123: DNA of a Great VA

1. Look for a VA who is independent, a critical thinker and a resourceful problem solver.Make sure to find somebody who can find their own answers, and who isn’t always coming back to you for correction and guidance when they hit a bump in the road. As an executive or a leader, your time is too valuable for someone to constantly come back asking for redirection. Find somebody who’s really comfortable solving problems so that you can get out of the back and forth on the day-to-day tasks.

2. Look for a VA who is trustworthy and reliable. You have to be able to trust your VA and know that if they can’t find the solution based on the original directions that you’re confident they will figure it out.

3. Look for a VA who anticipates your needs. You want a VA who is 10 steps ahead of you. Having someone who can work ahead of you provides peace of mind because you know you have a VA who can anticipate those things both now and in the future.

Lisa Zeeveld:
And I remember you telling this story that one of your clients at the time needed you to use a software. And you’re like, ‘Well, I just Googled it and watched some YouTube videos, and I figured out how,’ again, that goes back to being resourceful. You didn’t go to your client and say, well, I don’t know. I’ve never used that CRM before. I’m sorry.

Tricia Sciortino:

Yeah, part of that’s ego. Part of that, you know, come on, VAs, you guys, sometimes you’re gonna put your ego up here and say, ‘Yes, I can do that. Of course I can.’ And girl, then you go figure it out and you go do it. So that’s, you know, that’s how I think of how to be a great VA is right. Just, ‘Absolutely. I got this.’

Ryan Fitzgerald:

Welcome to One Next Step, the most Practical Business podcast in the world. You’re now one simple tip, practical tool, and small step away from growing your business. One Next Step is brought to you by BELAY, the incredible 100% remote organization, revolutionizing productivity with virtual assistance bookkeepers and social media managers. Accomplish more, juggle less modern staffing from BELAY. And now to your hosts.

Lisa Zeeveld:

Welcome to One Next Step, the practical business podcast that helps you run your business so it stops running you. I’m LZ.

Ryan Fitzgerald:

And I’m Ryan. LZ, how are you doing today?

Lisa Zeeveld:

Man, I am awesome, but I feel like I’m awesome every day.

Ryan Fitzgerald:

That’s awesome. I feel like today’s conversation is a great reason to be awesome.

Lisa Zeeveld:

I think today we’re gonna talk about something that, at its core is what we do here at BELAY — Virtual Assistants.

Ryan Fitzgerald:

Yes. Yes. Today’s conversation between you and our CEO, Tricia, is all about what makes a great VA, what’s in their dna that you just know you have a good one after the first interview, as well as some of the key attributes any good VA should possess.

Lisa Zeeveld:

Yeah. But before we dive into the conversation, I wanna take a quick moment to tell you about BELAY. With modern staffing from BELAY, businesses and leaders can focus on growth without the unnecessary overhead or learning curves associated with hiring and onboarding full-time employees. BELAY is the incredible 100% remote organization revolutionizing productivity with our virtual assistants, bookkeepers and social media managers. Accomplish more, juggle less, and get back to what only you can do, growing your business with modern staffing from BELAY.

Ryan Fitzgerald:

That is awesome. Now let’s jump into you and Trisha’s conversation today.

Lisa Zeeveld:

Let’s do it.

Tricia Sciortino:

Hey. Hi, LZ. 

Lisa Zeeveld:

Hey, Tricia. My favorite podcast partner.

Lisa Zeeveld:

I know, it’s been a hot second since we’ve gotten do one together. It

Tricia Sciortino:

Feels like a reunion. Well, and I’m excited to talk about all things VA also with you today. Yes. And hopefully we get some good information out there to all of our listeners. But of course, we always wanna start just, you know, kind of a fun or unique question. So today the question is talking about all things VA. What is your go-to or unique interview question that maybe some of our listeners can steal?

Lisa Zeeveld:

Yeah. Um, I don’t know how unique it is, but to me, I always love to know what someone’s passionate about. You know, I think that what you bring to the table in a job encompasses who you are holistically. So I love it when people are super passionate and have a hobby or maybe they’re just super passionate about their family. I don’t know, there’s just something about asking that question and learning a little bit more about who they are outside of work that’s always interesting to me. So I like to connect on that level. How about you?

Tricia Sciortino:

Yeah, yeah. For me, mine’s very similar. Like, it’s the soft skills. I’m really mostly analyzing when I’m interviewing somebody. So for me, I like to ask questions that really get to the core of someone’s intrinsic motiVAtion, if you will. So I’ll ask them things like, what fills your cup or what motiVAtes you? Because really when you’re looking for somebody, especially who’s in a virtual employee or a virtual assistant, I’m filtering off of the self-motiVAtion component, knowing that they’re not gonna be in an office where there’s true leaders everywhere. And what intrinsically is motiVAting them. And so why do I like to ask the question about what motiVAtes them to really tie back to what they’ll need going into maybe their career or their job role. So that’s, that’s where I like to start when I think about interviews.

Lisa Zeeveld:

Yeah. Have you ever gotten an answer that surprised you?

Tricia Sciortino:

Um, you know, nothing sticks out to me. Nothing stands out to me that I can think surprised me at any point. So, yeah. You?

Lisa Zeeveld:

No, I mean, I think there’s been some pretty kind of fun hobbies, right? Like people have had, you know, whether that, uh, maybe they’re competitive in tennis, you know, I mean, here in the south, I think that because we have great weather, there’s a lot of people who play tennis year round. I think that we’ve had, I mean, lots of marathon runners, and I think you talk about discipline, like, that to me, I mean, if you can run a marathon, you’re probably gonna be okay here working at BELAY. You got the stamina that takes work at BELAY. 

Tricia Sciortino:

There’s something to be said for somebody who’s committed to a sport and how it relates to how they would show up at in other areas of their life, including their jobs or their careers. The level of commitment that they put into something.

Lisa Zeeveld:

So I think that’s a super fun jumping off point. And you know, obviously we’ve interviewed a lot of potential VAs and all of that. So I think that, I think it’d probably be something good for us to share about the qualities of the ones that we have been, the ones that we have interviewed, hired, and have become really successful. So like, what are some qualities that you have seen, or maybe what’s at their core that has made them an awesome VA? I think probably our listeners would love to hear that.

Tricia Sciortino:

Yeah. And you know what, I think this answer is probably different for every person depending on who you are and what qualities may compliment you and your work style, right? So like, yeah, the type of VA I work well with is different than the type of VA or the characteristics you work well with. I mean, hypothetically using that as an example, right? Like our, our VAs are very different if you, if you think about it. So for me, when I look at the qualities, these are for me, and they might not be for everybody, but I’m typically looking for somebody who is very proactive, can think ahead and is super quick and responsive because that’s how I work. I’m very responsive over communicative and quick. And so partnering with somebody that has those similar traits is comfortable, but some people who aren’t that fast are more slow, more intentional, more detail-oriented, then that might be important to them. But for me, those are the qualities that stick out to me always a professional because this person’s gonna represent me, whether it’s in an email or in person, but proactive, super responsive, and very resourceful because I don’t want to answer a lot of que — I want somebody who’s gonna go sign their own answer. So that’s my preferences for great qualities for a VA. How about yours? Because I know like we have very different and unique work styles.

Lisa Zeeveld:

Yeah. But, you know, I would have to say they’re the same, and I think almost anybody would agree. I mean, I think as a VA you have to be resourceful. I think that you have to be ultra responsive. I think the level of responsiveness, and I kind of have talked about this before, I think that you need to set the groundwork. Like there could be somebody here at BELAY, we have that, you know, virtual nod thing that may not exist in somebody else’s workforce, and they’re totally fine if you get back to them in 24 hours. But yeah, resourcefulness, responsiveness, you know, somebody who is, is detail oriented. You have to know what all the details are. I think personalities are definitely different in our VAs, but I think that they embody the same things. Like if you give them a task, they can figure it out, you know?

Lisa Zeeveld:

So I think that definitely those are things that we look forward to. I also think that the last time I was interviewing, and one of the things that impressed me is that having a VA who is independent was important. Because in a virtual environment, you kind of mentioned this in the beginning, you don’t wanna be holding someone’s hand. So the idea that they are very comfortable working independently, but that they can also navigate life independently. Like they can do hard things. Like if I give you a really tough kind of problem to figure it out, that you’re resourceful enough to do it, and that you’re gonna do it independently, and not — not that we don’t like people to work in groups, but that they can figure it out on their own, I think is important.

Tricia Sciortino:

Yeah and I think there’s something to be said for a VA who can really go solution, who can be a critical thinker and a resourceful problem solver. So for example, I think of someone who, you’ve given them a task and they go to do that task or perform that task for you, and they, they run up against a speed bump or something doesn’t go the way it’s supposed to and you know, there’s two ways that can happen. They can come back to you and say, ‘Oh, I wasn’t able to do this, and here’s why.’ Or you can have somebody who’s a really critical thinker, problem solver, who finds their way around that, who really says, ‘Okay, how else can I get this task done? Let me solution this, find another way, do some research, and get the same result,’ and then comes back to you and says, ‘Hey, the task is done. However, I had to do it this way because the other way didn’t work out.’

Tricia Sciortino:

And to me, that’s a huge win, is somebody that can really solution and find their own answers. And it isn’t always coming back to you for re-correction and re-guidance when they hit a hit a bump in the road. As an executive or a leader, that can be time consuming for someone who is constantly coming back asking for redirection. So for me, I believe, you know, gosh, empower them and find somebody who’s really comfortable solving problems so that you can get out of the back and forth on the day-to-day on how exactly every everything is done for you.

Lisa Zeeveld:

Yeah. Well, and I think that that kind of goes into trustworthy and reliable. You know, you have to be able to trust your VA as a leader and know that he or she is going to, if they can’t find the solution based off of the original directions that you’re confident in the manner by which they will solve the problem or solve the task or whatever is at hand. And I think that that’s, you know, number one, like trust at that level. But I also think there’s trust because there is so much confidentiality that goes into this role, and you really have to trust that the information that the VA is hearing or seen, that it’s for their eyes only and there’s not loose lips to sink the ship. Any of those types of things.

Tricia Sciortino:

Yeah. No, that is huge. And I think, you know, trust is something we hear all the time as we think through some of the clients who join the BELAY ranks and really partner with us for their virtual assistant needs. We get asked the question all along, ‘How do I trust somebody who’s not in my office with me?’ And it’s kind of a very, you know, touché answer to say, but you know, I really do believe you trust people until they prove otherwise. And that might be hard if you’ve had bad experiences. And we all do. We’re not gonna work with all perfect people. And you might work with some individuals who were maybe less than trustworthy or you didn’t work out. But that doesn’t mean the next one is, but I think trust is something you have to extend until proven otherwise. So I think you go into the relationship with your VA and you hope that the trust you extend, you receive back in return. So I’ve always believed in you hand it all over until they prove you wrong.

Lisa Zeeveld:

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. How about tech savviness?

Tricia Sciortino:

Oh, I mean, huge!

Lisa Zeeveld:

Right?

Tricia Sciortino:

That’s like the first, I mean, if you’re working remotely well, and never even mind that. I mean, gosh, even if you’re in office at this point, right? Like yeah, you’re still, even if you’re in an office, they’re still at a separate part of an office with a computer, um, using software. So yeah, I think no matter what their tech savviness is so important, especially when you’re thinking about a virtual solution and what that means, so it it’s gotta be really high on the list. Really high.

Lisa Zeeveld:

Yeah. And, and I remember you telling this story, you know, we always use, use ourselves as examples, uh, that one of your clients at the time needed you to figure out like, or to use a software, and you’re like, ‘Well, I just Googled it and watched some YouTube videos and I figured out how.’ Again, that goes back to being resourceful. But you were also tech savvy enough to figure it out on your own. You didn’t go to your client and say, well, I don’t know. I’ve never used that CRM before. I’m sorry.

Tricia Sciortino:

Yeah. Part of that’s ego.

Lisa Zeeveld:

Oh, no!

Tricia Sciortino:

Part of that. You know, come on, VAs, you guys, sometimes you’re gonna put your ego up here and say, ‘Yes, I can do that. Of course I can.’ And girl, then you go figure it out and you go do it. So , right? Yes. That’s, you know, that’s how I think of how to be a great VA is right. Just absolutely. I got this. Uh, you know. Yeah. I, I wouldn’t lead into the conversation and say, I’ve never done that before. However, let me do some research on, I’ll find out, ‘Uh, those words would not stumble outta my mouth.’

Lisa Zeeveld:

No.

Tricia Sciortino:

I would go find my way, and I would learn something. Yeah. Well, that goes back to resourceful, right? Resourceful, problem solving. The problem is you don’t know how to do it. The resourceful part is you go and figure it out. And the trustworthy part is they trust that you’re gonna do that because you never said you didn’t do it before in the first place.

Lisa Zeeveld:

Right. And you’re tech savvy enough to know that most user interfaces are about gonna interact the same way. And if typically this is how you would do it in another CRM, more than likely you’re gonna do it somewhat the same. So you have that base knowledge of technology to move onto the new application.

Tricia Sciortino: 

And let’s be honest, everything’s on Google and YouTube. Legit everything. Our IT girl, our IT department here at BELAY, we kid, we kid, you know, she says, I feel like I could just have a standing auto reply that says, ‘Google it’ to every question she gets for it. I feel like it goes for everything, right? Resourcefulness is finding your answers.

Lisa Zeeveld :

Yeah. And I feel like this next one that comes to mind is super important to you and I, but I’ve heard you say this one too, and that’s anticipating the need of your leader, right? Like, you want a VA who is 10 steps ahead of you.

Tricia Sciortino:

Yes. And someone who potentially takes that as a challenge as my VA, Cameron, I’m gonna give her a little plug. Hey, Cameron.You know, it’s one of her goals, her self-defined goals to really get ahead of me and be planning for me months in advance so that, um, she’s asking me questions today for summer. And so she’s really anticipating the things I’m gonna need far in advance so that I have peace of mind and we’re not just working in, ‘Well today’s okay, but tomorrow’s gonna be a brand new day of things we have to accomplish.’ She’s a couple weeks ahead. So it gives me great peace to know that she is, she’s able to be ahead of me in her thinking. That to me is how you can lay your head on your pillow at night as an executive peacefully knowing that you have a VA you can be anticipate those things into the future.

Lisa Zeeveld:

Yeah. And whatever that timeline is for you, right? Like, you know, I may not need to know exactly what’s ahead of me this summer or in the fall, but for me and for another leader, it might be important depending upon their business, where it’s just a week. Like I just kind of need to know like what’s on my calendar a week from now. I think e each industry is different too, right?

Tricia Sciortino:

Yeah. And the push in the polls on things, you know? Yeah. How far they get ahead of you. Could it be determined by your role or what you’re being asked to do.

Lisa Zeeveld:

Because you wouldn’t want double work, right? Like, if it’s too far and ahead, like is there a risk that perhaps they, you might change your mind. Maybe you’re one of those people who changes your mind all the time. And this isn’t gonna work for you. But finding that that sweet spot I think is super important.

Tricia Sciortino:

Yeah, yeah. Absolutely. I mean, for me specifically, you know, I’ll have marketing asking me about conferences and different things that are in May and September already, right? So knowing that I’m looking that far ahead, I have to start critically thinking or she does for me, like what personally do I have going on in May?

Lisa Zeeveld:

Yeah, absolutely.

Tricia Sciortino:

Do I have any time off planned? Are there any oth any other commitments that would prevent me? Do we block those times out? And so it’s good to see the juggling of all those things happening so that, everybody can have a successful future.

Lisa Zeeveld:

So I think probably, this would be a great time to wrap up the conversation and say, ‘How does a person know that they need a VA?’ I mean, that kind of sounds silly, but I think that there’s a lot of people — I’m not gonna name names — but again, this morning we were talking about a very extremely accomplished leader in a business that we highly regard. And she does not have a VA. And we were like, shut the front door.

Tricia Sciortino:

I know, I know. And she knows she needs one. She was saying how badly she needed one and it’s been five days, and I haven’t got an email response from her.

Lisa Zeeveld:

Cause she needs a VA.

Tricia Sciortino:

That’s the first sign you need a VA. If you are taking five business days to reply to another business partner or something, that’s probably a sign you’re inundated, and you’ve got too much work and somebody actually can be in there on your behalf. So, I think the first thing is if you’re literally behind and you just can’t get to the things you need to get to when you’re given allotted of normal time, it’s probably very clear that you need a VA. And if you’re doing things that honestly are not in your wheelhouse or drain you because you don’t enjoy them, just let somebody else do it for you.

Lisa Zeeveld:

Yeah, exactly.

Tricia Sciortino:

And I think one of the things we talk about at BELAY is that we very early on, we make assumption that every executive at our organization has a VA. Whether they’ve asked for one or not. Y’all just, everyone just gets one. That’s how much we believe in it. Obviously it makes sense that we do, because that’s what we do for our livelihood here in staffing. But every executive has a VA regardless of the department or area of organization that they’re running. That’s how important, that’s how much we believe in it.

Lisa Zeeveld:

Well, I mean, you have a leader and you need to increase their capacity. The easiest way to increase the capacity of a talented leader is to give them a virtual assistant. Because then you stop missing things, right? You have an instant reminder and sure their technology — we’ve just gotta talk about technology. Technology is fantastic, but getting a reminder on your phone or your calendar that says to do something is easily ignored versus a virtual assistant who says, ‘Hey, I just wanted to let you know that, you know, your mom’s birthday is coming up in three weeks. Is there anything that I can do to help you get prepared?’ Or, ‘Hey, I know that you have this board meeting, I’m trying to get ahead of you. Is there anything I should be doing here?’ Or ‘Alright now, I told you three weeks ago it was your mom’s birthday and, uh, have you bought a present yet?’ It goes a little deeper. And so I think for me, it’s if you are starting to be the lid on your area or your business that that’s a really good indication that you need a VA.

Tricia Sciortino:

Totally agree. And you wanna avoid being burnt out. I mean, if you’re just tired and worn out all the time, or maybe not loving what you’re doing, chances are that you’ve pushed yourself too far and just another set of hands could be the the difference that saves you. 

Lisa Zeeveld:

Yeah. A hundred percent. Yeah.

Tricia Sciortino:

Well this conversation has been so good. Thank you, LZ. We’re actually gonna hang around a little longer after this interview to answer one more question for you guys about red flags to look out for when you’re trying to find that right VA. You guys do not wanna miss it. And to hear that clip subscribe to our email list and we’ll send you a link to our bonus content. Or you can visit onenextsteppodcast.com where you can find a link in our show notes.

Lisa Zeeveld:

Man, that was such an awesome interview with Tricia. What do you think, Ryan?

Ryan Fitzgerald:

Yeah, there were so many nuggets of wisdom in that conversation, LZ. One of my favorite takeaways was how important it is to feel a connection to your VA, especially in that first interview, because they’re gonna be the person you spend most of your time communicating with in the organization.

Lisa Zeeveld:

Yeah. Well, thanks Ryan. I appreciate that those soft skills truly are so important. And I always love when Tricia and I have an opportunity to do a deep dive together like that. All right guys, so to make sure you have an actionable next step, as always, we have a one next step for you to take head on over to the show notes page for today’s episode, to access this week’s resource.

Ryan Fitzgerald:

Yes and thank you so much for tuning in for this week’s One Next Step. To make sure you never miss an episode, subscribe on Apple Podcast or follow us on Spotify. And if you’re ready to start accomplishing more and juggling less, go to BELAYsolutions.com.

Lisa Zeeveld:

That’s right. For more episodes, show notes and helpful resources, visit onenextsteppodcast.com. Join us next time for more practical business tips and tools to help you advance your business one step at a time. Start by making today count.