What does being of service really mean?
So often, I see Virtual Assistants thinking it means being “instant assistants.” They make unrealistic (and ultimately undeliverable) promises of “24 hour” and “on-demand” service.
Being of service–true service–means being able to deliver consistently and dependably at a humanly sustainable pace. Listen, you aren’t going to be of service to anyone running around like a chicken with its head cut off.
And that’s exactly where you’ll end up attempting to be an “instant assistant,” bending over backwards trying to inhumanly meet every constant demand. That thinking lacks foresight, business sense, and just plain doesn’t work.
What does work is being intentional in your business. What does that mean? It means examining your business, bringing every process, system and action to conscious thought, and making sure each contributes to your ability to deliver long-term, value-rich, purposeful service.
Why are you doing things the way you do? What are your systems? How do your processes facilitate your workflow? In the big picture, do they allow you to run a dependable, sustainable practice? Do they contribute to your service and consistent dependability to clients? What systems, policies, processes and flows will? What ineffective policies and processes do you need to say “no” to in order to deliver bigger value and superior long-term service?
Being a great service provider doesn’t mean killing yourself. (And remember, Virtual Assistants, you are not a secretarial service–there’s a big difference.) Being a great solo professional service provider means being a conscious business owner and effective (not instant) manager of your client workload.
Thanks for commenting. Yeah, the virtual assistant term is really completely idiotic to...
