How to get your client to delegate tasks to you
You’ve signed the new client and you are raring to get started, but you wait and wait for the tasks. Hesitancy to give up control of tasks is definitely a sign that your client needs assistance. As the VA you can perform administrative tasks faster, better, and more effectively than your client can.
However, they can be overwhelmed with much of the administrative work of running their business and need help getting the details done. Quite often the client does not know how to start and how to delegate tasks to you so it is up to you to take charge and assist!
In your initial meeting with your client it helps to develop a plan to get them up and running quickly. Some of the items you will go through is what systems need to be set up, and of course what tasks to initially delegate.
Here are some time-consuming tasks you can get your client to delegate to you
Calendar – Setup a shared calendar that you will manage, schedule, and arrange for your client. Google calendar is good, and as you confirm your clients meeting it syncs directly to their iPhone.
Email – Emails waste time and you can help your client with these. Set up an Admin email account that you manage, and if possible, get the client to setup a personal email account for you on their business domain.
Social Media – Find out what platforms your client is using and what updates they will require. Twitter, Facebook and linkdn are just some of the time-consuming platforms that do require constant work.
Track Projects – Managing projects, deadlines, and deliverables is time consuming when your client is so busy. You can use Asana to manage projects, and it syncs directly to your clients iPhone.
Invoicing – Invoicing is an important task that many busy small business owners put off. As the VA, you need to send, track, and receive your clients’ business invoices and deal with accordingly.
Research – Searching the web may seem like a simple and quick task but is actually time consuming – as you know. Show that you can do simple research whether it is for a meeting, presentation, or a new idea.
Expense Reports – Another project you can suggest your client delegate to you is expense tracking. It seems to be a task generally detested by all business people. You can organize your clients’ expenses and receipts. It is easy to share receipt images and documents via Dropbox or an expense app. The Evernote app is a great way of scanning documents quickly.
Travel – Book your clients travel and use a system such as TripIt to sync your itinerary to your mobile device.
Proofreading – Be the second set of eyes on all types of documents and proof read everything. It doesn’t matter how many times your client proofreads a presentation, blog or any documents, the client often overlooks the typo.
Contacts – Request all and any business cards that clutter your clients desk to enter into your shared address book so that they show up on your Clients phone.
Creative Work – Don’t be afraid to request creative tasks from your client. You may come up with an angle your client didn’t consider or do a better job than they might.
Each client is unique and there may be some things they specifically mention. Use your initiative when going through suggestions with your client. It may be an idea to draw up a list of everything you can think of, and using your onboarding template, you can get your client to delegate their tasks to you.