Inspirational Ideas On Conducting Request A Callbacks And Phone Appointments

If you are developing a location online to offer appointments and calls with potential clients, you have a couple of solutions available to you:

The First Option: Consultation

Now a full consultation can be a very comprehensive process, and when I have a potential client book a consultation, I will send them an email which covers a series of questions, or actions I would like them to take or think about before the call. This tends to be a little bit on the formal side and I make sure that I am in control when I am conversing with them on the call.

What I am trying to say is that, in my experience, consultations often take place where people have come across the concept of virtual assistant services, or might have an idea of what they are and how they can help, but are not entirely sure and therefore a process of discovery is necessary before I can work out how they can be helped. So it’s a learning experience for the client, and also a chance for them to see your services more, since the door is wide open for suggestions.

On consultation calls I only ever give standard rates out on the phone, everything else from bitty project work to packages I always confirm on email with an estimate. This way when they come back several weeks later (and some do) you have an official estimate on a document with an expiry date on it – this way you can reference back your quote and it keeps things nice and clear.

The Second Option: Request a Callback

This option is for people who know what they want specifically, and will ask you about it. Now I am going to show you how these go on a Live Video Recording (It’s very raw – but hey this is what VA-LIVE is all about – Keeping It Real!). This type of call is informal and you’re able to quickly get up to speed with the potential customer as you talk to them and I tend to like this type of call because most of the time they know what they want and just want to talk about your rates, so you’re able to get everything across on the phone rather quickly and then follow up with an e-mail.

I go over how each of these scenarios is handled, comprehensively and in-depth during my training course, which will be released shortly.

In the meantime, I would like to talk to you about these two methods of virtually meeting with prospects.

Get Out Of The Conversation What You Need To From The Potential Client.

Always remember that whenever you think about something related to what they are inquiring about and how they want something done, go ahead and ask. It’s quite possible that you would be the perfect fit together, but you never know and you need to find out as much as you can at this stage to find out how you feel about working with them.

Sometimes the Biggest Clients Come from the Smallest Origins.

One of my first clients wanted to start off by buying four hours of administration work per week. He sounded lovely on the phone, and of course I took it. This gentleman is still with me at this time and those four hours have expanded into a part-time situation and this continues to increase, as well. We are also exploring other possibilities of working together. So never turn anything down unless you feel that you really are not a good fit for that person, or you just get a bad feeling about them.

Sometimes, you will get a gut instinct and in these cases you should turn a client away. If you don’t listen to your inner self, you might become miserable working for these people and end up finding a way to get out of it — in some cases I wish I had avoided all that hassle. Never be tempted to stay with the client just because of the money, even though it makes you unhappy, as it will have a detrimental effect on all of your business, believe me!

Keep The “Request A Callback” Very Simple.

When someone does request a callback about a specific virtual assistant service, keep it simple. Don’t try too much upsell on the call, just provide a good solution to their problem, and then follow up later. Suggesting too many options at this point or a variety of services that they are not aware of, could lead to them becoming overwhelmed. I do often drop in other services which may compliment what they are asking about, or if I know they will need an additional service in order for us to provide support for what they are asking for then I will tell them. But If someone wants diary management, I don’t go into web design – only if it’s a full consultation and we are reviewing what’s available.

Stay on-point, keep it simple, friendly and informal, and your virtual assistant business will reach new heights.