Episode 213

full
Published on:

17th Nov 2023

Beejel Parmar: Skyrocket Productivity With AI

In this episode of the "Guy Who Knows a Guy" podcast, host Michael Whitehouse welcomes Beejel Parmar, founder of a pioneering VA business. Beejel discusses the transformative impact of AI on the virtual assistant industry. He shares his innovative approach to collaboration between human VAs and AI, coining the term "virtual advisors" and he emphasizes the strategic investment of saved resources, shifting focus from cost reduction to substantial returns for business growth. Exploring the importance of networking, he highlights the role of VAs in seamless pre, during, and post-networking support.

Beejel provides insights into entry points and invites listeners to explore more at BeeEpicOutsourcing.com.

Mentioned in this episode:

JV Connect, December 12-13, 2023

Join us for JV Connect, the dedicated networking event December 12th and 13th, 2023 https://www.jv-connect.com

Transcript
Michael Whitehouse:

Welcome back to the guy who knows a guy podcast.

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We're so excited to be back with you.

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And this season we are counting

down to J V connect the first of its

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kind, December 12th to 14th, 2023.

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This is going to be an incredible

dedicated networking event, and you

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are going to want to be part of it.

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And this podcast here to help

prepare you to get the most

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out of this incredible event.

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I'm Michael Whitehouse,

the guy who knows a guy.

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And over the next few weeks, you're going

to get to hear from some of the best

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people in the industry about networking.

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As well as some solo training from me.

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So be sure to join us on December

12th to 14th for JV Connect.

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And now, let's get to the interview.

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Welcome once again to the

guy who knows a guy podcast.

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I'm your host Michael Whitehouse.

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The guy who knows a guy himself and the

guy we are meeting today is Beejel Parmar.

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After reading the book The 4

Hour Workweek, Beejel hired

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three virtual assistants and

started his first VA business.

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Several weeks later, he started

working with a call center and over

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the next 10 years helped grow that

business from 100 to over 500 VAs.

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In 2019, he started his third VA

business, this time pioneering

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a unique home based VA model.

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Today, clients around the world delegate

their busy work to his team of VAs.

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Fast forward, today, time challenged

professionals and entrepreneurs look

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To Beejel's unique AI trained VA human

services supported by virtual AI advisors

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and his vital action priority planning

audience productivity program to boost

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efficiency, productivity and profits.

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Audiences globally have been entertained

by his costume presentations and inspired

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by his story of how Bejal and his family.

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Had to leave the U S in 2010 and how

they embarked on a five year travel

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work, global schooling adventure.

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To date, Bajal has spoken on stage

in eight countries and has asked

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to speak at workshops, masterminds,

networking groups, and at least once

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on the guy who knows the guy podcast.

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Welcome.

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Bajal.

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Well, thank you so much for having me.

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So tell us a bit about this.

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So that also had a very futuristic

and techno Babley AI trained VA human

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services supported by virtual AI advisors.

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Beejel Parmar: Yeah.

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Great.

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Well, thank you.

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First of all, thank you so

much for having me on the show.

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So up until.

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several months ago, right?

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I mean, up until really January of

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That's pretty much what we did.

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But then came along chat GPT and all,

you know, the other 1 billion AI programs

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out there now that's what it seems

like anyway every single day you wake

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up, there's something else out there.

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So we knew we had to start

to kind of jump into this.

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Now what's interesting though, Michael

was in the 10 years leading up to that.

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That momentous occasion when chat GPT

hit the scene, every time I spoke, at

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least one person would say, Hey, no,

this virtual assistant stuff is good.

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I'm talking about the human stuff.

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Right.

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I said, but at some point, you know,

AI is going to come along and it's

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going to, you're going to be probably

going to, you know, lose your business.

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I said, yeah.

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But not today.

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Right.

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So but you know, today has come around.

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Right.

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And so when AI kind of started coming

out and we started to see what AI could

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do, it was like, the first thing it was

like, Holy moly, you know, is this the

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end of our industry, but the one thing.

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You know, you can probably count on is

that when people resist doing things,

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they resist doing things, right?

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And AI in, in many ways is

another form of technology, right?

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There's been plenty of productivity

technologies around before AI.

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Let's just take your

classic sales funnel, right?

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Whether you click funnels or use go

high level or whatever software you use.

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There are still a high number of

entrepreneurs, business owners who

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have resisted using technology,

such as a sales CRM to do the work.

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So that allowed us to leave.

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Hang on a second, just because AI

has come along, it doesn't mean

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that they're going to terminate.

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We're just going to find another way

for VAs and for the human kind of VAs

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to work with the AI type of virtual

assistants, what we call virtual advisors,

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because they, you know, those of you

listening, you can use AI, let's just

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call it chat, GBT or Claude to create

knowledge bases about your business.

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And then we can train VAs, or you

can guide your VA of how to use the

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knowledge base about your business

to then create copy to create.

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Thank you.

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Email responses to create social

media posts and et cetera.

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So by taking virtual assistants, the

human kind of virtual assistants that we

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actually call vital assistants, right?

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Training them to work with AI.

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Now you've got more bang for your buck.

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You can take a 5, 6 per hour VA.

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They can start leveraging

technology and the value.

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They can put back into your business.

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It's far greater than what they

could ever do up until recently.

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So that's how we end up

with basically VA trained.

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Assistance.

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Michael Whitehouse: That's powerful.

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And I, I like the concept there.

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Cause I think we often think that, well,

you know, if I need a hundred hours

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of work done and it costs me 5 an hour

offshore and it can be done in 10 hours

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now, well, now I'm only going to spend 50.

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Whereas instead, I think a lot

of business owners think, well,

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if I'm willing to spend 500.

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and it can be done for 50, what

can I do with the other 450

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to get 10 times the results?

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Because why would you say, Oh, look, I can

make all the money I need till I'm done.

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That's not how business works.

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Beejel Parmar: Yeah.

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And it's not just the quantity of work.

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It's the quality of work.

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But before, like, you know, I had

my VAs would write, you know, manage

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my emails you know, to clients.

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So that has to kind of, I'd have

to write templates and spend hours

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writing templates and often have

to write the messages for the VAs.

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So the English quality was better.

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Now they just take what

they want to reply.

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They run it through chat GPT and say,

Hey, chat GPT, please improve the

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quality of this email, blah, blah.

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And they, they, they send now responses,

which are, you know, better than what they

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could have done without the technology.

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Michael Whitehouse: Yeah.

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And, and still the entrepreneur is

better off not touching it because

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as soon as you have to touch it, now

you're engaging your brain to it.

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And it's one more tab open in your

head, whether chat, GPT can do it in

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two minutes or it takes 20 minutes.

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It's still an action

that you need to take.

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So that's, that's very powerful.

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So this is of course the guy knows the

guy podcast where we talk about networking

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this particular season here in season six.

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So tell me about how networking

has helped you grow this business.

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Yeah.

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Beejel Parmar: Well up until really

recently, I mean, 95 percent of

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my client base came from referrals

and that referral network came from

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networking and building relationships.

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So, you know, I don't think I'd be here

if it wasn't for the networking part of

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what we've been doing, but it's not just

the networking part is what happens.

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After you've gone to a networking

event or whether it be online or

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offline, and that's really where

the VA's come in helpful, right?

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Well, most people kind of go home.

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I would say most people, I don't

assume that anyone listening falls into

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most people, but from my experience,

most people spend a lot of time.

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Those who are the professional

networkers, they go network events.

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They, they exchange business cards.

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They collect business cards.

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What happens next is where

it gets interesting, right?

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So one of three scenarios, one,

they're using their valuable

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time doing the followup.

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Right.

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So they, they go home, then to the

cards, into a database, they do some

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follow up, usually once or twice.

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Number two, they don't do anything.

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They're resisting doing any post

networking things, and maybe living

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in the hope that somebody is going

to pick up their business card

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and call them back and, you know,

they're going to, that's, what's

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going to, that's going to be helpful.

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So these two scenarios exist, right?

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So one is what are we

spending our time on post?

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Networking or two, what are we not doing?

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What are we resisting

doing post networking?

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Now with these two sets of ideas, you

can now say, wait, well, how could a

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virtual human assistant help me with this?

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Right?

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So one way is you can

be out there networking.

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Someone gives you a business card or

you take that information down, take a

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scan of that card or take a photograph

and it goes straight to your VA.

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They enter it onto a database.

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They trigger the first email to go out.

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They.

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Look for that person on social

media and make the connections.

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And if you, if you set up correctly,

they can pretty much do everything that,

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you know, to get them now onto a phone

call with you, to, to book a call with

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you, whatever, whatever that, you know,

whatever your follow up is now, what

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everybody should be doing, you know is.

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Using a sales CRM with multiple stages

of the follow up process, right?

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So turning how to turn from a,

from a lead or a connection to

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a prospect, to a phone call.

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To an opportunity to a referral

partner or whatever happens.

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Right.

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So obviously that, that, that sequence of

events is very unique to each business,

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but it also is kind of the hustle, right?

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It's kind of like, you've got to

log into your, to your sales CRM.

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You've got to do all this work.

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You've got to track these people.

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You've got to show that could

literally be done by a VA.

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Right now we know, well, the experts

tell us the fortune is in the follow up.

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Right.

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Every networking event I've been to,

there's some form of that phrase.

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The fortune is in the followup.

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And I'm not speaking for anybody who's

watching, but I'm speaking for myself.

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I suck at followup.

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I suck at followup.

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My VA on the other hand,

pretty damn good, right?

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Because they don't have

any resistance to doing it.

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That's their job.

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So they do the followup and they remind

me, Hey, you have to call Michael, right?

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Michael, reach out to you.

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Michael opted in to your two thing.

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Have you followed up with him?

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And I can say, Hey, what was the

last message I sent to Michael?

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Here's what you wrote to my Michael last.

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So here's what Michael wrote to you last.

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Okay, great.

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Hey, Michael, I just want to chat

with you the last time he spoke or

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last time you emailed me, right?

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I'm not having to log into five

different platforms to see where you are.

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My VA is managing the

communication, right?

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They're just telling me,

Hey, follow up with Michael.

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Here's what he sent to you last time.

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Now you just make a phone call to send

the text or whatever you have to do.

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So that, that resistance taken away

by my VA, taking care of the hustle.

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Michael Whitehouse: So, so this

isn't your VA reaching out to them.

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This is your VA augmenting you to it.

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Beejel Parmar: It's a,

every combination of right.

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Because remember it's, it's.

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You gotta be, you know, you gotta, you

gotta make your way through the noise.

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I've got my VA reaching out,

I've got my chatbot reaching out.

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I've got me reaching out, right?

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Like, like, so whatever

it takes, Michael, right?

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If, if you want money in your

bank account, you gotta, you gotta

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find a way to follow up that's

gonna work for your client, right?

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So, so there's, you know, multiple

different ways that we, that we, that

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we're leveraging technology, vass,

and sometimes I've gotta pick up the

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phone too and, and, and do the work.

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Yeah.

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Michael Whitehouse: Yeah.

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So this is more for

the sales process then.

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Networking and building

partnerships and collaborations.

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Beejel Parmar: Correct.

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Yeah.

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I mean, to me, it's, it's all, you

know, why network if you're not going to

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have a follow up sales process, right?

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Like it's, it's now what my VA is doing on

the front end of networking is basically

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they're finding places for me to network.

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So they basically manage my

networking calendar, right?

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So they basically manage, they look

for local events, they look for online

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events that I might want to speak to.

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I've actually even sent

my VAs to network for me.

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Just to put it in perspective, right?

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There's no, there's no rule that says

they can't, they represent your company.

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Right.

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So, you know, larger companies don't,

the CEO doesn't go to networking events.

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They send reps to go to networking events.

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Many, many BNI chapters are full of

employees that go to networking events.

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Right.

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So why can't I send an employee of

mine to an online networking event?

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They know how to rep my company.

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Right.

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So there is the pre networking research.

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Building up a database or when, you

know, what, what events are coming up,

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who the who the the host of the event is

going to want to make a point of, to get

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to know the host, what, what can they

tell me about the host of the event?

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There is the actual networking

one or two ways, you know, so

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during networking event, I, they

can, if I, collect business cards.

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I can be sending the business

cards to my, to my VA.

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I actually have my VAs go to

networking events on my behalf as well.

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And then there's the most crucial part, in

my opinion, is the post networking, right?

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To me is before you go to your next, one

of the tips I used to give is before you

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go to network, your next networking event,

have you dialed in your follow up process?

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Because to me, everything's

about the value of time.

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If I'm willing to go to a networking

event, And given that, you know, you take

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out, okay, the social component of it.

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A lot of time people go networking grants

because it's also a social thing for them.

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But if the, you know, but if, if

it's, if it's part of your business

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strategy to go network, do you

have a good follow up strategy?

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If you don't, you have to really

ask yourself that question.

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Why not?

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Why haven't you dialed

in a follow up process?

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Because you're spending your

time, effort and money, right?

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Because if you're out there networking,

you're spending, you know, you're not

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making money doing something else.

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So to me, that has to be an ROI.

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Every time we, we, we choose

to go to a networking event.

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And again, if we follow the rule

that it's not the networking event

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is what happens after the networking

event, that, that the rubber meets

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the road that, you know, that's

where you want to start to integrate

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VA technology, AI into the process.

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Michael Whitehouse: Yeah, no,

that sounds very powerful.

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And whether or not they go down the path

of being a prospect or being a partner.

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Which, depending on the person, though,

they can self identify in that, I

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can hear how this can be valuable.

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Because, you know, the thing I'm

always, I'm always on the lookout

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for, and aware, beware of is any kind

of automation that just streamlines

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people right into your sales funnel.

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And so people who meet and say,

Hey, I thought we're in networking.

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Now you're sending me demos.

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You're sending me pricing.

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You're like, what's going on here?

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Beejel Parmar: I never, I never,

I, so I use the permission

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based approach and what we do.

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So everything's me.

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Hey, can I send you, Hey,

Michael, great meeting you.

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Can I send you more information?

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Right.

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Would you be open to me sending

you more information, right?

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Whether it's, whether it's me, whether

it's the you know, the, the VA,

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that's the methodology we use, right?

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Everything's permission based versus,

Hey, Michael, great meeting you.

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Here's all my, all my, all

my links for everything I've

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ever done in my whole life.

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Right.

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But yeah, it doesn't work.

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Right.

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So, so, you know, we, we just, but

again, using a permission based

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approach, training your team to

use a permission based approach.

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You know, if you, you, you

self elect Michael, if I send

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you, Hey, Michael, great.

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It was great meeting you on

the networking events, right?

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Hey, may I send you some more

information on what I do?

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I believe it might be a good

match for your, for your audience.

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You have a choice.

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Now you say, Hey, no, not interested.

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Hey, lovely to meet you, Michael.

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You know, if, if anything

ever changes, let me know.

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Right.

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Michael Whitehouse: Yeah.

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That challenged a lot of network

events too, is that people.

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People aren't thinking high enough.

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The letter.

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So I have this ninja rubric of networking.

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It's five levels of networking,

and the first level is where

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you're Selling directly there.

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It's network prospecting.

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If you're looking for your

customer right there in the room.

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The second level is you're looking for

referrals to your customer one at a time.

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And the third level, which

is non competitive partners.

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That's the second and a ninja is

that's where you're finding people

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who might share your, you know,

promote your master class, promote

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your podcast, speak on your summit.

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And that's where instead of trying

to get a referral to a person, you're

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trying to get a referral to an audience,

which is where the real value is.

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And so many people, they don't get

that, you know, they, they think

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asking, selling through the room rather

than to the room is the pinnacle of

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networking science, and then it realizes

a whole exponential level beyond that,

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which is a similar sales process.

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You're still trying to fix

established value and convince

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someone to buy into promoting you

as opposed to buy into hiring you.

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But I, I can, I can hear how that.

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How the, the VA and the VA, and the

other thing too, is it, is it frees

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you up to do your highest value

activities, you logging into your

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CRM and be okay, where's that name.

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And, and, you know, Googling somebody

before you meet them and whatnot, you

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could meet with twice as many people.

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If someone else just sent you, here's

a two page summary of who you're about

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to meet with and everything you need

to know and pictures of their dogs

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and their kids, and they're, they're,

they're into boating, they hate golf.

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They like the Patriots

and it's all right there.

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Instead of you having to go

through and search at all.

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Beejel Parmar: Yeah, absolutely.

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You know, it's, it's, it's,

it's the time value, right?

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So either you're getting, you're winning

time back for your life or you're

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winning time back for the highest and

best use of your time in the business.

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Michael Whitehouse: Yeah.

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Yeah.

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It sounds And, and yeah, I'm thinking too

about like if you were to meet with some,

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you know, big CEO, big company or, or

someone higher up in business, they'd have

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an assistant who is doing this research.

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And so you sit down with them and, and

they're like, you know, how's your,

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how's your daughter doing in school?

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She's nine.

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Right.

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And you're like, wait,

how'd you know that?

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I did research, but

they didn't do research.

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They're too busy for that.

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They have an assistant who does that.

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But entrepreneurs traditionally

can't afford a research assistant.

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Who's going to be able to do that stuff.

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Beejel Parmar: Yeah, and when we designed

this the irony of this conversation,

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well, not the irony, but the coincidence

of the conversation Michael was when

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I first set out to create this third

business, I was actually only going

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to focus the services on the follow

up because for me personally, I

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probably I've lost millions, probably

not having a good follow up system,

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a post meeting someone system.

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Right.

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It wasn't always networking per se.

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Sometimes it was going to a workshop

and you intended to follow up, had

377

:

a great conversation with somebody.

378

:

You know, and then you.

379

:

Get back to life and you forget.

380

:

Right.

381

:

So the, the original name of the company

was actually called follow upsters,

382

:

right, where there was basically just

based on following up from the moments,

383

:

but because people kept coming to us

with other tasks, but the one thing I

384

:

didn't want to do was basically create

a very different model for the industry,

385

:

because I think, you know, a lot of

people say, well, I can't afford a VA.

386

:

Right.

387

:

That's one of the big things.

388

:

Well, I can't really afford a VA as well.

389

:

Can you, can you afford a cup of coffee?

390

:

Right.

391

:

And I said, well, of course I can.

392

:

No, six, five, six bucks.

393

:

I mean, I want to pay five, six bucks

for a cup of coffee, but I've done it.

394

:

I was like, wait, what if we can

make it possible that, you know, for

395

:

around five or six bucks, you can

have a VA, you know, and five, six

396

:

bucks per day, you can have a VA.

397

:

It's like, wait a second.

398

:

How is it possible for a human being

to work for me for the whole day?

399

:

I said, no, no, they don't need

to work for you for the whole day.

400

:

Think of one or two things a VA could

do for you on a daily basis that would

401

:

move the needle in your business, right?

402

:

Can you afford around a couple hundred

bucks for somebody to do something that

403

:

you are not doing, or that you hate

doing, or it's not the best use of your

404

:

time, is that time, you know, is it

worth getting that time back from you?

405

:

Or is it worth that

person doing that thing?

406

:

So since we're talking about networking,

let's just use that example, right?

407

:

If all of VA did.

408

:

Let's check in daily and help you manage

your follow up and your sales CRM.

409

:

Like, you know, where your prospects

are sitting in the sales cycle.

410

:

Could it move the needle in your business?

411

:

I'm going to say, based on my experience,

95 percent of the time, yes, it can.

412

:

Right.

413

:

So you've got somebody that only job.

414

:

It's to basically help you manage

your sales CRM system and do

415

:

the follow up for you, right.

416

:

Or hold you accountable to

do the follow up, right.

417

:

One of the two scenarios, it's

going to be a game changer.

418

:

Almost every single person

is going to benefit.

419

:

Now that's just one way, you know,

you start thinking about using a

420

:

VA differently, but specifically

in, in context of thing.

421

:

So how do we do that?

422

:

Well, you know, we pioneered what

we call a, a, a no markup fee.

423

:

Direct pay no contract model, where

if you wanted the VA, Michael, just

424

:

kind of hypothetical example here,

I'll say, great, Michael, we have a,

425

:

you know, just a very nominal setup

fee, but here's, what's going to work.

426

:

You're going to pay me a membership fee.

427

:

We've all paid membership

fees for courses.

428

:

Often causes we don't go through, but

now I want you to pay a membership fee.

429

:

We call it support fee, but you're

going to have access to one VA.

430

:

Now that one VA, you're

going to pay directly.

431

:

So however many hours that VA is

going to do, whether it's one hour

432

:

per day, two hours per day, you're

going to pay that VA directly.

433

:

The reason we do that is I

don't want you to feel that we

434

:

are doing a big markup on a VA.

435

:

Also, it's very transparent.

436

:

You know how much the VA is making

and the VA doesn't feel that we're

437

:

taking money out of their pocket.

438

:

Right.

439

:

So by keeping these payments separately,

we've created a very different culture

440

:

and approach to the industry, right?

441

:

People said it can't be done

that, you know, your, your

442

:

clients will steal the VAs.

443

:

I said, well, hang on a second.

444

:

The clients don't need to steal the VAs.

445

:

The VA, the paying the VA

directly anyway, right?

446

:

So why still the VA there's no benefit

to that, but what the client and the VA

447

:

needs is that ongoing support that we,

that we provide and we provide ongoing

448

:

training, but we, so much, we have a

kind of a support training and coaching

449

:

program for the VAs that coaches them on

how to improve the relationship with the

450

:

clients, communication, obviously got.

451

:

The AI training that we've done recently.

452

:

So this new culture or this new

community based approach to running

453

:

a VA business is what we pioneered.

454

:

And the VA's happened to be one

city in Davao in the Philippines.

455

:

We're going to be building up more.

456

:

So about every three, four months,

I pay for them to get together.

457

:

So they still feel that community based

approach, even though individually

458

:

they're working for different clients,

they still feel part of something

459

:

bigger that we call the happy hive.

460

:

Yeah, that's great.

461

:

Michael Whitehouse: And, and yeah,

I've always had that, that concept

462

:

of like, oh, they're, they're going

to steal, like, you think a bunch of

463

:

entrepreneurs who couldn't find their

own VAs and didn't use them before are

464

:

suddenly going to become VA managers.

465

:

There's a reason they don't have VAs.

466

:

The reason I don't have an

offshore VA is I don't want to,

467

:

I don't know where to find one.

468

:

I don't know how to manage them.

469

:

I have to tell them

everything you need to do.

470

:

I'd have set up all their systems.

471

:

And if I could do all

that, I wouldn't need a VA.

472

:

So, yeah, it's fine.

473

:

You know, one of the services I offer

is a done for you email service.

474

:

And you know, I don't do the

rest of marketing, but my, I've

475

:

had great success with email.

476

:

And so now I'm offering

to do that for clients.

477

:

And I worked with one marketing agency.

478

:

Who's like, okay, yes, you're

not going to talk to my clients.

479

:

I'll talk to my clients.

480

:

Cause you know, you gotta sign this, this

this non compete, you're not stealing.

481

:

Like, what would I do with your client?

482

:

What would I do with them?

483

:

Like I'd get an extra 50 bucks

or whatever your override is.

484

:

And then what?

485

:

I don't make websites.

486

:

I don't do social media.

487

:

I don't do any of the stuff you do.

488

:

What would I do with your client?

489

:

I don't want to steal them.

490

:

I just want to offer the

service I offer to them.

491

:

And there's so much.

492

:

Paranoia and scarcity out there

in, in business, unfortunately.

493

:

Yeah.

494

:

Beejel Parmar: So yeah, to

kind of circle back around.

495

:

So, you know, for folks who are

out there networking, you know,

496

:

there's probably a lot of admin, you

know, pre during post that have you

497

:

can support a client with, right.

498

:

And it's, again, it's just one.

499

:

microcosm of a business that we can help

with, but it's an important one, right?

500

:

I mean, networking is, for many people,

it's a lifeline of leads for them.

501

:

But again, what we're talking

about is how do we optimize that?

502

:

How do we make the most of that

and take the, the, the, give the,

503

:

the, the hassle and the hustle.

504

:

Of what, what, what is involved

in networking to somebody else

505

:

who can support you with that.

506

:

And here's the thing when they can almost

become your accountability partner, right?

507

:

Because there are things we have to

do post networking and, you know,

508

:

your VA can meet with you daily and

say, Hey, Michael you know, what's

509

:

your post networking follow up?

510

:

Who are you going to follow up with today?

511

:

And you, it forces you to think about.

512

:

Okay.

513

:

What, who did I meet last night?

514

:

Who do I want to follow up with?

515

:

You know and, and, and give

those answers to your VA.

516

:

And they say, great, thanks

for letting me know, Michael.

517

:

Let me know if you get it done.

518

:

Right.

519

:

So you can turn a, you can turn a 5 per

hour VA into an accountability partner.

520

:

And I just used, I used

networking example, but it could

521

:

be for anything in business.

522

:

Right.

523

:

Then the answer to the question,

Michael, what are the three critical

524

:

things we call the vital, the three

vital things that you are going to

525

:

commit to doing for your business today?

526

:

This is very different

from your signing work.

527

:

This is, this is a 5 Bravo VA asking

you a question and you say, I'm

528

:

going to, I'm going to, I'm going

to do this, this, and this today.

529

:

Great.

530

:

The next day, they're

gonna check in with you.

531

:

Hey, Michael, did you get those

three, those three things done?

532

:

You'd have to say, no, I didn't.

533

:

Now it's not really relevant to them if

you did or not, but it is relevant to you.

534

:

I would say it's irrelevant

to future you, right?

535

:

When you're out, when you're out

networking today, the beneficiary

536

:

of that is a future version of you.

537

:

But if you don't do the real

activity that follows networking,

538

:

future version of you is like.

539

:

What the hell, Michael, why did you go?

540

:

Why did you spend three hours out there

networking if you're not going to do

541

:

the work to follow up with those folks?

542

:

Michael Whitehouse: Yep.

543

:

So, so if you had a, a, so one

application I'm thinking of is sometimes

544

:

I'll be, you know, out driving or

something and this idea will pop in

545

:

my head of like, oh, I should do this.

546

:

And if I'm doing this, I

should do this, this and this.

547

:

And I can take a note, but

then do I check the note?

548

:

I do not.

549

:

Because that's how it works.

550

:

You take the note the next day, you're not

excited anymore and you forget about it.

551

:

Is, is an application of this,

like you'd have your VA on Slack or

552

:

WhatsApp or whatnot, and then you shoot

the message, be like, make a note.

553

:

I, you know, I, I had a crazy idea

today and, you know, hashtag crazy idea.

554

:

Maybe I'll do this.

555

:

Maybe I won't, but it's this, it has

these keys and these reactions apps.

556

:

If I'm going to do it, check on

me on Tuesday to see about it.

557

:

Beejel Parmar: Yeah, exactly.

558

:

Right.

559

:

Cause the one thing that we typically

are very comfortable using is some

560

:

form of messaging app, whether

it's WhatsApp or whatever it is.

561

:

So you just, you just basically, you

know, it's almost like a note to self,

562

:

a note to VA, Hey, add this idea to my

ideas list and let's, let's review it or,

563

:

you know, make sure I review it, review

it with the team tomorrow, whatever.

564

:

And the VA puts it into your task

management system or your project

565

:

management system, or wherever you're

managing your, what, what you're doing.

566

:

And then now, now it's captured, right?

567

:

Same, same for networking, right?

568

:

You could just leave a voice note.

569

:

Hey you know, Hey, Michelle

got this quick idea.

570

:

Want to blah, blah, blah, right?

571

:

Now the voice note goes to your VA.

572

:

They log it, they transcribe it.

573

:

And now it's, you've, you've captured it.

574

:

Michael Whitehouse: And so

they work at like an ad from

575

:

nine to 10 every day they work.

576

:

They just check for all the

notes from the last day, log

577

:

them all, respond to them all.

578

:

Beejel Parmar: Exactly.

579

:

Yeah.

580

:

My, my, most of my team work the

same hours, same working hours as

581

:

most of my most, most of the clients.

582

:

They typically, that's kind of a, you

know, somewhere between the hours of

583

:

7 AM and say, you know, 5 PM or some,

some, somewhere in there, depending on

584

:

the client, the client gets to pick.

585

:

And you know, sometimes the VA's work.

586

:

After our work hours, because that's

when the clients want them to work.

587

:

So just, it varies, but generally

speaking, I encourage clients to

588

:

have the VA's work in their time

zone because I, you know, even though

589

:

they're overseas workers, I want clients

to think of them as team members.

590

:

And as a team members, I want

clients to meet with them for a

591

:

five minute check in daily and,

and ask them the three questions.

592

:

Great VA.

593

:

What did you get done last 24 hours?

594

:

Right.

595

:

What are you working on next 24 hours?

596

:

Because even though we've

assigned work, we often need the

597

:

reminder of what is my VA doing?

598

:

How is my VA benefiting my company?

599

:

And the third question, which probably

the most important question is what do

600

:

you need from me to do your work better?

601

:

And that's a really important question

because sometimes the VAs do work.

602

:

They, they need feedback from the client.

603

:

If what they've done is correct is in

alignment with the client's requirements.

604

:

And that simple five minute meeting,

10 minute meeting can be a game

605

:

changer for most people's businesses.

606

:

Michael Whitehouse: Yeah.

607

:

It sounds I'm, I'm having a lot

of thoughts about, and the coolest

608

:

thing I'm thinking about is, is

that research assistant concept,

609

:

because, you know, if you're a big

shot, like I I'm just imagining.

610

:

And I don't even know if it

would have a practical effect.

611

:

I'm just thinking about how cool it would

be to have someone who checked my calendar

612

:

every day and sent me a report that said,

here's who you're meeting with today.

613

:

Here's what you need to know about them.

614

:

Here's, and then of course

you tie it to a CRM.

615

:

Here's what we know, you know, you

last spoke to them 14 days ago.

616

:

And this is what you talk to them

about and a reminder that they,

617

:

you know, they hate football.

618

:

So never say the word football out loud.

619

:

And you know, he loves yellow and

bees, which I need to ask you about.

620

:

And, you know, you know, all that stuff.

621

:

So, so you're walking into the meeting.

622

:

I mean, I use automation some degree

when I do a networking call, they ask,

623

:

they answer a number of questions.

624

:

So I'm not going cold and people

are like, wow, you're so organized.

625

:

I'm like, no, I just made you answer

questions before you booked a call.

626

:

But this is like next level from that

going to an actual potentially a short

627

:

report on both in background information

and then also objectives for the meeting.

628

:

So.

629

:

You're, you're not coming out

of the meeting and be like, all

630

:

right, well, that was great.

631

:

Yeah.

632

:

So yeah, thanks.

633

:

Yes, this seems, this

seems really powerful.

634

:

And so, so what is it with the yellow

and the bees that's realized that

635

:

you're sure it has actually be on it.

636

:

Beejel Parmar: Right, right.

637

:

After my 50th birthday, I can't give

my, my age away, away right now.

638

:

But in 2019 I picked up a book

on business management, how to

639

:

actually run an organization, larger

organizations based on the wisdom.

640

:

Of what this person learned

from studying bees and beehives.

641

:

So I read through the book and

said, this is, this is great.

642

:

And at the time I had no connection

to bees other than the fact

643

:

that bee, the bee is in my name.

644

:

I thought, wow, this is a great concept.

645

:

So I started thinking more

about this, this idea of bees.

646

:

And I said, well, can I apply these same

principles to helping entrepreneurs?

647

:

Anyway.

648

:

That led to a whole kind of

journey of then adopting the

649

:

bee as a symbol of productivity.

650

:

A bee is a symbol of, you know,

you're, you're the beekeeper

651

:

in the protective suit.

652

:

That protective white suit becomes

your protection from busy work.

653

:

The bees are out there doing all

the busy work, getting things done.

654

:

Right.

655

:

And the bees organize themselves

amazingly in the hive, right?

656

:

Every bee has a unique purpose.

657

:

Every bee contributes to the

community, to the hive and

658

:

bees ultimately serve humanity.

659

:

So as I say, that in some ways we

entrepreneurs need to be a bit more

660

:

bee like we serve our unique purpose.

661

:

We serve the hive, the community, and we

serve humanity, but bees are efficient.

662

:

They're super productive.

663

:

They communicate well with each other.

664

:

They are you know, they, they

get up, they don't complain.

665

:

They just get out there and do their work.

666

:

So there's a many, there are many

attributes to what the behavior

667

:

of bees that entrepreneurs

can actually learn from.

668

:

And that's probably, you know, probably

a subject of one of my books coming out,

669

:

which is basically how we can learn to

be productive and efficient based on

670

:

nature and what we can learn from bees.

671

:

Awesome.

672

:

Michael Whitehouse: Yeah,

that makes a lot of sense.

673

:

I can see why you put the whole bee theme.

674

:

That's pretty powerful what you do.

675

:

And one thing some people may be, may

be asking, so we're talking about,

676

:

about you know, a cup of coffee worth

of money is the hourly rate that we're,

677

:

that, that these VA's are being paid.

678

:

And so some people may, may think, well,

is that fair for us rich Americans,

679

:

Europeans to be taking advantage of

people by only paying them 5 an hour?

680

:

And so, so what would you say about that?

681

:

Beejel Parmar: Well, first they need

to go, go study what the out, what the

682

:

average income is in those countries

before making statements, right?

683

:

For the, first of all, the VAs get

to set their own rates actually.

684

:

So I don't set the rates.

685

:

I teach the VAs how to come up with a

rate that they feel is fair for them.

686

:

Now, most agencies have a

two to five times markup.

687

:

So many agencies and these agencies

are supporting businesses that

688

:

might be actually servicing

your household right now.

689

:

I'm talking about fortune 500 companies

and talk about many of the technology

690

:

companies that you interface with.

691

:

They're probably going through an

agency and those agencies are probably

692

:

paying 1, 52 to VAs, those very

same VAs come out of those agencies.

693

:

They come to me and we show them how

to make five, 6 per hour, three times

694

:

what they were making before right now.

695

:

So that's number one.

696

:

So first of all, our VAs

get set their own rate.

697

:

So then because they set their own

rate, I don't have to really worry

698

:

about that question because that's

the rate that they've set based

699

:

on their economy, their services,

their, to be able to be competitive.

700

:

So that, that's the answer.

701

:

Michael Whitehouse: Interesting.

702

:

Yeah.

703

:

So, so we're, we're leveraging the

fact that they have a, and what

704

:

countries are we talking about?

705

:

Beejel Parmar: Well, my primary

team is in the Philippines.

706

:

I do have some team members who are a

little bit higher skilled in South Africa.

707

:

I have some tech tech people in, in India,

but my primary business is basically

708

:

VAs in the Philippines as of today.

709

:

Michael Whitehouse: So, so we're

leveraging the fact that the cost of

710

:

living taxes, car insurance, food,

rent, housing is that much lower in the

711

:

Philippines and South Africa and India.

712

:

And and so basically when we

pay them, we're not paying

713

:

American rents and American.

714

:

Car taxes and American food

prices to support them.

715

:

Beejel Parmar: Exactly.

716

:

Yeah.

717

:

And, you know, and like again, some

of the team members in South Africa

718

:

that range from 15 to 20 per hour.

719

:

Right.

720

:

So it depends, you know, but the thing,

the client has to come to me and say,

721

:

Hey, here's my budget, here's what I'm

willing to spend per hour for this type

722

:

of task, it's a great, you know, let's,

let's see what we can find for you.

723

:

So we're, we're more like a matchmaker.

724

:

We don't, we don't, you know, try and

fit your round hole in the square peg.

725

:

You say, Hey, this is what I need.

726

:

I need a VA that can help me with this.

727

:

This is what I'm

comfortable paying per hour.

728

:

Now, the minimum we allow is 5.

729

:

Some VAs are six, some are

seven with more experience.

730

:

But if someone says, Hey, I

need, I need a VA for this role.

731

:

So yeah, that's typically a 5

per hour role, 6 per hour role.

732

:

And then when you get to meet with the

VA and interview them, you know, you let

733

:

us know, are you comfortable paying that

to the VA based on their experience?

734

:

That makes sense.

735

:

Michael Whitehouse: And

what's the, the entry points?

736

:

I'm sure some people are thinking, I've

seen some VA services that start at

737

:

500, 1, 000 a month, 2, 000 a month.

738

:

What's the entry point?

739

:

Beejel Parmar: Yeah, good,

great question, Michael.

740

:

So we have a, we have a one

time setup fee, which is 397.

741

:

We do and from then they can have

the VA as little as one hour per day.

742

:

The average client has a VA

between two to four hours per day.

743

:

And some, some of them have

even two, two, two, three VAs

744

:

because the work is so varied.

745

:

Right.

746

:

But generally speaking, majority of the

clients have a VA once, two hours per day.

747

:

So that's about 10 bucks per day, 20,

20 days, 20 working days in a month.

748

:

So you're about 200 for the VA.

749

:

Our support fee for that

is around 79 per month.

750

:

That's, that's, you're at 279.

751

:

So, you know, that's, you know,

most people are paying for

752

:

courses way more than that.

753

:

Michael Whitehouse: Wow.

754

:

That's, that's great.

755

:

It's.

756

:

It's a very accessible entry point to

get a lot of value and then it sounds

757

:

like the other value you provide and

like where that's seventy nine dollars

758

:

That's wondering how you made your money,

but I assume it's seventy nine dollars

759

:

Yeah that seems like a very very highly

leveraged expenditure because if I just

760

:

Went to the philippines and hired a va

which I don't even know how I do But if

761

:

I was to go find i'm sure I could find

one I'm the guy who knows the guy I

762

:

probably know someone can help me but if

I just go hire one myself Now what like

763

:

now I got a va awesome What do, boss?

764

:

Beejel Parmar: Something useful, please.

765

:

Yeah, exactly.

766

:

You know, we, we, we have a

whole management team in place.

767

:

So basically, you know, the

client has any, any issues.

768

:

The VA doesn't, doesn't shop

to report for work on time.

769

:

You know, the VA is like,

how do I create an invoice?

770

:

How do I manage this?

771

:

So we provide the ongoing support,

you know, where the team's reachable

772

:

as the management team, I'm usually

reachable, you know as well, you

773

:

know, we're still a boutique company.

774

:

But more importantly, you know, that

with that 79 per month that we get we

775

:

are able to support the VAs, right.

776

:

So we're able to provide support for them.

777

:

Ongoing training.

778

:

Like when chat GPT came out,

we created a training program.

779

:

If they, if they have an

issue with the client, right.

780

:

So if they have an issue with the

client, they can come to us and say,

781

:

the client spoke to me like this.

782

:

They, they asked me to do this.

783

:

I have no idea what they're talking about.

784

:

So we can help, we can

jump in and support.

785

:

VA to client issues or

client to VA issues.

786

:

You know, so we're there

as a support system.

787

:

If the VA doesn't show up on time or

they stop asking the phones, we can

788

:

reach out to the VA via text locally.

789

:

And you know, if we never had to do

it, but you can even send somebody

790

:

to go and check in on them in person.

791

:

Right.

792

:

So, you know, just, is it intangible?

793

:

Is it, it's a nominal fee?

794

:

That's why we designed like that.

795

:

That allows us to provide this way

higher level of support to the VAs.

796

:

Michael Whitehouse: Yeah,

that sounds really powerful.

797

:

Well, this, this sounds, this

is gonna be a lot to think about

798

:

and possibly given the listeners

a lot to think about as well.

799

:

So if, if they are thinking

about this saying, well, that

800

:

seems really interesting.

801

:

How would they get in touch with you?

802

:

Beejel Parmar: Well, just, they just need

to go to B B Epic outsourcing, right?

803

:

So the, the, the B is the,

the symbol of productivity.

804

:

Epic means being efficient.

805

:

Being productive, being

intentional and being completional.

806

:

And outsourcing is what we do.

807

:

So BeEpicOutsourcing.

808

:

com, there's a couple of videos there for

you to watch that goes over our pricing,

809

:

everything I talked about, and if we're a

good match for you, then, you know, let's

810

:

shake hands and do something together.

811

:

Michael Whitehouse: Fantastic.

812

:

And if you're typing that in and

you're, if you're listening to

813

:

this, there are three E's in a row.

814

:

It is B E E E P I C outsourcing,

Be Epic Outsourcing.

815

:

Well, this has been.

816

:

Fascinating.

817

:

And and probably we talked about

having you on the podcast, like, okay,

818

:

well, this is more about networking.

819

:

And you said, yeah, how about

this, this, this, and this?

820

:

I'm like, okay.

821

:

Yeah.

822

:

It's about networking.

823

:

Let's get you on here.

824

:

So and I'm glad I had John cause that's

why I love, love hosting podcasts.

825

:

Never know what I'm going to learn

and what I'm going to discover and.

826

:

So I'm glad I'm relaunching the season.

827

:

So thank you so much

for being on the show.

828

:

Is there anything I didn't ask that I

should have that you want to mention?

829

:

Beejel Parmar: No, you asked me

a great bunch of great questions.

830

:

I really truly appreciate you

having me on the show, Michael.

831

:

Michael Whitehouse: All right, fantastic.

832

:

Beejel Parmar: Thank you.

833

:

All right.

834

:

Bye for now.

835

:

Michael Whitehouse: Thank you for joining

us for the Guy Who Knows A Guy podcast.

836

:

I'm Michael Whitehouse,

the guy who knows the guy.

837

:

And I hope you'll join us in December

from the 12th to the 14th for JV Connect.

838

:

Go to guywhoknowsaguy.

839

:

com for more details.

840

:

Now, if it's after December 2023

and you're listening to this.

841

:

It's okay, because we're going to

be doing this event every quarter.

842

:

So go to GuyWhoKnowsAGuy.

843

:

com, see what's new, see what's

happening, and of course check the show

844

:

notes to learn about our guests and

how you can get in touch with them.

845

:

Check out our next episode for

more great training, information,

846

:

and networking tips from Michael

Whitehouse, the Guy Who Knows a Guy.

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About the Podcast

The Guy Who Knows A Guy Podcast
They say it's not what you know, it's who you know, and it's true that a network is one of your most important assets. A network is not something you're born with. It's something you build. Every week, Michael Whitehouse, the author of The Guy Who Knows A Guy, and established connector in Southeast Connecticut will interview experts and entrepreneurs from Southeast Connecticut to share their expertise and experience with you.

He'll also answer your questions directly on topics of networking, sales, marketing, entrepreneurship and more. Email in your questions in text or audio format. Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/guywhoknowsaguy/support

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Michael Whitehouse