The AVA State of the VA Industry Report – Educating Clients

The Association of Virtual Assistants is committed to educating those we serve – clients. Our mission is to be the most trusted source of information in the industry and provide a high standard of excellence for VAs and clients. It’s clear that virtual assistants feel very strongly about the need to educate clients as well because 59% of the respondents of the VA State of the Industry survey said the biggest barrier a client has when considering hiring a VA is an “unrealistic budget or expectations/understanding of what a VA does”. 

When asked if potential clients had adequate and accurate information online to hire the right virtual assistant, sadly 57% responded and said, “no”. Again, this is why the AVA exists. We educate both clients and the virtual assistants we serve. Education is important so the clients know what is available to them, have accurate information provided to them, by a resource dedicated to the industry of VAs. this is not something that we do on the side. This is what we have dedicated our lives to.

Education of clients is not simply something the AVA tackles. Of those we surveyed, 85.5% of VAs said that educating clients is a major component of the work all virtual assistants perform. The foundation of the Association of Virtual Assistants is education. We educate both virtual assistants and clients alike. With free training, free courses, free resources, and free real-time support in our members-only Slack community, it is clear that the AVA is not a group. Our responsibility to educate members on their business, as well as educate clients on VAs means that we must equip our members on all levels of being a VA. 

Resources specific to VAs and those specific to clients are a must and should be tangible. First and foremost, we have created the Industry Standard Pricing Guide to show the minimum a client should expect to pay a VA. Additionally, the AVA sends out monthly newsletters and hosts free monthly webinars where CEO Melissa Smith and COO Kiri Mohan teach how to hire VAs, what types of VAs are available, and the benefits of hiring virtual assistants.  In doing so, we allow virtual assistants to gain back their own time and spend less time educating clients on information that is readily available.

Internal resources include coming together, learning from each other, as well as bringing in outside experts to offer free training, and partnering with additional experts on the certifications that clients are expecting. These certifications clearly fill the demand in the market where this is a current gap. 

In order for virtual assistants to educate clients they first must educate themselves and be  aware of a client’s needs both now and in the future. An outstanding number of VA respondents (93%) agreed that the measure of a true assistant is how well he/she anticipates their clients needs. This includes their future need to hire an additional virtual assistant. 

Predictions for clients to have more than one VA was at 83%. Again, the survey pointed out that an additional VA would be needed due to  the gaps in the market, such as the lack of technical expertise, the need for specialized marketing and social media, as well as investing in virtual assistants who support launches. 

Knowing these gaps in the market, executive and general virtual assistants already working with clients have an incredible opportunity to hire, contract, and grow their teams in areas they lack with specialized and certified VAs. All this without working more hours! 

The Association of Virtual Assistants understands educating clients is something that needs to be done and equipping the VA industry to do so on every level.

Want to receive the full AVA State of the Industry Report when it is released? You can download our Industry Standard Pricing Guide or the VA Business Blueprint and this will automatically put you on our email list and you’ll be automatically notified when the full report becomes available.

Ready to become a member and be provided with the best educational opportunities in the industry? Join the AVA today! 

We see you. We hear you. We value you.