I’ve got a peeve with some of you prospective VA clients out there and I need to get it off my chest. Please forgive me in advance if I offend, because truly, it’s not my intention to do so. My only goal here is increased awareness of an issue that, in my mind, hurts all business people in the end. Here goes:
For the love of Virtual Assistance, Do your homework before you ask for a quote!
What do I mean by “homework?” Well, if you want to avoid royally pissing off the next Virtual Assistant you contact for a quotation, read the following detailed instructions and take some notes:
- Google the services you’re looking for in a VA. If Google doesn’t bring up anything promising, check out VA directories, RFP systems. or ask your colleagues to recommend a VA based on personal experience.
- Write down the URLs of the 3 top contenders. Yes, THREE is enough! Anything more and you’re just price shopping. That’s bad karma, but more on this later.
- Go to each VA’s website with pen and paper in hand. Check out key information such as services offered and how, rates and package deals, owner bio or company profile, testimonials, etc. Make note of what you like, what you don’t like, and what you’re not sure about. What you’re not sure about will determine what you’re going to ask the VA during the pre-consult.
- Contact each VA to arrange a time to discuss your needs AND the question marks still in your head after reviewing each VA’s website.
- Okay, here’s the part I need you to pay close attention to: while you’re on the phone with the VA, ACTUALLY ASK THE QUESTIONS THAT YOU NEED ANSWERS TO.
If you do everything I’m telling you to do, you should have 99% of the information you require to decide if she could be “the one” before the conversation is over. If you think she won’t be a fit, please, tell her this either before you get off the phone or within 24 hours of speaking to all 3 contending VAs. Explain your reasoning.
Yes, if you turn her down, she may be offended (silly VA). Or, she might counter your convictions with additional reasons she could be the right VA for you anyway (ambitious VA). Or, she might thank you for your candor and refer you to someone better equipped for the job (considerate VA).
Now, you may be thinking that this is a great deal more honesty–and interpersonal squirming–than you really want to expose yourself to before you’ve even decided whom to hire. Yet by going through this exercise now as opposed to AFTER you get a quote, you’ve achieved a couple of things:
- If you do decide, after receiving a quote (and possibly formal proposal which gee, takes TIME to write), you’ve created a climate of candor and honesty. No one is playing it too close to the chest and no one is feeling ripped off. Nice feeling, don’t you think?
- If you decide against hiring the VA you spoke with (again, BEFORE she wasted time on a quote), you’ll feel confident in your decision and will sleep easy at night. Why? Because you didn’t created one of those convoluted situations where a business person is putting much energy into a process that was a lost cause to begin with. Yeah, lost cause. Lost cause because had you done your homework like I told you to, you would have known within minutes of speaking to the VA if you weren’t that into her.
Reasons you might not be into a VA could include:
- price
- personality
- skills
- availability
- procedures
- work style
- etc.
Don’t you want to know this stuff before you get a quotation drawn up? There is nothing worse than spending time and energy on a quote only to have the prospective client turn around and say,usually quite sheepishly in an email response they’ve been avoiding, “I’ve decided to put this project on hold for now due to [insert excuse here but usually this piece includes financial reasons, change in strategic direction, personal challenges, and on and on].
Um, yeah.
Making people do cartwheels for you when you’re not really that hot to trot in the first place is inconsiderate, wasteful and downright unprofessional. It makes VAs want to take up drinking. This is the bad karma I was talking about.
So, please, I beg you, do your homework. Make the most of your research process. Ask the tough questions (like “Why you?” and “How much?”) during that pre-consult. It will put some good energy back into a universe that could really use some right now.
Thanks for so eloquently stating what many have wanted to say. A bit of forethought and preparation can yield dynamic results.
Karri… all I can say is you make me smile! 🙂
Good one, Karri! You’re too funny, but on the other hand, I hope potential clients are listening!
Much needed post and thanks making this public!
Great post ~ and I love the “not that into you” reference. Sometimes, it’s just not a good fit. Nothing wrong with that! Different strokes for different folks!
Forgot to mention I LOVE the picture! Sometimes, we REALLY DO feel like that. And sometimes we really DO that – in private of course! 😉
That’s why we all luv you so much Karri 🙂
It’s funny, for a moment I wanted to say “Hey, there are male VAs too!!” when you used she but now I think I’m just experiencing what women have felt for years. Yay for reversing things.
All of this is great. I think a big part of communication is being able to ask all the right questions and this is something that a lot of people struggle with, not just business owners looking to hire a VA.
Karri, you have such a great way with words! Thanks for saying what we all would like to say.
Thanks for the great article, Karri. I think the most distressing part for me is the potential client who calls, asks for a written quote, then does not return follow up calls and emails. My only consolation is that I would not want to work with someone so unprofessional as to not wrap up the interaction!
Karri,
You’ve hit it right on target! AMEN!
I read this post since I am starting to think about finding a VA for the administrative work that is overflowing in my business. I believe that you started to write this with the intent to help people in finding a VA and to have a better relationship with a VA. But you just end up sounding petty and irritated that you have to work for a living. If you don’t want potential clients asking about your services or asking for a quote, then just tell them so when they first call you! I am willing to explain my services to potential clients and give them quotes for the services they are interested in. And guess what? Some of them sign up and some of them don’t. That is how business works. Thanks for letting me know where NOT to look for a VA!
@Angela – My post was intended to be a rant, though I beg to differ with the “petty” adjective given I provided some constructive information about how to make one’s search for a good VA a fruitful one.
You bet I get irritated (like many of the other commenters here apparently) when prospects are window shopping on my dime. Perhaps if there were more than 24 hours in a day I could sit on the horn from morning ’til night giving out free advice and chatting with prospects about the state of the economy and why they can’t find a good VA …
Despite the fact that time is a commodity in my business, however, I do spend it with prospective clients on the phone and/or by email discussing their needs, giving a little free advice when it’s appropriate and yes, signing on a few 😉
My post is quite clearly advising those seeking a VA to ask all the questions they need to ask BEFORE I put a quote together. I never once in the post said I didn’t want to provide quotes.
I’m fairly versed in “how business works.” Been at it for a while. Win some, lose some. But everyone wins when both sides are fully engaged in the process … long before a quote is ever drawn up.
Thanks for your comments, Angela.
Cheers.
@Jeff – Thanks for understanding 🙂 I know there is absolutely a growing cohort of male VAs and it’s fabulous! You’re right about the questions getting asked on both sides of the equation too. I’ve always felt that asking questions is even more important than always having the “right” answer. It’s by asking the tough questions that we grow as business people.
Thanks for the post Karri. This will help clients that are new to the idea of VAs and how to prepare for the consultation. We (virtual assistants) come prepared to the consultation by looking up any and all information about them and about what we need for them so it is nice to have them provide the same readiness. It makes for better results on both sides.
Definitely, as posted so frequently by the network at VAnetworking.com, the client and the virtual assistant personality and actual task compatibility are priorities in the relationship. Even ahead of early quoted rates which can be ‘foolers’ until the client knows how skillful the VA is at that particular rate.
Something that can lead to struggle is jargon going both ways.
For new people on either side of the aisle, please check out my blog @ Bar JD Virtual Professionals (http://www.barjd.com) where I am writing more on this matter.
Wow, Karri!
I’m going to reference this article in my July newsletter if that is ok with you! Since there are still a lot of people who don’t realize that time is money for us.
@Jeff You are so right about knowing what questions to ask, ask the wrong question, get the wrong answer! We’ve been putting up with ‘he’ for eons, thanks for understanding!
I love this article. I am going to refer to it on my site. I’m just starting out on my own in the VA world and it hasn’t been an easy road especially with the cost competition out there. I have awesome knowledge of customer service and anything computer related but until people get burned by using someone who advertises a surprisingly low hourly rate, they don’t end up coming to you until they need things fixed right!
This is a great post Karri. I can particularly relate to passing on a client to another VA if the “fit” isn’t right. I have done this where a prospective client has needed a service that I don’t provide – i.e. diary management – telephone answering service. The client was very grateful that I was able to refer them on to another VA that I knew did provide these services. Who knows the client might decide they need a letter typing in the future! 🙂