No Experience or not enough Experience:

This issue keeps coming up. When you start out as a newbie Virtual Assistant only offer the services that you have the skills and the experience to do. Do not offer a range of services that you can not do.

Do not offer Transcription if you have never done it before, the same with word processing. Word Processing is not quite the same as copy typing, it is more involved and can involve graphs, graphics, tables, design. Only offer this if you can do it and do it well. If your finished document is not presented well the client will soon doubt your skill and experience.
If you offer a skill and cannot do it the client will very soon by your own actions, realise that you have no idea what you are doing, its very unprofessional and is a bad business practice and reflects badly on our industry.

When offering services clients need to know that you have the experience and the skills to do the job.

Things that matter to clients are:

Trust
Reliability
Be able to perform
Be able to sometimes multitask
Being Proactive
Assertiveness
Taking responsibility for ones work.

Some times clients can ask you to do something and you can not do it but you may have the time to quickly learn that skill before the work comes. Take the opportunity if it is presented to you.

Learn about your clients, ask about the company, visit the company website, and learn as much as you can, this helps you understand what your client does and what they require from you.
If you don’t understand something your client has said ask them to repeat it or ask them to resend you there requirements in an email.
Keep in contact with your client while you are working for them, a good relationship with your client can lead to that client using your services again in the future and becoming a regular client of yours.

If you provide your client with a good service you never know who they might tell, word of mouth is the best form of advertising for you.

Written by Alison Fourie, AMF Typing Services cc, © Copyright 2001 AMF Typing Services cc®, Ck2001/083866/23. All rights reserved.