7 Must-have Skills and Why a Filipino VA Totally Rocks

Sometimes, managing your business can get in between your dream of achieving a work-life balance. Don't you think it's time for you and our business to have a virtual staff? After all, growing your business equates to extreme pressure at work. You may not be ready to let go of taking full control of your company. You have to make a crucial decision now and look for someone who can help you manage your day to day operations. Having a virtual assistant allows you to save time in doing all the work. Then, you can start delegating specific tasks to a virtual assistant from the  you can trust.

#1 Having a Filipino virtual team means there's no need to rent a physical office, which translates to huge savings on your overhead costs. Also, a virtual staff or offshore freelancer invests in his or her equipment. Not to mention, you also save on the remuneration when you hire someone with a specific skill set that suits your business needs. Having said this, you can put most of your resources into expanding your business. 

#2 Hiring an offshore virtual staff, such as Kaya Services, gives you an option to choose from a pool of candidates. They are tech-savvy individuals, proactive in presenting business solutions. They protect your company as their own, and they look after your business 24/7. Now, you never have to leave your clients and customers hang out to dry. You can sleep peacefully knowing that a trusted and dependable remote staff is taking care of your business while you take that much needed R&R.  

#3 Ticking things off on your to-do list is counter-productive. Let your virtual assistant pre-program your daily activities, so you can sit back and focus on what matters most in your business. Surely, you don't want to lose your passion for expanding your business. You're not able to achieve your business goals if you continue to take care of the little things. Have your remote staff narrow down your priorities for you and save you precious time.

#4 Besides its fascinating islands, the Philippines is known to have a history of colonization. The country has been colonized by multiple countries such as Dutch, Spain, Japan, and the United States. No matter the horror, the result is a merge of culture passed down from different generations. The Philippines has developed into a cultural melting pot that conforms to the social nuances of different countries. It's one of the many reasons why Filipinos have the cultural trait of working well with people from other denominations.

#5 The non-confrontational trait of Filipino workers makes them more of a "yes man". If you're working with a Filipino VA, it's only natural for them not to ask a question. They prefer to follow the instructions you've given. In a virtual workplace, you may find them not generally vocal about their opinions, but they have a keen eye on details, allowing them to execute tasks effectively. All you have to do is give them precise instruction, and they will take it from there.

#6 One of the known values of a Filipino is its cheerful disposition. No matter what hurdle life throws at them, Filipinos always seek the brighter side of life. May it be recovering from a natural disaster or a personal accident. With that said, you won't hear dramas on a Filipino team. Your VAs positive outlook may be very contagious and even rub off on your virtual team!

#7 Filipino culture is amongst the most Westernized in the whole of Asia. The Philippines education system is aligned with American education, and English is taught in Kindergarten until you step out of a University. Practically speaking, there is a minimal cultural barrier when conversing with a Filipino VA, thus removing one of the biggest virtual relationship hurdles. The British Council recognized the Philippines for its competency and fluency in English. Hence the country is continued to be hailed as a top outsourcing destination around the entire world.

In this digital world, it's easy to monitor the productivity hours of your team. You don't have to keep an eye on them all the time. There are online time trackers you can use to track the work they do, as they do it. More importantly, you're able to check their task allocation and streamline your business processes whenever necessary. 

Outsourcing a virtual assistant means you have to let go of the small stuff that runs around your head. Grow your business without having to miss family dinners, anniversaries, and spending quality time with your family. Learn how you can find an online freelance assistant at kaya.services and start achieving different milestones in your business.

Must-have Skills to Consider When Hiring a Virtual Assistant

If you are an entrepreneur, then chances are you are frugal on your resources. So, it's easy to build up the habit of doing everything else by yourself. This has consequences, though. Eventually, you'll reach the top of the arrow that your only way is to outsource to the Philippines. You'll need all the help you can get from a VA, especially if your business is growing fast,

Here are the top essential things you need to consider before hiring your Filipino Virtual Assistant in the Philippines.

Must have education and training

Education and training are important factors to consider. You may want to look for someone with a background in business administration. Some companies suggest that a person with this educational background has the necessary skills to accomplish general administrative tasks like accounting, organization, data management, and financial management.  

Must have Great Personality Traits

Yes, Virtual Assistants from the Philippines need to have educational and technical requirements, but that's useless if the VA has behavioural inconsistencies that hinder them from working. 

A simple yet effective way to assess a VA personality is taking personality tests such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator or the Riso-Hudson Enneagram Type Indicator. 

You can also look for references and weed out employees with rebellious attitudes. Make sure to pay attention to what their past employers and references have to say about their work, personality, and skills. Testimonials are also an excellent way to support potential candidate recorded statements.

Must have good communication skills

You can assure many Filipino Virtual Assistants will not be working under your constant supervision, so regular communication is necessary. VA needs to keep their lines open and respond quickly, as they always need to keep up with things related to work. 

Before you give an offer, they should have shown their effective communication skills in replying to your emails and calls promptly.

In line with this, ask yourself first how do you prefer to communicate?

Are you open to a regular in-person Skype? A weekly email? Monthly video calls? Written email updates?

If your VA will be on the frontline interacting with prospects and clients, you may look for a VA with good grammar, manners, and the ability to adopt your brand’s voice. 

Your best bet is to look for all-around communicator VA who ask questions and challenge things. 

Must be highly reliable

For every virtual assistant in the Philippines, being highly reliable is a must. It doesn't matter how accomplished they are for the job or how cheap they work. If you can't depend on them to report on the progress or answer your emails on time, it's not good for your business in the long run. This means, when they give you a task, your VA needs to be reliable enough to accomplish it, so you can forget and do things that matter most for you. They have to work on their own without reminders and setbacks. Virtual Assistants are supposed to make life easier, and if you have to stop just to constantly check on their work, it's time to cut some losses. 

Since virtual assistant's work remotely, they need to have an impressive level of responsibility and dedication to perform every task you assigned to them. In the end, you have to trust your VA to produce high-quality work, not just to show up when you need them.

Must show Trustworthiness and Integrity

Having someone with the quality of honesty and strong moral principles is vital because, especially in a remote workforce, integrity brings you success whilst deceit will let you fall. Integrity is very important, especially when your business is dealing with intellectual property or financial services. A fraction of today's thriving businesses are content creators, and no one wants to deal with having their content taken. 

As Virtual Assistants, here is how we define integrity. At Kaya Services, we show transparency and honesty on tasks we can, and we cannot do. Perhaps, in the beginning, protecting personal values too much slows us down. However, we assure that in the long run, especially when in the long-term working relationship with a client, having integrity creates the path for success. 

We value this thing called online reputation. Lying will only crumble reputation fast. So if we do what we promised and deliver with hard work, then it's more likely that our clients come back for more, and sometimes we get referrals. 

Must have the ability to work under pressure

Things may get a little disastrous on your part, but you never want a client to see what's happening behind the scenes. There's this joke, "never let a client see you sweat". It's true in tons of ways you think. You want each client to believe they're your only client, no matter how full your workload. This shows you're not taking on too many tasks because a cramming virtual assistant often passes stress on to a client, which is exactly what they are working to lighten. Your VA must know this. 

Must have something to Contribute to Business Growth

A good Filipino VA shows excellent results and doesn't just do the bare minimum. They add value to the business in many ways than one. There are tons of activities a VA can do to add value to your business. Read below for some examples:

• Accounting and bookkeeping
• Blog/Article research
• Writing, formatting, and scheduling blog posts
• Client/customer support
• Email/diary management
• Basic data entry
• Graphic design
• SEO services (Keyword research and link building)
• Personal tasks like food errands and booking hotels
• Web development
• Social Media Management
• Reporting
• Event management

Some Filipino Virtual Assistants are artists as well, and they aren't motivated by money alone. It would be best if you are looking for passion in a VA. Remember to ask yourself this first: other than fundamentals, what will your VA bring to the team? 

Like any other  job openings, there are basic entry requirements. And all employers will hire the individual who offers more to the table rather than the standard requirements. Your average VA is MS Word proficient, tech-savvy, and has a good style of communication. Moreover, the VA that you're looking for should be talented and valuable in beneficial areas to a business.

For example, one valuable skill a VA could have is copywriting. This skill is not taught in school, and copywriting skills are in high demand in any industry and those seeking to employ VA. With everything that is said, watch out for VAs who only do the minimum.

Choosing a Virtual Assistant to hire has an altering consequence for any business owner. What matters the most is having to choose well. Create a path for your success now. Start by contacting us. Kaya Services. Hire a Filipino Virtual Assistant today and see for yourself how they can change the way you do business!