Educate your clients in how to use your services
Member Feature: by Henriette Howell of VA Connect
Not too long ago the world of Virtual Assistant did not exist. Here and there, a stay at home mom perhaps who arranged with her company to work from home, but even then, she had to check in every now and again.
So why is it important to educate your client on how to work with a Virtual Assistant? I thought of a few reasons and would like to share it with you.
Do you remember when the first touch screen cellphones came out and you had to figure out how it works? On the other hand, had to ask someone to show you? Well for my Dad, he gave up the first time until we showed him how it worked.
It can be new and scary
Well working with a VIRTUAL ASSISTANT can be similar for many people. It is still new, people are used to walking into their office and there you were, handing you that piece of paper to file or shouting across to make a note in the diary. The Virtual Assistant world is completely different from that. There is no paper, there is no “corporate office” and there is no seeing or talking face to face. Everything is Virtual.
If your client does not know how to work with a VIRTUAL ASSISTANT or what a VIRTUAL ASSISTANT can do for them they might easily feel that it is not worth it. They might feel that it is just not for them.
Great tips on how to do this
Now you might think, how? How do I “remind” or “educate” my client? This is how I have been doing it the last two years;
On your first day working with the client,
ask the client if they ever worked with a virtual assistant before. If they have, ask them how did they go about it and what did this person do for them. If the client has not yet worked for a Virtual Assistant, ask the following;
- What do you need from me
- How did you normally do it?
One of my clients created a “How to work with me” document. Which I found was great, I learned from it that she is much on WhatsApp than Email, etc. I created my own one, have been discussing it with my client’s ever since. I can explain to them more in detail how I do things virtually. HOWEVER, when doing this, make sure our client now you can do it differently. This is only a suggestion and to educate the ones that have not worked with a virtual assistant before.
Ask the client,
if the previous person did anything else for them, mention to the client some of the other things you can do remotely.
If or when you see areas where you can assist,
in your catch-up meeting talk to the client about it. Mention to them that you have done it before and you would love to help.
When things are quiet,
and you have time for them. Mention to them that you are available to help with something, and that you are willing to learn and see how you can help.
This why it is important for you to educate your client, reminding them that you can do virtual filing, that you can updated his diary even though you are in a different city.
For more on Henriette and how VA Connect can assist you, please do visit our members page.