FAQs....

What is a Virtual Assistant or VA?

Well generally the definition of a VA is a self-employed PA/Secretary who will provide you with the services one would expect from a PA/Secretary in the office environment assisting you with the time consuming tasks and only charging you for the time taken to complete the work.  They will communicate by phone and email mostly, working efficiently giving the impression that they are there in your office, yet they work from their own premises.

HOWEVER, with a Smart Sec VA our definition is someone that works as part of your essential team, from our own premises, assisting you with the running of your business and focusing on the activities that will help you to increase your income opportunities.  We believe a VA is someone that should be helping you achieve a return on your investment and ensure you achieve your business goals.

I used a VA before and it didn’t work out, how do I know it will work out this time?

Like any business relationship, it takes an investment in your time and the VA’s time to build trust and understanding.  Not wanting to make any assumptions as to what it may not have worked for you in the past, there could be many reasons…perhaps it was not an initial good fit for you, perhaps the VA was reactive not proactive, perhaps she or he did not have a good support network.  Whatever the reason, it is imperative that both yourself and Smart Sec have the initial meeting (in person or by phone) which should last for no less than an hour.  In this time, both sides need to find out as much as they can about each other.

We will be completely honest with you right at the outset if we believe we will be a good fit for your business as we want to avoid wasting your time.   If, for any reason we do not feel that this is not something we could pursue, we will do everything we can to put another VA business in touch with you where we know it would be a perfect match.

We will not send you into the oblivion and leave that to you, as we appreciate that it is time consuming finding the right VA.  Like with any relationship, it is important to start off on the right footing as you know!

How do I communicate with my Smart Sec VA?

This is something that should be established at the onset of the working relationship.  It is generally a combination of email and telephone communication.  You may decide it is easier and quicker for you to instruct work by email, especially if you are in a different time zone or tend to work late into the evening.

We do suggest a weekly update call, and as we know this is not always possible, it may be that due to time zones or working patterns, that we establish a set schedule for an out of hours update by phone or Skype, or purely work with email. You will very quickly establish a good communication pattern that works well for you both.

Is the relationship completely virtual or can you work on site?

Everyone is different in the way they work.  Of course we understand that it takes time to get used to not seeing the person who is working for you.  Because of the active communication, listening and questioning skills you will find a Smart Sec possesses, you will honestly witness how effective it is working with a VA in this way.  Think about how often you see your accountant…you mostly communicate by phone or email.

Dependent on any projects being undertaken for you, will determine whether there is a requirement for any on site work.  This is down to the client and Smart Sec VA to decide at the onset.

It is very rare for a VA to work on site as this takes away many of the benefits using a VA.  However, when it comes to a client review, this can be conducted face-to-face if logistically it can work.  With the use of Skype and webcam, you can easily find a way of having the visual communication.

Do I need to train my Smart Sec VA?

You will not have to train us on anything to do with providing your PA/secretarial support, marketing or our ecommerce solutions.  However, we will ask that you provide us with training some aspects of your business systems, for example, you may have particular processes that you follow that you will need us to follow also, you may need your enquiries responded to and handled in a certain way and so on. How long this will take will depend on what you already have in place.

I have never used a VA before, therefore how would I know if I am outsourcing correctly?  Where do I start?

If you don’t know what you don’t know, then of course it is a challenge in knowing where to start with the outsourcing process. As we do know where to start, we will ensure, through our client management start up system, which can be conducted by phone or in person, we will help you to ascertain specifically what support is important and useful to you in order to help you make great headway towards your business goals.

Trained as a Master in NLP and Coaching, Carmen MacDougall has developed a proven model to help you clarify where you want to arrive in your business and how Smart Sec can help you get there.  As an expert if business growth and marketing, Alex Stone has a proven model that will help you to define an effective strategy for you to see what you can do and what your Smart Sec VA can support you with.

By the end of the client management start-up system meeting, you will have clarity about what you will be outsourcing to Smart Sec.

Surely it is quicker to do the work myself instead of spending time showing a VA what to do…won’t it?

This is a challenging belief, and we can understand why you may have it.  Think back now to the exciting time when you decided to start your own business, you had a vision and a defined moment when you would wanted to achieve that vision. Even if you have the skills to work in and on your business, it is extremely time consuming and draining trying to do everything yourself.

If you are to truly build your business to the point that it continues to run itself even if you are not there, then it is essential that you have a clear time line when you want to achieve it by, a defined action plan, and clarity about the role you play.  By trusting others who are the experts to support you in the running of your business as well as some of the activities that will generate an income for you, will leave you with the energised mental capacity to focus on the key activities you need to focus on to achieve that point.

It may take a little while just to get used to working in this way, but rest assured, it will feel right if you have the right VA working with you.  You must have the positive initial gut feeling that tells you this is the right match.  If, for any reason, you believe Smart Sec is not the right fit for you, that is perfectly OK, as it is important to us that we only work with clients that we have a synergy with. The more you work with Smart Sec, the more you will achieve in your business and the more energised you will feel.

I do not have an allocated budget for working with a VA, what do you suggest?

What we suggest is to allocate some of your marketing and/or business development budget.  Set aside what you know will be a good investment for you, as of course, if you are not getting a return on your investment from a VA, then the VA is not working for you effectively enough.

You are less likely to gain a return on your investment doing the tasks yourself, as it is not a good use of your valuable time working in your business, when you could be focusing your time working on another income generating product for your prospective and existing clients.  How much longer would it take you to get to the point of a finished product if you were handling everything yourself. Your Smart Sec VA will establish with right at the start what your investment can be and you will have the opportunity to review this on a regular basis.

Do I have to invest in updating the Smart Sec VA’s skills or software?

Not at all.  Smart Sec is always investing in the teams’ skills and all training is funded by Smart Sec.  One of the reasons we specifically focus on our niche is so we can keep track of the trends in that industry.  By doing so, we keep track of what you as our client needs to keep ahead in your industry and ensure you are being the most effective for your own clients.  As a result, we invest in our training to help you keep ahead.

You mention that you have a team, do I have to liaise with everyone in the team?

Initially you will have your own dedicated Smart Sec VA and it will be that person that is your main point of contact.  For all projects such as supporting your marketing activities, managing your shopping cart, updating your blog or Twitter accounts, may require other members of the Smart Sec team to be involved.  However, your dedicated Smart Sec VA will be the person who will be the project manager, keeping contact seamless and simple for you.

Of course, in the event your Smart Sec VA is out of the office for any reason, you will have the back-up support of another Smart Sec, of whom you will have been introduced to and they will have been fully briefed and trained to work with you.

If I only need adhoc support is there still a minimum amount I have to pay each month?

For adhoc work, clients are only invoiced for the time we actually working for you.  We believe it is unfair and unethical charging minimum amounts or rounding off time to the nearest half hour.  If you choose to be on a retainer rate, then you still pay your allocated retainer package (which allows you a reduction in the hourly rate) regardless of what work we have done for you.

However, if we notice that there is a slight change in your business activity, we will alter the package accordingly and with our discretion carry over time for a limited period. All work is logged using time-tracking software which allows the Smart Sec VA to report specifically the task undertaken in that time.