{"id":303,"date":"2026-03-23T00:00:45","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T00:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.iablueprint.com\/blog\/?p=303"},"modified":"2026-03-18T14:41:52","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T14:41:52","slug":"our-virtual-assistant-was-promoted-to-team-captain-in-just-6-months","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.iablueprint.com\/blog\/our-virtual-assistant-was-promoted-to-team-captain-in-just-6-months\/","title":{"rendered":"Our Virtual Assistant Was Promoted to Team Captain in Just 6 Months"},"content":{"rendered":"

When clients hire a virtual assistant, they often gain more than what they bargained for. In many cases, they\u2019re looking for someone to handle admin work \u2014 but they end up with someone who delivers much more value. While <\/span>hiring the wrong person<\/span><\/a> brings steep costs, hiring the right VA brings far-reaching benefits.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That\u2019s exactly what happened with our virtual assistant Annabelle, who we placed with an insurance agency in Oklahoma. Initially, they hoped to find more time for core priorities by enlisting her to help with admin tasks. But she went above and beyond the call of duty, as I\u2019ll share in a moment.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Have you found yourself wondering, \u201cWhat are the benefits of hiring a virtual assistant for my company?\u201d While every case looks different, Annabelle\u2019s story highlights the level of value a skilled VA can deliver. Read on to learn how she brought invaluable insights shaped by her insurance industry background.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Insights emerged from experience.<\/span><\/h2>\n

The insurance agency that hired Annabelle was dealing with poor client retention. Her role involved helping with renewal quoting. The company had hoped that by hiring a VA, they could offload some of the admin tasks so they could devote more attention to their clients.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Annabelle expertly handled the admin work, but she didn\u2019t stop there. Noticing opportunities for improving customer relationship management, she offered guidance that helped increase client retention from around 80% to 90%. For her company, the financial benefits of hiring a virtual assistant were abundantly clear.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It turns out that Annabelle\u2019s experience at a previous agency gave her valuable insights on how to improve customer relationships. A highly perceptive person, she\u2019d noticed what worked and what didn\u2019t, and she applied that knowledge to the current situation. When she voiced ideas, they listened, because what she said made sense. And they let her lead with those insights.<\/span><\/p>\n

Her ideas reshaped client relationships.<\/span><\/h2>\n

What types of ideas did Annabelle offer? Some of her suggestions involved procedures, and others related to being more proactive on renewals. She urged the team to start working on renewals earlier and taking initiative to carefully review the options with the customer. They focused on a mix of cost and coverage in these conversations, tailoring recommendations to the client\u2019s needs. Their customers appreciated the personalized guidance from the team, and retention quickly began to rise.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Company leaders liked her ideas so much that they promoted her to head of client retention within her first six months. She began leading a team that included two other employees, developing the company\u2019s client retention strategies and assigning responsibilities to these direct reports. In the process, customer relationships kept growing stronger.<\/span><\/p>\n

A curious mindset led her to notice patterns.<\/span><\/h2>\n

Annabelle brought an inquisitive mindset and thoughtful energy to her work. By getting curious about how to enhance her company\u2019s efforts, she drew connections to her previous industry experience. She noticed patterns unfolding and thought, <\/span>I\u2019ve seen that before.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

She also brought an encouraging, upbeat attitude to this effort. She believed in her ideas and the team\u2019s ability to carry them out. Her enthusiasm was contagious, affecting the whole team. That\u2019s another reason why she made a great team leader \u2014 she inspired others, making them feel good about what they were doing. As a result, they wanted to follow her example.<\/span><\/p>\n

Leadership comes from all directions.<\/span><\/h2>\n

\"\"\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Image source<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n

This experience doesn\u2019t just reveal Annabelle\u2019s strengths. It also reveals a strength of the agency: being open-minded enough to take input from unexpected places.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Leadership can come from all directions, not just from the top down. Innovative ideas can <\/span>emerge at all levels<\/span><\/a>, and often, people working in a particular role have the best insights on how to improve their processes. If leaders are only listening to themselves, they\u2019re missing out on this collective wisdom from people on the frontlines.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Like Annabelle\u2019s company, when someone shares an insight that gives you an \u201cAha!\u201d moment, use it. When you\u2019re open to new ideas, you maximize your firm\u2019s innovative potential and fully leverage all the wisdom, intelligence, and creativity at your disposal.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

How to draw out these ideas? By taking a <\/span>servant leadership approach<\/span><\/a>, you can empower people to voice their creative input, as researchers write in <\/span>Frontiers in Psychology.<\/span><\/i> Servant leadership helps people to think outside of the box, they found. Why? It fosters the psychological safety to take risks, share knowledge, and suggest new approaches. This also makes work more mentally engaging, boosting job satisfaction and helping people truly thrive.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So, what does <\/span>servant leadership<\/span><\/a> mean in practice? Briefly, a servant leader <\/span>centers their people\u2019s development<\/span><\/a> and well-being, knowing everything else hinges on that. Coaching them to success, exercising emotional intelligence, and listening to their perspectives are crucial ingredients of this approach.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Annabelle\u2019s case isn\u2019t an isolated incident, by the way. In ia Blueprint, we\u2019ve had several skilled, smart VAs become great executive assistants or department leaders. Our virtual assistant Jastine oversees our accounting functions, processing commission payments for producers who work for client agencies. She also supervises the processing of commissions for some of our clients\u2019 salespeople \u2014 and to top it all off, she oversees a client renewals team as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s Madi, who began working with a client as a VA and later moved to ia Blueprint to manage employees. She has a strong understanding of our core values and what matters most to me, and she knows how to convey that to our hires.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As these cases show, the benefits of hiring a virtual assistant are substantial. Across industries, the VA and executive assistant role is expanding quickly. Increasingly, companies are realizing a skilled VA or EA can do much more than paperwork and data entry. Their strong organizational skills \u2014 and often, managerial abilities \u2014 position them to take the lead on key functions, becoming a company\u2019s go-to person for renewals, accounting, customer relationship management, or another key area. For these reasons, hiring the right person <\/span>enhances teamwork<\/span><\/a> and productivity across the organization.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

With her strong insights on how to proactively manage the renewal process, Annabelle made a real difference for her company. For that client, hiring her was one of those game-changing decisions \u2014 by guiding them in refining their processes, she helped them ramp up the volume of business they were handling.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Maybe you\u2019re wondering, <\/span>What are the benefits of hiring a virtual assistant in my industry?<\/span><\/i> I\u2019ll be happy to talk through the ways in which a VA can help insurance companies stay organized and productive. <\/span>If you\u2019re interested in hiring a virtual assistant \u2014 or just want more information \u2014 <\/span><\/i>set up a discovery call<\/span><\/i><\/a>. I\u2019ll be glad to talk through all the ways in which a skilled assistant can help you streamline your operation and free up your time for your highest priorities.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Learn how one skilled VA helped a client refine their processes by bringing great ideas to the table.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":305,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beaux-pilgirm","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iablueprint.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iablueprint.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iablueprint.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iablueprint.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iablueprint.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=303"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.iablueprint.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":307,"href":"https:\/\/www.iablueprint.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303\/revisions\/307"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iablueprint.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iablueprint.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iablueprint.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iablueprint.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}