The biggest mistake Amazon sellers do is thinking that they can manage all the tasks by themselves. And do it even better than anybody else.
Gilad Freimann, who is running the Virtual Assistants Academy, doesn’t think that way. Today we are talking to him about different types of assistance for Amazon sellers, why and when do they need them, and how to find a reliable and virtual assistant.
Gilad is the founder and CEO of VAA Philippines, the academy, that focuses on filtering VAs and training them specifically on Amazon so they could help Amazon sellers. Gilad is the Amazon seller himself and this is the reason how VAA Philippines was started.
Why does an Amazon seller need a VA?
Gilad says that they have sellers coming to them who are just beginners as well as those who make thousands of dollars per month. For example, sellers, who are just starting selling on Amazon, usually still have another job so they can’t invest too much time in their Amazon business. Talking about the other group – more advanced sellers – the reasons why they need assistance are obvious.
How to choose the right VA?
Gilad knows how struggling is to find the right person. There were times when after investing his own time into training a VA, Gilad ended up without one. Then he realized that this is a big problem among Amazon sellers.
To solve it, during a Virtual Assistants Academy training, people are being tested for their motivation as well. If they are really into the process for 3 or 4 weeks or more, then you can see how serious they are.
Gilad says that once a new VA officially joins their team, he/she becomes not only a part of the team but also a part of the community that makes them feel more responsible of what they do.
How the filtering process look like step-by-step
First, the initial steps are being taken: Initially questioning, testing English level, their internet connection at home, the ability to think outside the box. Once they start the training, they study every necessary detail about Amazon in order to help. Because of this thorough selection process, not many candidates end up being members of VAA staff.
Mention ORANGE KLIK when contacting Virtual Assistants Academy:
https://www.vaaphilippines.com/
For what tasks sellers are hiring VAs?
First of all, before hiring a VA, one should think about all the tasks that could be given to somebody else. Ask a question: “Is it what I’m doing is crucial for my business or is it something that someone else with the right training could do instead of me?”
Usually, these tasks include finding products to launch, filtering suppliers on Alibaba, looking at your inventory, answering customer questions, replying to reviews and feedbacks, taking care of PPC and social media.
It’s normal that sometimes sellers are afraid to fully trust their new assistants. However, it only depends on a seller – you can limit the tasks that the VA can do for you and by the time, when you feel more secure, give more responsibilities. Another thing – there are settings that enable you to choose what your VA can see in your seller central account, so there is no need to worry about whether or not a VA can reach any sensitive information.
One of VAA’s mission is to build a connection between sellers and VAs. They always give tips on how to work correctly with a VA, like creating tutorials, sharing screens and so on, and make sure sellers know how does it work. Also, it also encourages VAs to feel more valuable for the company and this is how they build a trust that every seller is looking for.
Every VA has a certain specialty
Every VA is specifically trained to handle a certain kind of tasks. It is based on individual character, for example, if you want someone to manage your social media and create content, you’ll be looking for a more creative person to do, while dealing with Excel sheets and other technical things is a better task for a more analytical person. This is one of the tasks that VAA team constantly needs to decide on – which VA will go where and then training them under different circumstances.
There are 4 types of VAs at the Academy:
- Amazon VAs
- Social Media VAs
- PPC VAs
- Graphic designers
What usually stops sellers from hiring a VA?
Once you decide to hire a VA, a lot of doubts come to your mind – can I trust this person, where to look for a VA, how to find the right one, how do I find the time to teach that person everything? Also, for most of the people, it seems too time-consuming to even take the first step and start searching for an assistant.
How the process of getting a VA looks like?
When Virtual Assistants Academy talks to you on the phone, they get a clearer picture of what do you expect. Based on that, they give you the right VA who suits your needs. Then you can decide how many hours you want them to work for you.
The idea is to be with you through all the process and to make sure everything is working smoothly, to update VAs all the time about the new things on Amazon and to make sure this will last for a long time.
The price varies depending on the different types of VA, but basically, it’s between $5.50 to $6.60 USD an hour.
Mention ORANGE KLIK and get 10% off when hiring a virtual assistant for your Amazon FBA business. Claim here.
About Gilad Freimann
Gilad Freimann is the Founder and CEO at Virtual Assistants Academy Philippines. Also has been an Amazon seller since 2015. Founded Virtual Assistant Academy (VAA) in 2017 after having too many bad experiences with the wrong VA’s. Today, VAA Philippines is all about filtering VA’s from the Philippines and teaching them all they need to know about Amazon so they could help amazon sellers. VAA employs dozens of motivated, dedicated and trained VA’s who passed a series of tests, interviews and high-level training specifically on Amazon.
