How to Find the Best Virtual Assistant Services in Canada

The booming industries and the consistent rise in demand for specialized tasks call for the help of a virtual assistant in Canada. Virtual assistants offer various services to help you achieve your personal milestones and professional goals. They work from different places but handle multiple tasks to keep your online presence impactful, files and documents segregated, the website running smoothly, and bookkeeping in place.

Before hiring a virtual assistant, it is vital to identify and list your requirements first. This will help you find the right candidate to meet your needs and expectations. 

Jot down all your requirements and preferences, such as flexibility with business hours, required skills, behavioral attributes you’re looking into the VA, live chat assistance, special certifications, etc., that you feel are essential to be in place. 

How to Find a Reliable Virtual Assistant in Canada

VA Service Directories: Several platforms, like Clutch, Virtual Assistant Assistant, etc., can help you find an ideal virtual assistant in Canada. They have a particular search option or page for Virtual Assistant Companies based in Canada. 

Freelancing Sites: If you’re looking for an assistant who is highly skilled and designated for skill-oriented work, such as a Sound Engineer, CAD Designer, or voiceover artist, you can go for platforms like Fivver, Guru, and Upwork. Not only that, you can also connect with your assistant via social media, be it Instagram or LinkedIn. 

Word of mouth: Ask other business owners or professionals who have hired virtual assistants in Canada for suggestions. It could be your friends or colleagues. 

Here are the top reasons to hire a virtual assistant company, whether in  Canada or anywhere else- 

1. Flexibility: Adaptability to your business hours.

2. Real-Time Assistance: Available when you need it and aligned with your deadlines.

3. Cultural Understanding: Ability to comprehend cultural nuances and Canadian work culture.

4. Cost-Effectiveness: Providing value for your investment.

5. Efficiency: If necessary, select a VA with relevant experience, an impressive portfolio, and up-to-date certifications.

6. Clear Communication: Seamless communication through various channels such as WhatsApp, Slack, or other forms of live chat, available at any time.

Two significant caveats of hiring a freelancer are that their work progress comes to a standstill when they fall sick, go on vacation, or are absent. Secondly, your freelancer may need help assisting you if you require assistance with tasks requiring additional skill sets. 

Therefore, access to the Best Pool of Talent. Find a VA company that offers a diverse team of professionals, including designers, writers, accountants, voiceover artists, and more.

Why VA over PA?

The most significant difference between hiring a Virtual Assistant and a personal assistant is that you don’t need to pay a salary and allowances to your VA; you can hire them on an on-demand basis. Your VA can work 8 hours daily, five days a week, or 20 hours monthly. Most businesses prefer to hire a Canadian virtual assistant because of the commonality of the culture and expected work culture and, most importantly, the availability of the assistant during their business hours. However, most interestingly, the VAs who assist US-based, Canadian, and European businesses are from India and the Philippines. In the current day and age, when we live in a global village connected with the waves of the Internet, if your virtual assistant fulfills all the prerequisite requirements and is reliable, you can give them a try no matter where they’re based. It’s like icing on the cake if they have clientele in Canada and have worked for a business similar to yours. 

Assess Your Needs To Hire A Virtual Assistant in Canada

Whether you are a business owner or have a packed personal schedule, virtual assistants (VAs) can help you with various tasks. However, it is crucial to identify the specific areas where you require assistance.

Let us cover a few areas where a virtual assistant can help you - 

1. Administrative Assistance 

They can answer phone calls on your behalf, manage time, schedule appointments, communicate, supply office orders, manage calendars, and maintain office inventory or other lists. 

2. Social Media Management 

Control audience engagement, conduct regular SEO analysis, create social media strategies, plan a budget, set social media metrics (KPIs) and goals, and schedule posts or content over desired platforms. 

3. Customer Service Assistance 

VAs can offer customer services such as managing returns and exchanges, attending and fulfilling customer requests, updating customer records, selling products and services, handling chats, collecting customer feedback, processing orders, and managing queries. 

4. Miscellaneous Assistance 

VAs also specialize in skill-based departments and perform dynamic activities related to accounting, IT support, digital marketing, web design and development, writing and editing, AI tool management, video editing, and more. 

Pick the appropriate plan

To ensure that you receive the right amount of support from your virtual assistant (VA), you should determine the amount of time you need your VA to work for you, whether it's daily, weekly, or monthly. 

Assess your needs: Determine the specific tasks and hours you require assistance with.

Compare pricing: Compare various VA service providers and their plans, considering factors such as pricing, hours included, and services offered.

Subscription Flexibility: Look for plans that let you change the hours or services as your needs change. At MyTasker, you can switch between different subscription plans, like Quarterly, Monthly, and Yearly Subscriptions. With bigger subscriptions, you get lower hourly rates.

Your Budget: Budget constraints are a reality. Pick a plan that suits your budget and closely aligns with your budget. 

Interview and Hire Your Virtual Assistant

This is the most integral part of the process, where you need to hire an appropriate virtual assistant in Canada at a reasonable price to manage your business or organizational requirements successfully. Here are some of the steps to consider before you finally select a worthy candidate or VA company - 

Prepare A List of Interview Questions 

During the interview, ask your candidate questions that help assess their skills and experience, prioritize tasks, provide qualification details, discuss salary expectations, determine time zone availability, ask about favorite modes of communication, and identify preferred tools.  

Request For Prior References 

Try to connect with companies or individuals who have accessed the services of your shortlisted VA candidate or company. It will help you to double-check if the selected virtual assistant or company can help you in the long run or is only beneficial for small-term projects. This enables you to make concrete decisions before you hire. 

Start On A Trial Plan

Consult with the virtual assistant or the VA company to see if there are options for trial services. Most virtual assistance companies offer a trial plan where you can outsource or share work to assess their credibility and expertise with a wide range of tasks and tools. A trial plan is usually free or costs a minimum of USD 1, and the most feasible option is to hire a company or individual based on the output during the trial. 

Set Your Virtual Assistance Service Expectations Clearly 

Prepare An Outline For The Taskflow 

Draft a clear copy of the task expectations from your virtual assistance service provider. Establish a sense of urgency for priority tasks, give a clear outline for the process, and brief your VA about their expected outcome before they deliver your results. 

Set A Communication Style 

Fix a language both are comfortable communicating in over phone calls and emails. Ensure to set up an account to communicate regularly with your VA through emails, CRMs, Skype, or other platforms. This way, there is consistency in the exchanges, and all records are appropriately documented in one place. It allows you to draw data from a secure platform where only you and your VA can exchange information over an encrypted network. 

Maintain Deadlines 

Deadlines play a pivotal role in maintaining professionalism and efficiency. Set a deadline for each task before you share them with your virtual assistant in Canada. This will help you keep track of the progress and enable you to anticipate whether your VA selection was a good or flop idea based on deadline management. Also, I regularly communicate with the virtual assistant to monitor their progress. Set up key performance indicators to measure their productivity and performance if needed. 

Bottomline 

Finding a suitable VA for your project or requirements in Canada takes work. There are no shortcuts because you must thoroughly evaluate and visit different platforms and directories. Assess previous reviews, your budget, local timings, and other factors discussed to choose the right virtual assistant in Canada. Experts at MyTasker can help you find an expert VA in Canada and offer custom outsourcing virtual assistance to those in need.