Virtual assistants are commonly hired to alleviate businesses of simple tasks—handling administrative duties, managing social media, setting appointments, gathering and following up on leads, and so on. The usual expectation is for VAs to take these menial tasks off your plate and nothing more.

So it came as a surprise to Deana Watson, Keller Williams MAPS Coach and real estate team owner, that her Cyberbacker May went as far as ordering her surprise lunch.

“She even at one point scheduled Panera bread at my local shopping plaza to deliver lunch for me because I was making a joke about how I was getting hangry.”

Ms. Watson’s Cyberbacker apparently coordinated with the in-office director of operations for the gesture. CB May even went the extra mile to ask important questions like how close the store is and what Ms. Watson normally eats from there. She called and placed the order, while the in-office admin in their Fayetteville office paid for the order when it got there.

Ms. Watson recounted the story of how she suddenly got a knock on her office door and her employees jokingly said, “You’re really angry and we don’t like you when you’re hungry.” When Ms. Watson called up Cyberbacker CEO Craig Goodliffe about this heartwarming tale, he also stated that it’s the first time he’s heard this happen.

This simple act is a testament to how well Cyberbacker May knows her client and that she’s genuinely concerned about Ms. Watson’s well-being. Ms. Watson, of course, reciprocates the relationship.

“I love this girl… We’re sharing cultural experiences with each other, so we don’t just talk about business. I know all about your birthday traditions and all kinds of stuff in the Philippines… So it’s become more of a friendship to me than it’s just ‘Hey, you’re my virtual assistant over here’.”

Aside from CB May’s amazing and caring personality, Ms. Watson also thoroughly appreciates her quality of work and attention to detail.

“Every day, she’s like, ‘Don’t forget, you’ve got something in 2 minutes. Whatever you’re doing, stop it. Here’s where you’re going next.’ So she’s guiding me through my whole day, it’s phenomenal.”

Nicole Zuber, Head Director of Operations Coach for MAPS, resonates the same sentiments with her own Cyberbacker, Ice. As a high-caliber executive, Ms. Zuber expects only the best from the people with whom she works, and her Cyberbacker Ice definitely delivers.

“She is on the calls with me, with my clients, and she’s taking notes… If I say in the middle of a call, ‘Hey, I’m gonna send you this sheet, or this model, or a document’, Ice is already on there and sending it. Sometimes I think she knows where I’m gonna go and she’s already prepared for it. Every once in a while I’ll get a message from her while I’m on a call and she’s already sent me the document that she thinks that I’m going to need. She’s already ahead of me… If you’re ahead of me then that’s a great way to win.”

As another high-profile executive, Ms. Watson holds the same standards that Ms. Zuber has. Ms. Watson expects her Cyberbackers to match her level of execution.

“It’s not your job to match their pace; it’s their job to match what you need. So if it’s not a fit, we’re done. [Cyberbacker will] find you a great person.”

Ms. Zuber expresses the huge value her Cyberbacker is adding to her life. She stressed the importance of delegating tasks and doing more with your time.

“If I look at some of the things I’m doing, I could be doing so much more if I took those pieces off my plate, and something as simple as hiring a Cyberbacker or having support, that [is] really going to enable you to do more with less.”

“The cost with Cyberbacker, or the expense, rather… I have received that time back. Time is so precious because you can never get that back. You can make money, you can lose money, [but] you can’t make up more time. With Cyberbacker, you guys have actually bought back some of my time so that I can focus on what I know that I do best and be there as [my clients’] partner. If I have to sit and type notes and recaps and stuff like that… That’s not an efficient use of my time. So it’s really allowed me to do more with less and also step up my game as a coach.”

Ms. Watson says that not only do her Cyberbackers give her more time for herself because of their efficiency, but also because she didn’t need to spend any time and resources providing training that she would give to other employees. She continues to explain how she only needs to specify what she needs, and Cyberbacker provides them for her.

“I’ve never had to train either of them to do anything. I can say, ‘Here’s what I need’. I don’t have to explain how to do it… [Cyberbacker has] done a great job teaching them. It’s helped me get my time back because I’m not training assistants and I’m not having to do anything I don’t want to do, to be honest with you.”

Because the majority of virtual assistants come from countries outside of North America like the Philippines, many employers still have trust issues. They hesitate to hire virtually because of reasons including miscommunication, possibly getting scammed, or getting sub-standard work compared to the work you get from hiring someone in person. Ms. Watson gives her two cents about this issue.

“I think a lot of people are hesitant about virtual assistants because they feel like they have to do so much work or to be quite honest, they feel like the VA doesn’t understand the vernacular or the way that people in America do things. And one thing that I have found is that with [Cyberbacker], that is not a thing. I’ve never had one instance where I had to explain what I meant about something…”

When asked what sets Cyberbackers apart from other virtual assistants, Ms. Watson likens the comparison to calling someone a coach versus calling someone a MAPS coach.

“There’s a different level of quality I have found because I’ve worked with virtual people in the past and I found that in other companies, I still had to teach them the way I wanted things done. I feel like working with a Cyberbacker is the same as working with someone in person minus… I don’t have to train them, or hire them… [Cyberbackers] are kind of served up like, ‘Here are your perfect choices, pick one.’ Working with Cyberbacker specifically has been pretty much a plug-and-play.”

Ms. Zuber and Ms. Watson both encourage many more business owners like themselves to give virtual leverage a chance and hire a Cyberbacker.

Watch the full interviews and testimonials from other clients here.