A Virtual Assistant can bring a huge number of benefits to a business, from freeing up valuable team hours to help improve your work/life balance, to giving you the time and space you need to focus on the tasks that you excel at and that bring in revenue to your business.
If your virtual assistant was a traditional employee, it would become a natural part of your routine to say ‘thank you’ and provide valuable and constructive feedback on a regular basis; however, when a team member works remotely, it becomes far too easy to allow days and weeks to go by between verbal communication sessions, particularly if your team member is incredibly efficient and the tasks that they are carrying out require little or no input from you. As a result, life for the UK’s freelance, remote workforce can be isolating and quiet at times, so if you are able to check in occasionally to say thank you or provide feedback, I can guarantee that it will be positively received!
The vast majority of freelancers don’t expect you to hire a plane and write ‘THANKS, YOU ARE AMAZING!!!!’ in the sky above their house; there are a number of quick and simple actions that can really help your virtual assistant and show them that you are grateful for the work they carry out on your behalf (especially if they regularly go ‘above and beyond’!).
1.) Write a testimonial. Worth it’s weight in gold, a testimonial or review will always be positively received by ANY small business owner! If they have a single, preferred review site (i.e. Trustist, Feefo, etc.), pop your review on there, otherwise, leave it on their business Facebook page, LinkedIn profile and their Google My Business listing – it won’t take long for you to copy and paste it in, but could really help to support your freelancer’s business with some lovely and positive publicity!
2.) Recommend them to a friend/colleague/networking contact. It’s easy to want to keep your VA as ‘yours’, but it’s unlikely that the work they are doing for you is going to maintain their business long-term. Most VAs and Freelancers have a handful of clients, helping to ensure that their business is sustainable even if a contract with one comes to an end. As a result, if you find that a friend, business associate or member of a local business networking group is looking for a trusted, proficient and professional freelancer offering the services that your VA does, recommend them! I can guarantee that the quality of work provided by your VA will not suffer if they have multiple clients, as a professional and experienced Virtual Assistant will always ensure that they only take on new work if they have the capacity to do so
3.) Say ‘Thank you’ via email or a handwritten card. This is always welcome! Think about your own daily post – primarily a mixture of bills, direct sales leaflets and correspondence from the HMRC (and your email inbox is probably the same!); how nice is it to receive something completely out of the ordinary, like a thank you card or a simple ‘well done’ email? Your virtual assistant feels the same, I’m sure!
The job of a professional, experienced and capable virtual assistant is to make your life easier, and they don’t expect to be thanked daily for work that you are paying them to complete. However, if you do find that your working life has been significantly improved by the addition of a remote working virtual assistant on your team, feel free to let them know! We’re a conscientious bunch, and like to know that we are making a positive contribution to the businesses that we support!
Has someone made your business life a little easier this week/month? Why not say ‘thank you’ today – they’d definitely appreciate it.