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VA Road Map

Onboarding & Success


Hand Picked Virtual Assistants
From Latin America

Congratulations on your new job! We would like


to wish you the best of luck with your new client,
and thank you for trusting Virtual Latinos to help
you find this new work opportunity.

May it be a long lasting work relationship! We are Onboarding


here to guide you and answer any questions you
that might come to mind. & Success!
In this road map you will learn about our
onboarding process, procedures and tips to
ensure success with your new client, changes and
requests you can make regarding your work as a
virtual professional, and how Virtual Latinos is
here to help you along the way.

Let’s get started!


Review and sign ONBOARDING
RATES, AGREEMENT & NDA VIDEO & QUIZ*
We are so happy to have you on board! Now that you have been Watch the following onboarding video before
hired by one of our clients you will receive 3 very important emails: booking the onboarding meeting with your CSA
and the new client. Pay attention to details and
Virtual Latinos: Proposed pay rates for new job take notes.
Also containing the contact information of your assigned
Once you are ready, take the onboarding quiz.
Customer & Virtual Assistant Success Agenct (CSA), who will
* Passing this quiz is a requirement to continue with the
accompany you during your work relationship with the client. onboarding process. The faster you complete this step, the
quicker you’ll get to know your assigned Success Agent. If
Virtual Latinos Agency Agreement - Review & Sign
you haven’t seen the video and passed the quiz before
Please complete Virtual Latinos NDA - Review & Sign your onboarding meeting, we will need to reschedule it.

The links to the video and quiz will be found in the VL


If you have any question, please contact your CSA. Onboarding Video and Quiz email.

Getting ready for the QUESTIONS


ONBOARDING SESSIONS Make a list of all the questions you might have
regarding payments, procedures, or other topics
Make sure you check your email after you sign the
related to Virtual Latinos and your work with your
agreement and NDA, you will receive the following
new client. Bring your list to the initial
important emails:
onboarding session to ask your CSA. Our Success

Payment Methods Team is always happy to answer any questions


you might have and the onboarding meetings are
Get started with your new client
a great way to get started!
VL Onboarding Video and Quiz*

Virtual Latinos: Welcome to the Virtual Latinos Portal!


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Client and VA
ONBOARDING SESSION
You will have a 3-way live virtual meeting on Zoom
between you (the VA), the client, and your assigned
Customer Success Agent.
45 min onboarding call
Initial
ONBOARDING SESSION During the onboarding session:

Your assigned Customer & Virtual Assistant Success We’ll provide you with tips on how to start, build and
Agent (CSA) will contact you via Telegram to set up a maintain a successful work relationship with your client.
live virtual meeting with you (the VA). We’ll cover basic housekeeping information about
30 min onboarding call work hours, schedules, goals, tasks, responsibilities,
and rules.
During the session, our team will:
We’ll suggest and show you the tools and resources
Clarify any questions about the previous emails we’ve sent. we recommend all of our assistants to use.
Let you know our payment schedule.

Show you how to review and approve your invoices, and


prepare your reports and time tracking PDFs for payment.

Review the Changes & Approvals form and all its options.

Cover emergency procedures.


* This meeting will only happen once, with your first client. If you get hired
by more clients, this meeting is optional.

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Customer Support
For most items related to your work or client (except related to
Continuous
payment/billing), contact your assigned Success Agent. If you
SUPPORT are not sure who your CSA is, please contact the Success Team
to guide you: success@virtuallatinos.com
We believe that building trust, having
great communication, and acting Work Hours & Billing
professionally are three important keys For anything related to billing (extra hours, bonuses, etc.):
to a successful, long-term Client-VA
First, please fill out the VL Portal Changes and Approvals Form
relationship. Our success team will always
requesting any changes that have been approved by your client.
be here to continuously provide you and
the client support and tools to achieve this. If any further assistance is needed, contact our accounting team
at payments@virtuallatinos.com with CC to your CSA.
CONTACTING OUR TEAM
Applying to Job Positions
To make sure you reach the right person
For job posts and application information, please get in touch
from our team, here’s a quick list of who
with the assigned agent. You can find this information in the
you should get in touch with depending
respective job post.
on what you need.

Need anything else?


Please email our admin assistant at admin@virtuallatinos.com

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SUGGESTED TOOLS
Ongoing
WORK Communication
Quick communication: Most VAs communicate with our clients through

After the two onboarding Telegram, Slack, or WhatsApp. Others use similar tools. Please ask the

sessions with a member of our client which tools they’d prefer to use to communicate with you.

Success Team, all day-to-day Phone calls with your team: Usually via WhatsApp calls or Telegram calls.
communication will be directly
Phone calls with your client’s clients (if needed): Our clients recommend
between you and the client. This
and use RingCentral, 8×8, Nextiva, Phone.com, or Vonage.
includes everything related to
Meetings: We suggest you use Zoom, Google Hangouts, or Skype.
training, tasks assignment,
questions, meetings, setting up
Project Management
goals, etc.
We encourage you and the client to use a project management (PM) system to
keep track of all the tasks your client will assign to you.
If you have any type of trouble,
our dedicated Success Team is Not all clients have an existing system, so we recommend that they use
always ready to help you out. Infinity, Teamwork, Asana or Trello.
You can contact your assigned If they already use a PM system, they will invite you to join their existing
Customer Success Agent or you platform. If they’ve never used one, you may be able to help by making a
can also reach out to our list of all the tasks, to-dos, deadlines, etc. that you have been assigned. You
Success email at can even learn and teach your client and the team how to use a PM system.
success@virtuallatinos.com
In some cases, a PM system is only used by the VA and not the Client and
that’s fine too.

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REGULAR CHECK-INS
With Customer Success Agents
Time Tracking
Our Agency requires that all VAs track their work hours Good communication is a key factor to success, that is
for at least the first 3 months using one of the tools we why we like to keep track of your progress by doing
recommend. After 3 months of work, the VA may send regular check-ins to see how everything is going with
a written email request to our VL team and our client your client and if there is room for improvement.
to stop tracking their time. Yet, this can only be Check In: Your assigned Customer Success Agent
approved by the client. If they disapprove, the VA will will reach out to you to see how your onboarding,
have to track time for as long as the client requests it. training and work relationships are going so far.
Time tracking tools we recommend: Clockify, After 3 weeks of working with your new client
Toggl, TimeDoctor, HubStaff, WorkPuls (most of our
Feedback Email: Your assigned Customer Success
VAs use Clockify or Toggl’s free version.)
Agent will reach out to you to see how your
If your client already has a selected tracking tool, experience has been so far and if there is anything
use it instead of the ones we recommend. We just they can help you with.
need to make sure you can export the time-tracking
After 1 month of working with your client
reports, so you can submit them to us in order to
get paid. Check-in Email: Your assigned Customer Success

If your client doesn't tell you which system they prefer, Agent will reach out to see how things are going

please communicate with them and ask them if they and if you need help with anything in particular.

have a preference, otherwise you may use whichever After 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, and a year
one you prefer.

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PAYMENT & BILLING
Payoneer
The payment processing company used for payments will depend
Most flexible for payments to most
on your country of residence. Some billing platforms, such as
countries around the world, chosen by
Payoneer, take a few days to verify new users. We suggest you set
the biggest VA/freelance platforms.
up your payment method as soon as possible in order to get
paid on time. These are the platforms we use to pay all VAs. Countries that apply: Bolivia,
Colombia, Chile, Dominican
Veem.com - A platform with flexibility and payment options,
Republic, Ecuador, Peru, El Salvador,
digital wallet or bank deposits.
Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua,
Available for the following countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa
Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Peru, Spain, and Uruguay. Panama, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

Paypal - Easiest to receive money, but the highest fees. Any VA that If you’re from a country not listed
resides in a country where PayPal can be used to receive money can above and would like to use
choose and request to get paid via PayPal. Payoneer, we’d be happy to make it
happen as well. Please inform our
Uphold - This is an online cryptocurrency and currency exchange
accounting department by email at
platform, which may have very HIGH risks if you choose to use it. We
payments@virtuallatinos.com
highly recommend you learn everything there is to know about Uphold
prior to choosing to use it as your payment method. For Payoneer fees see this link.

NOTE: Choosing to use Uphold.com will delay your payment by about 7 days. We'll
Don’t create a Payoneer account
transfer funds to our Uphold account on pay day, but it takes 5-7 business days for the
online, our Finance Team will send
money to transfer to Uphold before we can pay you. Getting paid via Uphold and/or
making a withdrawal may not be available in every country. you an email invitation asking you to
VAs are fully responsible for learning how to use Uphold.com to receive their join Payoneer.
money and/or transfer it to their bank accounts locally (if possible). Check
Uphold.com for details.
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Setting Up your Payment Method

Fill the payments form.


Fill in the payment form you’ll receive by email once you’re
Requesting your Payoneer Debit Card.
hired to let us know your chosen payment platform.
(Optional)
http://bit.ly/VLpaymentinfo
Note: If you chose Payoneer as your payment method please keep reading. The Payoneer MasterCard is free of charge.
If you chose any other billing method, you have successfully set up your It takes between 3-6 weeks to arrive via
payment method.
normal post/mail.

Setting Up your Payoneer Account To be able to request your card you need to
Important: If you chose Payoneer as your payment method and don’t have have a balance of $100 USD on your
an account, DO NOT create one in advance. Please wait until we send you
an invitation to avoid the 1% sending fee Payoneer charges. Payoneer account.

If you would like the card to arrive faster, you


New Payoneer accounts.
can also request it with express shipping
After you have fill out the payment form, our finance team will
(you will see this option when ordering the
send you a Payoneer invitation.
card). Payoneer charges $40 USD to send it
Once we send you the invite, you'll receive an email directly via FedEx/UPS and it takes about a week or
from Payoneer to set up your account. You will also receive a less to arrive depending on the location.
message via Telegram from Michelle with a breakdown of the
NOTE: If you reside in Venezuela, the only
steps you need to take to complete your account.
way for you to withdraw money from your
Already have a Payoneer account? Payoneer account with a debit card. There
If you already have a Payoneer account, please follow the isn’t an option for you to transfer money to a
same steps, and our Finance team will validate your account. bank in Venezuela.

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1. Passport Copy
If you have a valid passport that’s not expired, please use
this. If you have a passport but it’s expired, please submit
this even if it expired, but also send us your official
non-expired ID. If you don’t have a passport, please
Submit
provide a valid national ID.

PASSPORT COPY 2. Complete US Tax Form W-8 BEN

& TAX FORMS This form is for individuals that are not US
citizens/residents, living outside the US, that pay taxes in
As we continue to grow our community, we their own countries. If you’re a US citizen, you must
are required by US law to request and complete the form W-9, even if you’re currently living
maintain certain documents to protect you outside the US.
and our company.
IMPORTANT NOTES:
As a virtual assistant working for Virtual Latinos We do NOT withhold or keep any portion of your
as an independent contractor, we need to payments for tax purposes, as you're responsible for
request from you the following documents. paying any necessary taxes to your local authority.

A copy of the documents you provide us will be kept by


our company in order to legally identify you and comply
with US tax laws when hiring foreign contractors.

Deadline to provide these documents: Within 30 days


of signing the Virtual Latinos work agreement.

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Work reports
GET PAID Step 1 - Create a two page client work report every 2 weeks (1 per
To get paid, you’ll have to send bi-weekly work week). Make a copy of the sample work report and use it as a template.
reports, time tracking documents, and review Step 2 - Export your work report as a PDF with the following name:
and approve your invoice at the Virtual Latinos YYYY-MM-DD-yourname-clientname-report.pdf
Portal (VLP). The date should be the second Sunday of the 2-week period. (Year-Month-Day)

We pay all VAs every 2 weeks from Monday Time Tracking Reports
to Wednesday (our pre-established Step 1 - Track your time ALWAYS, every time you work.
schedule). Contact your CSA to learn when Step 2 - Export your time tracking reports as PDF. Name your report:
the next payment period is. YYYY-MM-DD-yourname-clientname-time-tracking.pdf
The date should be the second Sunday of the 2-week period. (Year-Month-Day)
Reports are due by the end of every 2-week
Note. You should not work more hours than what you’re being hired for. Break or
payment period on Sundays by midnight
lunchtime does not count as worked hours.
Pacific Time.

You can start sending your reports on Friday Invoices


at 12pm PST, prior to Monday when Step 1 - Log in yo your VL Portal account.
payments are sent. Step 2 - Review your auto-generated invoice and make sure it
accurately reflects your past 2 weeks of work.
IMPORTANT NOTE: You should never discuss Disclaimer: If something needs to be updated, please make a claim between

payment terms, payment rates, or any other Wednesday and Friday at 12pm PST, during the 2nd week of the pay period, so

payment-related issues directly with our clients. our finance team can update it accordingly.

You must always contact us first. Step 3 - Approve your invoice between Friday at 12:00pm and Sunday
at midnight PST.

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IMPORTANT NOTICE: If you send your work report & If such an event occurs (2nd error), prior to the following
invoices either: pay period, please contact our Finance team since they'll

a) Late (past midnight on Sundays Pacific Time), advise you on how to proceed. This invoice will reflect:

b) Wrong or with errors, and/or 1) The original 2 weeks NOT paid


c) Do NOT send the report/invoices at all, 2) The last 2 weeks worked

You will be given the first and only notice of such problem Note: The accounting team has a list of all the VAs who make
and will still be paid during the current payment period. any of these 3 errors (a, b or c) and keep track of this to
ensure there is a record of such issues.
During this scenario, please contact our Finance team as
soon as possible so they can guide you with the next steps
concerning the invoice and reports that present a mistake.

The next time (2nd error) any of these 3 errors (a, b or c)


occur, you will NOT be paid during the current payment
period and will be required to wait until the NEXT payment
period (2 weeks) in order to get paid.

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Minimum Hours Per Week
Once you start working with the client, you’re allowed

Changes to to request a change in the number of hours you work,


as long as it’s always a minimum of 20 hours/week.
Work Hours
AND MORE
TYPES OF CHANGES YOU MAY REQUEST
If you’d like to request any changes to your work The following changes may be requested anytime after
hours, you can do so at almost any time, as long the first week of work is completed, except if it’s not
as you always meet your agreement’s terms and permitted by your agreement’s initial hiring requirements.
our minimums in order to keep working with our Request a change to base (regular) hours/week worked.
client. The client will have to approve this This refers to increasing or decreasing the base (regular)
request, make sure your client is on board with hours you work/week.
the change before submitting the form.
Example: Increasing your work hours from 20/week to
30/week. You will then be working and billing this new
base (regular) every week thereafter, starting on the
next available Monday.

Request a change to your VA work schedule.


This is normally determined directly between you and the
client, and our team simply needs to be informed by
email. Billing is not affected in any way.

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Request additional (extra) work hours.
We’ve created the “Bank of Hours” (BOH) packages to support
our clients who need their VAs to work additional hours outside their Step 4 - Complete all BOH.
weekly base hours. Clients are able to purchase pre-approved Once you, the VA, has worked all the
combos (10, 20 or 40 hour packages) for VAs to use upfront. hours in their BOH, the client can
choose to buy another one.
Steps for VAs to work BOH (additional) Hours

Step 1 - The Client must first complete the Changes & Approvals Step 5 - Once you have completed and
Form to purchase a BOH package of 10, 20, or 40 hours. reported the BOH, it will be automatically
added to your following biweekly invoice
The 10-hour BOH is only available for VAs who work full time
for the total amount of hours the BOH
(31+hours/week.)
package was for and the price per hour
Step 2 - Once a client has approved and prepaid for a BOH, (hourly rate).
you will be informed through the VL Portal and will be able to
For further details, review this article:
start working additional hours on top of your base hours.
Billing, additional hours and bonuses
BOH are valid for up to 6 months from their approved date.

Step 3 - Any week you work additional hours from your Want to make a change?
approved BOH, you’ll be required to submit the hours worked Talk with your client first, then fill out this
using the VL Portal Changes & Approvals Form. form, and we’ll take care of the rest.
You can see the Changes & Approvals request and its details,
including details about your BOH, in the Changes & Changes & Approvals
Approvals Form section of the VL Portal.

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BONUSES & COMMISSIONS
Depending on the type of job your are doing, your client can offer you
bonuses or commissions. Bonuses and commissions are always optional and
never required. Our company will not keep any part of that bonus or
commission, 100% of it will be passed directly to you.

VL SCHEDULE TO PROCESS BONUSES & COMMISSIONS

Frequency & Schedule


Bonuses & commissions will be processed approximately once per month, up to
13 times per year, every 4 weeks. The deadline for all bonuses will always be on
a Wednesday, 4 calendar days prior to the end of the VA’s pay period (Sunday).

Bonus or Commission Amount


This is almost always determined by the client, generally based on the VA’s
work performance, success or goals reached.

Note: We can only process bonuses of $50 USD or more without any
additional processing and transaction fees.

Payments Delivery to the VA


To receive a bonus or commission that has been previously mentioned by our
client, please select the “Request Approval for a Bonus or Commission”
option inside the Changes & Approvals Form.

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IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS

Sick Leave (Unplanned).


Unexpected Sick Days: This is defined as a day a VA may get sick and is

VAs Sick Days, Time-Off or unable to work, usually up to 4 business days. If this occurs, you won’t be

VACATIONS
able to perform your work, and our company will not be able to find a
short-term VA to replace or fill-in while you’re sick.

Any type of VA’s time-off – including sick Extended Sick Leave: When a VA is sick 5 or more days, with an
days, holidays, time-off or vacations – is unknown date of return. If this occurs, after two weeks your client can
NON-PAID by default. decide between cancelling your services or waiting for you to get better
and come back to work.
If you want to request paid time off, you are
welcome to do so. This option is rare among Time-Off (Planned).
our clients and not expected, but we do Short Time-Off: Local US or Latin American holidays, personal time off,
have several clients that offer either paid etc. (1-4 business days off)
holidays, paid sick days, and/or vacation.
Vacation: 1 to 3 consecutive weeks off (5-15 business days off)
You’re always required to discuss any
HOW IS YOUR BILLING AFFECTED
potential plans for vacations and time-off
Short Time-Off: When you miss 1 to 4 days of work, in most cases you
with your client beforehand. The client must
will “make-up” the missed work hours either before or after you take
then approve this request in writing, for our
time-off, in order to avoid a partial payment. In this case, there will be no
company to review and give the final
changes to your client’s regular billing or your regular payment.
approval for you to take time off.
Extended Time-Off: If the you miss 5 days (1 business week) of
work or more, our company will generally pause your payment
for 1 or more weeks, and will also pause/skip billing your
client accordingly on a week-per-week basis.
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RESIGNING
Steps To Request Time-Off
or Paid Vacations from a Virtual Assistant Job
To do so, please follow these steps: When you resign from your job, it's important to do so as
1 | Talk with your Client. gracefully and professionally as possible. Here are the steps you
Discuss with your client the specifics of the should follow if you no longer want to work for one of our clients.
time-off you’re requesting. Step 1 - Notify your CSA about the decision you have made
and the reason behind it.
2 | Get your Clients approval.
Get a verbal or writtenapproval of what Step 2 - Your CSA will tell you the steps to follow.
they’re willing to offer and/or approve.
Note: If you decide to resign, you must give us (Virtual Latinos) a
3 | Complete the form to request time off:
30-day notice as per the agreement you signed with us.
VL Portal Changes & Approvals Form.
This is our official form to request time off. You may not apply to any other job within our community before
notifying your CSA and client about your decision to resign from
4 | Wait for Client Approval.
your current position.
Once you fill out the form, your client will
receive the request in the VL Portal asking
them to confirm and approve the details of
the request through the platform.

5 | Take time off.


Once the client approves, we’ll send you the
official approval to take time off.

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Tips on how to 3 | Accept and Request Feedback.
It is always important to get constructive feedback on how you’re assisting the
Improve Your Relationship client and performing your assigned task; the difference it can make in your

With Your Virtual Client performance is massive. Accept both good and bad feedback. Don’t take bad
feedback personally, it’s meant to help you improve and let you know if you are

Here are six simple tips for instantly improving your doing things right or not. With this in practice, you will see improved results and
your work relationship will become stronger.
connection with your client.

1 | Communicate Clearly. 4 | Confirm Receipt.

Keep in mind that having established channels of When a client sends you an email or message, always confirm you have received

communication is essential for your work relationship to it even if it doesn't require an answer from you. Don’t leave them wondering

succeed. Ask your client for communication and project about their request, if you received the invitation or attached files, or read what

management channels, or suggest some if they don't have they had to say. Simple answers like “Received”, “Thank You, I’m on it” or “I will

any. Ask them how often they expect you to check in or review as soon as possible” will keep your client happy and calm.

give updates. Try to limit communication to normal


5 | Check In Regularly.
business hours, both you and the client deserve a private
life which should be mutually respected. Clients are usually busy with work. Check in regularly to see if there's anything
else you can help them with and give them status updates regarding the things
2 | Ask for Clarification. you are working on so they don’t have to worry or wonder how you are doing.

Ask as many questions as necessary regarding tasks you’ve


6 | Be Brief but Detailed.
been assigned. Make sure you understand the task fully
before starting it so you don’t waste your time and your Clients are usually busy but need to be informed about your process. When
client’s money. sending emails or messages don’t make them too long, they don’t need to read
every single detail of what you are doing. Include just the relevant information.
Keep messages and emails brief, with just the right amount of details that
support your idea.

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REFERRAL PROGRAM HOW TO MAKE A REFERRAL
Make money by promoting Virtual Latinos! Fill out the Virtual Assistant Referral Form

If you love working with Virtual Latinos and want to spread the Tell your friend to check his/her email! We’ll send
word and help other talented professionals like yourself find them an email invitation with a link to the page where
their dream job with us, we got great news for you! they can apply to Virtual Latinos.

At Virtual Latinos you can earn commissions for every friend NOTE: Your referral must apply through this link for
you refer that gets hired with our VA referral program! your referral to count.

Once your friend is accepted into our community and


If you recommend Virtual Latinos to someone you know and
gets hired, take note of the date when your friend was
they get hired, you will get $50 USD (for EACH person you
hired and set a reminder for yourself to get in touch
recommend that gets hired)!
with the VL team in 30 days.

Once 30 days have passed, send an email to


admin@virtuallatinos.com letting us know that your
friend was hired by the VL Agency and has completed
30 days of work.

Our team will check the referral and let you know if it’s
valid via email.

Once your referral is approved by Virtual Latinos,


congratulations, you’ve earned a commission! You can
add the referral bonus on your next invoice as a new
row: “Referral Bonus for {Insert Friend’s name here} -
{insert amount}”.
Virtual Assistant Referral Form

Click here to refer a friend!


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FEEDBACK?
CONCLUSION We’d love to hear from you!

Being a virtual professional can be a great To keep improving, we’d love to hear your thoughts
career path for many. From working from the about our recruitment and hiring process and your
comfort of your house, home office, coworking experience as a virtual professional at Virtual Latinos.
spot or favorite cafe to getting paid more and in Your success, in your job and in life in general, is very
US dollars to do the work you love to do, being important to us at Virtual Latinos! Our clients and our
a virtual professional brings many benefits to the VAs become our family and we care a lot about each
table. Work remotely and grow with a company and every one!
from the US, Canada or anywhere else in the
world by doing what you do best! Want to leave us a review?
Thank you! You can leave us a review here.
Like any relationship, it takes open
communication, clear expectations and patience Reviews
to have a successful work relationship. Make the
most out of your time with your new client, be
organized and ask them as many questions as Or you can always contact our team for feedback,
you need. Remember, continuous questions or anything that comes to mind by reaching
communication, acting professionally and out to your CSA, through email or Telegram, or at
building trust and respect, are important keys to success@virtuallatinos.com.
a successful, long-term Client-VA relationship!
We're here to help you!

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THANK YOU!
Virtual Latinos Team
www.virtuallatinos.com • info@virtuallatinos.com
+1 (619) 558-1118 • San Diego, California, USA

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