17 Apr 5 Tips for Working with a Virtual Assistant
You may have never considered working with a virtual assistant, but MOD Assistant’s founder Jaclyn Poole wants business brokers and M&A advisors to know that many of their peers are already trusting virtual assistants to assist them with a wide range of tasks. Poole shared knowledge and tips about working with business brokers during our recent Business Brokerage Press webinar “Using a Virtual Assistant.”
There are many benefits to working with virtual assistant agencies. For example, a virtual assistant agency will be insured, provide easy billing and invoicing and will have a virtual assistant replacement policy in place to provide continuity. Let’s explore some of the key ways that virtual assistants can benefit business brokerage professionals.
1. Assign Routine Tasks to Your VA
Mod Assistants’ virtual assistants can perform a surprising number of tasks including: email management, data entry and CRM maintenance, client communication and relationship management, calendar management, various types of online research, expenses and invoice related work and more.
2. Handle Client Communications
In terms of client communication, virtual assistants can use existing email templates or help with marketing campaigns, digital marketing, and social media.
3. NDA Management and Buyer Inquiries
The list of what a Virtual Assistant can help with includes tasks that are specific to business brokers, such as buyer inquiries and NDA management, both of which can be quite time consuming. Through MOD Assistants, it is possible to turn over the entire NDA management process as well as a large percentage of buyer communication on a range of topics.
Poole also acknowledges that many professionals may be concerned about sensitive confidentiality issues, but she feels that there is an easy fix in the form of confidentiality agreements. Virtual assistants are typically willing to sign additional confidentiality agreements so that they can work on specific parts of a business broker or M&A advisor’s operations.
4. Get Started Slowly
Working with a virtual assistant can be a gamechanger. The key is to evaluate what tasks can be allocated to a virtual assistant, then begin to work slowly with the virtual assistant. Allocating a small number of tasks and scheduling weekly Zoom, or other type of meetings, to facilitate the early days of the relationship is, according to Poole, a prudent step. Her view is that virtual assistants want both detailed instructions and feedback so as to guide their performance.
5. Gain the Competitive Edge
As Poole notes, every industry and profession is changing rapidly. The most successful business brokers and M&A advisors are already working with virtual assistants and for good reasons. The nature of being a business broker means juggling a wide variety of tasks. Many of those tasks can be successfully allocated to a virtual assistant, leaving you with more time to focus on your core business.
Poole recommends that you ask yourself what elements are essential for you to be handling personally and what could be handed off to a virtual assistant. If you start by making lists of tasks and then start off slow with your assistant, you will soon find that you have freed up ample time to allow you to focus on what you do best.
