VA. This also eliminates your need to explain to a new VA what you need, as the VA that you work with can do the explaining to the VA who make take on some of the work flow.

If you follow these steps, you will be on your way to hiring a GREAT Virtual Assistant that you are happy with and WILL SAVE YOU money, b/c it will save you time. After all, TIME IS MONEY!!