Loading ...Nothing good ever comes from taking on any ol' client. As a Virtual Assistant, you aren't Walmart and you aren't a commodity. This is a personal one-on-one relationship and fit is going to be absolutely vital for it to be successful, enjoyable, profitable and of equal benefit and value for you and the client.
Client's who don't "get it" are going to be painful to work with at best (and a nightmare at worst). I recently had a conversation with a business owner who indicated that she's learned that Virtual Assistants must be managed and treated like employees.
I stopped her right there and asked her how she would feel if her clients spoke about her in those terms. And of course she wouldn't like that at all. It's an absolutely insulting idea.
If you've got a client who is nodding their head "yes," but all indications are that they don't really understand the nature of your relationship, no matter how well you have tried to educate them, and they persist in treating you like an employee, tell them "thanks, but no thanks."
That kind of relationship will never work between two businesses. The Virtual Assistant is eventually going to resent being treated like an underling and not being given professional courtesy and respect as a fellow business owner. And ill-fitting clients can still do damage to a Virtual Assistant's reputation, even if they are the ones in the wrong or don't get it.
To clients, I say this… if you've got a Virtual Assistant who you feel you must manage and treat like an employee, there's one of two things going on: a) you're a control freak who needs an employee, not a Virtual Assistant, or b) you've got the wrong Virtual Assistant.
Virtual Assistants are business owners. They aren't your employees. If they aren't operating to a professional standard and can't manage their own business and workload in a reasonably responsive and/or skillful manner, I really recommend you terminate your relationship with them and find someone else.
To Virtual Assistants, I want to remind you to lead your own show. Don't let clients dictate how your business is run or what your policies and processes are. If your standard is to provide clients with a one-hour, weekly telephone meeting, stick with that. Don't make exceptions.
You established your policies so that you could run both profitably and productively while being able to serve ALL your clients to an equally fair and consistent standard.
If that means saying "no" to clients when they want to call you every day (because you've set up a very intentioned work schedule and need the uninterrupted concentration)…
If that means saying "no" to clients when they want you to sit on a shared screen access as they talk to themselves and go through their inbox (because that's not a good use of your time)…
If that means saying "no" to clients when they want you to "report" in to them on a daily basis…
So be it! Take the lead in your own business! You explain to clients how things work and what your processes are in your business. Not the other way around.
That said, none of this is to punish clients. You have standards, policies and processes intentionally and methodically set up in your business because they are what will enable you to run and deliver a professional service. Because by saying "no" to things that don't serve your business, what you are saying "yes" to in the process are great operating conditions that will allow you to provide superior service to all your clients–consistently, fairly, professionally and profitably.
It doesn't serve anyone to allow your standards and processes to be stepped over and your time unproductively frittered away. It's a disservice to the business because it makes the operation unprofitable; it's a disservice to your other clients; it's a disservice to you because it will inhibit your ability to work with more clients and make more money; and ultimately it doesn't serve that client because you are establishing unrealistic expectations that you won't be able to sustain and just don't work in the long-term.
Let me...
