Six Ways to Rock Your Virtual Assistance Services

Success being a Virtual Assistant (VA) is the sum of details that you input to marketing your business.

Your terms of service are a driving force behind the safety and trustworthiness of your virtual customer’s experience. Ensure you provide as much information as possible regarding your business so that the customer can make an informed choice.

Here are six ways you can rock your Virtual Workstation experience and avoid interruptions or make customers ran away from you hence killing your business’ productivity.

1. Accept Payments Only Through Formal Platforms

Use payment methods that are reported appropriately, with industry-leading security to protect both your personal and payment information. It also makes payments work more smoothly across borders: Clients can pay via credit card, Skrill or PayPal, and you as a VA can withdraw funds using the option that works best for you, including direct deposit, wire transfer, Payoneer, Skrill, PayPal, and others.

Before accepting to start work, make sure you always receive a deposit from the client, preferably should be at least 30% (percent) of the work done. This initial payment guarantees that a customer is committed to seeing the contract through.

Plus, because you’ve agreed to “engage, communicate, invoice, and pay online” using the ideal platform under the terms of service–accepting payments after work has been done is violating your own terms of service and it is a very risky undertaking. Trust is built and nurtured over a long period of time. You should not trust a customer whom you have not met, interacted well, known his or her background by accepting to do work before any payment is done. Most straight forward customers would first pay a deposit before work begins to guarantee they are committed to the services they require.

So what can you do? If a client proposes to pay after the work is done and delivered?

Simple, refuse and if the client is still adamant, reject his offer and continue looking for other customers.

2. Use Integrated Online Platforms for Brand Recognition

Put a system in place or brand name that takes into account your emails, website, and social media accounts. There are a number of features that help establish trust among new connections. Your website domain should also be the same as you’re your Facebook page, twitter page, LinkedIn page, your email domain and other platform that you choose to use. Using different domains for social media and website may confuse clients or result in issues of trust.

When you split your activity across multiple domains and logins, you confuse people about who you really are and dilute the power of building a strong personal brand. Your single business name is your brand which needs to be protected

3. Use Your Own Account and Your Own Identity

Since the VA business is yours, just be yourself on your VA business - including your real name and location.

Your clients would expect you to provide accurate and verifiable account and profile information. This transparency is also an important part of a marketplace that’s built on trust and your personal reputation.

To help keep your account and identity secure:

• Respond quickly to requests by your customers to verify your identity (e.g., Participating in a phone, WhatsApp, or skype verification, providing your Form of Identification (FOID).

• Don’t transfer or sell account credentials to other users. For example, individual accounts may not be shared between users, and team members of an agency cannot share account or log-in credentials.

• Don’t ever log into one of your client’s accounts on his or her behalf.

4. Make Sure Your Profile Is Accurate and Up-to-date

Information about your identity needs to be honest and up-to-date, but to be successful, your profile should go beyond that to include recognized best practices:

• Use your real name as well as a professional picture for your profile photo.

• Accurately describe your experience, skills, and qualifications and the services you offer.

5. Share Information Smartly

To protect yourself and your personal information, keep all contact with potential clients inside a secure system that it is not accessible to other people outside your VA business.

• List your email, your Skype contact information, your personal website, and LinkedIn in your website or social media profiles.

• Share your official contact information with prospective clients. Also use your website or social media profile to outline qualifications and share portfolio pieces.

• You can use whichever communication tools that work best for your needs.

6. Being Successful Requires More than Complying with Rules

Running a successful freelance business means protecting the systems you use, such as website, as well as your reputation. While there are terms of service while handling your virtual assistance business, much of being successful means meeting the expectations of your clients.

Here are a few extra tips to remain on the good side of your clients:

• Really polish your website and social media handles. Check your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Website and LinkedIn profiles for grammatical and spelling errors, use complete sentences, and make sure words and phrases are capitalized correctly.

• Be responsive. Whether you receive a message from a client for a prospective gig or dispute, always be as responsive as possible. If you’re going to be unavailable for a period of time, take advantage of your email’s or social media platform’s settings or messaging system to alert your clients.

• Do great work. When you accept a project, you promise to complete the assignment and to deliver high-quality work. Misrepresenting your skills or failing to perform work as promised can result in poor rating as well as disputes with your clients.

• Be thoughtful in your communication. Treat everyone with respect and professional courtesy in all communications.

• Tailor your proposals to the needs of each job and client. Don’t spam prospective clients, send the same cover letter repeatedly, or excessively message anyone.

• Don’t pressure clients to give you feedback, and don’t withhold work until feedback is left.