Super Equity

Yeah. If you just wanna jump on in and give us a bit of background on your business and where you started.

Okay. So I've been in the stock broking industry for the last twenty years, and I opened my firm about ten years ago. I'm the managing director of Super Equity, and we predominantly invest our clients' superannuation money.

Fabulous. And what led you to or what, how did you hear about VA Platinum and what led you to inquire?

So I had - I've been part of a business coaching group and they had been talking about getting virtual assistants for years but I had been very nervous to go down that track especially being in stock broking and financial services and privacy of information. But I was at an event one day and one of the gentlemen was an accountant and he had a whole team of accountants working overseas and I thought well he obviously has much private information as I do so if he can be doing this so should I be. So I started chat - I guess, bringing around contacts, some of the broking platforms I use, and then I contacted Advisor Logic because I used their CRM and just asked if they knew of anyone, and they recommended VA Platinum. And so I thought, well, they're a very big organisation. They would not be recommending your services if they didn't think you were fantastic. So I called you and here I am.

Here we are. Okay. Fabulous. And, what challenges did you find in your business that you felt needed potentially a virtual assistant for?

Okay. So I was really stuck struggling with getting staff in general, and I was struggling with getting quality staff where I wasn't having to micromanage everything that they were doing. So - and I guess the cost of staff had increased significantly over the COVID period, and it was really a situation of needing help and not being able to find the right people here in Australia or specifically on the Gold Coast where I am.

And, what factors influenced your decision on choosing our services? Did you, meet with other outsourcing services or we’re first one?

You were it. I, so after the recommendation, as I said, you would have to be a quality company for them to have recommended you in the first place. Then I had my first meeting with VA Platinum and I could - I really liked not only how professional you were and the services that you provided but how you also look after the staff members. I really like the fact that you are concerned about their living standards, and just the, I guess, the extra activities that you do with your staff, I think, is fantastic.

Can you please describe your experience working with our team? In particular, obviously, the, from the recruitment process to your ongoing support that you get as well.

Yep. So, obviously, my biggest issue was being very time-poor and, you know, just not having enough staff in general. So the fact that working with you right from the start was a very easy process and that you just took control of everything was fantastic for me because I didn't have the time to be researching anything. I liked that right from the get-go the process was explained to me and from there you lived up to everything you said you were going to do, you found staff members for me to interview and found them that were very specific for my role. So I did only end up interviewing one person because I thought her background would fit perfectly within my organisation. But right from the start, right through to her becoming, her working with me and then from there, just the ongoing, that it's not just, okay, here is your staff member and off you go, that there was a lot of resources available to help me ensure that this process would be successful and that because I'd never done it before. So I did love that you had that library of tools, and then I love that when she was on board and still is today, there's still meetings where we're all involved and I'm seeing how she is performing and what we can do to make it a great experience for her and work really successfully for me. It's been amazing. It's beyond above and beyond what I expected it would be.

Great. Yeah. So you think that having that success manager, based in the Philippines as that go to is really imperative to the, obviously, the longevity or out just the success, really?

Yes. Even though the person that's working for me is fantastic, I've never had an issue. She has been more than I would have ever expected to have in my business. I couldn't be happier. I love that there's someone else there. And it's even for small things, like it comes up to Christmas time and it's like I'd love to buy her a gift, but I don't even know where to start. And then there's someone that I can turn to and go, can you help me? So there's always someone else I can turn to and say, can you help me? Because once again, I'm not time-poor like I used to be, but I don't need to try and run around working out little things from back here when I can turn around to the success manager and say, can you help me? I love it

Right. Can you share any measurable outcomes that obviously, has led to the success of working with VA Platinum? Is there any specific examples?

Yeah. So I have gone from working ten hours a day in the office to, I would say, working seven hours a day. So I wanted my time back. That was a huge thing for me. I also wanted a situation where I didn't have to be sitting at my desk all the time or someone to answer calls that I felt confident in answering the phone, ensuring that people were getting help if they needed, and also, you know, would let them know that I could call them back. I've never felt confident with the staff that I've had in the past of being away, and I wondered if it was me micromanaging. It turns out it's not at all. I just didn't have the right team supporting me to feel confident to do that. So time is one. Money has been a big one because I haven't had to be checking what my staff are doing all the time. In the past, I was continuously checking what they're doing, fixing mistakes. My time was consumed with yeah - instead of doing new business fixing what I was paying this person to do. So now my staff member from VA Platinum works at twice the speed that I've ever seen anyone else work at. I don't have to check if she's done anything. She's always keeping me in touch with what's going on, which means I can write more business with my clients and look after them better. So making way more money and working way less would be happier.

Amazing. And what advice would you give to someone that is looking to hire a VA or considering it, or what would your advice be to them?

Okay. I would say because the biggest thing that crops up when I'm talking to people about using your firm is they are concerned about privacy. And so I would just recommend that people have a chat to you about all the things that you have in place, like, within the office environment of staff not being able to bring, you know, pen and paper to their desk and there being all the tools on the computers. Just things that the security that I just didn't even dream of that existed. So I would just say, have a chat to VA Platinum. Just see what security is in place, find out what is available that you offer, and the ongoing service.

And what are your future plans when it comes to VA platinum? Do you think there's trajectory for your team to grow because it gives you more opportunity to, you know, look after new clients or prospects?

Yeah. I think so. I think there's the opportunity. You know, it's been a long time of me being behind the eight ball, so I'm still in the process of making sure that everyone's being looked after properly. But once I get to that stage and I'm training my VA to help me with a lot of that process, so she's not just doing administrative tasks. She's starting to look at investments that we're looking at, and is that missing in someone's portfolio, that type of thing, and letting me know so that I can just quickly get on to ringing clients that once I'm on top of that, then definitely there'll be the scope to put on new clients again.

It's amazing. And, obviously, I know you already recommend VA Platinum to everybody. Yeah. So you don't really need to say anything. Well, have you got anything else you would like to add?

It's just been an amazing experience. Can't recommend you guys anymore. And if some of us looking to put on a system, I think that they should contact you. Thank you so much, Tracy. I'll stop recording.