Since the pandemics, many companies have been more open to remote workers and outsourcing the service of professionals to support their companies. As a result, more companies are considering these services and raising interesting questions about their cost-effectiveness and the type of businesses that could get a greater benefit from outsourcing. From our experience, digital businesses of any size can enjoy those benefits, but in this showcase, I will describe the experience of an agency founded and managed by a super talented woman and the special attributes that help her to get the full potential of a virtual assistant.
Ecommerce Partnerships is an agency founded and led by a very charismatic Irish woman, based on her extensive experience as an eCommerce agency advisor. Rachel Jacobs has been working with several eCommerce and Shopify plus agencies and has been promoting electronic commerce first in Ireland, and also globally through her agency.
She is a talented consultant and advisor that simplifies the process of scaling e-commerce agencies working on positioning, acquisition, delivery, and retention. She helps agencies identify their flows to implement efficient processes, strategic partnerships, and profitable retainers. Rachel through Ecommerce Partnerships is also helping to define automated sales processes, making it easier to find qualified leads and optimizing the whole sales process and results.
The most interesting part of this case is that she is applying her own experience in optimizing workflows to lead her operations. As a consultant and advisor, her business is based on her own performance, but she has been using outsourced talent to maximize her impact and reach.
We had the opportunity to meet Rachel in May 2021 and after sharing her valuable insights, she decided to hire one of our virtual assistants to support different areas of her business. Since then, she has been an administrative assistant that is helping in events strategy and assisting the overall sales process. His duties include scheduling, managing emails, coordinating activities with other service providers, also online and live events, and other administrative tasks related to the proper functioning of the agency. She is also outsourcing with other providers or freelancers specific tasks like the design or video edition to keep a professional and appealing digital presence.
One of the keys to her success is having assertive leadership and clear communication and workflows. From the beginning, she had a process in place, and she mentored her new VA to understand the responsibilities of the role and also motivated him to be autonomous and a problem solver. She has been also an effective leader when assigning tasks, communicating, and giving feedback to improve the performance of her administrative assistant.
Having realistic expectations and good management has also been crucial in overcoming the challenges of remote work. Some people find it difficult to work with people in other time zones, but for a global eCommerce company such as Ecommerce Partnerships has not been an issue having a difference of 5 hours. What is the secret? Assigning tasks properly and nurturing responsibility and autonomy through good management and follow-up.
Rachel Jacobs is a very good leader and advisor, and her sharpness and leadership style allows her to communicate in a way that enables employees and collaborators to understand her agency’s mission much better. This is a very good recipe that empowers her remote administrative assistant to anticipate and cover her needs. In that regard, recent findings revealed that women-led companies are thriving in areas like communication and autonomy, and are also more open to diversity and inclusion. No wonder why our most interesting success stories have as the main character a woman.
The digital industry opportunities are open to more people every day, and luckily many of these initiatives are led by talented single entrepreneurs that need to optimize their processes to maximize their reach. Hiring outsourced administrative assistants or other types of remote workers is a cost-effective way to increase productivity, and is not a luxurious option just available for big agencies. It is an affordable solution that just requires good communications and effective leadership from your side.
You do not need to take unnecessary risks or spend your valuable time recruiting virtual assistants, we can help you to attract, test, and hire the best professionals for your needs. We have been serving companies in the eCommerce and digital transformation industries, allocating virtual assistants to front and back-office roles (Customer support, Executive Assistant, Amazon Support, Sales Admin, Front end developers, Copywriting, Marketing support, Desk Support, and more). So We are experienced recruiters and also Collective Benefit and Interest (BIC) Company, which means that we work to generate a social, environmental, positive, and verifiable impact, which is just a measure of our commitment to creating inclusive and fair job opportunities for local people in Colombia.
Ecommerce Partnerships are a good example of the potential of outsourced remote assistants to grow sustainably as an Agency. Her type of leadership has allowed her to create an effective team with her remote assistant and other outsourced professionals. What type of leadership do you consider effective to nurture the development and autonomy of your employees?
