This recently came up in the AssistU community forums, and I wanted to share it with you.
A VA’s coach had suggested to her that she create a marketing piece that would tangibly show prospective clients what she could get done in an hour. The point was, I believe, to help clients who can’t really imagine how much can get done, and whose minds spin wildly as, instead of thinking about how productive that hour would become, they think about how much money they’re spending.
My answer in the thread was this:
Not for nothin', but this is a verrrry slippery slope you're all walking on. I wouldn't suggest using such a marketing piece, because the minute you DON'T do what a client thinks you SHOULD do in an hour, you're gonna be screwed.
This is exactly why I've never mentioned (much less advocated) our considering using the Industry Production Standards manual--which has existed longer than Virtual Assistance has (being used by the BSS industry to price their services long before we showed up). For those of you who don't know what this is, it's a manual that gives "average" operator times for document production and non-keyboard administrative services. It might tell you that, an average operator's time to type a one-page document is three minutes (I'm obviously making that up, but you get the idea). The premise is that then you can tell a client that you'll charge three minutes of your time to do the work.
The problem is that it's not always going to take you three minutes. And when it doesn't, for whatever reason it doesn't, you deserve to be paid for your time.
Stuff takes you as long as it takes you. Clients have to trust that you're not screwing them on time. That's just the way this works.
If you (any of you) feel like you may be too slow at certain things, ask your VA pals who do those things how long it takes them--but just to get a sense of whether you are, indeed, underperforming. And if you are, consider either letting a client know that there are things you can do, albeit slowly, if they like, OR you can find someone to do those things more quickly.
But never get yourself caught in the "I can do this much in an hour" trap. It's one you can't get yourself out of once in it.
Bit O’Moxie: Better...stop playing this game. It's not your job to teach the world WHY what you offer is a good thing. Instead, look for the clients who wouldn't think to ask, who aren't working on a tight budget, and who can easily afford to work with you long-term. Play to the strong, not to the weak, and your whole practice will change.
Comments