there is no "plug and play"

Author: Ms. Bernadette Canero

VP and COO of Summit VA Solutions and VAST Marketing

When it comes to hiring a Virtual Assistant, there are some who have the experience and those who lack the experience. And then there are companies like Summit VA Solutions, Inc., who say, "We train our VAs." And we do!

We train them as they are so used to the corporate world, and it's so different from the VA world.

That said, you may ask yourself, "If they are trained or have the experience, why do I need to give them training? They should be able to do the job!"

Well, I hate to break it to you, Sir, but this is not like purchasing a coffee maker or a toaster. You purchase, you plug it in, and it plays. This is more like signing up for a management program, software, or tool. Before you can use it, you program the software according to your needs. It won't function the way you want it to if you don't provide the information it needs by entering info in fields provided or even creating flows to automate your system. In short, you need to do your part before it can do its part. This is the startup after signing up.

If you say, "I don't have the time and resources to provide my VA training," then you are setting your VA up to fail. You will be wasting your time and money if you hire an assistant but are not willing to make time to do everything that's necessary to make it work for both of you. We may be trained or experienced, may have the initiative, we may be fast learners, we can be proactive, and we may have the right mindset, but if not provided what we need to be all that, we will all fail.

We should always take a moment to remind ourselves that when we were just starting in the industry we are in or starting up the business we now have, we needed to learn the ins and outs, needed training here and there, and guidance from those who are already well-versed in that business or industry before we succeeded.

When you hire for a position, the expectation is for you to introduce the employee to the business, how it is run, the structure, the company flow, the expectations when it comes to services required for the employee, and everything that the employee needs to be a successful team member in that company. This is the process of introducing the employee to your business through orientation and arming your new employee with all the necessities for your employee to succeed through training.

Why? Let's face it. Different office, different everything. Even if the business is the same, the systems, processes, tools, expectations, preferences, roles, and yes, the team are all different. It takes a lot of getting used to. Your employee may have the idea and experience, but when it comes to implementing what they know, placing themselves in that structure, and how to work effectively with the people around them will all be different. You start from zero. It's not easy. They need time to be trained and learn how to be effective in their roles.

How much more if it's a different industry altogether? Even if they have the basics of how to be a good employee, they will be walking in blind in your industry. The transition is much more difficult and longer. Again, they need time to be trained and learn how to be effective in their roles. When we say time and training, we mean more time and more intensive training, as they are new to your industry.

At Summit VA Solutions, Inc., we provide VAs with extensive training in the Real Estate business. The structure! The flow! The flow of the business. The musts! The must-nots! How it works! We show them certain documents that go with the flow of Real Estate. What they can and cannot do as administrators and transaction coordinators to help the Real Estate Agents. We show them some tools, software, and systems used in the business. We also teach them the basics of being a great administrator or executive assistant and the basics of Social Media Marketing.

What we can't do is run your business for you and your VA. We can't teach them your business, process, system, flows, and programs. We can't tell them your preferences, can't give them their responsibilities according to your needs, can't build the relationship between you and the VA, nor can we dictate to them how to represent you.

Be it in-office or virtual, hiring an assistant is no plug-and-play. Trained, experienced, not trained, or lacking experience, "Your Virtual Assistant will need you to not fail you."