How LAVA has Helped Agencies Onboard Insanely Valuable VA's
The shift to a remote workforce has never been more prevalent in the insurance industry.
Some agency owners saw the benefits of virtual assistants before COVID-19 impacted the workplace. If you think about it, 2020 set the stage for most employees to work effectively from their homes.
A big question on every owner’s mind is “How do I train my virtual workforce?”
By performing the 5 tasks listed below, insurance agencies can confidently scale their operations using virtual assistants.
We’ve helped agencies fully onboard VAs within 90 days smoothly and efficiently. Imagine having your Amazon Alexa on Steroids and working to improve your operations, revenue, and profits.
The most successful agencies have 2 things in common.
They practice the 5 strategies listed below
They do so as many hours as possible each day.
They do this because it’s the fastest, most reliable way to train ANY person coming into their agency. When you hire someone, what are you really shooting for? Typically you want them to be able to work independently within 90 days, right?
They’ve learned WHAT to do. And HOW you want it completed. They’ve learned the nuances of working with and for you. They can turn a short set of instructions into an entire day’s work. Valuable, profitable work that frees you up to think bigger thoughts and sign better deals.
All within 90 days.
Want to know how?
Interact with virtual assistants early, often, and with transparency
Zoom and other video meeting software have changed the game. As workforces become more and more virtual, it’s the best replacement for interaction. When you’re in the office, you have the chance to look over someone’s shoulder and make changes on the fly. You’re able to explain how to carry out certain procedures and problems to look for. The video and screen sharing options available with these tools allow you to do the same thing.
I’m a firm believer that people learn through osmosis. The agencies that share screen and video chat with virtual assistants for 8 hours a day are the happiest. They have great professional and personal relationships with their VAs because they’ve invested time and treated them the same as any in-office worker.
In short, you don’t just sit with your new in-office worker for the allotted 2 hours a day and expect them to grow. You and your team bring them into the fold and create successful, meaningful partnerships.
Have and Create a Library of How-To Videos, Standard Operating Procedures, and Documents
Who says an SOP can’t be sexy? When something is easy to repeat, it creates more efficiency in your agency, which leads to more revenue and higher profits. Pretty sexy if you ask me…
Even the most talented people will have questions from time to time. Yes, even after they’ve been taught how to do it once! The best way to empower them (and save your sanity) is to create an easily accessible hub of information. This allows virtual assistants to learn quicker than ever before. Chances are, they’ll find an even better way to handle your tasks and can update this info for you.
You’ll want to revamp this and improve it as people go through it. Get feedback from them. Learn what could be made clearer. Add to it as you run into new problems and their solutions. Build a better business while building better people!
Spot Check Work for Quality Assurance and Quality Control
Ever called somewhere and heard “This call may be monitored for quality assurance?” There’s a reason. You can’t just hand someone a folder full of videos and SOPs and expect them to be flawless.
As your VAs start interacting with customers, check their work. Make sure it’s done correctly and in a way that represents your agency well. Yes, more work is getting done for you, but you need to make sure it’s work you’re proud of. Don’t worry, it won’t be like this forever! As your VA gets more accustomed to you and your agency, the amount of Quality Control you’ll need to do will go down. Put in the work now to enjoy massive rewards later.
Learn What Helps the Virtual Assistant do His or Her Best Work
As a leader, you need to know your team. What makes them tick. What sort of encouragement do they react best to? As you screen share and chat often, you’ll understand who your VA really is. As you get to know him or her as a person, you’ll gain trust, making collaboration easy and fun. When you truly believe a new team member can improve your agency, any person can come in and achieve great things.
Don’t believe that it’ll happen overnight
Just as you can’t eat one salad and have your dream body, you can’t have 1 screen sharing session and have your VA be ready to take over your entire operations. Like all good things, great VA partnerships take time and attention.
Lean in, teach someone your craft, and create even better processes. At the end of the journey, you’ll have a low-cost, high-impact member of your team. A member who you can’t remember life without.
Learn more about placing or training a virtual assistant by emailing info@lavaautomation.com
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