In this article, I will talk to you about strategy and alignment with your Amazon Virtual Assistant on the 2nd month
Do you want to know how to take your new Virtual Assistant Amazon to the next level in sourcing success? Today, I’m going to share with you what we’ve done on Month 2 in the VA Academy that has changed our Amazon Virtual Assistants and delivered massive results!
If you want to watch the video format of this article. You can take a look here.
Topic Rundown
Why adjust your Virtual Assistant Amazon playbook for month 2?
We are creating this article to support VA academy clients and Amazon sellers with Amazon Virtual Assistants, people like you!
First things first. Why do I need to adjust to the way I work with my Amazon Virtual Assistant in Month 2? Why can’t I just keep doing what I have been doing since Day 1?
Fundamentally, your Amazon Virtual Assistant should now be aligned with your deal criteria. They should now have a good understanding of the details of why the deal is good or why it might still be rejected. And statistically speaking, the number of deals should increase from 2 to 5 purchasable deals per day to 5-8 purchasable deals per day.
Remember that the aim for month two is 5-8 purchasable deals per day. If you are getting this, then you are doing well.
Now, this month what you should be focusing on is the Alignment. You need to work with your Amazon Virtual Assistant to create alignment because you have already been successful in sourcing great deals, so it is your responsibility to lead that alignment process to ensure your Amazon virtual assistant can source great deals, too.
One obvious area in which you need an alignment is the method of sourcing. There are different types of sourcing and the way your source might be different from the way your VA sources. So instead of telling them what to do or how to source, ask them to do the deal analysis for you during your live calls.
Now, you might be asking, Why is this change important? You are trying to spot what you are seeing vs. what the VA is seeing. Instead of telling them what you like or don’t like, you are listening to what they are saying and not saying, then on, asking them questions about what you heard and did not hear. As a result, you are trying to create a conversation around the differences between what you are seeing in a deal and what the VA is seeing in the deal. You are quite simply trying to create that alignment when reviewing deals the same to get the same result.
So, if after Month 1 they are struggling with the same problems, we recommend that you stop telling them what to do. There is no point in always telling them what to do if they don’t understand it.
As the old saying goes, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink. So, stop telling your Amazon Virtual Assistant what to do and stay getting them to understand what they need to do. Simply put, stop talking and start listening!
Now, let me share with you the trick that I do with my Amazon virtual assistants to create that alignment and help them improve the number of deals they deliver.
VA Academy 2.0
How to identify improvements in your Virtual Assistant Amazon deal analysis?
As I mentioned earlier, the trick to finding out where your Amazon Virtual Assistant is struggling is to change the process from you reviewing the deals to the Amazon virtual assistant reviewing the deals. Stop telling them what you like or what you don’t like.
What you are doing now is listening to what they are saying and what they are not saying and trying to understand what they don’t understand. Your job is then to support them during the training and review sessions by asking questions that are going to help them.
This is more on understanding their sourcing strategy or their deal review process because you are looking to see if something is fundamentally wrong in their process or if there is something missing. And the only way you learn this is through listening.
Now, when they are not picking up on something, ask them a question about it and avoid telling them what’s wrong. It is only by asking questions that you can open their mind, allowing them to see what they did not see, and then they can change their mindset. This way you get them to start thinking about the deals analysis and all the components the same aligned way you do.
So how do you do it?
First, hop on a video call with your Amazon virtual assistant, cameras on, and do the water cooler talk for about 5 minutes. After you have established that relationship at the start of the call and defined the goal for the call, ask them to do the analysis of the deal now.
Make sure that they share their screen with you. Then listen and watch how your VA reviews the deals.
Here is an example of a simple deal analysis structure. Ask them what’s the first thing they’re going to check. Hazmat and Eligibility. Cool. What are you going to check next? Profit and ROI. Then, you’re going to jump to the Keepa chart to analyze the sales per month. Next, is to check the buy box price over time.
Follow the structure that works best for you and guide your Amazon Virtual Assistant through that process. If you notice that at any point in this structure your VA missed something, then voila! You can spot what your VA needs to understand or do differently to further improve the deal analysis process.
Now, it is time to ask open questions to improve the learning and deal analysis process. Let’s say the sales per month aren’t that great. Instead of saying that the sales are crap, ask them. How many sales a month is this doing? Your Amazon virtual assistant answers, then you proceed to the next questions. How much competition is there? If they were all to share the buy box, how many sales would we get? Then, it might come up that the VA does not understand the buy-box competition. And that is where you come in with further training and analysis.
Because of asking open questions and listening, you can isolate the problem where your VA is struggling. As a result, you can now come up with a focused and concrete action plan to support your VA. With your help and support, they are now able to find more good deals because they are aligned with your deal review process.
The result is that they are now going away and doing your analysis without you, bringing you better quality deals to the table.
Top Tips
1. If you are struggling with your Amazon virtual assistant, then reach out to the Academy and our team and support your new VA if you purchased your Amazon Virtual Assistant through us.
2. If the VA is meeting the deal purchase requirement then you can reduce the frequency of the meetings down from every day to maybe 3 times a week. But if the number of deals purchased per day decreases, then increase the frequency of the calls back to daily in response to the lack of deals.
3. Don’t look at the performance per day but rather take it per week. We all have good and bad days, it's the average that counts.
4. Give them freedom. We want to support them that it’s okay to make mistakes.
5. Recognize success and celebrate great behaviors to build confidence.
6. Communicate! We use Skype and Slack.
7. Finally, Ask open questions (What, When, How, Why, Who) and listen.
Good job, for supporting your virtual assistant in leveling up in 2nd Month!
Month 2 is all about that strategy and alignment. So, don’t look at the performance of your VA per day, but rather, take it per week to see their growth and improvement. Give them the freedom to make mistakes because they will learn from them. And always recognize their success to build confidence.
If you just recently hired your VA and are not yet sure how to go through your first day of the call, you can read our article titled: How to Work with your Amazon Virtual Assistant on Day 1: Top Tips for more information on this matter.
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