Best Virtual Assistants

What a good virtual assistant package includes

Virtual assistant gigs are sold per task, per hour or as monthly support. Check that the package states:

• Tasks covered, listed specifically rather than "anything you need".
• Hours or volume: how many hours, emails, entries or posts are included.
• Working hours and time zone, and expected response times.
• Tools the assistant already knows, such as email, calendars, spreadsheets or your CRM.
• Reporting: how tasks and time are logged and shared with you.
• Language level for any writing or customer contact.
• Confidentiality and how access to your accounts will be handled.

How to brief a virtual assistant

1. A task list, starting with two or three tasks rather than everything at once.
2. Written steps for each task. A short screen recording of you doing it once is often faster than writing.
3. Examples of finished work: a good reply, a correctly filled row, a finished report.
4. Rules: what the assistant may decide alone and what needs your approval.
5. Access: which tools, through separate accounts or delegated access.
6. Deadlines and how you want to be updated.
7. Who to contact when something is unclear, and how.

Run a short trial with one well-defined task before handing over more. It shows the assistant's accuracy and communication, and it forces you to write down instructions you will reuse later.

Keep your written instructions in a shared document that grows over time. Each time the assistant asks a question, add the answer. After a few weeks you have a manual for your business that makes the assistant faster and makes it easy to bring in help when they are away.

What drives the price

• number of hours or volume of tasks
• skill level: simple data entry versus research, writing or customer contact
• tools and software experience required
• language level for writing and calls
• availability outside normal hours or at short notice
• one-off work versus an ongoing monthly arrangement

Red flags

• Requests for your main email, bank or social media passwords.
• Suggestions to move payment or communication off the marketplace. That removes your buyer protection.
• Vague offers to do "any task" with no mention of tools or experience.
• No way to see what was done and how long it took.
• Poor written communication when the job involves writing to your customers.

If your assistant will handle email campaigns or social posts, our email marketing guide and social media marketing guide explain what specialists in those areas should deliver.

Quick pre-order checklist

• I have written steps and examples for the first tasks.
• Access will be through separate accounts or delegated access, not my passwords.
• We have agreed on working hours, response times and reporting.
• I know what the assistant may decide alone and what needs my approval.
• I will start with a short trial task.