Great Expectations
OfficePRO magazine, June/July 2003

By Stacy Brice

When clients approach us at AssistU, we do our best to make sure they understand what VAs do and don't do, what virtual assistance is and isn't, and what they can expect from their VAs (as well as what they should not expect). Over time, we've learned the importance of managing client expectations.

Here's what we typically tell them:

• VAs are business owners building successful businesses. They work with clients, not for them. Clients need to be able to see VAs as equals.
• VAs provide administrative "support." They are not profit-generators, but they do free their clients to generate more profit.
• VAs have business standards, such as regular working hours, fees, what work they will do and will not do, and how they expect to be paid. Because they aren't employees, clients need to accept those standards or choose a different VA.
• While she may have additional skills, a VA's expertise is administrative in nature. If a client wants someone to create and then roll out a marketing strategy, he should hire a marketing pro with the appropriate skill level. If he wants an upscale Internet presence, he needs to hire a professional Web designer with the appropriate expertise. Clients can't try to save costs by expecting a VA to have the level of expertise sufficient for all business needs.

You'll want to be sure to discuss and reinforce other issues that are important to you. Initially, be sure to do that when you interview a prospective client. The success of your relationship will depend on your making sure that you and your client are on the same page.

Once inside a relationship with a client, another key to managing client expectations is working according to your standards, and never giving the impression that you can do something that you can't or don't want to do. Doing so almost always creates false expectations for clients.

Consider these two examples:

Situation: You sometimes answer your phone before/after business hours.

Expectation Created: The client will come to believe that you don't mind working outside your stated work hours and may start to expect that you'll do it from time to time for him or her.

Better Action: Don't ever answer your phone outside of your stated business hours. Be sure to have voice mail so clients can leave messages for you to handle during your next business day.

Situation: You are learning something new at your client's request. Because it takes you longer than you think it should, you under bill to "compensate" for it.

Expectation Created: When the client gets your invoice and reflects on all that you've done for him during that month, he gets a sense of how much you can accomplish in a certain amount of time, and forms an expectation based on that. When you "lowball" your invoice, you create a false expectation for the client; the reality is that you didn't do everything the client thinks you did in the number of hours you billed, but the client doesn't know that. So you'll end up either forever low-balling, or having to, at some point, have your invoice be a fairly significant amount of hours above what the client is expecting. That's not easy to explain, and can result in a difficult conversation.

Better Action: Always bill for all your hours. You do no one any good when you don't accurately share how long it takes you to do your work.

Interestingly, it's often the most innocent and well-meaning acts that lead to the biggest challenges with managing client expectations. If you'd like to see some other examples, send your request via e-mail to managingexpectations@assistu.com.

Another key to managing your clients' expectations is maintaining open lines of communication. If you inadvertently create an unrealistic expectation for your client, you need to quickly communicate what happened and what the client can realistically expect from you right then, as well as in the future. Don't step over anything. Be sure to address challenges immediately and head-on. By doing so, you only strengthen the relationship.

When you honor and work in accordance with your standards, you do right by your clients. By creating order out of chaos for yourself and in your relationships, the client's life will be better as well. Managing client expectations through clarifying them in advance, working to your standards, and being willing to clear up misunderstandings and false expectations show you to be a partner your clients can count on.

Stacy Brice is a nationally recognized expert on "virtual assistance" and president of AssistU, an organization that trains and coaches virtual assistants. Reach her at stacy@assistu.com.

VIRTUAL ADVICE

Dear Virtual Advisor: I am working with a client who has always respected my work hours, and has never made me feel like I should work late, or on the weekends the way my bosses always did when I worked for larger companies. But he just called me (Thursday afternoon) to say that he just found out that he could bid for a contract to provide a year's worth of training to a top government agency. This could be really big for him. Unfortunately, the bid has to be in on Monday morning, and there are lots of hoops to jump through in order to submit the bid. All of it boils down to a ton of work to make the submission a reality, and he's asked me to consider working this weekend to help him out.

I don't have anything planned except a dinner with friends on Saturday night. On the one hand, I want to help him out, but on the other hand, I feel like I should say no so that I honor my standards. I've worked so hard to come to see myself as an equal and a business owner. If I do as he's requested, won't I be back in the position I used to find myself when I had a "boss"?

Answer: If you had a client who routinely tried to get you to help out because he was disorganized, didn't plan well, or just didn't understand why you wouldn't work late as a matter of course, I would suggest you consider the appropriateness of that client for you.

But the client you write about clearly respects your standards, and you seem to have a strong relationship. This opportunity for him came at a time when, to make a deadline, weekend work is going to be necessary. It's not that the weekend work is necessary due to any negligent planning on his part. The beauty of being your own boss is that you can do anything you want. The key is that you sincerely want to help.

The other criterion you should use when faced with this sort of quandary is whether you can "afford" to help out. By "affording" to, I mean, "Can you give of yourself without having it cost you something?" If you had weekend plans that were more important to you, saying yes to his request would cost you something.

You have the opportunity to be a hero for him by helping him with his bid. You don't have anything going on in the daytime over the weekend, so you can afford to be generous and offer to help out.

Sometimes, going above and beyond what a client can usually expect is the appropriate thing to do. I think this is one of those times.

Stacy Brice is a naturally recognized expert on "virtual assistance" and president of AssistU, an organization that trains and coaches virtual assistants. Reach her at stacy@assistu.com.

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