Recently a client asked Net Secretary to undertake the compilation of a database. This entailed telephoning a number (100+) of government and hospitality contacts gleaned from the internet and asking for permission to place their HR manager on the mailing list to receive emailed information about a seminar the client is providing. For the most part, I would say 90% of respondents agreed to be placed on the list and were therefore emailed the information.

In effect, I believed this was cold calling and therefore fell under the auspices of telemarketing. After an exhausting few days fulfilling this request, I advised the client that we could no longer provide the service as VA’s are not sales people or telemarketers and we did not have expertise in this area. I felt strongly that we didn’t want to waste the clients time or money, given that none of my other VA contacts were willing to undertake this work in a subcontract capacity (the original subcontractor was called away on urgent family matters). They all pointed out that it was telemarketing and not within their scope of services.

I have no such issue with calling a client’s customer and confirming an appointment for the day or following up on outstanding work, unpaid invoice or whatever. However, I believe that Virtual Assistants should concentrate on what they do best and that is providing administration support. To me, asking a VA to undertake telemarketing is like asking an accountant to give legal advice. They may have some knowledge of the matter but they are by no means an expert and are likely to give misleading or just totally incorrect advice, therefore wasting the client’s time and money when it could be better spent on an expert in that field to give them results they want and deserve.

I would be interested to hear any other opinions or thoughts.

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