Had an interesting in-person discussion with a fellow Virtual Assistant today whose latest client uses 3 other VA’s, each with specific capabilities and specialities.
Coincidentally on another blog saw an entry about using multiple VA’s and commented on it, which prompted a comment from another VA on the definition of a true VA, i.e. she felt a Virtual Assistant is a generalist and anyone providing only one service is not a Virtual Assistant.
I’ve seen this discussion on list groups before and to be honest I can’t remember the outcome or the general consensus but to my way of thinking, no one person can be good at everything. Therefore, a client truly gets their money’s worth by working with several different VA’s as they can rest easy with the knowledge that their tasks are being completed by a knowledgeable person who isn’t wasting the client’s or their own time trying to figure out how to do something.
It really doesn’t matter what one’s title is, efficient services that make the client happy and more productive in their own businesses is what’s important.
Great Virtual Tip for today: When you receive those forwarded emails with all the funny little marks - Go to Edit/Replace, type ^p (=return) and type ^t (=tab) in “replace”. This will convert every return to a tab.
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1 comment so far ↓
Hey Tana,
You’re absolutely right that a Virtual Assistant is not a generalist, but may have other experience outside of administrative assistance. If they don’t they should be able to provide those services by either subcontracting that work out to someone they trust (network with) or assisting their client with locating someone for them to work with. So, it’s not always necessary for a client to work directly with several VAs, but may be necessary if they have certain long term needs, such as web design or bookkeeping services, that their current VA does not have experience with.
One thing I have to respectfully disagree with is your definition of virtual assistance. As I just used the term “administrative assistance” in reference to an administrative assistant, the same usage applies to virtual assistance/virtual assistant. If you’re not offering virtual administrative assistance, then the terms virtual assistant/assistance does not apply to you. Both terms apply solely to administrative services.
That doesn’t mean you can’t offer other specialized services either separately or in conjunction with your VA services — however you choose to do it. However, if you’re offering specialized services at the same rate as your VA services, then you’re selling yourself short. Like I said in another blog, you wouldn’t expect a lawyer to work for $50/hr when they typically make $200+/hr. That said, most VAs I’ve networked with who offer specialized services in addition to their VA service do keep them separate in service options — some even to the point of creating separate business entities under one umbrella.
It’s just a matter of not confusing the marketplace about the industry and the services that should expected to be offered by a VA. :c)
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