Tag Archives: Virtual Assistant

This is for the EA/VA peeps

This is for the EA/VA peeps

To all the Executive Assistants and Virtual Assistants out there, put your hands up in the air! We salute you. You keep the world organised. If it weren’t for you, countries will fall into chaos, kingdoms will fall, and all will descend into an unorganised pile of papers and unscheduled meetings.

This is for the EA/VA peeps. The ones who keep the company running and never get tired of manning the fort. The ones who are always on top of the situation and know which thing goes where and who gets to do which task. This is for the This is for the EA/VA who keeps us all on track and organised, ready to do our jobs. We already know you’re fabulous, and here are a few more competencies you can work on in order to continue to be the fabulous assistant that you are.

Communication
As an EA/VA you have to be able to learn to cut through all the noise and get to the heart of the matter. With all the things going on with your client, you have to be able to get the important points and get the gist across minus the fluff. Your client only need to know the gist, so get to the point. Clients have a whole range of different personalities and diverse backgrounds and each EA/VA should be able to adapt to the client’s communication style. Flexibility is essential in order to relay messages effectively and efficiently.

Attention to detail
Yes, there are a host of technologies, applications, and tools to help you scan, narrow down, compute, double check, correct, and go through just about any document, email correspondence, or presentation. But EA/VA’s have to make their clients look good, and it is imperative that all the small details are taken care of. For example, you can spell and grammar check documents but if you forget one part of the instructions – that could spell disaster for the project. You can have all the documents ready and looking fantastic but if you miss the deadline because you missed a schedule change in the meeting, then your client could look bad. Small details matter and will always be an area where EA/VAs can add value.

Flexibility
Clients, especially executives, have a packed to do list. EA/VAs have to be able to make decisions on which tasks are a priority and which ones can be delegated. Handling multiple priorities will be an EA/VAs job and it is up to them to be able to juggle those priorities.

Self motivated
To be able to excel in every industry EA/VAs should be self motivated. They should not be afraid to take the reins and be able to put themselves forward for projects, tasks, challenges, and anything that will get them seen and heard. EA/VAs are vital to every organisation, let them know that you are.

What are your EA/VA experiences? What competency are you looking for in a EA/VA? Share them with us in the comments Stay humble and hustle hard.

Written by Jaie O. The Help

Five reasons The Help stays with Elance

Five reasons The Help stays with Elance

In this entrepreneurial age where lifelong employment is part of ancient history, everyone thinks e-commerce in both personal and professional lives.

Shrinking incomes and company downsizing put freelancing on center stage for one very important reason.  Freelancing stems the onslaught of despair when someone in the family is unemployed.  It provides a temporary solution for those looking to augment income.   There are several online platforms for freelancers but most of them stay with Elance, The Help included; here are five reasons why:

  1. Elance visibility is key. Registered freelancers are subscribed according to expertise ensuring that employers have access to the A-players in the talent pool.
  2. Freelancers are assured payment via the escrow and milestones that are integral to the contract eliminating anxiety for both client and provider.
  3. Feedback from clients insures continued improvement of quality of service fostering trust and growth in business relationships.
  4. The Elance platform is user friendly, which means even older freelancers quickly learn usage of its tools.
  5. Elance recently made $800,000,000, which means its members are getting great money for excellent delivery.

The Help, associated with Elance since its inception, grew by leaps and bounds.  It’s now Number 2, nationwide, and Number 12 (as of Feb 2013,) worldwide in the Administrative Assistance category.

 

Written by Yoli P.- The Help

The Help’s Guarantee

The Help’s Guarantee

Think it doesn’t matter which service provider you choose? Think again!

Remember, it is your business.  It is your money.  It matters!

Read on and find out why more and more clients prefer The Help than other providers.

The Help’s Guarantees

Guarantee #1. Cloud-based virtual administrative assistant professionalism guarantee- We offer prompt, excellent and professional service to you and your clients. If you find that’s not the case and would like to terminate services, we can do so immediately—no questions asked.

Guarantee #2. Cost-effective- We will never charge a monthly retainer fee and will never bill you before the work is performed—only after. You only pay for the services you use. We use Elance tracker that takes screenshot of what we are doing during the shift. Payment is for actual work done at the rate agreed upon in advance. You don’t have to worry about payroll, sick leave, other employment compensation and benefits, providing work space or equipment.

Guarantee #3. Increased Efficiency – Our job as a VA is to minimize trouble and maximize productivity to the business owner. We can take care most of your daily transactions, therefore you will have more time to focus in important projects. Works in your absence- Since the office is there, irrespective of your presence, just like any other office, the calls, mails, post, fax …all are received on behalf of the clients with their consent. We can respond to customer phone calls, reply emails with your generic business greetings and many more.

Guarantee #4 Reduces hassles- You can have the option of transferring all your calls to us and receive only the ones you wish to. This saves you from the unwanted marketing calls.

Guarantee #5. Flexibility with time- We can work with your schedule. We can start working as early as five in the morning or as late as 12 midnight.

Guarantee #6. Flexibility with nature of work- Our range of knowledge is endless. We‘re experts in our field, because we’ve performed these task as employees previously and have Degrees, Certificates and training to accomplish the task. We use globally-competitive platforms and applications to do our job.

Guarantee #7. No Black Boxes Promise- Employees and contractors often create “black boxes” or job security by not sharing procedures, logins, etc. they use to do their job, making it impossible for someone else to do their job if they quit or leave, making them “indispensable” and impossible to fire. The Help will be able to help you set up your virtual office systems by writing down and documenting processes and tasks. We always keep track of the projects development, making it easy for anyone to take over the position at any given time.

Guarantee #8. Minimal Training- We do not need comprehensive training. We normally just need to know what the business is, the mission and we take it by heart. That way, we can handle the tasks, customers’ enquiry etc. the way you will be handling them. We are highly trainable and fast learners.

Guarantee #9. World-class service- Our ranking and feedbacks in Elance would show how good we are with what we do and how satisfied our clients are with our contribution in the success of their business or project. We are not offering just one skill but rather set of skills. We are not just customer service. We build relationships with our clients. We take care of their needs and their questions.

Guarantee #10. Data Integrity and Security- We are very big when it comes to data integrity and security. Any information related to our clients, our potential clients, or any type of business partner cannot be accessed by unauthorized person. This may include but not limited to financial documentation, contract language, patented/copyrighted materials, client documents, software code, business correspondence, business methodologies, business strategies, governance structure, client procedure, business capture techniques etc. Usernames and passwords are being kept on a safe place, soft copies are all encrypted. We can commit to a 100% accuracy of any data that we enter to your database. We use company-provided computer/access/software which is strictly for official business use only. Your data and your system are safe with us. We are happy to sign NDA if required.

Guarantee #11. We value entrepreneurship- We treat our client’s business as if it is our own. We do not want any time, money or effort put into waste. We collaborate with our client and are being proactive in determining issues that arise before it becomes a problem, brainstorm and recommend solutions.