Ali Schwanke is the founder of Simple Strat, a B2B marketing and sales technology consulting firm that helps its clients get more out of HubSpot.
About the Company
Ali Schwanke is the founder of Simple Strat, a B2B marketing and sales technology consulting firm that helps its clients get more out of HubSpot.
Simple Strat is a Diamond Solutions Partner and host of HubSpot Hacks, a YouTube channel for HubSpot Tutorials. It works with clients nationwide, ranging from Fortune 500 companies to startups and more.
From CRM strategy and setup to marketing automation and content creation, Simple Strat’s services are tailored to fuel customer acquisition and retention.
The Challenge
“I started my entrepreneurial journey about 11 years ago,” Ali says. “At that time I heard about BELAY and became a lead in your system. When I first reached back out after I'd listened to a lot of [sponsored] podcasts and followed your content for a while, I got to a point [where] I knew that I needed to not be [doing tasks] that were not worth my time when I look at what my time is worth.
“I realized I needed someone who's been trained in being an assistant, and when I looked at the process that BELAY offered, that gave me the confidence I needed to move forward.
“A lot of executives don't know what they need. Because I'd [worked with assistants] a couple of times, I [knew] I needed help with email management, shouldn't be paying invoices, [and] shouldn't be following up on outstanding things [or] booking travel.
“But as we built processes in our company, I started seeing more and more opportunities. [BELAY] set those expectations pretty well. They communicated the process well, so I knew what I was getting into.”
Enter BELAY Virtual Assistant Melany Montero.
The Solution
Melany provided initial relief to Ali by juggling the ins and outs of her schedule like adding her child’s soccer games to her calendar and helping her plan her ideal day and week. Melany also started sending invoices as well, and with time, she took on more responsibilities.
“The list is actually evolving to be much,” Ali says. “She's going to start handling some more of my personal bills. Before, it was strictly just business and email and calendar, and now she's doing a lot more of that sort of stuff.
Ali and Melany soon figured out a system to reach peak productivity without wasting any time.
“We developed a cadence. We run a lot of asynchronous stuff, so I'll record a Loom video, and send it to her to teach her how to do something. It’s so efficient. I love it.”
ROI can be measured in many different ways, and, for Ali, the time and peace she gained from investing in delegation is clear.
“I feel a lot of the weight off my shoulders in managing some of those little details,” Ali says. “She's been able to secure meetings for us that I'm sure have turned into business. We've been able to get some webinars and LinkedIn-specific details out that have secured leads for us.
“There's probably inherent ROI there, but from my vantage point [I’m] always looking at what investment am I making and if I had to take that same time and repurpose it into something else, how could I get a larger return from my time?
“[Melany’s] helping us with a lot of processes across our team. Our team calls her ‘Ali’s assistant’ and she very much is, but she has helped step in when we might need blog posts to go out that the team is not able to take on that week, or she will follow up and make sure that our two software systems [are running well].
“The synergy across our whole team has just been one that, just like a relationship, you have to keep constantly refreshing it and finding out how it works.”
The Result
“One of the hardest things about being a leader is realizing that, whether you're an entrepreneur or you step into a leadership position in a corporate company, you sometimes feel like you need to be in the middle to feel valuable,” Ali admits.
“And the real benefit of having an assistant or having the right team means that you are able to focus on the vision of what you need to accomplish.
“And you can start using the methodology of who will do this versus how will I do this? I've started thinking about the people who will accomplish this versus how I will do it. So having the right people on the team is [important], and Melany’s part of that.”
Delegation is a key player in the success of a leader-to-assistant relationship.
“One of the first wins I think I was looking for from BELAY’s engagement was the ability to have some consistent habits and repetitive things that were just handed off and having confidence they’re done,” Ali remembers.
“If you haven't done a lot of delegation, there's a couple levels of delegation that people might not understand. One is you delegate with instruction and follow up for accountability and the next level is you delegate with instruction for the person to own and report back.
“And that's very much what I was looking for with BELAY. You own it and report to me; I shouldn't follow up with you. And for me, that's a win. Anytime any team member of mine works in that way.”
Ali’s advice to anyone looking to hire a team member is to give it time to get in a rhythm.
“Everybody's looking for a quick ROI and a quick win from bringing on new employees,” Ali says. “You need to be willing to give it 90, 180 days to get your rhythm, figure it out — what's working, what's not working — and be willing to be uncomfortable for a while. It's that messy middle where you figure out what's going to work and then once you get to the other side, that's when you start sailing.
“So now that we're three years in, we don't have to talk as often, and I can feel like even if there's clarity that I need to provide, we both own whatever pieces we need to iron out.”