Everyone obsesses over SOPs for back-office tasks, but almost no one builds the one SOP that protects your brand and makes you money… A communication policy

This is an extremely important topic that has not received enough attention.

I completely understand the hesitation around having your virtual assistants communicate directly with your guests/tenants, owners, or vendors.

I hear the excuses all the time:

• “We like VAs, but don’t trust them with our guests.”
• “Our VAs don't speak our industry's language.”
• “I’m worried they’ll get things wrong.”
• “We can’t risk damaging our reputation.”

And rightfully so… Clear professional communication is not a “nice to have”… It is really serious.

Communication failures have enormous impacts on your business.

• Destroy your reputation (good luck recovering).
• Trigger angry guests and brutal negative reviews
• Frustrate your clients (Leading to their eventual departure…)
• Damage trust with key vendors (good luck finding reliable replacements).

So it is really serious to get this right.

I cannot reiterate this enough. Even with my internal virtual assistant team, I am always going back to the basics with them on communication.

Communication is the backbone of your entire operation.

One more note on this. In a crowded marketplace where everyone claims to get the job done faster or cheaper, exceptional customer service is your true differentiator. It’s the one factor that immediately sets you apart from competitors.

So, my point is simple: avoiding communication isn’t an option.

And you absolutely NEED your virtual assistants to communicate with vendors, guests, tenants, and owners. Period. If they're not, you're missing the entire point of outsourcing. You're paying for hands that can type, but you need minds that can interact and resolve. The idea that they "lack communication skills" is an excuse. A failure on your end to either hire the right people or set the standards and provide the training.