Clients can fall off the VA radar rather quickly. And it can be a painful experience.

“Am I doing something wrong?” is the first question every VA asks when the following occurs:

• Client stops emailing abruptly
• Client responds, but slowly
• Client says he/she will do something but does not follow through
• Client pays invoices late
• Client stops paying invoices all together
• Client is simply MIA despite repeated VA attempts to contact Client (but they can be seen on Twitter and Facebook)

It is difficult not to be angry. You have poured your heart and soul into this client’s work. You’ve stayed up late or worked extra hard to get the work in on time only to be forgotten. When once the relationship was continuous and exciting, it is now troubling and agonizing.

And while I try not to become too personal with my clients, I have found that working in a virtual mode without face-to-face contact is a petri dish for growing personal connections. Emails do not hide feelings and it is quite easy to really like a client based upon daily correspondence and phone calls.  So when that relationship wanes, the hurt can feel similar to losing a good friend; particularly if you have worked with a client for a year or more.

Remind yourself this is business and no matter how many jokes or personal moments you have shared with this client, it is still all business. And, I know that concept can be hard to fathom. Sometimes we can become so involved, that while the work is indeed work; it can also be enjoyable. This transfers to the relationship with the client making it all the more difficult to accept the client’s decision to fall off the radar is indeed, business-related.

1. At the first sign of  a waning client-VA relations, my first suggestion is to step back and breathe. You will be glad you did not take action immediately and write some confounded email that you will regret later.
2. Take a day or two and decide what to do. Mull the alternatives around; forming no definite decision. Keep an open mind.
3. When you are ready, compose an email or a phone script (if you plan to call the client) first and then read, and reread. Step back again and then reread again. I guarantee the first writing will be changed entirely to something more professional.

With a ‘business, not personal’ mindset, decide if you want to ‘hold’ their deposit. (Hopefully, you have taken a deposit.) I personally do not like to hold on to any client monies. But I do have a non-refundable clause in my contract. Offer to work to the end and use up the deposit money (my preferred choice) but be clear when that will be. Remind the client that by a certain date the deposit monies will not be refundable. Usually that is enough to get things going so the relationship can finally be put to rest.

And certainly, if they owe you money, stop the work immediately.

If your client has prepaid for services he is not taking advantage of and it looks as if he will not be using your services in the near future my advice is to set a timeframe when work will need to be completed. Explain that you are holding prepaid retainer money (along with deposit money) that will not be refunded if work is not offered by a certain date. I believe 30 days is sufficient. When the work is sent to the VA, complete the work and decide at that point whether the relationship will continue or terminate.

As I mentioned, I do strive to work to the end using up the deposit money but that may not always be possible. Returning the deposit will be up to the virtual assistant.

It is important to note that if the client has extenuating circumstances, it is best to work out a plan and be an understanding individual. It may be a temporary set-back that will be rectified. However, if the problem client continues to be difficult, it is best to cut all ties.

“Honestly, once a client becomes difficult to work with, it has been my experience that this behavior will occur again.  It is simply not worth the virtual assistant’s time and effort to ‘beg’ for work because begging is what it feels like. And that feels wrong.” Janine Gregor

While understanding those red flags before signing with a client is important, there is no real indicator that things will go sour a year down the road. It’s the nature of the beast.

Be prepared for the worse:  Have a contract ready. Take a deposit. Set the terms of the work, i.e., every 2 weeks, every 4 weeks. Don’t roll over hours to the next month (It’s an accounting nightmare if you are not an accounting virtual assistant AND clients will take advantage of the opportunity stretching out hours from one month to the next. You can’t run a business that way.) Decide if the deposit is refundable before any client ‘falls off’. Act early. Don’t let the situation drag on. It will gnaw away at you and eat into your time you could be spending with clients who are really ready to be professional.

1) Thou shall not take on a new client without a deposit and a signed contract. Period.

2) Thou shall be tolerant when viewing a $4.00 an hour overseas virtual assistant advertisement. Plenty of work is available for all VAs at every rate.  Establish yourself as an expert and you will attract those clients willing to pay your rate.

3) Thou shall be patient when applying for a VA position through a Request for Proposal (RFP) particularly when the potential client never acknowledges the submission. Follow-up once with a PC (potential client) and then move on. Early signs of poor communication may be a red flag that the client may become difficult later on.

4)  Thou shall not believe thyself to be an employee of the client. If the client treats you as an employee, set the record straight immediately. If this explanation does not change the relationship, then terminate that relationship. As difficult as it may appear to lose the income, there is nothing worse than feeling miserable having been labeled as subordinate. You are a business owner and you are in business to partner with clients. You are not an employee. You set the rules.

4) Thou shall take not plagiarize another virtual assistant’s website. Period.

5) Thou shall join an industry-related forum such as Virtual Assistant Forums and participate frequently to help others. Note to new VAs: before you post your questions to any forum, use the ‘search’ feature first. Your question may have already been asked and discussed. Using ‘search’ is a time saver too!

6) If thou finds that thee does not have any clients, this is the time to look up and forward and NOT down and out. Use this slow period to redo a website, create a blog, and engage in social media discussions or better still…

7) …volunteer your services. There is no better means to gaining experience and exposure than to offer your time to other virtual assistants and/or non-profits while expecting no reward in return.

8) Thou shall set a goal that thee will, in 2012, do the work thee only truly LIKES to do. For new VAs, if you are  performing uninteresting client work, as only a primary means to ‘pay the bills’, use this time to garner testimonials and referrals from those clients.  So do your best work!  Your goal is to eventually take on only the work you will enjoy.  This may mean ‘biting the bullet’ at start-up and accepting work that is not interesting but always do so with a positive attitude knowing in the end you will eventually accept projects that are enjoyable.

9)  Thou shall hang a sign above thy computer with the name of the target market thee wishes to reach.  Remind yourself daily that your blog posts, your social media posts, and your discussions will be geared toward the interest and the needs of that particular market. Your client base will increase.

10)   Thou shall ask for help. There is no shame in asking another VA to assist, however, first do the legwork yourself. Check Google, YouTube and industry sites for answers.  If you just want other VAs to tell you what to do, you will never learn. Clients want to partner with VAs who are willing to dive in deep, find the answers and make the suggestions. This is how VAs build long-term, trusting relationships with clients.

Have a great year in 2012!

Interested in learning how to write the Winning Request for Proposal (RPF) that will land you the virtual assistant job? Sign up for details of my new program and be a part of the launch. Learn How to Write a Winning RFP

It goes without saying that lying is unethical and immoral. Eventually, the truth will be told. If you must be untruthful, do not involve your virtual assistant in your misdeeds. Do not ask your virtual assistant to fudge any numbers, reword documents with falsehoods or use a different name if she is to make calls for you.

Do not ask your VA to post positive comments on a blog about you or your business if your customers or employees have posted negative comments with the intention of marring your reputation. Take care of the problem yourself.

Do not ask your VA to lower her rate. If you are committed to paying a specified rate for a specified period of time, find a way to meet that commitment. Negotiating rates with a virtual assistant after the contract has been signed is bad business practice and shows disrespect for the virtual assistant’s value. If you find you are unable to pay for your virtual assistant at the rate agreed upon, give the virtual assistant 30 days notice of your decision.

Do not send work to your virtual assistant before the upcoming monthly retainer has been paid. In most cases, the virtual assistant will bill on a timely basis allowing for the retainer payment to be paid in a seamless manner for work to continue. However, if you have received this invoice but have not paid this bill, do not forward work expecting this to be completed before payment has been received.

Do not ask a virtual assistant to use unsolicited email addresses for unsolicited email. Although this is not illegal, personally, I feel this is a waste of your money and your virtual assistant’s time. No one likes to receive unsolicited email. This is spam. Do the right thing… for your business and your reputation and realize email addresses for your prospects in a double opt-in, organic manner.

Audio Testimonials

Google Voice is a free service used to receive audio files which can be copied to a website or blog.

If you have been following my social media posts on the Business Darlings blog you know that I am the self-proclaimed ‘QR Code VA’.

I love QR codes!

As a marketer, QR codes are a great way for virtual assistants and their clients to promote products and services to a targeted market.

All you need is a smartphone and a QR reader application.

My last post on Business Darlings explains how to use QR codes to promote a contest which I am running right here on my blog and on my Facebook page!

Win a $25 Restaurant.com e-gift certificate to the restaurant of your choice.  All you need to do is enter your best guess as to what you think is behind this QR code.

Here’s what you do:

Use your smart phone with a QR reader app and scan this code.

Take your best guess as to what you think this is…

Enter your guess here on this blog

Hint: It is something on my virtual assistant office desk

I will randomly choose a winner from all the correct guesses on March 30^th and announce the winner here on my blog.

Good luck and Happy QR to you!

If you want to learn more about QR codes for Virtual Assistants, check out my YouTube tutorial.

Note that when using www.SocialQRCode.com for Facebook as depicted in the video, only the Facebook ‘name’ is needed and not the entire URL.

If you are a virtual assistant and looking for another innovative means to promote your services and those of your clients’ then QR codes may be useful to your quest.

What is a QR code?

A QR code is a two dimensional matrix code that has embedded data, text or a URL designated with in the code itself.  This code can be read by a QR reader device or by a Smartphone using a QR Reader application.  Many Smartphones have QR reader apps installed at no charge.

Once the codes are created, downloaded and embedded into a website or printed materials, the possibilities for promotion are limited only to the VA’s imagination.

Why use a QR code?

Anyone who owns a Smartphone (with installed QR reader) can take a picture of the coded image and be directed to an exact location that the virtual assistant has designated.

This is both direct marketing and permission marketing…the best of all marketing worlds! The user wants to see what is behind the code (permission) and the virtual assistant who has created the code points the user toward whatever needs to be marketed (direct).

A combination of marketing motivations most traditional advertisers can only dream of implementing!

How can a virtual assistant use social QR code effectively?

Let’s say that a virtual assistant has a Facebook business page and wishes to direct potential customers toward this page to gain more ‘Likers’. The virtual assistant can write a blog post and use the Facebook URL and only hope that people will be interested in ‘fanning’ the VA’s page.  The virtual assistant can also use the Facebook URL in her signature which again means those who are interested in ‘liking’ can click on the URL to be directed to the landing page.

Using QR codes: The VA can do perform both of the above described options (to share the Facebook link), however, using QR codes can take that same initiative (to gain more ‘likers’) and reach more people; and better yet, reach a much more targeted audience.

What to do with a QR code?

So the virtual assistant creates the social QR code and embeds her Facebook business page URL in the code.  This image is now printed on the back of a VA business card or on a flyer and then passed out to a number of potential clients who might not have ever seen the VA’s blog post with the ‘regular’ URL in the signature.

The virtual assistant might embed the code into her blog or better yet, upload as an image on her website instructing folks to take a photo thus directing the potential client to the business page.

If the VA uses the Facebook feature on SocialQRcode.com when the potential client takes a picture of the VA’s QR code, the LIKE button appears right on the user’s Smartphone!

I created (below) a tutorial entitled, “Social QR Codes for Virtual Assistants” which reviews three social QR code generator sites and I offer a tip as to how to use the lightbox feature in the Facebook business page photostrip as yet another marketing tool for promoting to the page audience.

If you have a Smartphone with a QR reader, scan the coded image above and it will take you directly to my Facebook fan page. Like the page, please! You will learn from the video how to use QR codes for social media and I also give a little tip as to how QR codes can be used as part of the Facebook business page photostrip to promote a product or service.

Note that the Facebook feature on SocialQRcode.com as mentioned in the video is not functioning at this time however, the Facebook code in this post (above for scanning) which was generated from Beqrious.com  is functioning properly. You will be directed to my Facebook Business page.

Update on the Social QR code for Facebook Business page as featured in the video should be input with only the page name…no www.Facebook.com needed – so for my example only input YourVirtualWizard in the SocialQRCode.com website under Facebook. Email me if you have any questions – Janine@YourVirtualWizard.com

The client consultation call is the first opportunity to learn whether or not a potential client will work successfully with a virtual assistant before the contract is signed.

The VA must listen carefully during the consultation call to pick up on any tell-tale clues of disrespect of the virtual assistant position along with any potential payment issues.

Any one or more of the following scenarios may be a red flag warning that a potential client (PC)  might become a future difficult client.

Here are some situations which may arise that you should consider before signing the client contract:

Pre-consultation

• Does the PC keep the schedule consultation appointment?
• If the PC is late in keeping the appointment, does he care enough to get back to you within a few hours to reschedule?
• If the PC is late or never made the consultation appointment, was the excuse something ‘reasonable’?  (“I forgot about our client consultation call” is not a suitable excuse.)

During the consultation call

• Is the PC frequently interrupted or does he place the virtual assistant on hold?
• Does the PC speak only about his needs and never ask the virtual assistant about her business policies and procedures?
• Does the PC ask to barter services during the consultation call? Does the PC ask about bartering even before rates are discussed? (Big Red Flag)
• Is the PC ‘picking the virtual assistant’s brain’ for details about ‘how to do something’?

After the consultation

• Does the PC receive the virtual assistant welcome packet and custom cover letter, yet he never responds to that email?
• If the PC receives the welcome packet, does he only respond with rate-related questions?
• Does he try to ‘make a deal’ to lower the virtual assistant’s rates?
• Does he ask for a probation period for virtual assistant services?
• Does he fail to respond to any of the virtual assistant’s follow-up emails?
• Does he say he ‘may not have enough work’?
• Is the PC is bothered by the customary service deposit?
• Does the PC refuse to work with a contract?
• Does the PC only respond using a mobile phone?
• After spending time on the client consultation call, offering ideas as to the solutions a virtual assistant can provide does the PC fail to offer a determination as to whether he will begin partnering with a virtual assistant?

Each question listed above, singularly does not always mean that this may not be an ideal PC for your virtual assistance practice.  The potential client may have a good reason that he missed the scheduled call.  He may not have access to a computer (temporarily) and can only send short messages via mobile phone.  He may have had legitimate interruptions during the client consultation call and need to reschedule.

However, the key to a good VA-client relationship centers on respect for both parties, the ability to pay for services rendered, maintaining consistently good communication and the ability for the PC to be decisive.

If you have a potential client who gives off one or more of these red flags during the consultation call…beware! Run, don’t walk!

I have had the opportunity to work on virtual assistant teams with clients and I have engaged with other virtual assistants heading up their own teams.

And although a gathering of the minds at a physical table setting is an ideal arrangement; permitting the participants to interpret each other’s facial expressions and body language, leading a virtual team via a conference call is much more complex simply because the participants cannot see each other.

We are social beings. When meeting someone new, we receive cues and make judgments using our five senses to assess individual attributes. When using only our ears to assess one another, our minds pass judgement with considerable limitations. So it is important that rules and code of conduct are stated ahead of time by the leader of the teleconference.

Rules allow us to view each other on the same playing field.  Rules also creates boundaries for behavior and protocol.

When we know the rules, and what is expected of our behavior, we can respect each other and not be so quick to judge.

The success of any virtual team requires a strong, diplomatic leader. Without these personal qualities the group will not be cohesive.

Here are my suggestions for a successful team leader:

Dial-in early on the virtual or teleconference call before everyone else appears. This will give the leader time to chit-chat before the event occurs. A little round of social activity helps participants to ease into becoming more comfortable with people who cannot be seen and who may be complete strangers.

Create rules and announce these to the group before the teleconference begins. Such as:  No private conversations between members on the group call.

Specify a timeframe for the call (one hour, half hour, etc.) and stick to that time. Watch the clock. If you run over the time, say so and ask if anyone wants to stay on to finish up. This shows the group that the leader respects the participants’ time.

Introduce the participants to each other preferably with a little blurb about each other. For example, “This is Janine Gregor of Your Virtual Wizard. She is a marketing virtual assistant and I welcome her to the group.”  This action also sets the tone for the call and clearly states who is leading the call.

Ask the participants to briefly say ‘hello’ and announce where they are from. Introductions help break the ice.

Have someone take notes and send out a ‘minutes of the meeting’ when the call has commenced. Provide a recording link after the meeting and send that within 24 hours thanking everyone for their participation.

If you want to initiate a Q & A after the topic is discussed, say so. If you want to elicit questions during the call, then advise participants how comments can be made.

If a question is asked during the call which is not relevant to the topic, tell the participants to send you an email and you will be glad to respond to that question.

If an individual’s work is to be reviewed during the call, ensure that the comments are constructive and not critical. There is nothing worse than having a team member publicly criticized by a peer.

Create an outline of the teleconference topics to be discussed and distribute this before the teleconference so that everyone has a copy. If you assign a particular topic to a participant, include their name on the outline so that they can prepare ahead of time and not be caught ‘cold’ on the call.

The most important aspect to running a successful team call is to make it clear who is the leader on that call. I once worked with a coach who assigned the conference calls leadership aspect to an online business manager (OBM). The problem with this set-up was that the work that I did was for the coach so when I contributed my thoughts to the group call, the OBM actually acted as the interpreter between myself and the coach. That made for a very uncomfortable and odd arrangement.

My rule of thumb…if the team is working for you and you pay their wages, you are the leader and therefore, you run the virtual group call.

Janine Gregor

“That’s so 80′s, Janine!” was the retort I received from a long-term client during a discussion about the importance of encouraging employee and customer feedback to improve business processes. I cited one of my favorite business books written in 1982 by Tom Peters entitled, In Search of Excellence to back-up my claim that employee and customer feedback is an enormously useful business tool.

Peters believes that companies could make vast improvements in their products, services and public image simply by ASKING employees and customers for feedback.

Who better to know the inside operations of a business than the employees and customers who work directly with the company’s processes?

Employee and customer feedback and suggestions are one of the most economical resources to make improvements in any business. It costs nearly nothing to ask and often the improvements can be low-cost to implement.

I rarely see any suggestion boxes in company store fronts nor do I see any suggestions on any online business sites.

I am reminded of former NYC mayor, Ed Koch (1978-1989) who would often say to his constituents, “How’m I doin”?  This was his self-check. He encouraged citizens to voice their opinions about the work he was elected to perform. It became his mantra and opened up communication with folks who might not have ever uttered a word about this great city.

So, why aren’t feedback requests used more often?

It is my contention that business owners may be afraid to learn what it is that their customers really think. Or, perhaps they do not want to spend the time dealing with negative comments.

But feedback should be viewed as a positive source of information. Microsoft’s Bill Gates is quoted, “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.”

So why don’t businesses ask the unhappy customers and employees what can be done to make improvements?

As a young manager in my 20′s working at a large (blue) health insurance company, we were given copies of Peters’ book and asked to implement the varying steps leading each department ‘toward excellence’. It was my responsibility to eek out the problems in my department and then ask the staff for suggestions.

My assignment staff consisted of 30 union employees who processed employee health insurance enrollment forms.

I asked the staff to list difficulties within the department which affected their productivity. We then brainstormed for ANY idea which could improve upon a particular problem. No suggestion went unnoticed. I could not write down the ideas fast enough! The results were astounding.

One problem in the department was that the telephone would ring endlessly and no one knew if the receptionist was too busy to pick it up. (She was not visible from the department floor and the phone system was not terribly sophisticated. This was the 80′s, you know!)  It was suggested that if the phone rang 3 times, that this would be our clue to pick up the phone. Simple.

Another problem was that the door to the lunchroom, which swung in an out, meant that folks often were hit with the swinging door hurting a hand or an arm. Employees then had to visit the medical department for treatment and in some cases were sent home to heal. This meant down-time in the department and lost productivity. So we brainstormed about making the door swing only one way or even just eliminating the door all together. But in the end, just adding a small window to the door to make it easier to see to the other side became the obvious result.

From this task-solution exercise, productivity increased, customer service response time improved, employees felt empowered and people felt valued.

And, when people feel valued, they work harder.

This concept can be applied to my own virtual assistant business. As a result I placed a Google Voice number on my site that anyone can call and leave an anonymous suggestion. I want to know how I am doing. Am I meeting expectations? What can I do better?

Let me know.