Walk Like a Giant, Sell Like a Madman

19.5. Communicating with Your Virtual Assistant

Delegation is about handing over the authority, and for many sales-people, this can be a scary concept, because you never know what will happen when you give up control. To make delegating tasks more comfortable for you and for your VA, provide detailed guidelines that include the following:

• A detailed description of the task or project.

• An explanation of the desired end result. If the VA completes the project effectively, what will he or she be delivering to you?

• A deadline.

• An agreed-upon cost for the project or the hourly rate you agree to pay.

VAs are tech-savvy, and that often means that you will need to adjust your communication skills accordingly and learn some new methods of collaborating with your VAs. Following are a list of communication methods that VAs commonly use when working with clients, and it helps to be skilled in all of these:

• Telephone: Just because VAs are usually on the Internet all day does not mean that they are phone-free. Most VAs have an office or home office phone number and a cell number, and sometimes nothing can replace an old-fashioned phone call to get your message across.

• E-mail: E-mail is probably the most effective communication tool a salesperson can use to stay in touch with a VA. You can send tasks, photos, product information, and anything else that might help the VA complete the task.

• Fax line: With the ease of sending a fax online from your computer via e-mail to your assistant with the click ...