Add Value to Your Clients

February 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment
The Virtual Assistant industry is getting bigger and better every day with more and more people starting their own VA businesses.  What this means for you is that you have more competition to deal with.
 
The trick is for you to stand out from the crowd so that you attract clients but also keep those valuable clients – it is a fact that it is easier to sell to your existing clients!
 
One of the things you can do is look at what added benefits you provide and compare it to your competitors to see what you are doing better and what they are doing better.
 
You need to be very honest with yourself and also objective as this is a very important exercise to do – there is no point getting emotional over your business, you need to think like your client.
 
Once you have done the analysis, have a think about what other benefits you can give to your clients. 
Think about:
 
One stop shop – do you have a supplier database that you can recommend reputable companies to match your client’s requirements.  Clients come to trust their VAs so it soon becomes the norm when they are asking your advice on where to go and who to use. You could always think about teaming up with good suppliers who offer affiliate or rewards programme or so you can earn some passive income as well.
 
Referral system – do you reward people who refer work to you?  Think about offering an affiliate system to your clients and associates.  This is very appealing to clients who can earn money off their bill or commission each month just for recommending you to their contacts and clients.  Everyone loves passive income so make it easy for your clients.
 
Proactive service – do you provide a really proactive service or do you just respond to client requests?  Get to know your clients really well so that you can anticipate their needs in advance and therefore provide services or solutions before the client needs them.
 
Discounts – have you got products that you could offer discounts on for valued clients?  Everyone likes to feel special and a great way to do that for your existing clients is to reward them with discounts.
 
Think about what you could offer your clients so that you can stand out from the crowd in all your marketing material and then start implementing them now.
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Making Your Virtual Assistant Clients Love You Part 2

January 23, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Part one of this article looked at what your clients like about your service, and how these associations affect what they think about your business as a whole. It is also important to look at what they do not like about your service.
 
What weaknesses can you see?
Some weaknesses may be related to the industry as a whole. For example, it may be that as you work remotely you cannot make the coffee. However, be aware if things crop up that you can do something about. Perhaps you have missed deadlines or you are not up to speed with particular software that your clients use. Think about how you can improve on these in the future.
 
How can you ‘delight the customer?’
Years ago I used to work for a holiday company that used the line ‘delight the customer’. The idea was that you do not want the customer just to be satisfied with what you have produced for them. In order to get them singing your praises you really need to ‘delight’ them. So, what can you do to delight your clients? Where can you add that little bit of extra value or really show some initiative? If you are seen to be going that extra mile, your clients will love you for it, and that is when they start to become your raving fans and tell everyone how great you are.
 
Better than advertising
As you can see, creating your brand or the ‘image’ for your company is not about expensive graphic designers or advertising experts. It is about identifying what is great about your business and communicating that in a clear and consistent way. If you can turn your clients into raving fans, they will not only stick with you through these turbulent times, but they will also recommend you to others. That has got to be better than spending a fortune on advertising!

Manage your clients effectively with this simple Client Management Templates Pack system: http://vasuccessgroup.co.uk/virtual-assistant-document-templates/

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What Should You Ask New Clients

December 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment
When you bring on board a new client, it is really important that you have a system so that you get all the information you need and make working with you as easy as possible.
 
One thing you will need is a New Client Questionnaire so that you can get some basic information from your new clients before you start any work.
 
Some questions to ask include:
 
Who is their target market?        
This gives you a great understanding of who they are focussing their marketing efforts on and you may have experience working with these people already which will prove beneficial to the client.
 
What products and services do they provide?    
You need to have a basic understanding of what they do so this is an easy way to achieve that.
 
How many people are on their team?
Who else will you be working with, do they outsource other areas of the business etc.
 
What systems do they currently use?
This is a very important question as you need to use their systems to complete tasks or offer alternative solutions that could save the client time and money.
 
What tasks in their business do they hate to do?
This is what can be outsourced to you as a starting point before you get to know the client more and understand their business.
 
How do they prefer to communicate?     
Some clients may prefer email only communication whereas others love talking to their team by phone. Be clear up front on their preferred communication method so there are no misunderstandings from day one.
 
What other questions will you ask new clients? Please share in the comments below.
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Getting Your First Virtual Assistant Clients – Part 2

December 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment
 
Next take stock of all the skills you have and the industries you have worked in or that interest you. Consider what services can you offer and to whom? If you have been a book keeper with an IT firm for many years, you are going to find it far easier to offer your virtual book keeping services to other IT firms as you know something about their market and their ‘language’. If you target an industry or sector you have experience of, you will be seen as the virtual assistant who is an expert in this field and have an advantage over any other VA.
 
When you have decided on your target market, or niche, think about how you can reach them. Do they belong to particular organisations, read certain publications or as is the case with one of my niches, do they all drink on a Thursday afternoon in bars within a square mile of a certain point in London?
 
When you know where to find them, consider how you can get your message to them. While advertising in general is expensive and often pointless unless you can afford to take out a run, perhaps you could write an article for a trade publication, or give a presentation at an event your ‘suspects’ will attend. Think outside of the box for some interesting and inexpensive ideas that will have impact on your particular target market and keep you stimulated and motivated.
 
Above all, keep marketing as a continual process and recognise that although you may not get clients immediately from you efforts, in time your consistency will pay dividends.

For more information about which marketing tactics work for virtual assistant, and which don’t, visit: http://vasuccessgroup.co.uk/products/marketing-for-virtual-assistants-online-course/

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Virtual Assistant Networking Preparation Top Tips

December 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment
There are a number of things you can do before any event to help you prepare. If you are prepared, you will feel more relaxed which is always a good thing.
 
Prepare your presentation
At any networking event, the most common question you will get asked is ‘what do you do’? Otherwise known as your elevator pitch, this is how people get to know you and so it is a good idea to prepare what you want to say.
 
Take plenty of business cards
Swapping business cards is how you start building relationships with your fellow business owner. However, only give out your business card if someone asks for it.
 
Speak with the organiser before the event
Call the organiser before the event to ask what types of people attend their meetings. You can then tailor your elevator pitch accordingly.
 
Wear something you feel comfortable in
You need to feel comfortable when at an event and clothes will play a big part in this. There is no point wearing clothes or shoes that are too big or small as you will not concentrate on the event and be too self conscious.
 
Arrive at the event early
A lot of people are nervous when attending a networking event and aren’t sure what to do. Why not arrive early so that you are there to welcome people and they then have to approach you.
 
Ask the organiser to introduce you to some people
If you don’t know anyone at the event, explain this to the organiser and ask them to introduce you to some people. Most organisers will be more than happy to help you if you ask.
 
Just remember to be friendly and approachable as people will remember and will want to talk to you.
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Getting Your First Virtual Assistant Clients – Part 1

December 5, 2011 By 2 Comments

When starting your virtual assistant business, after getting together all you equipment, getting excited over your business cards and web site, there comes the sudden realisation that here you are, all ready to go and there isn’t actually a queue of people knocking down your door to work with you. Yikes!

One of the questions I’m asked most often is ‘Where do you get your clients’. Usually the question is asked by new start up virtual assistants, but more recently I've been asked by more established VA's who have started to struggle during the recession. Newbies have generally spent lots of time putting together their business by purchasing equipment and organising their office, but have forgotten the fundamentals of putting together their marketing plan. Then when they are all set up and ready to go and have opened their virtual doors to the world they find that the phone isn’t ringing and the email Inbox isn’t full of enquiries. More established VA's, once they have enough clients, put marketing on the back burner until such a time as they need to look for new clients again.

If either of these sounds like you, you need to develop a marketing plan, and fast. Firstly take a long hard look at your contacts and include everyone you’ve ever worked with, all your contacts through previous businesses if appropriate and family and friends. What contacts do you already have that you can ask for referrals? If you are already running a VA business, when did you last ask your clients for referrals? Don’t discount anyone because you think they wouldn’t need your services. They may well know someone who does.

For more information about which marketing tactics work for virtual assistant, and which don’t, visit: http://vasuccessgroup.co.uk/products/marketing-for-virtual-assistants-online-course/

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What Can You Include In Your Virtual Assistant Information Pack

December 2, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Information packs are a great way to let prospective clients know all about your business and how you can help them as well as making you look like a professional. Here are some things that you can include in your pack:
 
Definition of what a Virtual Assistant is
Some people will not understand the whole Virtual Assistant concept so this is your opportunity to educate them on what a Virtual Assistant is. Use your own definition so that it resonates with you.
 
About you
People want to know who is behind a company so don’t be shy with sharing your profile. Tell them your story of why you started your business, what experience you have – basically tell them you are the expert they need to be working with!
 
Services available
What services do you provide and how can you help your clients. Make it easy for prospective clients to understand how they could work with you.
 
Target market
This is where you can demonstrate your understanding of your chosen target market so be clear on who you work with and how you help them.
 
How does it work?
For those that don’t understand how virtual working can work, break it down into simple to understand terms so they are not left feeling that it won’t work for them.
 
Benefits
Why should they work with you? Answer this question here.
 
Prices
What do you charge for your services and packages, list this information here.
 
Call to action
What do you want people to do when they are reading through your information pack? Do you want them to schedule a call to run through your client consultation process, email you? Be clear on what you want them to do.
 
Contact details
How can prospective clients contact you? List your phone number, email address, website link and any other ways they can contact you (Twitter, Facebook etc).
 
This pack answers majority of potential client’s questions before the client consultation stage and it is a working document that is changed if new service added, new question etc. 
 
Share what you are using in your information packs in the comments below.
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Virtual Assistant Marketing – Niche to Streamline Your Efforts

November 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Many Virtual Assistants shy away from the idea of marketing to attract a particular niche as they are concerned that they will be turning away hoards of prospects from other industries. But if you have ever tried to be everything to everyone, you’ll soon learn that you end up appealing to no-one and as your marketing efforts are spread too thinly, you end up out of pocket and frustrated by poor results.
 
When you market to a niche you are targeting a very small select group of people. With research you can identify what that group of people have in common and in what areas where they will all be struggling. This way you can tailor your marketing message, the words that you use, to suit the target market. For example, if you were to target a group of individuals that were constantly away from home due to their line of work, you could say something in your marketing material like ‘Are you constantly away from home and worrying that the post is not being dealt with or you’ll come home to find that you car has run out of tax or the boiler has not been serviced?’ Do you see how someone who was away all the time would identify with that question? They may well have already experienced a situation like that or know that it will happen at some point.
 
Now you can follow up that question with your solution, something like, ‘Our Mail Handling and Lifestyle Management services mean that we can run your home and life for you while you are away meaning that you will never have to be reliant on public transport or have a cold bath ever again!’ Do you see how that would appeal to them?
 
You can of course use the same approach with any niche market. With a bit of research you can establish where you might be needed and what services you can offer to add value. So don’t forget next time you are out networking, chat to people in niches that interest you, find out what they struggle with and if these are general issues for people in their industry. Then even if that particular person doesn’t need your services yet, you can still tailor your marketing message using what you have learned and target others from their industry.
 
A little bit more research will also tell you where you can find these people, what publications do they read, what groups or associations do they belong to? When you know what message to put before them, and you know what channels you have available to get in front of them the rest is child’s play. So as you can see, marketing to a niche is an effective way of streamlining your marketing efforts and achieving better results.

For a whole range of free advice and training products, visit: http://vasuccessgroup.co.uk/products/

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How to Set Your VA Fees Part 2

November 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Please see the post here for the other factors you need to consider when setting your fees.
 
Do you want just retainer clients or a combination of retainer and project clients?
Pay As You Go (PAYG) or Project:
This is the type of client requests your assistance occasionally, on an ad hoc basis, either for jobs as and when they occur, or for specific help with a particular project – eg, an office move, a recruitment drive, etc.
 
Retainer:
Retainer clients purchase a number of hours in advance and receive regular monthly support. This type of client is particularly good for your business, as you can plan your time effectively by allocating specific hours each day, or week, to specific clients. It is also good for cash flow, as you know exactly how much money is coming in at the beginning of each month.
 
You should also decide whether you want to offer clients a discount for purchasing retainer agreements. Some VAs offer a percentage discount, while others reduce their hourly rates slightly.
 
What are your outgoings?
Work out your monthly outgoings, so that you have a baseline to work from, ensuring that you cover these costs. Remember to factor in potential future costs (networking events, marketing materials, etc).
 
Regardless of where you work from, there will be some standard expenses to consider:
  • Telephone calls and line rental (landline and mobile)
  • Stationery
  • Professional memberships
  • Website hosting
What are your plans for the future?
You should consider your future plans. You may want to start further projects. This can then be factored in to your rates to enable you to build up some capital.
 
Want to build and grow your own Virtual Assistant business with a little help from us http://vasuccessgroup.co.uk/virtual-assistant-online-courses/online-courses-bundle/
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How to Set Your VA Fees Part 1

November 2, 2011 By 1 Comment
Setting your fees is something that you should think through thoroughly before you start your business. It is difficult to lower your rates once you have set them. You need to consider a number of factors to come up with a pricing structure that is right for you and your circumstances.
 
Some of these include:
 
How many hours do you want to work?
When deciding how many hours you want to work, you need to remember that your time will include chargeable client work, and your non-chargeable, but nonetheless essential, administration and marketing work. When setting up your business, much of your time will be taken up with this non-chargeable work as you build up your client base. However, the ratio of non-chargeable to chargeable time will diminish as your client base grows. It is important that you factor this in when working out the figures for your business plan.
 
What is the maximum number of clients with which you can work?
This may seem a strange question to consider when you are just starting out. But, it is a very important that you know your working capacity. You are in trouble if you calculate that you need 20 clients to break even, when you have time to fit only 15 into your schedule?
 
How much do you want to earn each year?
This is the most important question of all. Once you know the answer to this, you can work backwards and calculate how much you will earn each month, each week, or even each day. You can then draw up an action plan to show how you are going to achieve these targets.
 
Want to build and grow your own Virtual Assistant business with a little help from us http://vasuccessgroup.co.uk/virtual-assistant-online-courses/online-courses-bundle/
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