The Gritty Virtual Assistant Blog

So a new Virtual Assistant registered for our free VACOC Peer Networking Club a couple weeks ago. She met all the criteria and was approved to complete her profile. Her username had to be changed since she did not follow the registration directions for that (obviously rushing through them too fast to actually read them or just didn’t care to honor our request). When she sent her email to us that she had placed the Peer Networking Club button on her site, the link she provided showed that she had not done that. Instead, she had placed our logo on her site.

My assistant gave her the standard reply in those situations (“that is not an approved use of our logo and must be taken off the site; please refer back to the instructions for placing the approved button on your site and let us know when you have made this correction… “). When she emailed us back that she had made the correction, her profile was double-checked to make sure all steps had been followed (standard procedure). Unfortunately, she had again failed to follow just about every instruction.

Here’s the message I sent her:

“Hi, [NAME WITHHELD],

“My assistant has passed this onto me to handle. I’m afraid you have failed to follow several of the instructions. We’ll give you one more try to get things right (you’ll need to go in and read the instructions thoroughly this time and figure out what you did not do). But after that, we won’t be able to have you join our group if you are unable to do so. We need Virtual Assistants in our ranks to demonstrate a professional level of competence, qualification and the ability to pay attention and follow directions. That may sound harsh, but the VACOC upholds a promise to clients that it takes very seriously, that the Virtual Assistants in our group are the best of the best. Not following directions, repeatedly, does not convey to us that level of credibility nor that our confidence will be well placed.”

Now, to her credit, this Virtual Assistant did not get all hysterical like many of them do (it’s like they blame us for their own failings). But, she replied that while she appreciated the chance for “one more try” it wouldn’t be necessary.

This is a very tame example. You wouldn’t believe some of the ugly hate mail I get when people are not approved. And in this case, we didn’t even “reject” her. We were willing to give her another opportunity to take things a little more seriously, not rush through, and show us, demonstrate to us, that she is a competent professional.

Here’s my frustration in these instances. We don’t know these folks from Adam or Eve. It’s their job to show us, demonstrate that they are skilled, competent, qualified professionals. Would you go to a job interview on your worst behavior, wearing your sloppiest clothes, talking like a street thug? Would you expect to get the job if you filled out forms incorrectly or didn’t pass any tests you had to undergo? Of course not. So why are these people so insulted when the first face they present to us isn’t one that inspires the greatest of confidence?

This society where everyone thinks they are entitled to be catered to and coddled and have everything handed over to them just floors me . It’s not our job to give them the benefit of the doubt. And if they can’t follow the simplest of instructions here, what on earth are clients going to get? We can’t represent folks who just don’t take it seriously or who otherwise don’t demonstrate a level of professional skill and competence.

Our word has to mean something when we tell clients that they are going to get skilled individuals from our group. And we have an obligation to our members to uphold our standards of excellence and qualification to ensure their reputations as well. You are judged by the company you keep. If a client has a bad experience with one Virtual Assistant who touts our name on her site, our other members may suffer from that association. The client may think if that’s the level of competence in one, the apple may not fall far from the tree, so to speak. They might not want to hire anyone else from our group after that.

And frankly, no one (not clients, myself, my staff nor other members) wants to deal with someone who is a pain in the butt because they consistently don’t pay attention or have to be constantly asked to please follow directions. We welcome all administrative experts who are in business to provide ongoing administrative support, but they have to step up to the plate and put their best professional foot forward.

So what do you think? Is that too much to ask? What happens if there are no standards of excellence or at least a minimal display of the most basic ability? Do you think clients want to partner with Virtual Assistants who are difficult and frustrating to work with this respect (because they don’t read thoroughly, need to have requests repeated over and over to them, and don’t follow specifications or directions according to the client’s wishes)?