Don’t Be A Victim Of Your Business

By Cheryl Callighan, MVA, Mentor/Coach 

The title of this blog post came to mind after reading several posts on the virtual assistant list serves. It appeared to me that many of the newer virtual assistants were having problems in two areas: 1) taking responsibility for their virtual assistant business and 2) setting boundaries with clients. 

Those of you that know me know I’m an ardent fan of Jack Canfield and his book The Success Principles. I’ve taught The Success Principles and have had numerous people tell me “This changed my life!”  

Well, Success Principle No. 1 is “Be Responsible.” This one principle alone has changed my life and my business. I no longer look for excuses, blame anyone or anything else for the outcomes of my choices nor do I complain. I try to make smart choices in my business and in my life. If the outcome is not what I was hoping for I examine my choice and my reaction to the event. I strive to learn from my mistakes.  

Being responsible as it applies to my business and how I interact with my clients means no excuses, no blaming anyone or anything and no complaining. Simply find a solution, make the right choices and provide excellent services and work products.  

I take complete responsibility for telling my clients about fees, terms, communication style, etc. I take responsibility for getting all the details of a project, getting an actual, not arbitrary deadline, and I get it in writing. My clients are aware that any changes or deviations from the original project scope means additional time and fees.  

Most importantly, all clients sign a contract and we review the terms in person over the phone. No contract, no work. Plain and simple.  

My team members all have contracts as well. Their contracts spell out their services, fees and payment terms. Both contracts have a clause that allows either party to terminate the contract with 30 days written notice.  

As for boundaries especially with clients, most of these are laid out in my contract but I specifically review my hours and communication style with each client. Clients are aware of my regular business hours and how I prefer to communicate even before they sign a contract. Urgent or complex issues deserve a phone call, day-to-day tasks or updates work well with email and I don’t use IM with my clients, it’s too disruptive for my work flow.  

I do not work evenings, weekends or holidays period. I have my boundaries for family time as well and I stick to them. While my youngest son is going to be 20 this month (no kids at home!) I now have grandchildren that I spend time with regularly.  

The bottom line is to take responsibility for all aspects of your business from setting your fees, setting your hours, getting detailed information on each project and establishing boundaries for your business operation. These few things will go along way in avoiding conflicts with your clients, your family and help to smooth out your daily business operation through less stress for you.  

Take time to identify just how you want your business to run, what you expect from your clients and what they can expect from you. No one will be disappointed and your clients will respect your business just as much as you do.    

© 2007 Cheryl K. Callighan, MVA, owner of eOffice-Virtual Assistants LLC providing administrative and secretarial services to small businesses and entrepreneurs and the University of Virtual Assistants where she assists new virtual assistants through online training. She has over 30+ years of administrative experience and 18 years as a virtual assistant. Contact: Cheryl@eOffice-VirtualAssist.com * Cheryl@UofVAs.com. Websites: www.eOffice-VirtualAssist.com * www.UofVAs.com.

Firing a Difficult Client

By Cheryl Callighan, MVA, Mentor/Coach 

We’ve all experienced the occasional “bad apple” client. She takes up a great deal of your time and adds very little to the bottom line. You’ve tried to rehabilitate her, offering ways to improve the relationship. But instead the problems keep piling up.  

It may be time to “fire” this client. 

It makes good business sense to fire clients whose emotional and professional toll on you and your business is no longer worth whatever revenue they generate. But it’s important to do it right. Your actions should leave the door open to doing business with them in the future and prevent them from disparaging you to others. Here are some suggestions to make the process less painful for all parties:  

Be honest with the client. Explain that you no longer supply the level of service she demands and that it would be best for her to seek another provider.  

Raise your fees. A much higher price tag may discourage a continued relationship. If not, at least you will be compensated for your higher level of service.  

Don’t renew expiring contracts. Let the natural course of the relationship run out. You may want to give the client a heads-up before the contract expires.  

Use escape options. If you operate under a contractual agreement, use the escape clause – the one that lets either party out with written notice. 

Be sure to talk to your subcontractors about your decision. Insufficient communication may lead to unfounded rumors that could disrupt business. Your subcontractors may be concerned about how releasing this client will impact the company and their own stability. Explain the situation and reassure then that the company and their positions remain secure.

© 2007 Cheryl K. Callighan, MVA, owner of eOffice-Virtual Assistants LLC providing administrative and secretarial services to small businesses and entrepreneurs and the University of Virtual Assistants where she assists new virtual assistants through online training. She has over 30+ years of administrative experience and 18 years as a virtual assistant. Contact: Cheryl@eOffice-VirtualAssist.com * Cheryl@UofVAs.com. Websites: www.eOffice-VirtualAssist.com * www.UofVAs.com.

Why Continued Education for Virtual Assistants?

Because our target market (small to mid-sized business, entrepreneurs, independent professionals, etc.) is becoming more technology savvy than ever before. Computers are mainstream. Obvious, but true. How do we communicate with our clients? Via the Internet.  

Today’s clients are more likely well-versed in the typical Microsoft Office programs, Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Publisher. Maybe not as skilled or experienced as most Virtual Assistants but still they continue to obtain the rudimentary skills that serve them.  

Then their question becomes “Why pay someone $XX per hour when I can do this myself and save money?” It’s mostly about money and secondly about saving time. When our client/prospect is faced with spending money or spending time (if they think they can produce something fairly reasonable) they will choose using their time and saving the money.  

As a VA it didn’t take me very long to figure out my perfect client was about as tech savvy as I was. Having clients with a clue about technology simply makes working for them and communicating with them much, much easier. I like that.  

Then there’s the bigger problem. If your client/prospect knows as much as you do about the current software, hardware and technology, what are you going to sell them? What is your Unique Selling Position (UPS) going to be? Sure the old standbys could work,  “saving you time for your business” or “saving you money over hiring a full-time in-house secretary.” But what if their 14-year old daughter can put together a decent PowerPoint presentation? (My son was doing PowerPoint with audio for book reports at 9 years old.) What do we offer the client/prospect then?  

Well, that’s were continuing education or professional development comes into play. In order to provide value to our clients and prospects we need to be able to offer them services, skills and experience they don’t typically have (or have access to) such as creating a podcast for their web site, editing that podcast and maybe even uploading it to podcast a small business directory for marketing. Or maybe setting up a blog for them, complete with podcasts and RSS feed. Or maybe creating a package for their business consisting of a web site, blog, electronic newsletter and podcasts.  

Virtual Assistance is not just word processing any more! We need to seize technology and begin providing new services with a higher level of value to our clients and prospects. We need to keep abreast of the newest, latest and greatest technology not just for ourselves or to use in our own businesses but to sell to our clients and prospects. After all, the Virtual Assistant industry is literally founded on technology – computers and the Internet – we need to continue to carry technology forward, for ourselves, for our industry and for our clients/prospects.  

© 2006-2007 Cheryl Callighan, MVA, EOffice-Virtual Assistants LLC and the University of Virtual Assistants. All rights reserved.