The Gritty Virtual Assistant Blog

You’ve seen Virtual Assistant sites like this…

Newer Virtual Assistants who are so eager for business they’ll make all kinds of unrealistic promises in order to get clients, any clients, to bite.

Some of the claims and promises they make fall only *this* short of practically telling clients they’ll peel their grapes and lick their boots.

They don’t understand that they are creating expectations in clients that will be extremely difficult, if not downright impossible, to live up to or manage, and thereby set themselves up for failure. (not to mention, let down the very clients who depended on them).

It neither serves nor honors clients (or yourself) to say anything to get the business. In fact, it’s just the opposite.

Denise Aday wrote a fantastic post on her blog that I think is a must-read for every Virtual Assistant and client: http://adayva.blogspot.com/2008/05/tough-love-accountability-or-four.html

Now that’s honesty… and guess what’s great about honesty? It means it is trustworthy. People who are trustworthy can be counted on to be consistently truthful and reliable in their words and actions. Clients of trustworthy people know that they will get straight-up advice and feedback that will truly help them move forward in their business and get things done.

Those who can’t be truthful and honest about reality are often people-pleasers. People-pleasers think they are being nice. But what’s nice or honorable about dishonesty (because that’s exactly what it is–dishonest)? They’ll say anything just to be nice or get the business, and in the end, there’s nothing nice or helpful about that. When you lift the facade, people-pleasers are just selfish, self-absorbed and concerned only with their own interests.

Others who can’t be truthful about reality are suffering from a scarcity complex. Scarcity thinking and the poverty mentality are killers, folks. If you are saying anything to get business, you are letting fear-based thinking get the best of you. This kind of thinking is powerfully debilitating and it will prevent you from growing a business that serves and honors both you and your clients, one that is sustainable, manageable, and will attract the right kind of long-term clients who will truly honor and respect the valuable assistance you provide for them.

Don’t let fear-based thinking guide your words or actions. Trust that when you instill realistic, reasonable and respectful expectations and are reliably, consistently truthful and upfront, you, your business and your clients will reap the benefits a hundredfold.