Virtual Assistants Servicing Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs Find Online Camaraderie through Team Double-ClickSM Coffee Chats

Ouray, CO -- (ReleaseWire) -- 07/09/2007 -- Despite a four hundred percent business growth Team Double-ClickSM has achieved within the past year as a first-class international virtual staffing agency, corporate officials were baffled by a larger than normal turnover rate; particularly among newer virtual assistants who were stay-at-home moms. Highly qualified virtual assistants, who seemingly enjoyed the benefits of working from home would simply quit working; unexpectedly, and did so revealing few clues, if any, as to the reasons why.

Branded for its rigorous 16-step interview process, skills assessment tests and evaluations, Team Double-ClickSM only accepts three out of ten applicants into the company's 19,000+ virtual assistant pool. Applicants who were once employed in a traditional work place setting as sales executives, administrators, computer programmers, et al, are matched by skillful virtual personnel staff with small business owners and entrepreneurs who require assistance to cultivate their businesses.

With so much attention paid to virtual assistant selection, why then, would such a carefully crafted opportunity for a new virtual assistant able to meet her at-home familial needs suddenly relinquish an ideal work-at-home business arrangement?

Janice Clark, Virtual Services Manager for Team Double-ClickSM and her core staff analyzed the disparity and sought an ingenious solution to a problem that began to chip away at staff morale and company profits. Clark said, "When a virtual assistant quits unexpectedly, the effect is far-reaching. Team Double-ClickSM loses all of the time and money invested in that assistant and cannot recoup the initial marketing costs devoted to nurturing a client and the associate. The virtual assistant loses because she feels as if she has failed and the client suffers because they feel betrayed having lost a good assistant. When a virtual assistant quits, everyone has to reinvest in the training, time and money for a new assignment so the whole process becomes quite costly all around."

Through interviews with current virtual assistants, Clark reported that the number one reason for the low retention numbers among newer virtual assistants; particularly those caring for small children at home were the eroding effects related to job isolation.

To combat the antisocial costs affecting new virtual assistants, Janice Clark and her staff reshaped the common conference call into a revolutionary social program for new virtual assistants. Entitled, 'Team Double-Click's Virtual Assistant Coffee Chats', assistants call into a conference line once a week and join their peers in an 'anything goes' chat room.

Clark explained that veteran virtual assistants mentor the chats but they do not make any topic suggestions for the discussions. The random chat subjects are completely participant-driven. Chat topics range from 'what is on the menu for dinner that evening'; to the latest newstory to an exchange of ideas about how to better time manage their own busy workdays.

The positive results of the weekly chats have been immediate. Morale has improved immensely, stress-levels reduced and the attrition rate has dropped. Clark says, "Often virtual assistants, who participate in the coffee chats are shocked to find that other people share the same problems they have. Contributors lean on each other, learn from each other and enjoy the camaraderie normally associated with the friendships that occur in a traditional work environment."

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Leading Virtual Staffing Agency Responds to Small Business Owner’s Burning Question through Use of Online Self-Administered Quiz

Lodi, WI -- (ReleaseWire) -- 06/28/2007 -- International virtual staffing agency, Team Double-ClickSM frequently replies to beleaguered prospective clients who ask, "Do I Need a Virtual Assistant?" Gayle and Jim Buske, founders, CEO and CFO, respectively, offer a remarkably straightforward means to answer this critical question.

Team Double-Click's recent unveiling of the company's easy-to-navigate website offers a self-administered quiz entitled, "Fast Quiz: Do I need a virtual assistant?" Within five minutes, future clients can determine whether internet-based professionals, who provide virtual administrative, marketing and sales support, can indeed contribute to an entrepreneur's emerging or existing business plan.

Answering a series of nine thought-provoking questions; one for example, "How often do you work additional hours in the evenings or on weekends just to stay on top of administrative tasks?" business owners select one multiple choice answer; each assigned an individual point value. Upon completion of all nine questions the allotted points are tallied to determine if a virtual assistant can or cannot be a useful team member to assist in the growth of a future client's particular business. If determined that a virtual assistant is needed, the quiz further clarifies a recommended number of hours an assistant can be contracted to relieve a business owner of any routine responsibilities, project work and/or on-going; albeit important, time-consuming tasks.

Another challenging quiz question presented on the website is, "Do your phones go unanswered because you are often out of the office or busy on another line?" This particular question frequently leaves the small business owner wondering how much revenue is truly lost when potentially important telephone calls remain unanswered.

Additionally, Team Double-Click's all-inclusive website offers a myriad of other customized virtual office assistant solutions for the entrepreneur. Targeting small business owners, real estate brokers, investors, and agents, visitors to the site can view a task list that a contracted virtual assistant can accomplish in their specified industry.

In a 2006 interview with Kendra Todd, winner of NBC's "The Apprentice Season 3", hosted by Gayle Buske, Todd was asked to explain how she eventually determined that Team Double-ClickSM virtual assistants would add value to her rising real estate empire. Todd explained that as her business grew, a business partner eventually approached her and said, "Kendra, you can't do it all, and you need a virtual assistant". Todd added, "I have a very large database with lots of people – a couple thousand people in my database. It is important for any successful business owner to keep in touch with their clients, and email and ezines are a wonderful way to do that." Todd continued, "It's hard to pick up a phone and call several thousand people and say, 'Hello, how are you doing?' but there are some wonderful virtual ways in which to have an intimate relationship with your customers, and so that was one of the reasons why I really needed to get a virtual assistant."

Todd has built her real estate team based on the premise that she, "…just want[s] the best people at what they do, regardless of where they are [virtually]." Business owners and entrepreneurs can now determine within a few minutes if a virtual assistant can be a viable addition to a client's organization and, if so, through the use of Team Double-Click's virtual staffing solutions website customized tools are available to effortlessly assemble a dynamic virtual team.

About Team Double-ClickSM

Launched in 2000, Team Double-ClickSM is the country's foremost virtual staffing agency. Maximizing the experience of founder Gayle Buske, a staffing expert and with over 20 years of business experience, the company offers small businesses an economical, but productive alternative to on-site staffing. For more information about Team Double-ClickSM, visit www.teamdoubleclick.com.

Contacts:
Janine Gregor
Team Double-ClickSM
(888) 827-9129 ext. 801
press@teamdoubleclick.com
http://www.teamdoubleclick.com

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