One of the tools I offer in my Virtual Assistant Business Forms store is the Client Profile Sheet (which is offered individually and also as part of the VA Business Pack) . What this form does is create a central library of all the bits and pieces of info you would want to collect from clients, both business info (such as passwords you need to work with, for example) and personal info (such as birthdays, special dates, etc.). On this form, I include my personal recommendation that you fill this form out instead of having clients do it.
Today I received a great question about this product:
“Hi Danielle. On your (FRM-06) Client Profile Sheet, you stated that ‘this isn’t a form I recommend that you have clients complete.’ So my question is, have you created one that we can give to clients to complete?”
This is a great question so let me elaborate on that…
I don’t have separate forms (one that clients fill out and one that you fill out). You can have clients fill out the form if that’s what you choose to do. Or you can split the form into two parts–the business section for the client to fill in and the personal section for you to fill in.
My recommendation was related more toward the personal info and what I meant was that you want to collect the personal information on your client behind the scenes. It sort of forces you to take an interest and look for opportunities to learn about your client personally.
For example:
Getting a birthday card from someone because they asked you to fill out a form so they could perfunctorily send you a card or gift isn’t nearly as delightful or fun or meaningful as receiving a card or gift from your Virtual Assistant/Administrative Support Consultant because she made the effort, quietly, behind the scenes, to learn and care about when your birthday was, what kind of things you enjoy, and then remembered.
See what I mean? It’s all about the red carpet treatment. Remember, it’s the small things that can mean so much.
When I work with a new monthly retainer client, I keep that sheet out whenever we have our weekly phone meeting during those first months of working together. During that phase, you are both learning so much about each other and this is the time to keep your ears perked for those details and write them down.
Hope that helps everyone!
Thanks for commenting. Yeah, the virtual assistant term is really completely idiotic to...
