Loading ...I had some lovely correspondence with a legal business coach last week. She was looking to partner with a Virtual Assistant and proceeded to outline a spectrum of skills and talents she was looking for. Essentially, she wanted someone who would be her administrative assistant, web designer AND copywriter among other things.
Of course, it was clear she was expecting to get all this for one price, too.
I don’t fault her–our industry has done a poor job of managing client expectations and educating the marketplace about what Virtual Assistance is all about. (My organization, the Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce, is working diligently to correct that.)
On top of that, too many unschooled Virtual Assistants who lack any formal business training or knowledge try to be all things to anybody just to land a client. No one really wins that way.
Virtual Assistance is the trade of administrative professionals performing administrative support services. One of the things I discuss with clients is making sure they are looking in the right place when they need support.
It’s been a trend of late for Virtual Assistants to think that web design, graphic design, copywriting and so forth are administrative skills, when in fact those are distinctly separate professions and skillsets.
I think they do a disservice to clients by trying to be all things because what usually emerges is the fact that they really aren’t qualified to perform those services at a professional level (unless, of course, they actually do have that training, talent and professional experience).
So I explained to this client that Virtual Assistance is administrative support. If you want a copywriter, hire a copywriter. If you need web design, graphic design, bookkeeping, whatever… that’s who you should look for. Why would you hire an amateur, or someone outside the industry, to do the job of a pro?
Sometimes, you can find a Virtual Assistant who happens to have the background, training and talent to provide those services at a professional level under one roof, myself included.
But otherwise, it’s kind of like asking a plumber if he can do your accounting, web design and legal work on top of fixing the leak.
I let clients know very clearly that my Virtual Assistant services are strictly administrative in nature–that’s what Virtual Assistance is. I do offer creative services, but those are separate divisions in my practice, not at all related, and are not included with my administrative services. There are different processes involved, and different talent, skill and knowledge required that comes at a higher value. For that reason, I charge a separate rate and require a separate contract for that work.
The solution I have worked out is to offer clients a choice. They can contract with me specifically for Virtual Assistance (administrative services only) at one of my standard monthly retainer rates.
Or, if they want me to also include my value, skill, knowledge and talent as a designer in with my administrative services to them, they can pay a much higher monthly retainer fee.
They get clear as to what the differentiation means real quick.
Over the long-run, it’s better for clients to let me focus on Virtual Assistance, and pay separately for work and projects outside of that field when they need it.
