SmartPA Reviews 297

We have been working with Debbie for nearly 2 year and she has been instrumental helping us strengthen and grow as a small charity. She is professional, proactive and friendly and we have been extremely pleased with the support and advice we have received. I would recommend Smart PA in particular Debbie to anyone looking for HR support and I look forward to a long working relationship

I realised this provider was not for me almost straight away when they charged me for the welcome (or "onboarding") meeting. At that meeting, they had no suggestions for how to send dictated recordings for transcription, other than WhatsApp. That app was eminently unsuitable for what I needed - but then I was charged for them looking into alternatives even though I had said I would do that.

Response time was fast - so fast that I thought they were probably using transcription software; something that was confirmed in the "offboarding" script I received. Early on, I had concluded that I could probably get just as good a service using AI - for a lot less money.

Transcription generally accurate, although I was concerned that I had to explain the difference between "its" and "it's" and similar basics. It meant I did not have confidence that the PA would be up to the more complex tasks I had anticipated.

Before joining Smart PA I was under the impression that I would not be charged for training the PA - I thought that if I was giving my time, the PA's time would also be given. From discussions before joining, I thought that the payback for Smart PA was they would get free staff training and that once the PA was able to do more for me, I would upgrade my package and buy more hours from them. Sadly, I found they take a very narrow view on this. From my perspective as a customer it seemed that any time spent on me, including telling me what I had asked them to do that week, was charged for.

My designated PA was on leave quite a lot - but the stand-in "Pod" system worked reasonably well - although not all the training information was passed on as I was told it would be.

It was more limiting than I thought it would be to have a PA who was not physically present.

Some of the transcriptions came back password protected so that I could not edit them. By the time they were unlocked, target turn-round was exceeded.

In the end I did not use anywhere near the 10 hours a month I bought - because of the limitations on what I could ask a remote PA service to do.

So, a useful trial, but didn't fully meet expectations. If you can provide a trainer whose own time is not expensive it could be worth persevering. What's good is that you can try for around £300 a month and cancel on 60 days' notice.

It was HORRIBLE!! I was willing to pay the eye watering £30 per hour (entry point) if it meant an excellent service. Except that it was the WORST service I have used ever. The VA was useless, needed me to clarify every tiny thing that could have just been googled, missed the deadline, and took an eternity to get started! Worst is the company required you to give 90 days notice!!! 90 more paid days of terrible service? No thank you. I just cancelled the direct debit (they didn’t want to refund me despite the work being left undone and the missed deadline, they only offered extra “free” hours which aren’t free if I’m spending my own time fixing the 💩 show the VA has done) and I hired the top rated VA on UpWork. I sent her exactly the same task, with exactly the same wording, and she got it finished and done with minimal intervention from me within a FEW DAYS 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️ She costs me £20 per hour and if I need extra hours, I pay per each extra hour, not having to buy a wholass 10 additional hours package as with SmartPA or pay an additional hourly rate for various tasks (e.g. if I wanted a SmartPA to put their findings into a report, that is not covered by the £30 hourly rate and would be higher e.g. £35 per hour). Honestly, save your money, I am happy to send you my PA’s details too since I only use her for 5 to 10 hours per week.

We found working with Michelle this past year a fantastic experience. She provided great help to us with our office administration and provided helpful advice when needed. She was diligent, personable and professional. We would strongly recommend her services.

I had the pleasure of working alongside Maia, at SmartPA, for 9 months this year. Maia stepped in and supported our team during a long term absence and did a fantastic job. Despite no prior experience within our industry, Maia picked things up very quickly and provided first class support. The role involved day to day diary management, travel planning, expense management, minute taking and even a two day team strategy event in Paris; all undertaken expertly. Highly recommend!

We have been using the services at Smart PA for nearly over a year now and are extremely happy with the services provided. Our dedicated PA is very efficient and is quick to understand new processes. Our collaboration contributes greatly to the smooth running of our business. We are very happy!

Nicole is amazing. Always available and an important part of our business. The SmartPA customer success team really takes their role seriously. It's a great service that I would highly recommend.

Our on going experience with SmartPA has been positive. In particular Lily who we work with mostly is fantastically professional, and works clearly and effectively.

Chrystal is a rock star and I truly appreciate the support SmartPA has given me

Our Smart PA
Gabrielle is responsive, listens to what we need, is efficient and proactive. She is supported by colleagues who cover her workload when she's away. SmartPA are easy to work with. We're impressed!

We've always found that SmartPA and their staff are very good and proactive and we're very happy with the admin service they provide

SmartPA have been amazing of late, a bit of a game changer as my business has ramped up and I am finding myself busier and busier. Knowing I have the support of SmartPA and the knowledge, expertise and capabilities of Demi-Leigh as my PA has been of immense value to me.

Today, for example, I received a message from Demi-Leigh asking what could be done in the remaining allocated time this month - I still have no idea how we have time left over after all that has been achieved this month. Either way it makes me super happy.

Anybody who may require support with business admin, or indeed most business functions should really have a chat with SmartPA.

Have only used Smart PA for transcription so far. Smart PA is quite an expensive option for transcription when compared with AI, but I'm hopeful that I will be able to progress to more administrative and value-added services over time. What's giving me pause for thought is the amount of my own time I will need to give to training. The PA who has done my work is competent, helpful and polite. I was warned there would be a few bedding in issues to start with, and that has proved to be the case with the contract administration side of my experience. They have been reasonably responsive to my feedback.

Maia and the team at SmartPA have been invaluable for us, offering a great deal of support to the senior leadership team and organising events for the wider business. They are knowledgeable, flexible and really feel part of the team!

We have had a fantastic experience with SmartPA! Our PA Nicky got up to speed with all of our systems very quickly and has become a vital part of how we run our business. We would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone!

By nature, I am not a great delegator of work and I have been increasingly concerned about the size of my notional “to do list” which never seems to get any smaller and the added personal pressure that brings. I was therefore highly delighted to have met Angela and to start working with her and the fact that she has in the past worked in different environments/sectors and in different capacities, she was quickly able to understand my business and my pain points. It is no surprise that the jobs on my “to do list” are those which are important but which I dislike getting involved with and Angela has taken such a burden away from me. She has given me back time to do other productive things and has relieved me of the constant pressure to progress other tasks. I am now exploring what other tasks I can pass over and only wish I had met Angela sooner and would not hesitate to recommend her to any other business owner.

Once I was matched with the right PA I received an excellent service, Tashene was efficient, highly accessible and responsive and I very much enjoyed working with her and hugely appreciate the help she gave me.

Angela DeWitt is an amazing VA , she helped me so much with my work and projects. It gave me more precious time to spend on the things I enjoy most and took the dread away from the tasks I didn’t like doing .
Her professional approach was considerate and kind . I would recommend her services to anyone that needs help juggling tasks and get the work life balance right!
Thank you so much Ange

We needed someone to help us out with day to day bookings and travel arrangements for our team. Our team is growing but this is not yet a function that can be handled by a full-time person. By adding Tashene to our team, it allowed giving more space to our employees to focus on their project work and not worry about internal operational stuff.

So professional and helpful…would highly recommended to anyone…