A common reason virtual assistants or affiliate managers don’t hire extra help is they think they’ll lose their clients. They reason that clients only want their projects completed by them and not someone else.
While it is true that some clients may tell you they only want your work on their most important projects, this doesn’t mean you can’t contain a multi-VA team to get some help.
When a client tells you this, it’s your opportunity to explain to her the benefits of working with a VA or affiliate manager that’s capable of directing a virtual assisting team, instead of trying to do it all herself.
In fact, if your client is already outsourcing to you, there’s a good chance that she’ll understand the benefits of outsourcing. She may need to be reassured that subcontractors will give her projects the same care and priority that you do.
Benefits of Working With Your Team
1. Each member of your virtual assistant team is an expert in a specific skill. She only takes care of that part of the project and so she can give it her full attention and talent. Instead of undertaking all kinds of work, she is master of one that will greatly benefit your client’s business. For example, if one of your team members is in charge of creating graphics for your client’s site, she’s not going to be worried about the HTML, WordPress or hosting. She’s going to concentrate her full creative repertoire on the graphics task at hand.
2. Everyone will be able to produce their specific work at a faster rate with more talented people covering different tasks on the project. How many times, when you know you have a huge project to do, have you hesitated getting started? Or maybe, it takes it takes you longer to do the work. Some people get overwhelmed when they realize a huge project is due at a certain time. But with several subcontractors working on certain parts of a project, productivity is definitely increased.
3. As the project manager, you’ll review every piece of the project, so it will be double checked. Most people who work alone in the service industry don’t have the luxury of providing more than one set of eyes to check projects for mistakes, errors and other fundamentals.
Once your client understands that you are mentoring a team of people and not just allowing anyone to help with projects, hopefully she’ll come around. She’ll probably realize that your subcontractors also benefit her and that you would only let talented and creative people work for you. If a client doesn’t understand that you sometimes need help, perhaps it’s time to find a new client and let this one go.
Leading Your Team
Now that you have your client’s trust, make sure you are leading your team. Only hire subcontractors who you trust and know will do the best job. They should be capable of maintaining or exceeding your standards and expectations.
If you’re concerned about subcontractors or your virtual assistant team taking your client’s work, you can always give only small parts of the project to each subcontractor. This way they won’t fully know what it’s about. Don’t tell them the client’s name. Also, make sure your contracts include confidentiality and non-compete clauses.
