Loading ...As a Virtual Assistant, if your only selling point is how little you cost or how much cheaper you are than an employee, you’ve already failed in business.
I get it… many people are new to business. They just don’t know how to market themselves. They see what everyone else in the Virtual Assistant industry is talking about on their websites and think that’s what they should be talking about, too. Little do they know that most of those people they are mimicking are struggling, making very little money and attracting all the worst kinds of client traits (think cheapskates and nitpickers, the kind that do not make for a happy nor profitable business).
Let me ask you: Is it your rate that improves the businesses of your clients? Is it your rate that does the skilled work that allows clients to move forward? Is it your rate that streamlines their businesses and helps them run more effectively? Is it your rate that creates more precious time in their lives?
No? Then why do you continue to focus clients on nothing but your price? Surely there is more reason to work with you than the fact that you charge so little or that you are “affordable” or “cheaper than an employee.” Isn’t there?
And for that matter, why do you think that value (i.e., skills, expertise, knowledge and all the host of solutions and benefits that clients reap from those traits) should cost nary a thing?
Sure, you might have clients beating down your door, but are they the right clients? Are they the kind of clients you will enjoy working with? Can you build a real, sustainable business and make an actual living from the amount of money the cheap-seekers want to pay? How long do you think it will take before you resent not making enough money or burn out before barely breaking even?
If you don’t work to understand this dynamic, you are going to forever be stuck on a hamster wheel chasing down clients, attracting the worst kind, and still never making any money. You can’t be (or stay long) in business if clients are the only ones who benefit. Your business absolutely must benefit you equally as well. Otherwise, you don’t have a business.
I encourage you to keep thinking about the real value you bring to the table. How exactly does your support put your clients in a better place in their business than they were before? Hint: It has nothing to do with how much you charge.
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6 Comments
I have to agree with you. I really don’t want someone to hire me because I am “cheaper” I want to be hired due to my expertise in the subject matter.
We Virtual Assistants have to start thinking of ourselves as Experts, Professionals, and Business Owners.
Danielle:
Setting myself up as “affordable” brought me the exact negative results you are pointing out in this post. I plan on revamping my website message by 2010 and I already raised my rates in August, which resulting in some client loss. But that is okay, because now I am open to take on the new AWESOME clients that you predict. Hey, and I may even make some money in 2010.
Thanks for sharing your expertise.
That’s fantastic, Julia! I’m so glad to hear of your resolve. It hurts to lose clients (if only in your pocketbook) and you should always expect to lose some whenever you up your standards. But like you recognize, you won’t have room for your more ideal clients if non-ideal ones are sucking up all your space.
This may be repetitive, but I want to drive home a point about this for everyone else reading: If the platform on which you bring clients aboard is based on nothing but you being “cheap” and “affordable,” you will lose them the minute you up the ante because they weren’t there for anything else.
But the clients you bring in on the basis of the solutions you provide will stick around regardless of rate increases (which occur in every business) because they are there for the reaped benefits you bring them, not the cut-rate discount sale.
Stay encouraged through these wonderful growing pains, Julia. I promise it will reward you in the end!
Exactly, Stephanie! And I want to encourage you to think about that even further:
Clients don’t hire you for your expertise, per se. They hire you for what that expertise yields them in their business. Focus your message on how you improve your clients’ current situation (where are they trying to get to, what are they trying to accomplish, how does what you do help them achieve those things?) and you will see a dramatic difference in your attraction level and the kind of clients who are drawn to you.
Danielle,
You’ve crafted yet another great post driving home how a VA should emphasize expertise rather than discounted value. You got me thinking first, when you posted regarding the detrimental use of a calculator and have reinforced this same thought here in this post.
As you know, in tough economic times, partnering with a VA is a great value as opposed to hiring an employee, which is often the reason a potential client will contact me initially. When we consult regarding fees, I’m thinking more about improving their current business and using that solution to close the deal.
Thanks. I find your posts very inspiring and thought-provoking.
Janine
You are correct about thinking beyond price for a Virtual Assistant business. I had one of my mentors say that you should never give away your blessings, and another said that you should never undervalue your services. I am still learning about pricing especially when it comes to doing busines with friends