You teach people how to treat you (especially as a VA).
This lesson was engrained in me by one of my business coaches, many years ago.
When I got into business, I didn’t know how to be a business person. I am guessing it was the same for you.
I knew how to be an assistant – doing whatever my ‘boss’ (client) needed done.
I was very good, though. I could anticipate a lot of things. One of my managers called me ‘Radar’ like the character on the tv show M*A*S*H. I could get things done for him before he even knew he needed them.
I was an excellent assistant.
When you make the leap to becoming a Virtual Assistant, you need to make a mindset shift.
I had to too. I could no longer sit around waiting to be told what to do – I had to tell people what I could do, and then make sure they gave me what I needed to do it properly.
I needed to put myself in charge of my business, and so do you.
Stop being an employee, and be a business owner.
It’s not a difficult change to make (well, not really), but it’s a necessary one.
Your business will not survive if you keep acting like an employee.
You need to take charge and make the rules. And then you need to follow the rules.
Act like a professional, and people will treat you like one.
Professionalism is most important when you are communicating with your clients.
I see posts in the VA groups all the time lamenting how a client treated them.
Recenty I saw one about a potential client who had PM’d the VA over the weekend. She read his message but did not respond. The client sent another message indicating that they knew she read it and did not respond. The VA sought out support in the VA group and asked others how to respond.
REALLY?
This to me is craziness. This is the stuff that sets me off. Like, truly.
Just respond! Don’t ask others how to respond (and let your anger escalate in the meantime).
It’s not personal, it’s business.
No one is trying to insult your intelligence. A potential client reached out for help. Just respond. Yes you can help, or no you can not. It’s your decision!
Tell the client your business hours. Respond during business hours. Simply answer the request.
If something tiny like that costs you a client, or makes you seek out advice (honestly!) from a VA group, you are never going to make it in business.
Just answer the message in the most professional way possible. If you don’t want to work with someone, don’t work with them. If they cross a boundary, simply remind them of what the boundary is and make sure they keep honouring it.
And never leave someone hanging – it’s rude and unprofessional.
Stop taking business communication personally.
This one post got many responses – and fuelled the fire from many other VAs who gave terrible advice – ‘don’t respond’ was common advice – really?? – and some even provided terribly unprofessional responses for her. The more comments I read, the sillier it got.
If you don’t know how to correspond in a professional, business manner, and not take every little thing personally, you need to learn how to do that.
And if you are going to ask advice about how to respond to a situation that makes you uneasy, ask people who are EXCELLENT at business communication (I am) – don’t open yourself up to advice from people who may or may not even have successful businesses. This is sage advice.
You will not survive in business if a simple weekend Messenger exchange sends you to a Facebook group to seek advice about how to respond.
That may sound harsh if you would have done the same thing, but it’s truth.
If you want to be a better VA, learn how to communicate.
Take the emotion out of your business communication. It will make you a better VA.
Stop rushing to ask others for advice about every little thing. Make a decision and be confident that it’s the right decision for you.
Start building a business mindset today that helps you make good decisions in your business. One that helps you present yourself as a professional every single day. In every single piece of correspondence.
Your business will thrive when you are confident and clear, and when your communication skills are top notch.
Trust me – the moment you take ownership of your communication skills, you will be a better VA.
So what would have been the right thing to do with this client?
I think it would have been to respond immediately upon reading the message (yes, even over the weekend) with a simple: I’ll look into that on Monday morning when I’m back in my office. Enjoy the rest of your weekend! And then Monday, be sure to remind the client of your business hours. Simple!
If you are serious about becoming a more polished, professional VA, our Inspired community is the place for you. The Inspired Action VA Mastermind is a tight knit group of professionals who are getting things done in our businesses because we have the support we need to do it. It’s a (very) low-cost, high-value coaching alternative. If you are struggling through your VA business, check out this group to see if it’s the right time for you! Our next session starts in just a few weeks.