Virtual Assistant Business Outsourcing

3 Kinds of VAs, Pros and Cons of Each, and When to Use One Type of Service Over Another.

Are you concerned about signing up with the wrong type of outsourcing company and wasting your time and money not getting the results you need from your outsourced assistant?

There are several types of virtual assistant companies advertising their outsourcing services and sometimes it is not clear how they are set up or how they operate when fulfilling your tasks. Depending on the types of tasks you require from the virtual assistant supplier you choose, you have a 1 in 3 chance of getting reliable results.  With my experience with outsourcing, I can help you classify your tasks and determine which of the 3 types of virtual assistants are best for you.

First lets identify the 3 different set ups for virtual assistants.

1. Home based freelancer (retired, downsized, work-from-home mom or dad)
2. Around the clock staff
3. Dedicated staff member

Home Based Freelance Virtual Assistant

The home based freelance individual is historically the first and therefore most commonly known type of virtual assistant. Often a retired, downsized employee, or working-from-home mother, the home based individual may be a very skilled and experienced professional. Working from a home in the United States, this person often has experience with a particular industry and can charge a premium to English speaking companies due to his or her advanced range of skills.

Due to self employment costs, skill level and experience, a U.S. home based individual will typically fall into a price point much higher than the other forms of virtual assistants (and may be well worth the cost depending on your needs).  The home based individual is a good choice for a business willing to pay the price of a traditional employee, but does not have the physical space or infrastructure to support an additional employee within the company’s facility.

Around-the-Clock Staff

A lot of business people contact my office when they find they have issues with a virtual assistant service offering around-the-clock coverage.  There is a basic mismatch here that can be avoided if you know what questions to ask before signing up for a plan.  24-7 coverage sounds convenient, but comes with its set of problems.  24-7 coverage is offered by multiple shifts of around the clock staff in a “call-center” type of set-up.  In this situation, you have multiple shifts of “virtual assistants” who fulfill your requests.  This type of plan is generally priced lowest,and provides the most basic skill level.

Around the clock staff support may be good for simple personal tasks, but not for most businesses or even the person who requires a level of complexity.  Here’s why.  When dealing with multiple shifts, there are generally hundreds of people working the shift, and any one of them may take your request each time you contact them.  If you want them to order flowers, confirm an appointment, rent a car, find a restaurant or make dinner reservations, etc, these types of personal tasks require no learning curve and any competent virtual assistant can do them correctly the first time.

Usually business tasks are more complicated, specific and require a practice run to be sure the task is done the way you want it.  By the second or third repetition, you would expect the tasks to be performed correctly and more quickly.  The funny thing is, business tasks generally are part of a repeated work flow….and you would expect the staff to eventually learn how to get it right.  Most people who come to me after working with an around-the-clock service explain their frustrations of repeatedly getting the same poor quality results, or that their tasks are not being completed because they believe the staff is avoiding their "difficult" tasks.

Dedicated Staff Member

For business or more complex personal tasks, the dedicated staff member outshines the around-the-clock staffers at a much lower price point than the home based virtual assistant.  The dedicated staff member is an individual who is assigned to a client and works from a central office facility within a traditional office environment.

The dedicated virtual assistant staff member is a hybrid of the other two classifications of virtual assistants.  Like the home based individual, he or she may have experience from a particular industry, like accounting, IT, SEO, web development, customer support, etc. and offer valuable services to a business.  Unlike the around-the-clock staff, your dedicated virtual assistant staff member is assigned to you so that you may train and develop a productive working relationship.

Unlike the home-based worker, the dedicated staff member shares many of the strengths of the around-the-clock staff.  Managers, co-workers and the infrastructure of an entire company support your dedicated staff member.  When a challenge arises, the company has resources beyond what a home based VA can provide.

Don’t be fooled by around-the-clock business support!

Some outsourcing companies offer outsourced business services with around-the-clock delivery.  Buyer beware! Unhappy customers from other companies contact me because they found that if you don’t know who is performing your work and it is being farmed out to whoever is on duty, the quality, accountability and success rate is just not there.  Even though you may have a dedicated account rep, unless you have a dedicated virtual assistant staff member doing the work, my customers who have been burnt in the past tell me, you will run into the same problems every time a different person attempts to handle your work.

About the Author: Greg Lee

I am an account representative for Virtual Assistant, Inc, a primary member of the company responsible for building many of the processes alongside of the owner and have worked with the owner since 2004.  Outsourcing has been an essential part of the business since before I came aboard and has presented challenges every step of the way.  By adapting and improving, we have honed the processes of outsourcing and learned to identify what works in what situations.