Blue Collar Culture

Business Results the Old Fashioned Way

Kelley Jarvis | Reduce Your Time in Email by 95%

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Many entrepreneurs and business owners have realized the value of having a virtual assistant. 

But there is still a stigma attached for some, says Kelley Jarvis, director of client success with AssistPro: that a VA isn’t as effective as having someone in-house… that they’re somehow separate from the rest of the team.

Kelley talks about why that’s a myth in our increasingly virtual world. Having a VA can be a seamless experience for you – and your clients – from day one.

We dig deep into this topic – one we’re passionate about because of our top-performing VA – shout out to Katie! 

Tune in to find out…

  • The #1 benefit to hiring a virtual assistant
  • Dangers of not hiring a VA you probably didn’t realize
  • The “matchmaking” process they use to make sure it’s a good fit
  • Details on the onboarding process that helps new VAs hit the ground running
  • And more

Listen now…

Mentioned in this episode:

Transcript

Ryan Englin: Welcome back to another episode of the Blue Collar Culture Podcast. I'm your co-host Ryan Englin, and I am here with Jeremy Macliver.

Jeremy Macliver: Welcome back, everyone.

Ryan: So I'm really excited to talk about today's guest. We have spent a lot of time talking about sales and marketing and operations. But the one thing we haven't really spent a lot of time talking about in previous episodes is how important it is to find the right person to be on your team. And our guest today, she is actually on the leadership team for a virtual assistant company, and they are so focused on making sure that the right person is matched with their clients that they have a very robust process to do that. And our guest today runs the entire thing. So Kelley Jarvis, welcome to the show.

Kelley Jarvis: Thank you. Thanks so much for having me. I'm excited to be here.

Ryan: So help me out with this. What is, we hear virtual assistants and there's a lot of preconceptions about that, what's one of the biggest myths about your industry?

VA Myths Busted

Kelley: So probably the biggest myth that we have surrounding our industry is people thinking that having virtual support is somehow less powerful than having someone in-house. And we're very honest with our clients. Sometimes we are, of course, not the perfect fit for everyone, but we live in a virtual world where everything can be done virtually. Now people order their groceries online. So there's so many aspects of a business that can be ran virtually with admin support. So we're trying to just fill that gap and help people out without them having to hire someone full-time in-house, more of a fraction support position.

Jeremy: You know, Kelly, I couldn't agree more with that. Obviously, I use AssistPro for me, and it's worked out well. And sometimes people ask me, what's it like to have a virtual assistant? My answer is always the same. I don't know. Because I don't really feel like Katie is a virtual assistant. She is a part of the team, she engages, my clients know her. In fact, I had a team meet with me one time for the very first time and I get it very often, they'll be like, Hey, where's Katie? Oh, my gosh, she's not here right now. She's all the way across the country, I'm not gonna I say that, but she's not here right now. And so five times, I kid you not, in the meeting, our very first time ever meeting, they haven't signed up, they haven't done nothing. We're just doing some, you know, having some conversation. They kept saying, well, Katie said well, Katie, well, Katie.

They finally moved forward because of Katie. I'm like, Well, hey, what about me? I'm supposed to be your coach. So when we talking about a virtual assistant, I almost feel like that's the wrong word. They, you're right, in this day and age they can be so part of your team, they can take care of you. They can make your clients' experience amazing. So enough on that, let's jump into it. You know, Ryan introduced you is that matchmaker and I know that you literally told me. So this is my experience I could give everybody. And I've never had one of these where I could answer the myth as passionate as the guests. But you literally told me, Jeremy, I've talked to you enough. You need to talk to Katie. That's the person for you. And you are right. So how do you go around figuring that out for every leader? Because they're all different.

Kelley: Very true. And that's a good question. So for us, we do have a matching algorithm that we utilize, and it's not really rocket science, but it's important because we obviously support a ton of different types of clients. And the majority of them kind of fall into either a visionary or an integrator. So our visionaries, like you, Jeremy, tend to be really bad at details, they move very quickly, they don't like slowing down, they are bad at letting go of the vine. And then you've got integrators, who a lot of times are more detail-oriented and they like to give details, they're fine with slowing down and kind of investing in their relationships and taking it slow.

They like process. So we really just kind of have an algorithm that helps us say, Okay, well if this person is heavy on detail, they need an assistant who also that doesn't slow them down or bog them down. But alternately, just like you, Jeremy, you're very fast, you're very visionary. So you need someone like Katie who's got an eight, you know, fact finder, that high-level fact finder, so she's going to pick up where you lack. And that really is why it's like a matchmaking. So I saw a lot of our new clients is kind of like online dating but for an assistant because we want our clients to not only have the tasks taken care of, but we want them executed by someone that the client enjoys working with. They don't roll your eyes and you see Katie's name come up on your phone Jeremy, so you like working with her, and that's important. That's a huge piece of what we do because if the relationship is there, the task and the trust will come after that.

Jeremy: So you're focusing on the relationship with that leader. And obviously, in an assistant world, it's a way more personal connection. I think Gino uses it as like a puzzle piece. Like, you got to find the right one. Just because Katie's worked out well for me, and you saw that and through your algorithms and you tried simplifying it but I'll tell you whatever. It's simple, at least it worked. But really getting that right person for it. So you use, you mentioned the Colby. I heard that eight and fact-finding and understanding it and you're looking for that person. So you start with relationship. That's what you said first, correct?

Match by Relationship, as Well as Ability

Kelley: Yes, relationship comes first. Obviously, we give our clients a system profile so they can see what their work history is and kind of what their background is in. But I really encourage people look at that and just kind of take it with a grain of salt because when you get on the phone, the person that doesn't look that great on paper might be the person that you just organically gravitate towards, and that's the relationship, you're looking for. That's what's important.

Jeremy: Absolutely. In our new book, Unmasked we how to hire the ones you don't want to fire. We actually wrote out that, hey, just because of their history, the past success isn't going to determine the future. You need to be looking at the person, how you're going to interact, and what can they do going forward. So we actually detail that out in our new book. So, well, tell us about a couple different results that you've gotten or seen by getting that right fit, what an assistant can actually do to help the leader.

Kelley: So really, I do a lot of conversations and have a lot of communication with clients who have been matched with their assistant for a while and just want to check-in. And I always make it a conscious effort to ask them how their life has improved since they've had an assistant because if they don't see a dramatic difference, that is really a testimony for how well things are going, and we haven't done our job correctly. So the number one response that I get most often is that they feel like their time has been protected. And that allows them, in turn, to operate within their unique ability. So when they come to us, a lot of times, the clients are overwhelmed.

They're managing a hundred emails a day, things are slipping through the cracks, they're forgetting to put things on their own calendar, but they're scared to relinquish those tasks because they don't think they can ever trust someone enough to give them something that's so important to their business. So what they tell us is that, you know, we've got a really great onboarding process, and I'm sure we can talk more about that later on. But for us, we use the first six weeks that the client and the assistant are matched to set the relationship foundation and kind of build everything on top of that.

And so the goal is that trust builds organically and as the trust builds and they see their assistant operate well and do things correctly, they're going to take like a deep breath, and they're going to start handing some more tasks off because that trust is growing. So as they do that, they are giving themselves freedom to operate in their unique abilities that visionaries and people who are, you know, extremely busy and operating at the highest level of their companies don't have any business managing their junk mail. It's just not what they should be doing. So that's probably the biggest result that we hear.

Jeremy: I've heard one wise man told me that it's a 10x return on any assistant. So that's what he said you should be seeing. And I can definitely tell you that I've seen it multiple times. So what you're paying for them to organize your emails, get just those ones back, actually, it's a scorecard item for us. I don't know if you know this, but how many emails I respond to in a week. We really work to keep that down. It's amazing how much they can handle of your calendar and your emails, and then you're actually doing, you know, the hundred dollar an hour work, or whatever that is that you feel like you should be doing. Some people go, Well, how did you have time to stop and think about that and figure that out? Well, I wasn't checking my email. I wasn't booking events. I wasn't asking my clients for paperwork. When I got it, it was all prepared. It was all ready to go. It was exactly like they knew I needed it. And that's a huge time saver and allows you to focus on the important things.

Kelley: Right. Yeah. And that's something that I do ask clients because sometimes people aren't ready when they come to us. So a lot of times, I'll ask them, you know, and the two hours a day you spend on your email and calendar, is that billable time that you could be charging someone 300 bucks an hour for and if so, then you need to have an assistant because that cost is going to be much, much less than you wasting your own time. And so sometimes when we put it in kind of that frame of mind, it resonates a little bit more than they understand where they can delegate this task.

Ryan: That's great, Kelley. You know, I want to go back to something you'd mentioned just a couple minutes ago because I thought that it was so important to this process of finding the right assistant, but then also getting that assistant to really just gel so that you can start trusting them to take on more work and send them more work. You know, when I'm working with companies and helping them bring on new talent, we put a lot of effort into what you call the matchmaking process, although it's a little different. But one of the things I always get a lot of pushback on is the onboarding process.

So I want to dig in a little bit to your six-week process because that's so critical to making sure that not only you pick the right person, but that you get them up to speed as quickly as possible. So help me understand a little bit more what that six-week process looks like. And do you believe that's something that people should be using for any hire or is it just for assistance?

Six-Week Onboarding Process

Kelley: That's a great question. So to answer the last part of your question first, I definitely see where this can be applicable in any hire that anyone, you know, brings on their team because the beginning is so important. And you know, I know that y'all remember I remember joining, even when you start your first day at a new job that's in-person, you know, not virtual like we are. But if you go to a job in-person, you organically have a ton of questions at first. You are asking, where's the printer? Like, you know, there's just so many different little things. And so our goal with onboarding is that we knock all of those nitty-gritty, granular questions out of the way upfront.

So the expectations are already clearly defined. So you've heard Jeremy talk about Katie. Katie is Jeremy's wonderful assistant, but she also works with me, and she is our relationship manager at AssistPro. So we built this role front, she originally worked in onboarding for us and we actually built an entire new role based around growing just the responsibilities of that onboarding department. And so with Katie being on these calls and kind of laying the foundation for our clients and our assistants, that allows them to go ahead and just be set up for success. So the first kickoff call is obviously very important just to kind of lay everything out there. But were Katie's true value comes in is that she supports each assistant and client for six weeks of their match. So the very beginning of getting started and kind of ramping everything up is going, is where Katie's gonna apply the heavy-handed support.

So she does weekly calls with all of the assistants there and onboarding and does screen shares and checks over their work, makes sure that they are operating kind of at AssistPro's standards. Jeremy, you know, I know you mentioned that she keeps a scorecard with you. She actually manages our assistants and onboarding and makes sure that their scorecards are up to date. So she's managing the hours that they work, the amount of time that they're communicating with their client. So we're just making sure kind of from both ends that even if the client starts to be a little bit lax in their side of the process, that Katie is encouraging the assistant to be aggressive and make sure that she's reaching out because that communication for the first six weeks is very, very important. And where are we located value in is we do tell clients that any question that is not Jeremy specific or Ryan specific, those questions are to be directed towards Katie to further protect the client's time.

Jeremy: And so, you know, there's several things here that I want to unpack and one is you talked about getting into their emails and everybody has their own way of, you know, keeping their email. So as unread, read sorted in files, however, that is. What are some tips to maybe letting go of the email? Because that's a scary area. That's where all your client communication is. That's where all of your stuff is happening. What are some tips for, that entrepreneurs can let go of that?

Kelley: Well, we normally suggest just a tiered urgency response system. And this is where kind of the building trust comes in because it's not going to be immediate. And that's where we really have to set realistic expectations for the assistant and the client. But as the assistant starts working within the client's email, she's going to organically learn who's important, who can wait, what's junk. So what we normally suggest is for the first two weeks that the assistant and client are matched, that she starts a three folder system, or a star system. So we can do one of either, but the goal is, is that it's just three categories. It's urgent and needs response today, there's an urgent but can wait and then there's a non-urgent.

So even for our visionary clients that hate detail, three buckets is not a lot of buckets to check. So the goal is, is that through the open communication between the assistant and the client, the assistants filtering these emails for them, and at the end of the day, the client is going in and just giving those buckets and that's where the, you know, constructive criticism will come in because there is a learning curve. So if you notice something was in the non-urgent bucket and it was actually urgent, that's where the assistant client communication would be important because that's how she'll learn. But over time, I'm sure Jeremy, Katie does your email with her eyes closed. Literally, it's just you learn, but it has to have, you have to have a solid foundation first where there's an open line of communication to make sure that they're executing correctly.

Jeremy: And obviously, I have very similar names. We ended up renaming them, but we have to do today and read-only. And I remember us just working for a long time, and now she just handles at all, there'll be a lot more to do folder then the read-only. And you started saying, Well, you know, you actually could do this one and you could do this one, and you could, and week after week, there'd be more and more that'd just the read-only, like, Hey, I took care of this, hey, this is done. And that's when you start seeing the momentum and starts building. You're exactly right. They start learning the people, the responses that you would give, giving it in your personality. You know, the way that you communicate with your clients, you start accelerating and freeing that time up. So definitely agree with it.

So I didn't want, because one of the things I said there, I want to be clear to our audience, it's not like they're just going in and sorting them. You could almost do rules to get that, right? Google says, Oh, this is an important one, it automatically does this little start. Way more than that. I spend right now about five to 10 minutes an email a day. And I was spending a lot more than that. But most of it's already taken care of, and I can just move on and be like, Okay, cool. That's done.

Kelley: I was just going to say a lot of our clients too, they don't realize that when you have your assistant operating within your email, there's so many opportunities for them to take things off of your plate without you even asking. As a scheduling email comes through, they can forward that to themselves. So your email also just kind of over time, will be less busy as a whole because people do start communicating with your assistant. I'm sure you've got tons of people that just email Katie directly now because they know that's who they're going to get anyway. So that's the goal.

Jeremy: Absolutely. No, and it frees, you're exactly right. It frees up the time and they know that it's easy. She's super responsive, she's gonna take care of it and they're going to get what they need. And then I'm doing the valuable work. Like, she's not going to get on the coaching call, which is absolutely, he could talk this afternoon, but I was with a client, I couldn't take the email right then. I wouldn't have even responded. So actually, I can get to my clients faster because she can get that set up. And then I get done with the session. I can have the conversation and it's all done.

Kelley: That is the goal. That is it.

Jeremy: That is it. So what is something that you see, you get to talk to a lot of different business owners out there, what is something that you see holds them back from letting go of the vine and letting somebody else manage this and free their time?

Kelley: A lot of times, you know, we work with a lot of entrepreneurs and business coaches who have built businesses from the ground up. And really for them, it's just a fear of trusting someone with something so precious. For a lot of them, and I've actually had multiple clients tell me like, I just don't feel humbly confident saying here's my assistant, but they're also doing two hours a day in email. And so I try my best to really let them know, it's not one or the other. It's not some lowly assistant. We call them managing assistants because they manage their client's lives. And they are truly, I mean, just like you hear Jeremy talking, they can't operate without them. So a lot of times, it's even just kind of feeling that they are not at a place where an assistant is appropriate. And that's when I really try to have conversations with them in the very early stages of okay, but how are you spending your time every day?

Because if you're spending even one hour on email as an executive, that's an hour too much. So a lot of times when we start talking through the more granular things, well, how is your day structured? What are you doing? Then they start to say, oh, okay, well, no, you're right. I could definitely get rid of this. I could definitely get rid of that. But sometimes, it is them just being scared of handing that off to someone else because they just don't know that anyone can do it as well as they can. And the reality is, a lot of times they're not doing well anyway because it's not their unique ability.

Jeremy: Mm-hmm. Absolutely. You know, all of my client sessions, this podcast, even, right now, as I jot something down, I check it off. I'll take a picture when we're done. And my follow-through past that point was, but Katie knows exactly Hey, she knows it was on my calendar. I won't even tell her. She will take care of it, get it into production, all of that stuff, get to the right people. Everything's taken care of. They just, they learn it and they know it and then I'm off to the next thing that's of value and I'm driving more results.

Kelley: Yes. Exactly.

Jeremy: So we've challenged you on a lot of different areas trying to provide some great content, I believe we brought some value. What is a challenge that you could give to our audience? Something that they could go do?

Delegate and Elevate

Kelley: Well, we haven't really talked very much about it. But Jeremy, you know, obviously, you're an EOS implementer. And so, EOS has a ton of great tools. And one tool that is a free tool that anyone can use is called a Delegate and Elevate. And really what it is, is just an inventory of how you spend your time every day or every week. And a lot of times when clients will come to us and they say, I'm just not sure yet. You know, I just don't know if I'm ready. I'll challenge them to just take that assessment and kind of spend some time, take a little break and write down everything that they do every day because so many of us are on autopilot and we just do what we have to do to keep our head above water that it's very common that people aren't even aware of what they're spending their time on.

So when people make a conscious effort to sit down and say, these are the 15 things a day I spend my time on, and I hate doing 10 of them, well guess which 10 are perfect to delegate to your system most of the time? So I really would just challenge people to look up the Delegate and Elevate Tool, or even just take an inventory on their own, how do I spend my time? And what's frustrating me in the tasks that I'm executing? Because that might be a great place to start.

Ryan: No, I was just gonna say, Kelley, I'd love to. So there's the tool, right? The Delegate and Elevate Tool, which helps me jot down what it is that I've got to give up. But you made a comment earlier that there's a lot of coaches, a lot of business owners out there that this is their baby, is this business. And they, it is a piece of them. How do you help them actually let go of the vine? And the mindset shift that needs to happen, how do you coach them through it when they're a client? Or how do you teach your assistants to coach them through it? Because I think that's a big part that I see a lot is that there's so many things that the owners are involved in that they don't need to be involved in. But in their mind, no one can do it like they can, so they can't delegate it. So what are some practical tips there?

Kelley: Really that is exactly why we are so heavily focused on relationships because trust grows from relationships. So there are a lot of really great virtual assistant companies that are very much task-based. You might have a team of people helping you or you might have someone in another country, and that works very, very well for some people. But for us, the people that we're working with that are scared to let go of that vine, they need a relationship because they need to trust. So that's why we really push that so much. So what happens is we just really, really harp on open and honest communication and a regular communication at the beginning.

The goal is is that, you know, eventually, a client and an assistant are able to operate without ever really having to interact other than their weekly L10's and daily touchpoints. So obviously, you know, the relationship grows at first, and then it's a maintenance mode. But that's why we tell people, those first six weeks are so important because when you trust your assistant, you're going to be more apt to let go of what you've got going on. And that's also why we don't rush it. We tell people all the time as you come in and you're like, I don't care who does this, but I just need it done tomorrow, we're not a great fit because we want to take that time and build that relationship with you because that's going to allow for growth in the future.

So we always say short term pain, long term gain. There's a lot of conversations at the beginning, a lot of questions to answer. It's a little frustrating for both client and assistant while they're getting up and running but it is so worth it in the end when they don't have to look at their email but for five minutes a day like Jeremy that's the goal, but it takes a little bit of time to get there. So the trust is super important.

Ryan: So could you give me maybe one or two questions or conversations, something that is just really tactical? Like, if you had this conversation with your assistant or maybe even this conversation with yourself, it might help you. Like, what are some of the questions or conversations that business owners should be having if they're struggling to let go?

Kelley: Right. So I would definitely say the question that they need to ask themselves is, is this the best use of my time? Because while you might be most comfortable keeping it on your plate, if it is not making you money, then you're wasting your time. And for a lot of our business coaches, kind of like Jeremy, you know, being afraid to let go of it is fine, but once they do, they're out doing those 90-minute meetings, but they're out there making money and you don't make money by sitting in your email. So I would definitely challenge people to just kind of look within and be honest with themselves about why they're scared to let go of it. Is it because it's their baby and they can't imagine anyone else touching it? Because if that's the case, that's fine. You're going to learn to trust your assistant and it's going to be their baby too.

So we tell people that all the time. We expect, that is the expectation from AssistPro and their assistants, is that they are an integrated, important part of the client's business. They are not just an assistant, they're their right hand. So for Jeremy, I'm sure you feel Katie's more like your integrator than an assistant. So that's super important. And also, I would challenge people on what are people within their organization executing on because even you, I think a lot of clients don't realize that there may be people on their team that need to delegate some items and an assistant doesn't have to just support one person. Jeremy's obviously a one-man show, but, you know, if you've got a team of people and you've got someone else doing your scheduling, but they need to elevate to a higher, you know, use of their time, then that's something that could also go to your assistant. So also would ask people to kind of take an inventory within their company as well.

Ryan: No, I think that's great. It's just really figuring out that process in the way you want to have the conversations. And that actually got me thinking about something because in my mind, one of the biggest difference between a virtual assistant or say, an assistant that I go hire on my own, is that with a virtual assistant, I actually have a team behind that assistant as well. I have people like you who are doing the matchmaking. There's probably other people on your team, you'd mentioned Katie actually works with the clients in the new assistants on are they having the conversations? Are they getting productive? And if I go hire an assistant on my own, I don't have that. I have to figure that all out on my own. Is that fair?

Collaborative Mindset

Kelley: It's very fair. And I think that that's where a lot of people come to us for our, it's not just our expertise, but it's our network and our available assistance. So we've always got a great pool of assistants and they, so one of our core values is collaborative mindset. So we've got an awesome group of workplace which is kind of like Facebook for companies and all of our assistants collaborate in there. Hey, my client's having an issue with XYZ, and people will jump on there and give recommendations of what they've seen these, you know, successful other clients.

So they've got that. But we also have a very big open-door policy in terms of our leadership team. And Katie, you know, clients do go through that six weeks of onboarding with her. But if there's a problem six months down the road, that client knows they can call Katie, and she's going to talk to them and kind of help them course-correct with their assistant. So I do tell people, it's a little bit like an insurance policy because once you're in the AssistPro family, you're supported and protected no matter what might happen individually with your assistant

Ryan: No, I love that. And that actually leads me to thinking about a conversation we had a little earlier before we started the show and the way that AssistPro works with new clients, part of your onboarding process, if you will, but even before they've made that decision to move forward. So as we wrap up today, could you share that with our listeners, the offer that you have for them in helping them make the decision like, is this right for them or is it not?

Kelley: Right. So what we really love to do is explore if we are the right fit first, and also if a client as a great fit for AssistPro. So one thing that we have going on right now and what we always try to offer to people who are interested, is a free coaching call because every single client is different, even if they're in the same industry as 20 other clients that we have. Every client is different, everyone's needs are different, everyone's pain points are different and everyone's hesitations and fears are different.

So I run those calls. I'm the only person within the company that does so anyone that's interested, I'm happy to do a call with them and just talk through what they've got going on, what's frustrating them. We can actually do like a live version of that Delegate and Elevate because it can just be spoken out loud. It doesn't have to be a project that they do. So that's something that we, you know, would be happy to offer. And then outside of that, we're actually offering $500 off of our startup fee for anyone that comes to us and becomes a client through the Blue Collar Culture Podcast.

Ryan: That is awesome. So if someone wants to take you up on that coaching call that you're going to give them, and it sounds like it's gonna be a very valuable call, how do they get a hold of you? How do they schedule? How do they get started?

Kelley: So, they can go to our website, which is just www.assistpro.com or they can email me directly and my assistant, Lacey can send them a calendar link to schedule. So my email is just my name, which is Kelley, [email protected].

Ryan: Awesome. Kelly, thank you so much for being our guest today. I've enjoyed the conversation. I learned some new things about Katie even, which I thought was great. So just thank you so much for being our guest today.

Kelley: Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it. It was great talking with both of you.

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