Is the VA Industry on Shaky Ground?
Every now and then I hear from business owners who share their story about a frustrating experience with a Virtual Assistant. It’s normal … and really, it should be expected, after all we’re still learning how to work well together and build great relationships.
However in discussions last week at the Wealthy Thought Leader event, I was absolutely shocked to hear that the reputation of the Virtual Assistant industry is on serious shaky ground.
Are you surprised to hear this?
Here’s the scoop … business owners do not feel like they are well looked after by their Virtual Assistants. In conversations with different business owners there were some common ‘complaints’ that I was hearing. Things like working with a Virtual Assistant who does not:
- provide timely responses to their clients
- assist with the occasional request that requires quick turn around
- complete tasks before the agreed to deadline
- communicate appropriately or asking questions to clarify details
- pay attention to details – making sloppy errors regularly
- manage the priorities of all their clients well (leaving clients to feel
their stuff is unimportant and at the bottom of the list)
Enough business owners out there are unhappy in their experience with a Virtual Assistant and they’re talking to each other about it… and this can affect the reputation of the entire industry. Which of course is something that makes me sit up and take notice.
As someone who is passionate about our profession and as an active advocate of this industry I want to look at how we can fix this. I’m a firm believer that when we hear complaints from our clients on a regular basis it is an opp for us to step up and respond.
Of all the complaints I was hearing one that really stood out for me is that clients don’t feel like they are important. They feel like their stuff “doesn’t matter” or “falls to the bottom of the list.” Now I know as a VA that this certainly isn’t our intention! We are working to juggle all our clients and their various projects, and that last thing we want is for them to feel like they don’t matter.
As a starting point I created a checklist of things we CAN do to make sure our clients feel like they are the only ones we work with. It’s usually just simple tweaks that can make all the difference for clients, and make them feel taken care of. How many of these can you check off?
What are some other things we can do to make our clients looked after?
Enter your name and email address below and get immediate access to the checklist you can use to identify how well you’re looking after your client.
We’d love to hear from you, please share your comments with us below.
March 31st, 2010 at 10:59 am
It is really unfortunate, I agree. However I have learned that when a prospect complains about a former VA, and I don’t engage in the bashing part, but I try to uncover the real root of the complaint, it is often that the client is a “problem” client who contributed to the way things turned out. Case in point, this prospect became my client and in a matter of months I learne that she was very hands off, didn’t respond to my emails or calls, didn’t respect the hours, research, suggestions (only she can execute), and when she did communicate with me, it would b thru a 3rd party-a less skilled VA. I ran her social media without any direction and initiated alit of work to find content, to engage and mingle on her behalf which you can only Go so far as….in the long run, I decided to cut my losses as I felt a disconnect and as much as I wanted to really provide criticism, I just moved on in a tactful manner. Working hard and remaining faithful with a client who was “unavailable” and didn’t pay me on time, I would really try to uncover the real root of the complaints from a client, because most often, the client has an issue and replacing a VA for a “better” VA is like putting a bandaid on an infected wound.
Granted som VAs could improve their time management and project skills, but there are two sides to evvery story (client complaint) and the client could be a major contributor !
March 31st, 2010 at 1:09 pm
Interesting post – a lot of these complaints centre on time management.
The thing is, VAs are generally TOO helpful, and it causes them to miss deadlines for other clients. You need to learn to say no when things aren’t possible and be realistic about what is possible in any one day. If we said “I’m sorry that’s not possible” more often, we’d ironically get less complaints!
April 1st, 2010 at 2:06 am
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April 1st, 2010 at 2:28 am
Being very new to the VA industry, I’d just like to put the other side to this “my VA doesn’t care about me” debate. I recently cleared space in my busy schedule to make way for a rushed job for a client only for her to disappear off into cyberspace, never to be heard from again. You can imagine how pleased I was that I turned down two week’s work to accommodate this person before she disappeared. In this age of technology, I find it incomprehensible that this “client” couldn’t let me know that she wouldn’t be needing me after all.
Another bad experience : I was asked to make around 100 sales calls per week in French for another client who wanted to pay me $9 an hour plus 22 cents per phone call. The minimum wage here is $12.20 an hour. What clients need to realize is that “caring” is a two way thing and as for the quality of their VA – they are bound to get what they pay for. These two bad experiences have made me seriously doubt whether it is possible to work at home as a VA and still put food on the table for my children.
November 2nd, 2010 at 11:45 am
My response is making the giant assumption that the original post was referring specifically to clients with valid administrative needs and acceptable payment practices and is geared towards asking the question, what can we do as a community and as individuals to improve the reputation of the VA field with reputable clients.
Honestly, it isn’t such a surprise that there are complaints about VAs. There is a wide range of experience levels out there and as employing independent Virtual Assistants isn’t yet a widespread or common practice many potential employers new to working with a VA are unaware of the best way to choose one. As a result they tend to go for the moderately priced or least expensive options, or those with the most appealing webpages giving less thought to skill level and efficiency. In cases like this it’s easy to blame the client and say you get what you pay for, but this would be unfair as well as pointless.
We as admins need to take responsibility for setting expectations, ensuring the client is fully cognizant of the services we offer and our experience levels as it pertains to their requests. Running a service oriented business is primarily about customer service. You can be the most skilled of VAs, however, if your customer service skills are lacking most people will decline to deal with you. Likewise you can be lacking skills or experience and if your customer service skills are up to par clients will be inclined to hire you anyway, because you not only make the experience easier and pleasant for them but despite a lack of knowledge you make them feel as if you will do what needs to be done to complete the job and meet their needs. Through your words and actions you show them that they and their business are important to you. regardless of the number of other clients you have.
It was posted earlier that VAs often make the mistake of trying to do too much for clients. This is true. And unless this is done deliberately with the intent towards winning additional business, the urge to take on more than you can comfortably handle should be curbed, for the reasons already expressed.
My personal opinion and experience is that many new (and some established) VAs fail to set expectations, manage their time effectively, take on projects with an honest eye towards the time and resources it will consume, and they fail remember that customer service is key.
November 2nd, 2010 at 5:09 pm
I’d like to think that people would not let the reputation of a some taint the rest of us.
I’ve been in business as a VA for almost 10 years and I have NEVER missed a deadline.
Most of my clients have small jobs with quick turnaround times and I’m more than happy to oblige.
All VA’s are different and I see a lot of them charge premium rates for a job under 4 hours. Most of my small jobs fit into this category and I wouldn’t have my clients if I charge like that.
I pride myself on the relationship I build with my clients. I don’t ‘work’ for them, but instead ‘partner’ with them to build a mutually supportive relationship. All my long term clients, I still have. Yes, 100% of my long term clients are still working with me, going back to my very first client in January 2001.
Of course I get a number of one off jobs, but a number of them too have come back for repeat business.
So I ask any perspective readers out there who are thinking twice now about hiring a VA, just give us a chance. Like any employee you get in to work in your business, they don’t always work out but that doesn’t stop you from hiring someone else.
November 3rd, 2010 at 2:42 pm
Yes there needs to be more response from the VA community about how clients can contribute to the failure of the VA/Client relationship. I’ve been in business for 5 years – went from $0 to $4,000 a week- at the high point -and am now down to 1.5 clients. Both are uncommunicative unless they want to tell me to do something. Neither responds to suggestions or requests for guidance. I only hear from them when it suits them to answer me. At this point I need the money but I am totally burnt out on putting up with the garbage that seems to result from clients who view VAs as a drive thru, fast food alternative to hiring an employee. Have I allowed this to happen? Sure – you can say what you will about my failure to define boundaries, guidelines, etc. To set up frequent live phone calls and meetings to stay in front of the clients and appear more responsive to their needs. But I believe that there are just certain types of people who hire VAs: Number 1 is those who have little or no money; Number 2 is those who have no desire to become personally involved with a “real” employee. (So they like that a VA is an anonymous task doer who they feel little or no attachment to). One of those 2 clients that I still work with recently sent out an abrupt email that he was moving 1/2 of the business he previously sent me to someone cheaper. He did this with a “mention” in the email he cc’d me to THEM that I would be packing up his products and sending them to the new service. This occurred over the weekend when his bill was due. When he also dragged his feet about paying me I made it clear that I would be keeping his materials until I got the payment (it’s the only recourse I have) he became indignant about me “not trusting him”. I had to say “sorry, but it’s the current nature of the economy and the VA industry to have clients who disappear without paying”. Very unfortunate but very true. Contracts mean llittle to these people.
October 9th, 2011 at 6:19 pm
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