I created my first virtual assistant job over 20 years ago, long before it was widely recognized as a profession.
I realized in retrospect that my success was not primarily attributable to my knowledge or skills, but rather the value I brought my clients.
So, when asked recently for my thoughts on what was necessary for any business to succeed in the first year of business, my immediate response was "to provide more value than your customer expects.
" This shouldn't come as a surprise for anyone in the service industry, and yet the value to the customer is often overlooked in the day-to-day operations and sales processes.
It seems everyone talks about sales and profits -- increasing sales, finding new sales avenues, pre-selling clients, making each sale more profitable...
but fail to realize that before that will happen there must be trust, earned from the positive experience your clients enjoy with every interaction.
For many years I was responsible for designing, developing and delivering sales training for Fortune 500 companies.
Traditional sales techniques morphed into "relationship selling" -- something so obvious to me -- and yet here we were developing courses and reading books about developing relationships with potential and existing clients.
As virtual assistants we must be passionate about our work, love what we do, and most importantly, it must show and be obvious.
Clients see passion, and appreciate that you consistently over-deliver.
In return, you benefit on the odd occasion you need to seek forgiveness from your client.
Not unlike any other relationship -- if the proverbial bank account is in the black, you can make the occasional withdrawal and remain in the black in the customers eyes.
Only when you have consistently met or exceeded client expectations can you expect to be able to make a withdrawal without any lasting impact to your business relationship.
Clients will forgive if you have a great track record with them and occasionally don't meet their expectations.
It requires a lot of deposits though before you make a withdrawal.
Essentially, comes down to trust.
I was surprised to find that my clients would come to me first when they had a need - any need -- even when it wasn't a service I offered.
Why? They trusted me as a partner in their business interested in their success.
They knew if I said I would get back to them, I did.
I said I would deliver at a specific time, I did and often before the agreed date or time.
I said I would charge them $X -- that's what they were asked to pay and less if the work was completed in less time.
They could count on me.
And my business grew in ways that I could never have imagined or envisioned, offering services in response to client requests.
Today, I operate in exactly the same way.
As I add niches to my expertise and service offerings, my clients are happy to use or refer me to their network.
So much so, that as of today I don't have a website.
I haven't needed one, because by consistently over-delivering, word of mouth has been my only sales tool.
I realized in retrospect that my success was not primarily attributable to my knowledge or skills, but rather the value I brought my clients.
So, when asked recently for my thoughts on what was necessary for any business to succeed in the first year of business, my immediate response was "to provide more value than your customer expects.
" This shouldn't come as a surprise for anyone in the service industry, and yet the value to the customer is often overlooked in the day-to-day operations and sales processes.
It seems everyone talks about sales and profits -- increasing sales, finding new sales avenues, pre-selling clients, making each sale more profitable...
but fail to realize that before that will happen there must be trust, earned from the positive experience your clients enjoy with every interaction.
For many years I was responsible for designing, developing and delivering sales training for Fortune 500 companies.
Traditional sales techniques morphed into "relationship selling" -- something so obvious to me -- and yet here we were developing courses and reading books about developing relationships with potential and existing clients.
As virtual assistants we must be passionate about our work, love what we do, and most importantly, it must show and be obvious.
Clients see passion, and appreciate that you consistently over-deliver.
In return, you benefit on the odd occasion you need to seek forgiveness from your client.
Not unlike any other relationship -- if the proverbial bank account is in the black, you can make the occasional withdrawal and remain in the black in the customers eyes.
Only when you have consistently met or exceeded client expectations can you expect to be able to make a withdrawal without any lasting impact to your business relationship.
Clients will forgive if you have a great track record with them and occasionally don't meet their expectations.
It requires a lot of deposits though before you make a withdrawal.
Essentially, comes down to trust.
I was surprised to find that my clients would come to me first when they had a need - any need -- even when it wasn't a service I offered.
Why? They trusted me as a partner in their business interested in their success.
They knew if I said I would get back to them, I did.
I said I would deliver at a specific time, I did and often before the agreed date or time.
I said I would charge them $X -- that's what they were asked to pay and less if the work was completed in less time.
They could count on me.
And my business grew in ways that I could never have imagined or envisioned, offering services in response to client requests.
Today, I operate in exactly the same way.
As I add niches to my expertise and service offerings, my clients are happy to use or refer me to their network.
So much so, that as of today I don't have a website.
I haven't needed one, because by consistently over-delivering, word of mouth has been my only sales tool.
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