Hire Amazon Virtual Assistants- The Where, When, Why, & How Answered!

Amazon

How and Where To Hire the Right Amazon Virtual Assistant

The market for Amazon virtual assistants is growing at a tremendous pace. Find out where you can hire the best and most cost-effective Amazon experts that can fit right in with your operations and amplify your business growth.

A growing business requires efficiency, speed, and cost-consciousness (among other things) to stay profitable. Unfortunately, there is much to do and not enough time, especially not on platforms like Amazon, where the competition is cut-throat.

That is why most businesses need support on multiple levels.

That is why most of them turn to virtual assistants.

  • A virtual assistant costs about 78% less than an in-house employee
  • US businesses can save nearly $11,000 a year with just a half-time remote worker
  • The virtual assistant market is likely to cross $4 billion by 2025.

But, here’s the catch- these results aren’t magic.

The whole trick to success lies in your choice of a virtual assistant for Amazon. It is all about locating, filtering, and hiring qualified resources that match your requirements and expectations.

So, how and where can you hire Amazon virtual assistants for the most efficient outcomes? Let’s find that out, shall we?

Three Things to Know Before Hiring A Virtual Assistant

The right VA can transform your life. They can simplify everything; take away a lot of stress.

The ‘Right VA’, that is!

On your journey to such a resource, this is the first pit stop- understanding the value of collaboration, coordination, and communication in a virtual work environment.

So, we recommend these three tips. Get them straight before going forward.

1. Set Clear Expectations

Why do you need an Amazon virtual assistant?

Respond with the skills you are looking for. Analyze your account and overall business expanse and sort out the activities you would like a competent employee to handle.

Your answer could look like one or more of the following.

  • Data entry
  • Communicating with customers
  • Product research
  • Listing creation
  • Feedback and review management
  • Updating inventory
  • Shipping and tracking
  • Handling user grievances
  • Competitor study
  • Image editing
  • Content creation
  • Optimizing pages

Build a set of expectations-duties that you want to delegate to an external Amazon expert. Then, begin the search.

2. Communicate Key Performance Indicators

Which performance standards will you use to evaluate a virtual assistant for Amazon related operations?

This step is all about communication.

Any employee- virtual or in-house -expects a set of metrics to understand how their work is being judged. Having KPIs set in advance helps you in resource monitoring and efficiency calculation. Plus, it makes the entire process of working with an Amazon VA much easier.

Take examples for your key performance indicators from here. You can add to this list depending on your specific requirements.

  • Expected number of hours
  • Targets to be achieved in a week/month
  • Individual responsibilities
  • Reporting and general administrative constraints
  • Timelines and deadlines
  • Operational and maintenance cost limits

Whichever KPIs you choose, keep them specific, controllable, and measured.

3. Create a Coherent Job Post

How can you attract the right applications for Amazon virtual assistants?

We will talk about the sources from where you can hire VAs next. But, regardless of that, you need a job post. It is your tool to captivate prospective resources looking for an opportunity.

We have accumulated some tips from our Amazon experts.

  • Do not follow generic job description templates
  • List down the skills you need in a VA
  • Provide a single and direct point of contact
  • Introduce your business briefly
  • Stress on the ‘VA’ part to avoid attracting full-time job-seeking resources
  • Invite communication via a single medium

Remember, you can always train a VA in the practices your business follows. So, look for the skills you need.

Where To Look For A Competent Amazon Virtual Assistant?

That is the question of all questions- Where to find the right Amazon virtual assistant for your business?

Broadly speaking, you have three choices.

1. Freelancing Platforms

A freelancing platform works just as Amazon does.

Amazon connects sellers with buyers. Freelancing platforms connect employers with resources.

Essentially, they are regulated job boards. You need to pay a section of the fee to the platform. In return, you get a vast repository of resources with reviews, prices, and skills listed in a neat pattern.

10 Top Freelancing Platforms in 2022

Undoubtedly, freelancing platforms have made it convenient to hire Amazon virtual assistants. But, that comfort comes with a few problems.

Top freelancing platforms can charge as much as 20% from virtual workers. That is bad for a professional’s bottom line. There is also a lot of competition on these platforms, leading to an unnecessary race for minimal bids.

Such factors keep the top talent from registering on such platforms.

2. Individual Professionals

This is just like recruiting an in-house employee.

You have to scour job boards and LinkedIn and social media. Conduct domain-specific searches. Explore regional resource pools. Check your own organization’s talent pipeline. Go through all possible talent hunting processes that a recruiter does.

The most probable ways to hire virtual assistants for Amazon in this way include the use of tools like the following.

  • Linkedin
  • Google Careers
  • Local & Regional Job Boards
  • Specific Websites
  • Craigslist
  • Word of Mouth Sources

However, the process is long and tiring. If you find a remote Amazon expert this way, that’s either your luck or hours’ worth of research.

Either way, searching for individual professionals is neither cost-effective nor a time-efficient way to hire Amazon virtual assistants.

Plus, if you hire a particular resource, there is no fallback if they decide to bolt.

3. Third-Party Amazon Virtual Assistant Services

Perhaps the easiest way to find an Amazon VA!

Why?

Well, for starters, an Amazon virtual assistant services provider can offer several advantages, like:

  • The option to hand-pick a resource of your choice from their talent pool
  • Complete control over operations
  • Constant communications
  • Double monitoring of the resource
  • Back-up options in case you have problems with the VA or they need leaves
  • Enterprise-grade skills
  • Complete infrastructure cost
  • Budget-friendly price options
  • Easy to scale the number of Amazon virtual assistants up or down

Easy task tracking, 360-degree coordination, and zero risks of the VA abandoning your case- clearly, outsourcing Amazon virtual assistant services to third-party works in your favor.

The only downside- you have to choose the vendor with care.

We suggest checking their reputation in the market, experience, portfolio, and discussing their processes and your expectations. It will help you gauge how competent the company is and what it would mean to hire Amazon virtual assistants from them.

How To Choose The Right VA?

Whichever method you choose to hire Amazon virtual assistants, the final decision comes down to an interview.

At this point, you have checked up on the resource and researched their profiles. Now, you must talk to them about the job requirements, technical and otherwise.

However, when you sit down for a virtual interview with a prospective VA, it can’t be a straightforward Q&A. you will be working closely with this person. They will be directly responsible for boosting your business on Amazon. They will likely stay in direct contact with you for several tasks and activities.

So, before making a choice, talk about the following.

1. Availability

Is the resource working on more projects at once? Will they be available to you dedicatedly?

When hiring from Amazon virtual assistant service company, it isn’t an issue. Good vendors ensure that a client gets undivided attention from their virtual assistants. But, with freelancers, you get less control.

Therefore, it is essential to communicate their availability factor well in advance.

2. Experience

Prepare the technical part of your interview with the candidate’s experience in mind. Test their expertise in the areas you are hiring them for. Ask for a sample task if you still have doubts.

Also, don’t just look at their overall experience. Pay attention to any work history that is similar to your requirements. Discuss what problems they faced in the previous roles. Talk about their perceived roadblocks and expected levels of assistance.

It will help you determine if there is a learning curve that needs to be patched with appropriate training before you can take them on your team.

3. References

If it is a freelancer, check up on their references and previous employers to understand more about the resource you are about to hire. If it is a third-party company, ask to look at the VA’s reviews from other clients.

4. Skill Set

At this point, you have a set of particular requirements, and the matched prospects are likely to have a somewhat similar set in their profiles.

All you need to do in the interview is verify.

Prepare a questionnaire or assessment module to check the skill level of the prospective virtual assistant for Amazon.

5. Personality

A virtual assistant is a part of your team, an extension of your operations. Like any team structure, there needs to be an active dependency, trust, coordination, and reliability between the two of you.

That is why the VA should click with you. As such, their personality and behavior should be an incentive to collaborate, not a deterrent.

In the interview, keep a keen eye on how they react to things not in their immediate favor, how they deal with the idea of challenges, and the energy they exude.

How To Work With A Virtual Assistant For Amazon?

Do you know what stands between you and a virtual Amazon assistant? Or rather, what stands between you and a successful relationship with your chosen VA?

Miles of distance and a massive cultural difference.

It can be scary to operate in a work culture where you see your team on video but don’t share the intimacy of a shared workspace. Sure, globalization has opened our minds to all the wonderful possibilities of remote working. But that does not make it any easier to implement in real-time.

So, what can you do to bridge that gap?

Here are our recommendations.

1. Be Mindful

Both of you are entering this arrangement with previous experiences. Plus, the cultural differences mean that both of you will be exposed to something new.

For instance, if you hire an Amazon virtual assistant in India, you are likely to be greeted with tones of ‘Yes, Sir’ and ‘No, Sir’ as opposed to a first-name-basis conversation. Another example of this is the accent.

Don’t shoot them down if such things happen.

Be mindful of the new resources you have added to your team. Prepare yourself before the first conversation so as to not offend the other party.

And, expect the same from them. Communicate clearly if that does not happen.

2. Give Your VA Time to Acclimatize

In the beginning, allot every new VA one hour of your time. During that hour, encourage them to vocalize every doubt. Speak out your own thoughts to give them an idea of what you are doing and why.

It allows them the space to ask questions and attain a clear understanding of your requirements, expectations, and operational flow.

Eventually, this time will shorten as the virtual assistant will grow more in sync with their role and responsibilities. The advantage- you will have a VA who understands your Amazon operations and thinks as you do when facing challenges and finding workarounds.

3. Expect & Communicate High Standards

This part is usually a no-brainer when working with reputed Amazon virtual assistant services. But, even with freelancers, you must establish a standard.

It could be related to timings, work quality, or even something trivial as having a working camera.

Establish a standard, follow it, and expect your VAs to follow it as well.

4. Ask Open-Ended Questions

Especially right after hiring a VA, you should not ask them ‘yes/no’ questions. Or rather, you should not frame a conversation like an interrogation, no matter how mild.

Put open-ended questions in front of your Amazon virtual assistants.

Their answers will tell you how they think. Use that understanding to communicate with your VAs effectively.

Cost Analysis For Amazon Virtual Assistants

How Much Do Amazon Virtual Assistants Cost?
  • USD 20 to USD 100
  • Lower for Administrative Tasks
  • Higher for Specific, Skill-based Tasks
Multiple Virtual Assistant Payment Models
  • By The Hour
  • By The Project
  • By The Task
  • VA Team Subscriptions
Top Factors That Impact The Cost Of An Amazon VA
  • Location
  • Experience
    • Niche
    • Tasks
  • Work hours
Most Popular Countries For Hiring Virtual Assistants
India & Philippines

Still Have Doubts? We Can Help You Hire Amazon Virtual Assistants

Go on and ask whatever doubts you have or any other information you need about Amazon virtual assistants.

Our Amazon virtual assistant services company is equipped with 20+ years of experience and a massive team of Amazon experts. Get your answers or the right resources, all in one place, at SunTec India.

Just drop your query in the comments!

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