The Gritty Virtual Assistant

When talking about the idea of "trust," many folks tend to think it’s about honesty.

But trust is about so much more than that, and it’s something every Virtual Assistant needs to understand because it’s the one thing that forging new relationships with prospects and cementing existing bonds with current clients hinges upon.

Trust isn’t just about whether someone is a truthful type of person.

Trust isn’t something that’s handed over on a silver platter. That’s a fallacy that Virtual Assistants need to get straight about.

Virtual Assistants are crazy if they think a client should grant them instant access to every part of their business, much less remote access to their computer. You might as well ask them to take their clothes off and get naked. Not gonna happen.

Yes, there needs to be minimum level of trust for any relationship to work, or to even begin, for that matter. But trust isn’t something that is turned over lock, stock and barrel. Trust is something that is both earned and grown into, with different levels being achieved as you continue to work together. And the more trust is established, the more will be entrusted to you.

For clients, trust is about feeling safe. It’s about feeling a level of comfort and confidence that a Virtual Assistant they are considering working with is competent and will be well-worth the time and money invested.

That’s where credibility and rapport come in; those are the things that help establish that first level of trust.

It’s why you need to have an address and contact information easily found on your website–that helps clients feel like they are dealing with a legitimate business and not scam artist.

It’s why your website should be as professionally designed as possible–it’s appearance is going to directly impact how prospects view your abilities. They will both consciously and subconsciously connect the look of your site with your skill level, professionalism and competence.

It’s why you need to talk to your prospective client, person-to-person, in your copy–that helps establish rapport, like you’re taking directly to them.

It’s why your website needs to be about them (and not you)–that helps prospects see themselves and their issues in your copy, and feel confident that you understand their challenges and are able to help solve them.

The next level of trust is achieved once you begin working together. What comes into play here in instilling continued trust is consistency. Consistency in your demeanor. Consistency in your professionalism. Consistency in the quality of your work and service. Consistency in your follow-through and responses.

All these things trigger in clients the feeling that the other shoe isn’t going to drop any time soon. But if you are inconsistent, flaky or schizophrenic in any of these areas, you’re going to shatter any trust that you’ve managed to create and actually create distrust and disharmony.

What happens then is that they won’t trust that they can relax with you and let go of control. They won’t trust that you will always follow-through. They won’t trust that you will get things done when or in the manner you say you will.

So achieving that second level of trust is going to be really important for the relationship to progress to the next level, which is when the client begins to allow the Virtual Assistant further into their business. If remote access is necessary to some of the work, this is the stage when it’s natural and appropriate for that trust to be granted. But try to assert that before the client is ready, and you risk damage to the relationship.

Trust is a sensibility that you as a Virtual Assistant need to be diligently and consciously aware of. Your understanding about how it works–how people work–is something you should be continually learning about. Don’t demand it from clients as your right–because it’s not.

Would you give a stranger off the street the keys to your car or your house? Of course not. So don’t expect that clients will feel any different about their business. But let them get to know what you’re about, who you are, what you know and what you understand about them, and it will be a different story.