How Stealth Agents Works: Matching, Pricing, Onboarding, and What to Expect

This document covers how Stealth Agents works from intake through ongoing engagement: how we screen VAs, how the matching process works, what the first 48 hours look like, pricing structure, and what happens if the arrangement is not working.

---

How we screen and vet VAs

The core differentiator in any VA service is the quality of the selection process behind it. Most freelance platforms apply no screening - the VA writes their own profile, lists their skills, and you are the screener.

We run a multi-stage process before any VA enters our active talent pool:

1. Application and initial filter. We receive thousands of applications and begin with a written screening that evaluates English fluency, communication style, and baseline professional presentation. Applications that do not meet our minimum written English standard do not advance.

2. Skills assessment. Candidates complete task-specific evaluations relevant to the work they claim to perform: data organization, written communication, tool familiarity. We verify that claimed proficiencies reflect actual capabilities.

3. Video interview. A structured interview that evaluates verbal communication, problem-solving approach, and the judgment quality we look for in VA-client interactions.

4. Background and reference check. We verify prior work history and conduct reference interviews with previous clients or employers.

We accept fewer than 1 in 112 applicants who go through this process. That acceptance rate is not a marketing claim - it is a practical consequence of maintaining a talent pool that can be placed in client environments with confidence. The businesses that suffer from bad VA experiences are almost always placing candidates they sourced themselves from unvetted pools. Our selection rate exists because the cost of a bad match - to the client, and to our retention - is too high to rationalize a lower standard.

---

How matching works

When you complete a strategy call, you do not get whoever is next in a queue. You get a candidate shortlisted against your specific requirements.

The strategy call produces a written profile covering:

• Your industry and the specific work context
• The tasks you need covered, with estimated hours
• Tools and platforms you use
• Communication style and working hours preference
• Time zone requirements

We use that profile to pull candidates from our active talent pool who have relevant industry exposure and whose availability aligns with your coverage needs. The shortlisting happens before you ever interact with the VA. By the time we schedule your onboarding session, the candidate has already been briefed on your business.

This is why most clients are operational within 48 hours of their strategy call. We are not posting a job listing and waiting for applicants. We are selecting from people who have already passed screening and whose background fits your profile.

---

Pricing structure

Our pricing is based on a monthly arrangement rather than hourly billing, which produces more predictable costs and eliminates the friction of hourly tracking.

Part-time arrangements typically cover 20-40 hours per month and work best for clients who have a defined, bounded set of tasks (daily inbox management, weekly social scheduling, CRM updates after sales calls). Starting part-time is also the recommended path for clients who are new to VA arrangements and want to build confidence in the delegation process before scaling.

Full-time dedicated arrangements cover 160 hours per month and work best when you have 20+ hours per week of recurring work to delegate and want a VA who operates as a consistent part of your team rather than a task executor.

Specialty roles (bookkeeping support, outbound SDR, executive assistant) carry rate premiums over general administrative support because the skills involved take longer to develop and are harder to replace.

There are no long-term contracts. You can adjust your plan based on your business needs. The pricing you pay reflects the VA labor cost plus the infrastructure we maintain around it: screening, client success, backup coverage policies, and the replacement guarantee.

---

The first 48 hours

Here is what the first 48 hours after a strategy call actually looks like:

Hours 0-8. Your strategy call produces a written needs profile. Our matching team uses that profile to identify candidates from our active pool whose background fits your requirements.

Hours 8-24. We brief the selected VA on your business: your industry, your working hours, the core tasks they will be taking on, and the tools they will need access to.

Hours 24-48. We schedule and run the onboarding session with you and your VA. The onboarding session typically runs 60-90 minutes and covers the first tasks your VA will handle, how output should be delivered, communication preferences, and any open questions.

Many clients have their VA working on real tasks by the end of the onboarding session. The preparation work we do before you meet your VA is what makes that possible.

---

Timezone coverage

We match VAs to clients based on timezone overlap as a first-order criteria, not as an afterthought. When you describe your working hours during the strategy call, we use that as a matching constraint.

This matters practically because some VA work is time-sensitive. Lead follow-up that happens 6 hours after a lead comes in is less effective than follow-up that happens within the first hour. Customer service tickets that sit until your VA wakes up in a different timezone create a different outcome than tickets answered during your business day.

For clients operating across multiple timezones or internationally, we have built coverage models that account for different market windows. The structure depends on what your business actually requires.

---

What happens if the fit is not right

Our 98% client retention rate is a product of the matching process. But the guarantee is unconditional because we stand behind the process, not because we assume it always works perfectly.

If the match is not right after the onboarding period, we replace the VA at no charge. No explanation required. The documentation you have built during onboarding (task briefs, SOPs, tool access) carries forward to the replacement - you are not starting from zero.

In rare cases where replacement is not the right answer, we issue a full refund. We keep the guarantee clean because our matching accuracy makes it the exception. When a placement does not work, we treat it as diagnostic information about where our intake process missed something, and we adjust.

If you are in the first two weeks of an engagement and something is not working, contact your client success manager directly. Issues in Week 1 are almost always fixable through a brief, a calibration session, or an adjustment to task scope. Issues that are not addressed until Week 4 are harder to resolve.

---

Part-time versus full-time

Most clients start part-time. The common pattern is: part-time for 60-90 days while the delegation process gets established, followed by a move to full-time as the scope expands naturally or a business event creates a clear need for more coverage.

Part-time is the right starting point when you are not yet certain which tasks to delegate, when you have a narrow defined scope, or when you want to build trust with a new VA before expanding their responsibilities.

Full-time is right when you have 20+ hours of recurring weekly work that fits the delegation model, when your VA has proven reliable in a part-time arrangement, or when a business trigger (a new team member, a product launch, a high season) creates a clear need for consistent coverage.

Some clients run multiple VAs across different functions. The arrangement scales to what the business needs.

---

Industry coverage

We match against industry experience, not general transferable skills. A VA placed with a real estate client should have prior real estate administrative experience - understanding of MLS listings, transaction timelines, and what urgent means in a deal context. Not someone who completed a course on the topic.

We serve businesses across 35+ industries. For unusual or highly specialized niches, we will tell you on the strategy call if we cannot match confidently against your specific requirements - rather than overpromise a fit and deliver a generalist.

---

Getting started

The starting point is a free strategy call. The call runs 30-45 minutes and produces the matching profile we use to identify your VA. You will leave with a clear picture of what we can deliver, the pricing for your scope, and a timeline for going live.

To schedule, visit stealthagents.com or contact our team directly.

---

AI tools and AI-assisted workflows

As of 2026, all Stealth Agents VAs complete AI-tool training as part of their onboarding. The training covers approved AI platforms (ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity), output verification requirements, and the categories of data that must never be submitted to AI platforms (credentials, financial records, client PII).

What AI-assisted workflows look like in practice:

• Research tasks: VAs use AI tools to compile initial research, then verify facts against primary sources before delivering output. Research turnaround is 2-3x faster than manual-only approaches, without reducing accuracy standards.
• Drafting tasks: For email drafts, document templates, and content outlines, VAs use AI to generate a first draft and then edit for your specific voice, context, and accuracy requirements. You receive a human-reviewed draft, not raw AI output.
• Data summarization: VAs can summarize long documents, meeting transcripts, or report sets using AI assistance. The output is reviewed against the source material before delivery.

Opt-in, not default:

AI-assisted workflows are available but not applied without client awareness. If you prefer fully manual workflows - no AI assistance on any task - your client success manager can document that preference in your account brief, and it will be communicated to your VA as a standing instruction.

If you want to use AI tools for certain task types but not others, that scope can also be defined. Most clients who engage with AI-assisted workflows do so selectively: AI-assisted for research and drafting, fully manual for anything touching financial data or client PII.

---

How we handle performance issues

If your VA is underperforming, the fastest path to resolution is your dedicated client success manager - not waiting and hoping the situation improves.

Common performance issues we resolve quickly:

• Response time gaps: If your VA is not acknowledging messages within your agreed window, a direct conversation with your success manager produces a correction within 24 hours in most cases.
• Quality misses: If output quality is below your expectation on a specific task type, the fix is usually a more detailed SOP or a calibration session. We facilitate that.
• Scope creep: If the role has expanded beyond the original brief without a rate or hours conversation, we reset expectations and document the updated scope formally.

For issues that do not resolve after a calibration attempt, we initiate a replacement at no additional cost. The replacement VA receives a handoff brief from your outgoing VA and from your success manager before their first day. Most clients report no productivity loss during a replacement transition when the handoff is handled this way.