Right from the beginning, I knew this experience was going to be the topic of a blog post because there were so many lessons to share that others could learn from (and maybe see themselves in), but my intention was never to embarrass this person so I wasn’t sure how to go about it. I also would still very much like to work with this service provider–if they can ever get their act together.

I came across this service provider and realized this person’s talent was exactly what I’d been searching for to complete a special project. Following are some of the snafus I encountered along the way that has made it very difficult to work with this provider.

Most people would simply walk away and find someone else, but because of my nature, I was facinated with probably one of the worst cases of self-sabotage I had ever encountered and wanted to explore the situation more.

Snafu #1:  The provider’s website had a phone number, so I called and left a voicemail. Over a week went by without hearing anything back from them. It wasn’t until I’d sent an email and then another voicemail that I finally got a call back one evening.

I learned that the provider had a day job and was informed that they had a very difficult time following up and building their business because of it.

(This is the first lesson… whether you have a day job or not, you are still running a business. If you want to get anywhere close to creating something that allows you to establish a reputation of professionalism and credibility, and ultimiately quit your day job, you can not make excuses. You simply must follow-up on inquiries in a more timely, responsive manner. Responding to inquiries within 24 to 48 hours is perfectly acceptable. A whole week or more later–along with bemoaning your business issues–is a deal killer. Figure out a system for returning inquiries, set a policy and a standard for follow-through, and then work it without fail. Clients do not need to hear, nor are they interested in, your tales of difficulty and woe.)

The service provider was definitely interested in my project and we scheduled a time to talk later that evening (as they were still at work). When we got on the call, I explained what I was looking for and that I was very happy to have come across the provider as their talent seemed like the perfect fit.

I had read the provider’s entire website. They had done a very nice, attractive job of it and provided lots of useful and interesting information. Their website, in fact, was so well-done, I thought I had found a leader in their industry, someone who was so well-established and professional, I envisioned that our initial contact and subsequent work together would be flawless and supremely polished.

Unfortunately, the experience I had was the polar opposite of what I was expecting and I’m still scratching my head about what on earth this dear person is thinking.

Now, let me back up to say that this provider is one very talented, accomplished professional (which, unfortunately, doesn’t necessarily translate to someone who also knows how to run a business well). They had a show on public television that ran for several years. Their talent is one that is very obvious, and their website and samples demonstrated their talent, experience and expert knowledge of all the ins and outs of their trade.

So it was bewildering to me when this provider then inexplicably offered to do the work for free! They had heard of the VACOC and wanted to volunteer the work in exchange for referrals and future work.

Now, if I was one of those slimy, unethical sorts, I could have totally taken advantage. And I’m sure… in fact, I know… this person has given away thousands and thousands of dollars of time and talent in exactly this manner to people who had absolutely no intention of ever paying for another thing again.

But I could no more do that than I could kick a poor, defenseless animal.

So we got to talking and the provider shared more about their situation. They were desperately trying to build their business (hence, the day job) because with two kids preparing to go to college, they had to find a way to pay for it, and the money and business just were not coming in (no wonder!).

They explained that they felt giving away work would get them a foot in the door and once clients saw how good they were, there would be more (paying) work to follow.

I asked them if that was working. They said "not yet."

Yet, this person kept trying to get different results doing the same thing over and over and over, grasping for that dangling carrot only to have it yanked away time and again. Their rationale was that it was "such little things," that it wasn’t worth charging for. (WHAT??!!)

Of course, they weren’t getting anywhere. They were giving away all their time and talent for free!

I asked if they wouldn’t mind if I offered some feedback. I explained that their time and talent had value and was definitely worth paying for. I asked them to imagine how much money they would have now if they had instead charged for all those "little" jobs they thought were so inconsequential. That’s real money that could have gone into their business and the kids’ college funds!

As you can see, there are all kinds of business lessons to be gleaned from that conversation. Don’t fall prey to the dangling-carrot syndrome… all that does is deprive you and your business of rightful earnings. When business is in front of you, the time is NOW to be paid for the value of your talent and service, not later and definitely not on the basis of "hope" for future work!

This kind of thinking also does something even more insidious… it puts a whammy on your professional self-esteem and worth. All that will result in is gaining you a reputation of someone who can easily be devalued and taken advantage of. If you don’t hold what you do in high regard, others most definitely won’t either.

Your work has value! Charge for it! You aren’t running a charity. What might seem small and insignificant to you–because you are presumably good at what you do–has all kinds of meaning and value to the client who needs what you have.

I practically had to twist this person’s arm to charge me. As I explained it to them, look, I’m a hot prospect… I already LOVE your talent, your website cemented my wanting to work with you and I’m practically begging to give you my business. Why on earth do you not want to charge me? We have no relationship or special connection. You aren’t a member of my organization. If you do the kind of job I think you will do for me with your talent, I’m gonna spread the word, you can bank on that! Why would me paying you for the work have any bearing on whether or not I refer others and give you more work in the future?

Which leads us to Snafu #2… this provider did not have any idea what to charge me. I literally had to pull it out of them. So that’s another lesson–you set your price, not the client. One way or the other, you have to figure it out. If you charge by the hour, give an estimate. If you charge by the project, set some standard starting fees. Don’t make your clients do what is your job. If you don’t have the answers right then, tell them you’ll email a quote or estimate later. Just don’t make your clients do all the work or work too hard to give you their business because I got news for ya–you won’t get it.

Snafu #3: At any rate, I was finally able to get them to charge me something, and I was supposed to hear back from them later as to how we would proceed. After a few sporadic emails, I abruptly stopped hearing from them. I already had some idea that the day job was going to inhibit any normal, professional kind of business interaction, and since I wasn’t in any rush, I just figured I’d wait and see.

Well, if I remember correctly, it was about two weeks and I still hadn’t heard anything so I emailed and asked them what the status was. They informed me that a large, very extensive project had come in since our last communication and it had them scrambling with every spare moment they had.

Snafu #4:  Um, okay, but why does my project, one that I’m also paying for and which you committed to first, become relegated to second-rate status? That’s not the professional way to run a business. It’s not fair to existing clients and will definitely not put your business in any favorable light. Clients who honorably give you their business deserve to be treated well.

But it’s entirely understandable because a) this provider is trying to run a business while their attention and time is diverted by a day job; their commitment level is, therefore, going to be seriously compromised, b) they don’t have very good business sense, and c) they don’t have any solid business foundations, systems, standards and policies in place (which, by the way, is one of the biggest complaints I hear from clients who have dissappointing and unsatisfactory experiences working with Virtual Assistants). So when something comes to upset whatever precarious balance they have managed to tape together, everything comes apart at the seams.

I tell ya, folks, this was a first… one of the most perplexing, bewildering encounters with a new business owner I have ever had. I want to save them from themselves, LOL. Because they really are so talented and can really do well–if they can get out of their own way.

My billing is overwhelming me! Any suggestions? –PV

Well, a little more detail would have been helpful.   You may as well ask me how to solve world hunger for as general as your question is, but a few thoughts do come to mind.

First thought is:  Hire someone to take care of that for you. Virtual Assistants are business owners, too, and every business owner should be handing off non-core, non revenue-generating duties to an employee or service provider. So get help, sooner rather than later.

Of course, that’s the overly simplistic and obvious answer. And even if you get help, you still need to be involved in the analysis of the process and problems, and setting things up, at least initially, with the person who takes that work on for you.

In the meantime, I have a few questions of my own.

First, I’d want to know what your business model is. Because if you are running a Virtual Assistant practice, I can’t imagine any easier kind of service to bill for; that is, a once a month retainer fee for X number of hours or services.

However, if you are running a secretarial type service where you work primarily by task-based project, rather than retained, basis and bill by line-item services, you are necessarily going to have more complex billing issues and a greater administrative burden.

The other drawback to billing by line-item hours is that the faster you work, the less money you make, while none of the value and benefits the client receives from that work is reduced. That’s not fair nor profitable for you, is it? You didn’t go into business to give things away for free, right?

The other thing I’d want to know is if you are working on retainer, what on earth are you billing for that is making things so complicated? Do you have overly complex fee structures and/or charge different rates for different admin work? Are you overly concerning yourself with reporting hours to clients? Are you charging different clients different rates? Are you making too many policy exceptions and creating counterproductive, unprofitable distraction for yourself in the process?

As an independent professional, and not an employee, it’s not necessary to itemize every single minute of effort and time you’ve expended on behalf of a client. If you are doing that, you are making things a whole heck of a lot harder on yourself than need be. Personally, I don’t report any hours to clients anymore (other than when I’m working for an attorney client on their billable client work, and that is just so they can bill their own clients for that work).

If you are a Virtual Assistant, it helps to remember that clients aren’t paying for line-item tasks and projects; the value they are paying for is the overall service of having a smart, competent, right-hand administrative professional to work alongside them in their business. When that’s the case, there’s no need to bill or report all the minutiae. It can be as easy as setting some basic parameters, creating a package based on that, and putting a single pricetag on the value of that support.

One of my main rules of profitability is keep things Simple, Simple, Simple. Streamline. Get all your clients on the same page and bring everyone up to your current rates. Set your policies and don’t be in the habit of making exceptions to them as that only increases your administration and reduces your profitability.

Beyond that, I really need more specific details to elaborate further.

Hope that helps a bit.

The Top 10 Mistakes That Are Killing Your Brand

Presented by branding expert Rob Frankel

DATE:  Thursday, October 18, 2007

TIME:  5pm PST / 6pm MST / 7pm CST / 8pm EST

LENGTH:  1 hours (call in 10 min. early)

COST:  FREE!

REGISTER HERE

This class is open to all Virtual Assistants and business owners. Be sure to tell your colleagues and clients.

“Branding is not about getting your prospects to choose you over your competition; it’s about getting your prospects to see you as the only solution to their problem.” ™ –Rob Frankel

Branding is a lot more than just a name and a logo. It’s how users and prospects are turned into evangelists for your business. But even more important about what you know about branding is what you don’t know. It’s costing you real business and real dollars. Branding expert Rob Frankel will be telling you–yes, you– the 10 ways you are currently killing your brand. He’ll also tell you how to fix every one of them.

Join us on Thursday, October 18, for a special hour with Rob Frankel, author of the groundbreaking bestseller, “Revenge of Brand X: How to Build a Big Time Brand on the Web or Anywhere Else.” Rob Frankel has been called “the best branding expert on the planet,” advising, consulting and speaking to Fortune 500 companies, funded start-ups and major media such as CBS, CNBC, ABC, NBC, FOX, WSJ, NYT, LAT and many more.

Branding is relevant to every business, and to every part of your business. Rob is the only branding expert who can show you how creating and implementing brand strategy directly increases your bottom line revenues–and profitability. Be sure to catch a spot at what is sure to be one of our most fascinating, eye-opening events.

I don’t know where this disconnect is coming from, but I have to have a little plain-speaking talk with some of you. This is an area of growing concern, and for your sake–and our sanity–I need to edamacate you on the topic of hiring contractors.

Contractors, such as Virtual Assistants, are not your employees.

They are independent professionals, just like yourself, who run their own businesses. They have their own policies, procedures, standards and schedules. For most Virtual Assistants, it is their pleasure to share this information with you during a consultation.

With an independent contractor such as a Virtual Assistant, you get lots of advantages, some of which include:

• You don’t pay employee-related taxes
• You don’t pay for office equipment and business expenses
• You don’t have to worry about training, administration, supervision and management
• You have great flexibility instilled in your business
• There is greater over-all cost effectiveness and savings
• You can get a greater degree of talent and skill than you might ever be able to afford in an employee

I could list a ton more advantages and benefits with hiring independent contractors, but I think you get the idea.

You do need to understand one thing, however–hiring an independent contractor is not a way to get an employee without having to follow the law.

• When you hire an independent contractor, you don’t get to tell us what you’ll pay–we charge our own professional rates based on business economics and what will sustain our businesses profitably. You have only to decide that the value is there for you or not.
• You don’t get to tell us how to do the work that will be performed or what equipment we use. You only have a say in telling us what you want accomplished or the results you want achieved.
• We don’t "report" to you so we will not be filling out time reports or any other kinds of "reports" for that matter, nor attending employee meetings (virtual or otherwise). We perform work from our own facilities.
• You don’t get to tell us when the work will be done or what hours you expect us to be available. We manage our own time and work according to our own business schedule. Our relationship is one of business and customer, and our only concern, and obligation, to you is that we accomplish the work we’ve been engaged, and have agreed, to perform.

If you want or need someone who is solely dedicated to your business only, who you can supervise and manage, and who you can pay employee wages to, then you need an employee or a telecommuter (a telecommuter is someone who fits the legal definition of an employee but works from home).

That also means you need to follow employment laws, which means deducting taxes and paying your share as an employer, as well as paying for the legally-defined employee’s equipment and expenses.

Keep in mind that just because you both sign an independent contractor agreement, you are not protected from liability if the relationship doesn’t meet IRS or FLSA rules that determine whether an independent contractor is really an employee. The laws don’t uphold illegal agreements, and if the IRS determines this is the case, it is you who will be paying penalties and back taxes on those "independent contractors," not to mention any other benefits and reimbursements they would have received as an employee in your company.

And look, since I’m speaking plainly, I realize that it hurts to part with money and paying taxes is painful. But we’re in the same boat. We independent contractors have businesses to run just like you. We can’t work for peanuts, and we have to ensure our profitability so we can stay in business and continue to give great service to clients. It’s a two-way street, and business economics applies to both parties.

And frankly, if someone isn’t just innocently unknowing about these things, and is really intentionally looking to cheat Uncle Sam (and in the process, the employee "contractor"), my first thought is what else are they going to be shady and unethical about? I don’t want anything to do with anyone like that.

So do us and yourself a favor. Please treat us with the same demeanor and professional respect as you would expect to be treated yourself as a business owner. Keep in mind the dos and don’ts I’ve listed above, and you’ll very happily find yourself in a great business relationship with an independent Virtual Assistant contractor who can give your business great skill, great value, great flexibility and help it grow beyond what you could ever accomplish all by yourself.

I can’t tell you how many times I hear from business owners how frustrated they are with Virtual Assistants who don’t “own” their role as the administrative experts.

If you are just sitting around waiting for clients to tell you what to do, you are nothing more than an employee.

Clients who are seeking Virtual Assistants, TRUE Virtual Assistants, don’t want an employee–they want an expert who not only competently executes work and manages projects, but also commands their own business.

Clients want and expect us as the Virtual Assistant administrative experts to guide them, to have some answers and to lead the way by their side toward instilling strong administrative foundations in their business.

I’ll share some comments I received most recently from a business owner:

“I have worked with Virtual Assistants for the past year, but I am not finding the perfect fit for both of us. I am definitely looking for someone who sees me as a client and partner, rather than a paycheck. I need a professional who has the entrepreneurial, pro-active leadership, but I have been attracting Virtual Assistants who still have an employee-follower mentality.

“I don’t mind a short learning curve, but I can’t do the hand-holding past Virtual Assistants have required. I need someone who can basically hit the ground running and start moving some tasks off my plate. Rather than me giving them a checklist and constantly following up to make sure the tasks are done within the deadlines, I would love someone who gives me a list of the things they need from me to get going and checks in to tell me tasks are completed.”

As the founder of the Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce, and a practicing Virtual Assistant, I hear this lament from business owners over and over.

Helping Virtual Assistants free themselves from the shackles of employee-mindset and lead them into true business ownership–and true service to clients–is one of the foremost goals of my organization.

I recently shared some of my best kept secrets to Virtual Assistant business ownership and success in my new guide, “Getting and Keeping Clients–The Plan.” (This is GDE-34 in our forms store.)

Getting and keeping clients is really all about knowing how to work with clients and manage expectations. In this guide, I provide you with meaty information and ideas for creating your “Red Carpet Treatment” plan, implementing a system for ramping up with new clients, and establishing your operational strategy that leads to profitability and client satisfaction.

Virtual Assistance is leaving adolescence and entering adulthood as a profession. Will you be left behind?

I hired a Virtual Assistant and in general, I am satisfied. However, I am dissappointed about the lack of follow-up and progress reports. Is this something that you train your Virtual Assistants how to do? I don’t want to micro-manage, but I do expect reports, and what is being or not being accomplished without having to ask what is happening. –PD

Thanks for contacting me, PD. I’m always happy to provide clearer understanding so that business owners (both clients and Virtual Assistants) can negotiate mutually happy business relationships.

The first thing that is important to understand is that Virtual Assistants are not employees. They don’t "report" to their clients. Virtual Assistants are independent business owners, and how they run their business and what services they provide to their clients is up to each of them individually.

Looking at it another way, would you have this same "issue" with your attorney or accountant or bookkeeper? It is entirely reasonable that you would expect some kind of regular updates from those professionals, but you understand that you aren’t their "boss" and they don’t "report" to you. That is the same understanding you should have with your Virtual Assistant.

What I mentor Virtual Assistants to provide clients with at the start of the business relationship is clear communication about what her (or his) business standards, policies and processes are, so that clients know what to expect and how things work. That communication should continue throughout the relationship with regard to staying in contact and keeping clients up-to-date.

It does sound as though the Virtual Assistant you are working with has not offered you a system of communication that is meeting your need for a bit of "progress pulse." I encourage Virtual Assistants to provide monthly retainer clients (clients they are working together with in ongoing collaborative partnership each month) with a telephone meeting each or every other week. This helps keep communication lines open and allows you to stay in sync with each other with regard to projects, goals, upcoming work and events, etc.

I’m not sure what other kind of "reporting" you feel is necessary, and that will need to be discussed and negotiated between you and your Virtual Assistant. Trust and communication are critical to any relationship, and without those elements, there’s no basis for doing business together. I would encourage you to open up the dialogue and give your Virtual Assistant the opportunity to improve her business and services to you.