As a fully managed service, Prialto handles every step of the virtual assistant staffing process from hiring to placement to providing on-going training. Since all of our VAs are employees who work in our offices, we’re able to take a highly personalized approach to assigning assistants to clients and managing their performance.
To help you learn more about our staffing processes, we’ll explain:
- How Prialto assigns virtual assistants
- Backup support and your Prialto team
- Full-time support options
If you have any questions about our staffing process, feel free to contact us or, if you’re a current member, ask your Engagement Manager.
How Prialto Assigns Virtual Assistants
When you sign up for our service, your Account Executive and Engagement Manager meet with our staffing team to choose the best virtual assistant for you. During this discussion, they consider factors including:
- Prior experience doing the tasks you plan to offload
- Skills and knowledge that are beneficial for your projects
- Personality fit
Our selection process ensures that you get a virtual assistant who meets your needs without having to spend lots of time searching for one.
Backup Support and Your Prialto Team
We offer backup support to ensure you never go a business day without service. From the day you on-board, a backup assistant trains alongside your primary VA to learn how to support you.
Every time you share a new process or preference with your assistant, they add it in your member manual - a secure wiki page that documents how to complete your projects, your communication preferences, and other information about working with you.
Our backup system ensures that when your primary virtual assistant is sick or on vacation you still receive the same quality of support.
In addition to your backup assistant, there are a few other members of your Prialto team who work to help you maximize the value of our service:
- Engagement Manager - This is your thought partner for leveraging a VA. Loop them in whenever you want to offload new projects, experience issues with your assistant or want to make any other changes to your service. They'll work with your VA to improve your service.
- Account Executive - This is the sales rep who sold you our services. They’re always available to help get additional support for yourself and/or your team.
- Team Lead - They lead your virtual assistant’s team and are responsible for training. If you want to see service improvements, your team lead will give your VA the coaching they need.
Your Prialto team works closely together to ensure you get maximum leverage from our service.
Read More: How to Best Leverage Your Engagement Manager
Getting Full-Time Support
If you want full-time support without the hassle of hiring an in-house assistant, just purchase three units and you’ll get dedicated coverage all day. All of our assistants work standard business hours in one of the following time zones:
- US Pacific
- US Central
- US East
- UK BST/GMT
Typically, our clients purchase three units in their time zone to get full-time support. However, if you want extended hours - for example 8 AM to 8 PM Eastern time, you can purchase two east coast units and a west coast one so that you have support after standard business hours.
Be aware that even if you purchase three units in the same time zone, you will be assigned two VAs to work with. Our best practice is to place two units on one assistant and the third unit on another. Here’s why:
- It gives you more consistent backup support. If one of your assistants is out sick or on vacation, the other will work with your backup to ensure there are no disruptions to your service.
- It gives you access to a wider range of expertise. Each of our virtual assistants has different professional backgrounds and strengths. Working with two VAs, lets you leverage the skills of two individuals.
- It minimizes disruption to your service in the rare case that your assistant moves on from Prialto. We have very low turnover rate, however, occasionally our assistants leave. If that happens, you’ll have a smoother transition since your second assistant is available to train your replacement.
If you prefer to just work with one person, you can communicate primarily with the assistant who does the majority of your work. They can then delegate work to your second assistant.