outsourcing | Quality Practice Management Solutions

Don’t Make this Mistake When Responding to Proposal Requests

February 19, 2009 By Sherra Leave a Comment

I recently posted a request for proposal on one of those on-line freelance sites to have a very large Word document with table information converted to an Excel spreadsheet. Generally it’s a straightforward issue that I would have no problem completing myself. However, this particular table had a trait that made it just a bit out of my league (I know bupkus about scripts) – but someone with more advanced Excel skills would have no problem with, which was confirmed by some of the responses I got for my request.

Now, on to what annoys me…

Do not make the person requesting the proposal look in different places to find your bidding information. Please just respond to the proposal in the designated proposal area. Don’t make me go to the stinkin’ private message board to see what you have to say. I’ve got 50+ proposals to look through and I DON’T want to have to track down your response. Needless to say, those who responded with “See my response in the PMB”, or even LESS professional “pls see pm” didn’t even get a second look – and barely got a first one.

I DID however, appreciate those who attached a sample of how they converted the sample page I attached to my proposal. That showed me they actually looked at what I put out there and thought about what I needed.

The “canned” responses that had absolutely no reference to what I needed done in the first paragraph of their response also did not get a second look.

Don’t be shocked by the cost of a Virtual Assistant

January 6, 2009 By Sherra Leave a Comment

Earlier this week I wrote about what a virtual assistant is. Some people are initially surprised to see the hourly charge for a virtual assistant. VA fees for generalists can range from $25 to $50 per hour and specialized VAs can charge $75 per hour or more. That can seem a lot at first glance, but compared to the actual cost of an hourly employee, VAs are right in line with, and sometimes less than, the cost of an on-site employee. But remember, a virtual assistant is not an employee – VAs are business owners like you, who are responsible for all their own expenses related to running a business such as taxes, software, computers, electricity, Internet connection, health insurance, retirement, etc. The median wage for an entry level administrative assistant in my local area (South Carolina) is $16 per hour, not counting bonuses and benefits. Factoring in bonuses and benefits, the actual cost to the employer is over $24 per hour. Add in the cost of employment taxes, an extra computer, telephone, electricity, work space, unproductive time such as breaks, etc. and the actual cost of an administrative assistant can easily top $30 per hour – that’s just for an entry level assistant. The cost goes up significantly with experience, increased responsibilities and location.

Here is another VA vs. Employee cost comparison at VAnetworking.com.

Outsourcing Doesn’t Have to be a Dirty Word

December 8, 2008 By Sherra Leave a Comment

When the topic turns to outsourcing, many times thoughts immediately turn to outsourcing “overseas” and immediately dismiss the thought, thinking it takes jobs away from your country – forgetting about the option to outsource locally. The definition of outsource according to Merriam-Webster.com is:

to procure (as some goods or services needed by a business or organization) under contract with an outside supplier <decided to outsource some back-office operations>

Virtual Assistants do not need to be in the same geographic location as their clients, but sometimes clients like that little extra security of knowing their VA is close. So where do you find a Virtual Assistant that is “close to home”? Most VA’s do not advertise in the Yellow Pages, but there are still ways you can find a local VA. You can visit the directories for VAnetworking.com or the International Virtual Assistant Association and search your state (or province, country, etc.), or you could submit a request for proposal (RFP) on either of those two sites requesting your VA be in a particular geographic region.

But, again, it is not necessary for a VA to be in the same town, state, or time zone for the VA/Client relationship to work. Although I am in South Carolina, I have clients in Massachusetts, Maryland and California.

So, the next time you hear the term “outsource”, don’t immediately think it’s a dirty word – you can outsource locally!