Working Effectively with Your Virtual Assistant
I had a disappointing experience last week. A relatively new client, with an extensive list of future projects, decided to stop working with me. Although I was sorry to see her go, I understood why she made that decision. After all, it had taken several weeks to complete the first project, which could have been done in a couple of days. This was not due to incompetence or laziness on my part, or due to taking on more work than I could manage. I believe it came down to a lack of communication.
When you have someone working in your office with you, they can pop their head in, ask you a question or two, and continue working on the project. When you’re working remotely, you do not have that luxury. It is therefore critical that you answer your virtual assistant’s emails as promptly as possible. If your schedule doesn’t allow you to respond on a timely basis, your VA may have moved on to another project by the time he or she receives the information they requested. This is especially important in the early stages of your working relationship, as your VA is getting to know you and your preferences. After you’ve been working together for a while and your VA has had an opportunity to gain a good understanding of your business and the way you like things done, these "check-ins" will become less frequent.
If e-mail is not your preferred method of communication, it would be a good idea to schedule regular telephone meetings with your virtual assistant, keeping in mind that you will usually be billed for the time. Once again, you’ll probably be able to reduce the frequency of these meetings once a regular routine is established, except perhaps when a new project is underway.
Things may have worked out differently with my client had I explained all of this at the onset, and I’ll be sure to do that going forward.
For more on this subject, read Kathie Thomas’ recent blog post, What Can a Client Expect in a Virtual Working Relationship?
Janet you are so right - communication is so so critical when it comes to our virtual relationships with our clients. Unfortunately when the damage is done due to communication issues, it’s very difficult to repair the relationship. As Virtual Assistants we need to take charge and make sure we have a full understanding of our client’s expectations and also communicate our own expectations of them. Scheduling a weekly call - even if it’s only 10-15 minutes will make a big difference in the success of your client relationships - especially in the beginning stages.
Cindy Greenway
www.GrowYourVABiz.com
Comment by Cindy Greenway — May 26, 2008 @ 11:59 am
very well said..
you have a point. it is very important to have communications especially when you are working with a VA. because you can’t just talk to him/her whenever you want unlike if you have your employee.
Comment by marieclaire20 — May 26, 2008 @ 1:30 pm
Communication is important. I’ve had clients send me emails that I didn’t receive and then moved onto another VA because they thought I was either too busy or not interested. What?!? When I finally found out some months later (2 clients in the past did this) I asked them why didn’t they pick up the phone and call me? Simple solution.
Comment by Kathie M. Thomas — May 26, 2008 @ 4:23 pm
That’s an excellent point, Kathie. We rely so heavily on email that sometimes we don’t even think of picking up the telephone!
Comment by Janet Barclay — May 27, 2008 @ 8:25 am