The Secret Benefit of Hiring an Assistant

You already know that having an assistant is amazing for your business. You even know that you need an assistant in order to scale and grow your business. But there’s actually another hidden benefit to having an assistant I’m guessing you don’t know – and I’m here to share that secret with you today!

I’ve talked before about how to hire a great assistant, but today I want to let you in on another reason why you need to.

Here’s how I discovered the secret for myself…

Some surprising feedback

In addition to my 1-on-1 coaching, I teach a couple of businesses courses in group settings. When I get testimonials from happy clients who’ve participated in the group course, they often refer to one surprising thing they got from the group program.

In one of these programs, I teach clients how to make money with e-books, how to make money passively online, how to create sales funnels, etc. But in the feedback I get from the course, do you know what people love most?

It’s not the practical, profit-boosting content. It’s not even the confidence or skills clients gain along the way.

It’s the accountability.

Your business and the buddy system

In courses, I like to create accountability two ways. In some course sessions we set people up in pairs to be accountability partners – sort of a business-themed match-dot-com, if you will! – so people have a buddy to help get them through the course.

Other times, I’ll schedule calls 1-on-1 with course participants. Knowing that they’re going to see me at the next call gives people a bit of a kick in the pants to start moving toward their goals. They realize, “I better hustle and do those things I said I’d do by next week – because Sylvie’s going to ask me about them for sure!”

This is a huge reason why people hire coaches: not just for the advice and mentoring, but also for the accountability. When you’re trying to get somewhere in your business, it’s incredibly motivating to know that someone will be checking in to make sure you’re making progress!

I’m not saying you should ditch your coach and every course you’re ever taken and just hire an assistant instead. But I am saying that if you build this kind of accountability into your work with your team, you’re going to see incredible results – both in your productivity and your team’s.

So, what does this look like for me?

The power of the check-in

We’re on a path to grow one of my businesses right now, so we have a number of different projects going on. What we’ve started instituting, since we’re a 100% virtual team, is a weekly meeting. Every Wednesday, I get on a Skype call with my main assistant, and we spend about an hour talking through a list of different projects that we have going on.

Having a weekly check-in meeting builds in a due date for both me and my assistant. We know we’re getting on a call every Wednesday, and that certain things need to be done by then. So whether that’s a decision I need to have made, or a small project she needs to have finished, we both have accountability instantly built into our schedule.

All I’m saying is this: If having accountability is working for you in the coaching or group course side of your business, why not use that tool in this other side as well?

There you have it: the secret benefit of hiring an assistant. I’d love to hear from you in the comments: Do you have weekly meetings with your team? Are you able to fit them in? Or do you have an alternative, like a weekly email check in to see what’s working and what’s not?