What To Ask Prospective Clients

An effective client consultation is a vital aspect of building a virtual assistant business comprising a group of clients with whom you love to work.

But what sort of questions do you need to ask prospects?

What are their short and long term goals?
This gives you an idea of how quickly prospective clients see their businesses growing, and helps to identify specific projects with which you could help them. They may want to start offering live events or teleseminars, which you could help to organise.

Do they want support for a particular project or long-term?
You need to know if it is short- or long-term help prospective clients require, so ask the question before you start to work together.

Which tasks do they currently find difficult?
This is your opportunity to find out exactly what help prospective clients need. So, get them to be specific about the tasks with which they are currently struggling. Make notes to which you can refer at the end of the consultation process when closing the sale.

Keep asking: What else do you struggle with? What else takes up your time? What else do you not enjoy doing? What else could you be doing if you had more time?

What are their working hours?
This question is often overlooked, but it is important, as prospective clients may need someone who is available at set times during the week to do certain tasks. They may only work on certain days or at certain times. Find out at the outset to make sure there are no misunderstandings.

Think about what other questions you would suggest in an effective client consultation.
 

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Successful Networkers Do More Than Just Turn Up

I often hear people complaining that they have not got any business from their networking activities. After digging a little further, it soon becomes obvious why… They expect to just turn up and get new business straight away without putting any work in.

To be a successful networker, you need to do more than just turn up. But, what should you do?

Build relationships
Get to know your local business community by attending a number of different networking groups in your area. You will soon start meeting some of the same people at different events. But, take time to get to know people and discover how you can help them. This will benefit you in the future.

Seek people with whom you can form joint-venture relationships
Once you have formed relationships with others in your local business community, you will have a real sense of who has a similar target market to you, yet is not in direct competition. These are the ideal people with whom you should seek to form joint-venture relationships.

Prepare for each event
Think about what you want to say at each event, whether or not you get a formal opportunity to deliver your elevator speech.

Volunteer your time and services
Most networking organisations are run by a small group of members who are always looking for volunteers to help organise and facilitate events. For a VA, this is a great opportunity to demonstrate your skills to all the members.
 

 

Why You Need A System For Prospects and New Clients

When you start your virtual assistant (VA) business, it can be overwhelming when you realise how much work is involved. However, you can make things easier for yourself by putting systems in place to deal with every aspect of the business. You will then feel confident that you can handle any situation.

One of the most important systems you need to put in place is one that makes communicating with prospects and new clients straightforward.

An effective system should include:

Information pack – an outline of your working practices, services and rates, which you send to prospective clients interested in your services.

Prospective client questionnaire – a document in which you collate all the information you need to know about your prospect. It should be a guide to the support a prospective client need might need.

Client consultation – your fact-finding process, and a list of detailed questions to ask prospective clients.

Welcome pack – gives new clients all the information they need before they start working with you. Outline your standard operating procedures and pre-empt any questions you think they may have.

‘Pay As You Go’ contract – for work carried out on an ad-hoc basis, or as a one-off project.

Retainer contract – for clients for whom you provide regular, monthly VA support.

Terms and conditions – includes details regarding payment, confidentiality, omissions, etc. These are a vital part of your process as they tell clients how you operate.

New client questionnaire – once new clients come on board, it is useful to get some basic details from them. A questionnaire is a good way to ensure that you get all the information you require.

New customer checklist – use this to make sure so you do not miss anything.

Proposal – detailed proposal, which you can send, if requested, especially to larger companies.

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How To Follow Up Networking Events Effectively

The most successful networkers do not attend events to promote their businesses; they go to build relationships.

Make contact within 24 hours
If you got on well with people you meet, and felt a connection, call them to reintroduce yourself. If you feel uncomfortable about telephoning, send an email to say that you enjoyed meeting them.

Making contact again will make you stand out from the other people they met at the event. You will be the one who comes to mind if they need the services you can provide. They are also likely to recommend you to their contacts, too.

Arrange one-to-one meetings with people with whom you connect
This should be an informal chat, perhaps over coffee, when you learn about each other and start to build a business relationship.

The aim of this initial one-to-one meeting is not to sell your services or products; it is about building a relationship. So, keep it relaxed and just ask questions to learn more about the person and his or her business. This achieves the best results.

Introduce people to your network
When you attend an event, keep in mind those in your network who could be of help to the people you meet. You can then introduce them at a later event or by email. People will think that you have a wide range of valuable connections, and you will gain a reputation as a worthwhile contact.

If you follow this advice, you will be raising your profile in the local business community and promoting your business at the same time!
 

What To Ask During Your Client Consultation Process

You may want to consider some of the following questions when writing your own client consultations.

Contact information
You need to ask for telephone numbers and an email address before your scheduled consultation so that you can contact them if they don’t call.

Business type
What industry do they work in? What products/services do they provide? With what types of clients do they work?

What are their goals/vision?
What are their goals for the next five years? This is a good question as you can tell them how you could help them to achieve their goals.

What are they struggling to complete in their businesses?
Some prospective clients may have an idea of areas in which they need some help. After I have ended the consultation, I ask all prospective clients to keep a list of all the tasks they have insufficient time to complete, or that they do not like doing, over the course of a week. I then schedule a follow-up call for a week later to go through the list to see where I can help them.

Describe a typical day for you
This will reveal some details about their personality and work style, which should tell you whether you want to work with them.

Have you worked with a PA or virtual assistant before?
This is an important question as, if the answer is yes, you can ask supplementary questions to see whether the relationship worked or not.

What information should you reveal about yourself?
What information should your prospective clients be told about you? Do you want to tell them you work full-time, fit your work around children, or work only during term-time? Establish now what information you want to share, so that you do not forget during the call.
 

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Why Use A Client Consultation Process?

The bonus of being a Virtual Assistant is that you are your own boss, and it is you who determines how you want to run your business.

This means that you can choose the type of clients with whom you want to work.

You need to determine your niche market and create a profile for your ideal client (see marketing chapter for more information) in order to filter out those with whom you do not want to work.

The bonus of using a client consultation is that you can determine in advance whether you would be a good fit before you start working together. It also shows that you are a serious and professional business owner.

Do not go through the information as soon as someone calls with an initial enquiry. Have set times each week when you conduct client consultation sessions and schedule them in your diary. This makes the potential client realise, subconsciously, that you are not an employee, but are, in fact, a fellow business owner.

If you prepare your process and questions in advance, you will come across as a true professional.