Welcome to another episode of the podcast that teaches you how to be a ridiculously good virtual assistant.
Today I want to talk about how to stop acting desperate to get clients.
Today’s Quote: Being desperate for something is not bad, but it is when you let your desperation be overly visible. – Mohith Agadi
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Connect with Tracey D’Aviero, VA Coach and Trainer
Episode Notes:
Every VA starts their business by deciding which services to offer and then trying to find clients.
Sounds simple enough. We think …
I have a service, you need this service. Hire me!
It’s not all the time that we consider the client, though.
We start to focus on getting clients, and we forget that we are a service business – in business to help the people that need us.
Maybe we know that in theory, but our tactics to get the clients too often forgets that.
And then guess what happens? We struggle to get clients.
So then what do we do?
We try harder.
We post everywhere and anywhere that we need clients. We run a special deal. We offer our services for free or a trial project.
And all that does is make us look desperate.
You probably don’t think you are sounding desperate, but you are. Everyone sees it, except maybe you.
So, what can we do to stop acting desperate?
First, take a deep breath.
You can do this.
I can help.
Let’s look at your last 10 interactions together.
These can be in person or online conversations you have had.
What did you say to the person you were having a conversation with?
Identify what you said, and how the other person responded.
When you are having a conversation with someone, you need to make sure that there is back and forth.
You need to take that opportunity to get to know them. To let them get to know you.
To actually learn about their business. To determine if you can even help them.
How do your last 10 interactions look?
If the conversation ended quickly, you may have jumped too quickly to sales.
It’s really important to focus on helping in every interaction until it’s the right time to formally talk about working together.
Sometimes the words ‘discovery call’ sound innocent to you but they scream sales to a potential client.
So what do you do? Stay where you are.
If someone is commenting on your social media comments, stay in the comments. Don’t move to DMs right away.
Answer them right there, where others can see you being helpful.
Ask questions. What information do you need to help them right then and there?
That’s how you create the conversation right there.
And that’s how you make it about the client.
Offer your advice with the intention of helping them with their immediate problem. You don’t have to solve it completely, but advise them so they see that you understand their problem, and that you could be a solution for them.
If your conversation is already taking place in DMs, keep it there before suggesting a discovery call.
Handle it the same way. Ask questions. Answer their questions. Don’t solve their problem. They need to know you can help, and they still need to NEED you to help them.
A bit of back and forth in your DMs can really help build trust quickly, and can pave the way to you getting a client.
If you are in a face to face situation, handle it the same way. If you are with a group of people, treat that like a comment in a FB group. Answer in front of everyone.
If you are one on one, handle it like a DM. Ask questions, give advice, help them without solving their issue.
Sounding desperate goes away when you actually come from a place of helping people and wanting to get to know them.
Customer can sense desperation. It’s like a beacon. And they will run from it. It is a huge turnoff.
I used to have a sales job and I did not like it.
We were trained to get the sale. End of story.
We learned about sales objections, answering a question with a question, and asking for the sale.
I have a lot of experience in sales.
I am absolutely telling you to not make a sale with every conversation you have.
Every conversation is NOT a sales conversation.
Many conversations are about introductions, learning, interest, support, problems, solutions, and more.
So much has to happen to precede the actual sale part. Embrace it!
Look again at those last interactions you had. Knowing what you know now, what would you do differently in each of them?
Let’s talk now about your marketing content.
Social media is the conversation that happens when you aren’t there.
Look at your last 10 posts.
Are they salesy? Or are they helpful and curious and authoritative like a conversation?
If they aren’t, consider what changes you could make to change that so that they are.
When people are seeing your content, they have all the same questions they do when you are talking to them.
Now that you have identified what you might be doing wrong, it’s time to make steps to fix it.
Stop sounding desperate. No sales, no discounts, no free work.
Elevate what you do for your clients. Talk about how valuable it is for them. Talk about the people you have already helped. Talk about how you COULD help people if they have x or y problem.
Position yourself as the expert for the problem the client has.
And once your messaging has been corrected, it’s time to 10x your connections. Or at least 5x. It takes time to get comfortable and confident with conversations. The more you do the easier it gets.
So numbers are in your favour. He more connections or interactions you have, the more clients you will eventually get.
Focus on that and you will free yourself of the desperation easily.
You will be seen instead as the solution your clients need. And that’s the whole point!
I guess if you have to shift your perspective, go from desperate to sign a client to desperate to help one.
And I don’t mean give them free work by helping them. I want to be really clear on that.
There is no need to screen share or look at something together or log in to anything together to do what I am advising.
If they ask you to do that, then you simply say ‘That’s what my clients pay me to do for them’ or something like that.
A client asking for free work is not a client you want to sign up anyway.
You want to elevate what you do. The clients you want will see that value and they will invest in it.
There are hundreds, thousands of clients out there. Don’t focus your energy on signing the crappy ones. Find the good ones and spend your time helping them.
Come from a place of professional support and it will be reflected back to you.
Let’s circle back to today’s quote.
Being desperate for something is not bad, but it is when you let your desperation be overly visible.
Let your desperation fuel you, but don’t wear it like a hat.
You can do this. You can get clients. The clients will come, you just need to take the right actions every single day.
I promise!
If you haven’t yet, go over your last 10 interactions and check your last 10 social media posts.
If you see desperation in them, it’s a simple change you can make right now to shift how others view you.
Do You Need Help?
If you need help figuring out how to fix your conversations or your content, get in touch with me. I’m here to help.
It’s the only reason I’m here at all, as you know. To help you become a ridiculously good VA.
I have helped hundreds of VAs who are stuck get moving through private coaching, group coaching, and live and self study trainings. If you want to talk about how we can work together, let’s connect on a Cut to the Chase call. You can book yours at YourVAMentor.com/chase
Thanks for tuning in this week! I’ll see you next time!
What You Need to Do Next:
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