What is a Virtual Assistant?

A Virtual Assistant is an independent contractor who provides administrative services to clients while operating outside of the client's office in a collaborative, one-on-one relationship with ongoing business management and administrative support. As a business administrative expert, we keep our clients' business organized. We help business owners by providing administrative and project management assistance to multiple clients while operating from a home office but can access the necessary planning documents, such as shared calendars, remotely.

What are the benefits of having a Virtual Assistant?

One of the benefits of having a Virtual Assistant is, as a business owner, you might find yourself feeling overwhelmed or short on time. Sometimes it can seem there are not enough hours in the day to do everything you want. A Virtual Assistant can help solve that problem. You can delegate tasks to your Virtual Assistant, giving you more time to focus on other parts of your business. Outsourcing a job, no matter how big or small, allows clients to focus on what they do best and let a VA do the rest.

There are no overhead costs, taxes, paid benefits, training, or downtime like if you hired a full-time employee. Delegating work to a Virtual Assistant frees up your time to focus on activities that have a direct impact on your business.

Where is your management based and where are your Virtual Assistants located?

Our management and Virtual Assistants are in the United States.

What happens on the complimentary Strategy Call?

We will get to know a little about you, your goals, and what you hope to achieve. You will learn about the type of assistance we provide, ask any questions you might have, and together we will determine if you are a good fit for our service. We will then discuss what subscription might be most effective in meeting your needs.

How involved is the company once I start to work with a Virtual Assistant?

Our management style is very hands-on. Not only do we make personal recommendations in terms of who on our staff will best suit your needs, and then conduct a Training Call in the first few weeks of the working relationship, we stay involved long-term. We are a readily available resource both to the client and to the VA when challenges are encountered. Understanding the work and process for administrative work, we have a wealth of knowledge we are happy to share. We can suggest technologies that assist in bridging the gap between being virtual and being physically present. We are dedicated to being a readily available resource both to our employees and to our clients.

If I want my Virtual Assistant to be familiar with my proprietary software, do I have to pay the VA to learn it?

Our Virtual Assistants are comfortable with all the most common software packages and databases. We employ Virtual Assistants who are more advanced with certain packages. Should you employ a proprietary software or a package that is less common, it is entirely possible that your Virtual Assistant will come aboard being unfamiliar with this technology. In this case, you will need to train your Virtual Assistant on your software (or provide self-managed tutorials), and this is indeed billed time.

What kind of tasks are not allowed?

Incoming phone calls: Feel free to call your Virtual Assistant regarding tasks, but please do not distribute your Virtual Assistant's phone number. Unfortunately, our Virtual Assistants will not receive incoming calls for you or your business.

Sales calls: Unfortunately, our Virtual Assistants do not make “cold calls.” We can make calls on your behalf, but we do not pitch your product or make sales calls of any kind.

Virtual reception service: Our core competencies include administration, marketing, social media, and writing. Although our VAs are professionals on and off the phone and will represent you to your clients in an exceptional manner, we do not recommend utilizing our services as virtual reception. Ultimately, it is not cost efficient for our clients.

• Run Errands: Annette's Virtual Solutions is a “virtual” company. Even if by coincidence, the Virtual Assistant is based in Client’s area, he/she is not permitted to run errands for clients under any circumstances.

Shipping and/or receiving packages on behalf of clients: Clients may send packages to their VA for the VA’s personal use such as gifts or supplies being used for Client purposes. However, VA’s are not permitted to ship packages on clients’ behalf under any circumstances.

Inappropriate tasks: Our Virtual Assistants will not handle any tasks that are explicitly personal and private in nature.

Does my Virtual Assistant work on weekends and holidays?

Our team members work during business hours, Monday to Friday from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM Eastern Standard Time. As for weekends and holiday, we are flexible too. 

Do you provide back-up when my staff is away?

Yes! Even the best people get sick from time to time, take vacation, or need to take time off for personal reasons. We will not leave you stranded. We can train a back-up so they can step in to cover as the need arises.

How quickly will my staff respond when I contact him/her?

Your member of staff will always respond within a few hours during the business day, and by the next business day for off-hours or weekend requests. When you begin working with your staff, you will be able to establish a routine that works best for you both as you determine how best to allocate the time you have purchased in your monthly plan.

Can I assign a company email address to my staff?

Yes, of course! Your staff can easily communicate on your behalf and as an integral part of your team using your company email address.

How do you ensure quality control?

We conduct a rigorous interview process and take great care only to on-board professionals with the required professional skills and background to provide outstanding services. We NEVER outsource to third-party providers to control quality. The staff you are assigned are the ones who does the work!

How do I terminate work with a staff?

Our plans are renewed on a month-to-month basis with no long-term commitment. If you would like to be assigned a different person, we will update your requirements and recommend new candidates. If you would like to cancel the renewal of your plan, you can do so at any time.

Is there a minimum commitment?

As we cater primarily to entrepreneurs who require maximum flexibility, we keep our monthly minimum commitment very low, at 10 hours/month. That is just over 2 hours per week. We know that client needs fluctuate, and some months are busier than others and are happy to accommodate this. When you have a busy season (gearing up for a major event, launching a new website) your hours will increase. When you are on vacation or hitting your slow season, your hours will decrease. You are never pressured to outsource more work than is advantageous to you, and you are not committed financially to anything above 10 hours/month.

How do I sign-up?

Since we take a very personalized approach to assigning you a member of staff, the first step before you sign up is to find out your requirements. Go to Contact Us, tell us what you need, and we will be in touch within a few hours to schedule a time to speak. You will get a chance to review your candidate's profile and meet the staff first to make sure it is a good match before you sign up with us.

What types of tasks can my Virtual Assistant perform?

Refer to Our Service page for a list of tasks that are performed by our Virtual Assistants 

How do I know how much time I have used each month?
Your Virtual Assistant will work with you to keep you up to date based on your preferences. You can ask for weekly updates, daily updates and more.

What is your hiring process?
In addition to hiring candidates with the right skills and experience to be a great assistant, our Virtual Assistants go through an extensive coaching course designed to instruct and test them on topics such as effective communication, scheduling, online research, technical abilities, creativity, and resourcefulness. We do our very best to ensure that your Virtual Assistant comes to you prepared for any task you can throw his or her way, and we guarantee that they will always be friendly and professional toward you and all your contacts.

Do I work with one Virtual Assistant or is there a pool of people available to me?
Each client is matched with one individual Virtual Assistant based on appropriate skill set and technology knowledge, availability, experience, personality, and corporate culture. During the onboarding process, the client will review resumes, interview candidates, and select a Virtual Assistant. This is the person with whom you will be partnering long term, they will learn your business inside and out and help you with the day-to-day management so you can focus on growing your business. It is as if you have hired someone in-office, except that your Virtual assistant provides her own workspace, computer, and phone, and is available at flexible hours on-demand. What could be better?

Can my Virtual Assistant make purchases on my behalf?
Yes! Your Virtual Assistant can make purchases for you. We also have a 2-step approval process for very large purchases for your security.

What is the minimum subscription cost?

Our subscription plans start at $400 per month and increase based on the number of hours you subscribe to. We also provide an hourly plan that allows you to utilize our services on an “as needed” basis. Specialized services are priced on an ad hoc basis. Your Virtual Assistant can provide a quote for these services.

How do I pay?

After you have been assigned a Virtual Assistant and decide on the subscription package, we will send you a Credit Authorization Form (CAF) for your signature. Once we have received the CAF, we will charge your card. With your agreement, your plan will renew on the same day each month if you decide to retain us.

What forms of payment do you accept?

We accept Debit Card, American Express, Master Card, and Visa credit cards.

Can I pay via PayPal?

No, we do not accept PayPal as a payment option. We invoice monthly and bill your credit card directly. Because we exist to make your life easier, not harder, we designed the invoicing and payment process to be as succinct as possible. You will receive an invoice on the 1st of each month for all hours logged in the previous month, and your credit card will be processed by the 2nd. This way, there is no link to click on, no phone call to make, no payment to initiate.  We process all payments via a secure, American online credit card processor.

Are your plans flexible?

Yes, our approach is flexible. You can start with one plan and upgrade, downgrade, or cancel at any time. In fact, you can upgrade and downgrade multiple times as your needs change throughout the year. Please note that any unused hours in your monthly plan do not roll over to the following month.

How do you invoice?

Once you have been assigned a Virtual Assistant, we will reach out to you for your credit card information. We input your number into an encoded network located called Authorize.net. For security purposes, once your credit card information is entered into this system, we no longer have access to it.

At the end of each month, you will receive an electronic invoice detailing your VAs hours for that month and documenting exactly what was accomplished during that time. You need not take any action at all; the invoice is simply for your reference and filing purposes. On the 2nd of the month, your credit card will be charged for the amount indicated on the invoice, so you do not have to do a thing.

Each week, you will receive a succinct report from your VA detailing exactly how many hours were performed in the previous week, with notes indicating each task and progress details. This allows you to track both your VA's time and your budget.

How does my remote staff track time?

We track our time with an online stopwatch software called FreshBooks. We searched high and low for an accurate, up to the minute time tracking software which we provide to our employees, to ensure time tracking accuracy, detailed reports, and current information.

Do you have a money-back guarantee?
We have a window of one-week money back guarantee: Yes, if for any reason you are not 100% satisfied with our service within the first 14 days of signing up, we will gladly refund your first month’s purchase.

How do I know my sensitive information is kept secure?
We use LastPass to store all sensitive information such as credit cards, social security numbers, passwords and more. No one else will ever have access to your information, and if you decide to cancel your plan it will be immediately deleted. We only ask for this information if it is needed for a particular task, and we will never ask you to send us any secure info over email. 

What kind of turnaround should I expect?

It is our priority to accomplish your tasks in a timely manner but the timing for completion will depend entirely on the nature of the tasks you assign. Our project management platform, Teamwork, is a great tool for our virtual assistants to stay on track, and for clients to check the progress of assigned tasks.

What happens if I am not happy with my Virtual Assistant?

We are dedicated to client satisfaction. When an issue arises, we consult with you to determine what is missing in the relationship so we can determine the best route to solve it. Perhaps the solution includes more training, better communication, increased clarity regarding expectations or faster turnaround time. If you are not satisfied, let us know and we can easily transfer you to a new one.

Is there a cancellation fee?

When you work with us, the relationship lasts if it is mutually beneficial. You depend on your Virtual Assistant as your right-hand person so there is no long-term commitment and no cancellation fee.

My question is not answered here. What can I do?

You can Contact Us by phone or email us at info@annettesvirtualsolutions.com or check in with us on social media – we are here to help!