Valuetainment - Episode 311 - 10 Rules Of Hiring The Best Assistant

00:00:00.000 30 seconds, one time for the underdog, ignition sequence start, let me see you put em up, reach

00:00:09.260 the sky, touch the stars up above, cause it's one time for the underdog, one time for the

00:00:16.260 underdog.

00:00:17.340 I'm Patrick Bredevi, your host of ITIM, and today we're going to talk about the 10 rules

00:00:20.540 of hiring the best assistant for you.

00:00:23.140 There are four types of assistants you hire depending on the phase of your business you're

00:00:27.840 currently in, meaning if you're a startup and you're just getting started, you just need

00:00:32.760 somebody to be a runner for you.

00:00:34.360 Hey, can you go get that thing for me?

00:00:36.120 Hey, can you send this email for me?

00:00:37.860 Hey, can you go drop my car off for me?

00:00:39.600 Can you pick up my clothes?

00:00:40.960 It's a runner.

00:00:41.780 It's somebody that's just freeing up your time so you can do what you want to do.

00:00:45.860 Can you tell them I'll be late five minutes?

00:00:47.800 Can you tell them I'm going to call them in a few minutes?

00:00:49.560 Can you set up this conference call?

00:00:50.840 Very basic.

00:00:52.060 Lowest level is runner.

00:00:53.660 The lower the level, the lower you pay them.

00:00:55.400 Next, admin.

00:00:56.280 Somebody who's admin, meaning you teach them how to do the paperwork.

00:00:59.840 You're a lawyer, you're going to learn some basic stuff they need to fill out.

00:01:02.800 You're a financial person, some real estate, digital marketing, whatever you're doing.

00:01:07.080 Somebody that's admin is above a runner.

00:01:09.840 Obviously, to an admin, you're not going to tell them, go run this for me, go run that

00:01:12.920 for me.

00:01:13.720 Admin's going to be a little bit more clear.

00:01:15.700 They know how to write.

00:01:16.600 They're clear about writing emails.

00:01:17.980 They know how to do Excel.

00:01:19.420 They know how to run certain reports.

00:01:21.040 They know a little bit more about Outlook, those types of things than a regular runner would do.

00:01:25.800 Again, admin is going to cost you more than a runner.

00:01:28.800 Then you have an executive assistant.

00:01:30.900 An executive assistant is, in their own world, an executive, right?

00:01:35.820 In their own world.

00:01:36.960 They are doing more than the usual.

00:01:39.240 They are negotiating on your behalf.

00:01:41.840 They are calling people and filtering them out.

00:01:44.420 They know your wiring.

00:01:45.700 They know what you like.

00:01:46.660 They know what you don't like.

00:01:47.680 They know your time.

00:01:48.500 They know what relationships you're not going to be doing anything with because they have

00:01:52.300 a filter for it, right?

00:01:53.880 That is your executive assistant.

00:01:55.460 They are higher to pay.

00:01:57.800 And then last but not least is your chief of staff.

00:01:59.920 You may have a chief of staff that has three assistants reporting to the chief of staff,

00:02:05.120 and your chief of staff has a runner, an admin, and an executive assistant, and that's

00:02:10.520 your chief of staff.

00:02:11.680 So you may have all four, but your chief of staff is telling what the executive assistant

00:02:15.980 to do, telling what the admin to do, telling what the runner to do, because they are very

00:02:21.460 busy.

00:02:21.960 Now, at this point, with chief of staff, they are handling your money.

00:02:24.920 They are handling more things.

00:02:26.640 They are doing above and beyond negotiation deals.

00:02:29.540 Maybe if the executive assistant has a spending budget of a certain amount, the chief of staff

00:02:34.760 is going to be higher.

00:02:36.140 The chief of staff has the authority to make certain decisions that are a higher pay grade

00:02:41.120 than somebody like an executive assistant.

00:02:42.880 So again, having said that, this isn't just, hey, how do I get my own assistant?

00:02:47.900 I don't know how big your business is.

00:02:49.500 I don't know how many employees you have.

00:02:50.760 I don't know how many salespeople you have.

00:02:52.300 I don't know how big your board is.

00:02:53.740 I don't know how much revenues you're doing.

00:02:55.180 If you're doing $100 million, you can't just get a runner.

00:02:57.740 If you're doing half a million dollars, you can't go get a chief of staff.

00:03:01.100 So you have to know exactly what phase you're at before you hire your assistant.

00:03:05.320 So hopefully this gives you a different lens, knowing what you need today and projecting

00:03:10.700 what you may need next.

00:03:12.300 So you have to start envisioning, I would love to one day have my own chief of staff.

00:03:15.900 Great.

00:03:16.280 But no, it's going to be a lot more money as well.

00:03:18.220 So that leads me 10 things to know.

00:03:19.620 Number one, hire the pay, hire the value, hire the experience.

00:03:23.700 Very clear.

00:03:24.680 So you got to get clear on who you're looking for and the criteria you put up there.

00:03:29.900 You can't say, I want a chief of staff where you want to pay him 15 bucks an hour.

00:03:33.260 It just doesn't go that way, right?

00:03:34.960 You can't say you want an executive assistant.

00:03:36.940 You want to pay him 20 bucks an hour.

00:03:38.100 It doesn't go that way.

00:03:39.360 If you're getting somebody that more value, more experience, you're going to have to pay

00:03:43.480 more money.

00:03:43.960 So you have to ask yourself, what can I afford today?

00:03:46.800 What do we need today?

00:03:48.440 Is this really the best investment for us to make today?

00:03:51.080 If it is, then you're clear with exactly what you're looking for.

00:03:54.440 Number two, secretary to me, when I hire somebody, every one of these in a way is in the category

00:04:00.720 of a secretary.

00:04:01.480 Now, obviously, some people don't like to be called secretary because it's old, but

00:04:05.620 the thing I like about the word secretary is the first five or six letters, secret.

00:04:11.740 Your job as a runner, admin, executive assistant, or chief of staff, I would have my executive

00:04:17.740 assistant or admin watch this video to know what the expectation is.

00:04:21.700 The job of any one of these is you're going to be in meetings where you're going to see

00:04:26.220 stuff, hear stuff, the next project, the next investment, the next strategy, the next person,

00:04:31.120 the next enemy, the next whatever it is that you're working, you will be part of secret

00:04:35.300 conversations that nobody else will be.

00:04:37.480 So you need to be able to keep secrets.

00:04:39.080 This is why I put this big thing here, loose lips.

00:04:41.420 If there's anything, if there is a single glimpse I get of loose lips, fired.

00:04:47.320 A single glimpse of loose lips I get in this area, you're fired.

00:04:51.340 Because you are going to know my health, if I have doctor's appointments, if I have financial,

00:04:56.480 if I have, hey, I'm going to go see the doctor for what?

00:04:58.660 I'm going to go see the doctor for such and such.

00:05:00.160 That's nobody's business.

00:05:01.060 That's you and I.

00:05:01.800 I am opening up my life to you if you become someone's assistant or executive assistant.

00:05:06.640 So secretary equals secrets.

00:05:08.420 Number three, not scared of you.

00:05:10.020 When you're hiring somebody, you don't want somebody that's scared of you because they're

00:05:12.740 always timid.

00:05:13.900 They're never able to tell you, hey, I don't know if this is somebody we should do business

00:05:17.800 with.

00:05:18.000 I didn't get a good feeling about this person here.

00:05:19.620 Or, you know, that thing we sat down here, Pat, I just don't think it's the time right

00:05:22.820 now for you to do this because look at the five things we have going on.

00:05:26.060 Honestly, which of these five things is priority?

00:05:28.260 These three things, can we just set aside these two for next week?

00:05:30.820 I feel like this is a week that we have a lot of things to do.

00:05:33.160 We need to set this aside for next week.

00:05:34.800 Fine, no problem.

00:05:35.840 A person that's scared will never tell you that.

00:05:38.440 I don't want somebody to be scared.

00:05:39.800 I want somebody to see the stuff that I'm not seeing.

00:05:41.660 Maybe I have blind spots and this person is going to catch in and say, Pat, these two,

00:05:45.540 let's set it aside for next week.

00:05:46.980 Somebody who's not scared will tell you that.

00:05:48.360 Number four, great on the phones, pleasant voice.

00:05:51.520 Why?

00:05:52.420 Because a lot of things is going to be talking to other people.

00:05:54.900 You're a handler.

00:05:55.920 You're going to handle guests, appointments, sales, negotiation.

00:05:59.580 You need to have a pleasant voice.

00:06:01.040 I'm always listening to the voice to see if it's a pleasant voice to be on the phone.

00:06:04.840 There's some people that are frightened of the phones.

00:06:07.040 This is not a position if somebody's afraid of the phones.

00:06:09.860 Number five, protective and proactive.

00:06:12.600 You're protecting me.

00:06:13.840 You're protecting the executive.

00:06:15.340 You're protecting the CEO.

00:06:16.780 You're protecting the CFO you're working for.

00:06:19.820 You're very protective yet proactive at the same time.

00:06:22.700 Hey, I don't know about this, but let's think about doing this.

00:06:25.280 Hey, I was looking at this and I think it's important for us to do this.

00:06:27.780 Hey, I noticed last week when you were doing this, do you want to go see the doctor?

00:06:30.840 Should I get you the dentist appointment?

00:06:32.080 Proactive.

00:06:32.420 Say, when's the last time you saw the dentist?

00:06:34.000 Hey, when's the last time you want to call this person?

00:06:35.740 Hey, you may want to call that person.

00:06:37.280 It's their birthday coming up tomorrow.

00:06:38.960 It's their anniversary.

00:06:40.220 Proactive.

00:06:40.700 That person's wedding's coming up.

00:06:42.000 This person's birthday's coming up.

00:06:43.580 That person said, do you want me to send them a gift?

00:06:45.460 Hey, your wedding anniversary's coming up.

00:06:47.460 Hey, it's your dad's birthday.

00:06:49.120 Proactive.

00:06:49.740 Protective.

00:06:50.220 All both at the same time.

00:06:51.420 Number six, negotiation for me.

00:06:54.020 If you work with me for a long time, if there's one requirement I have for you working with me,

00:06:59.900 is you have to learn how to negotiate.

00:07:01.580 Period.

00:07:02.480 And especially if you move up more in the company.

00:07:05.040 No one in our company will become a C-type executive if they don't know how to negotiate.

00:07:09.120 Nobody.

00:07:10.160 And let me tell you how I typically teach negotiation.

00:07:12.820 There is negotiation teaching you by saying, here's the 17 things to do when you negotiate.

00:07:18.360 And I need you to become a better negotiator.

00:07:20.120 And that's fine because you're teaching people how to become a negotiator.

00:07:23.120 The best way to teach negotiation is to actually negotiate.

00:07:26.680 Best way.

00:07:27.820 One of my best negotiators in the company that I have right now, somebody that's about to be the chief of staff here soon.

00:07:32.480 And she has seen me negotiate a few hundred times.

00:07:37.260 And so she now does it.

00:07:38.500 I listen to it.

00:07:39.000 Every time if we have a big deal, we're spending a lot of money, I'll say, has it ran through her yet?

00:07:43.000 No.

00:07:43.360 She needs to make the final call.

00:07:45.280 She'll make the call and she'll come up to me and say, Pat, this is going to cost us $728,000.

00:07:50.400 Have you checked everything?

00:07:51.600 Pat, I've checked everything.

00:07:52.860 It was this.

00:07:53.400 It was this.

00:07:53.720 It was this.

00:07:54.080 It was this.

00:07:54.340 I brought this.

00:07:54.880 And I brought this.

00:07:55.400 And I brought this.

00:07:55.840 And I brought this.

00:07:55.860 And I brought this down.

00:07:56.540 And if I say I'm not comfortable, I'll get on a call, then she says, Pat, I'm telling you, I've already asked that question.

00:08:02.700 But you can get on a call and we'll get on a call.

00:08:04.440 Not moving.

00:08:05.140 Got it.

00:08:05.460 She did the right thing.

00:08:06.440 $728,000.

00:08:07.800 But sometimes I'll have somebody that's coming up to me with something.

00:08:10.880 Oh, they said this is the final offer.

00:08:12.400 Today's the day.

00:08:13.520 And I'll sit there and I say, today's the day.

00:08:15.220 Today's the only day.

00:08:16.520 Oh, it's the 31st.

00:08:17.500 I know what the other person is doing.

00:08:18.680 It's their closing.

00:08:19.620 It's the closeout.

00:08:20.760 Let me get them on the phone with them.

00:08:22.300 I'll get them on the phone.

00:08:23.000 Hey, John, listen, I understand it's the 31st.

00:08:24.720 You're trying to move us to sign a deal right now.

00:08:27.040 I hope you realize there's no way in the world I'm paying this price here.

00:08:30.380 And I've already talked to, you know, XYZ.

00:08:33.860 And I've already talked to these guys.

00:08:35.480 You are overcharging me by 30%.

00:08:37.160 So if you want to get my deal today, here's what it is.

00:08:39.340 And I understand it's closeout.

00:08:40.340 So don't give me the sales script.

00:08:42.360 I need you to talk to your sales manager.

00:08:44.060 Come up with the final price because I'm not renegotiating.

00:08:46.760 The next number you give me, it's either going to be a yes or it's going to be a hard no.

00:08:51.160 But if you come to me with another number that I'm having to renegotiate again, I'm hanging

00:08:55.840 up the phone.

00:08:56.300 I don't have time for that.

00:08:57.580 So all of a sudden the other person sees it.

00:08:59.440 You know, they're getting a little bit.

00:09:00.460 Say, oh, okay, I got it.

00:09:01.440 I understand how this worked.

00:09:02.360 Right.

00:09:02.520 This is a little bit tougher than I thought.

00:09:04.280 Then they learn and pick up.

00:09:05.380 And they either do or they don't.

00:09:06.780 But all of these four, at the lowest level to the highest level, they need to learn how

00:09:11.720 to negotiate on your behalf.

00:09:12.960 Next, seek every outlet possible to find an assistant.

00:09:15.720 It's not just, let me put a job application on ZipRecruiter or Jobs.com or Monster.

00:09:20.300 Nope.

00:09:21.140 All your contacts, all your associations, all your friends, all your co-workers, any board

00:09:26.140 you're sitting on, anybody you know, I am looking for an executive assistant.

00:09:30.320 Scream it off the top of your lungs.

00:09:32.000 I am looking for an executive assistant.

00:09:34.040 Matter of fact, I am always looking for an executive assistant.

00:09:38.140 Always looking for an executive assistant.

00:09:40.660 If you know somebody or if you yourself are somebody who has five years of experience as

00:09:46.560 an executive assistant, send us a text to 747-260-8461.

00:09:52.100 Notice what I just did?

00:09:53.300 I just told you I'm looking for an executive assistant.

00:09:56.100 You do that all the time until you find a person you're looking for.

00:09:59.300 By the way, the reason why I'm looking for an executive assistant is because my executive

00:10:02.680 assistant keep getting promoted. 0.99

00:10:04.340 Everybody that starts with me as an admin, they typically end up growing.

00:10:07.640 One of my assistants is now about to become a chief of staff.

00:10:10.160 That's a whole different kind of a salary, equity position, different types of things.

00:10:13.580 But I'm looking for an executive assistant right now.

00:10:15.380 So you make sure you tell everybody about the fact that you're looking for an assistant.

00:10:18.720 Number eight, take your time and hire in twos.

00:10:21.660 Take your time and hire in twos.

00:10:23.280 The bigger the company, the more important it is who you hire.

00:10:26.120 Listen, I have a lot of assistants right now.

00:10:28.120 But to hire the person I'm looking for is going to take a little bit more time.

00:10:32.440 And I'll typically hire in twos.

00:10:33.960 The reason why I hire in twos is because I'll bring two people and I'll say, okay, this person

00:10:39.040 works in this place.

00:10:39.920 And I'll explain to you why.

00:10:40.660 Because five things I can't learn from them until I hired them.

00:10:43.600 But I'll hire in twos. 0.61

00:10:45.260 And yes, for a few months, I'm paying double the salary.

00:10:47.960 But 60, 90 days later, I'm keeping the person that I'm more impressed with.

00:10:51.440 And the other person, I send them off and say, this is just not going to work out for you.

00:10:54.460 I keep one person.

00:10:55.280 It's almost like a tryout.

00:10:56.480 One person's hired.

00:10:57.320 The other person's fired.

00:10:58.860 Number eight, I talk about take your time.

00:11:00.480 Number nine, filter through your executive team.

00:11:02.740 Meaning, whoever you're hiring, let your executive team filter them out.

00:11:07.140 Let them sit with them.

00:11:08.100 Pat, I don't know if this is going to work because of this, this, Pat.

00:11:10.720 I really like this person.

00:11:12.280 Five people came in.

00:11:13.180 They get filtered out on one sitting.

00:11:15.340 They're there for 20 minutes.

00:11:16.440 One by one by one by one by one.

00:11:17.720 They get filtered out.

00:11:18.640 You know what?

00:11:18.960 I like this person.

00:11:19.780 I like that.

00:11:20.120 What did you think about it?

00:11:20.960 I like that person.

00:11:21.560 I don't like this person because, you know what?

00:11:23.000 I also like that person.

00:11:24.240 Perfect.

00:11:25.060 Now we set up a follow-up.

00:11:26.120 After them being filtered out by your team, who knows how well you work with who, and

00:11:31.600 you may have some blind spots that your executive team sees.

00:11:34.240 And last but not least, number 10, communicate expectations clearly.

00:11:38.260 One of the biggest challenges why an employee didn't work out with me over the years is because

00:11:42.680 the expectations weren't communicated clearly.

00:11:44.940 The more you communicate expectations clearly, the better you do and retention goes higher because

00:11:49.940 everybody knows what is expected of them.

00:11:52.660 Grab a sheet of paper and exactly write, these are my, no way in the world I'm willing

00:11:58.120 to negotiate these three.

00:11:59.580 There's no way in the world this is going to work out.

00:12:02.120 These are the nine things I really like.

00:12:04.760 These six things I'm okay with, but these are the things I want.

00:12:07.700 Express that to your team, then create the proper ad, then post it, then make sure everybody

00:12:11.960 knows that they're coming through, what your non-negotiables are, what the things you are

00:12:15.520 that you're looking for, and what things you're willing to be a little bit more flexible

00:12:17.900 with.

00:12:18.220 All right, so five things you will not know about them until you work with them.

00:12:21.020 You hire them, you did everything right, there's still five things you're not going to learn

00:12:24.720 about them until you work with them.

00:12:25.720 Number one is their ego, how they deal amongst other people, because you're not going to

00:12:29.680 know them when you're hiring them.

00:12:30.560 Number two, how they handle pressure, okay, and how they perform under pressure.

00:12:34.740 One of the best things is when there's a pressure taking place that leads to a crisis

00:12:37.820 and you watch them.

00:12:39.380 Wow, deadline, late, you know, we have to hit something, you know, something took place,

00:12:44.500 a major crisis took place, an enemy, an issue that we have to address, a conference call,

00:12:49.760 something's going on, and you kind of watch them.

00:12:52.080 You say, oh my gosh, this person gets rattled.

00:12:54.100 No way in the world this is going to work, because we're in that kind of an environment

00:12:56.900 where we're growing so fast.

00:12:58.260 If you don't know how to handle crisis and pressure, this is just not the place for you.

00:13:01.720 You're better for a Fortune 100 company, where everything's pretty smooth, but you're not

00:13:05.600 built for a startup.

00:13:06.820 There are assistants that are built for startups, and there are assistants that are built for Fortune

00:13:10.080 100, Fortune 500.

00:13:11.780 You need to know who you're hiring for what season of company.

00:13:14.720 Number four, people skills, and number five, initiative.

00:13:17.340 You will not know those things until you hire them.

00:13:20.120 So having said that, again, know what phase you're at when you're hiring an assistant,

00:13:24.380 know these 10 things before you hire them, and know that even if you do it right, there's

00:13:28.040 five things you will not know about them until you hire them.

00:13:30.620 Thanks everybody for listening, and by the way, if you haven't already subscribed to

00:13:33.760 Valuetainment on iTunes, please do so.

00:13:36.620 Give us a five star, write a review if you haven't already.

00:13:39.380 And if you have any questions for me that you may have, you can always find me on Snapchat,

00:13:43.600 Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube.

00:13:45.560 Just search my name, Patrick MidDavid, and I actually do respond back when you snap me

00:13:50.300 or send me a message on Instagram.

00:13:52.460 With that being said, have a great day today.

00:13:54.200 Take care, everybody.

00:13:54.920 Bye-bye.

Valuetainment - June 03, 2019

Episode 311 - 10 Rules Of Hiring The Best Assistant

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