Delegation… a Lost Art Part One
May 28, 2010 by Christina Littrell-Williams
Filed under Biz Development
Are you the King or Queen of the “I can do it better myself” attitude? Or do you say to yourself, “It will take me longer to explain this task then if I just go do it myself”? First of all let’s agree that is totally the wrong attitude in both situations!
You are losing money left and right if your focus is not directly were it should be and that is working ON your business! You should have a support staff, even if that is your high school son/daughter and other family members working on databases and paperwork. Every business owner should have support and then more importantly know how to delegate tasks to that staff correctly.. Over the next couple of weeks I will provide you with tips that will help you become a better “delegator” and help you regain your focus ON your business!
- Hint #1 – Understand the Task at Hand: You must understand the task at hand yourself fully. How can you expect someone else to understand your explanation of what needs to get done if you don’t know that much about it. Also, you do not want to end up in a pickle where this is a repeating task and the one person that always handled it for you, leaves and you are stuck with it not getting done and not knowing how to do it.
- Hint #2 – When sharing this task, make sure you share the expected outcome that way your support person has the full vision of what you are looking for.
Client Retention…Do You Have It?
May 24, 2010 by Christina Littrell-Williams
Filed under Biz Development, VA Tips
Making a sale once or handling a client’s account once is better than not having either, right? But will they come back to you if they need your product or services again in the future… that is the question.
Client retention is so important. You want to create a customer “loyalty” to you, your services and your products. You want to create a “community” within your business! You want them to refer you!
Here are a couple tips on bettering your Client Retention…
• Take time out of your day to check in with a couple (2) existing customers/clients – ask them about THEM and what they might need or want or for feedback on their last visit with you.
• If you do a monthly newsletter or article – highlight one of your “champion” clients in the community. Maybe something special is happening in their business you can share.
• Provide something for your clients & customers – a freebie like a car wash, give-aways or even a client appreciation day at your place of business (remember to take pictures!)
Personal touches are so important – remember we are building “relationships” with our clients! If you would like to hear about what I consider to be the BEST client retention tool for ANY business owner, contact me!
VA’s can save you money!
May 22, 2010 by Christina Littrell-Williams
Filed under Why VA's
How do you save money if a Virtual Assistant’s hourly rate is higher than an in-house employee?
This is a question that hinders a lot of business owners from hiring a virtual assistant. The cost of hiring someone to come into your office or business location for $20 per hour seems like such a better deal than hiring a virtual assistant for $35 per hour, right? In the long run NO WAY! State to state in house employees salary laws are different but just take this – with a fringe benefit of 35% you add $7.00 to your in-house employee’s income per hour, then you take in the overhead (office equipment, supplies, worker’s comp and so on) of 50% you add $10.00 to your in-house employee’s income per hour for a total of $37.00 per hour. Those costs seem to get lost in the shuffle because they are either calculated by a payroll service OR through the accounting program you have set up. Those are costs that are not included in your Virtual Assistant’s wages. On top of those “extras” you need to calculate in tardiness, sick days, vacation days and slacking time which every employer pays and have no completed tasks to show for it! Again this is something you do not calculate in when working with a Virtual Assistant – they get paid for the project completed OR for the house actually worked! It has been calculated that you pay on average 2,080 hours per year for an in-house employee and can get the same amount of work completed by a virtual assistant in 480 hours per year (an employee’s 8 hour day can usually be crunched into a 3-4 hour day with a virtual assistant) – calculate this out and it is a savings of over $60,000.00! Now that is a savings!
Inviting Through Facebook
May 11, 2010 by Christina Littrell-Williams
Filed under Tools
OK by now you should have a Facebook Profile/Fan Page… did you know that you can use that profile/fan page to market your services. Please be aware that Facebook frowns on you using it to solicit sales of products but to market a free event it is GREAT. Free events could be something like Stephanie Graziano’s, Building Your Own Business – once a month coaching conference call (www.buildingyourownbusiness.com) or Judith Cassis’ Teleseminar Series she is prepping for (www.successmadesimpleteleseminars.com ). When she has a topic that is open to the public she can “invite” through Facebook. Even the great “gatherings” McKenna and Green do in the store for their clientele, they too can send invites through Facebook events. How great to open up your visibility and get more exposure. True Stephanie’s and Judith’s are set for an “audience” from anywhere in the world but do not discount the marketing you can do just by sharing information. You never know who is really in your backyard! Use every available tool out there to get noticed! More advertising!!! Don’t forget Merchant Circle also, this is more for local businesses…
I have never heard of a Virtual Assistant. Are Virtual Assistants a new thing?
May 10, 2010 by Christina Littrell-Williams
Filed under Why VA's
The quick answer to the question, “Are Virtual Assistants a new thing?” is NO. It started back in the 1970’s. The founder was Stacy Brice. Stacy looked at the traditional secretarial role of assistants and felt there should be more. Not just a person performing “tasks” but one who assists in getting tasks completed but also be a part of the overall outcome. She felt there should be a bond between client and assistant and in that builds a relationship between the two. This idea forever shifted the “model” of boss and assistant. You can imagine the effect this had on efficiency and value one took on in completed tasks as well. By 1992 Stacy had created a platform in which she was working virtually full time from home. She even was working internationally by then. By 1996 the Virtual Assistant was “coined” by Thomas Leonard while speaking with Stacy on the phone. In 1997 Brice opened AssistU which is a school to be trained and certified as a Virtual Assistant. In 1999 Christine Durst and Michael Haaren stated International Virtual Assistants Association (IVAA). From this point on every year brought a new group onto the scene that had the purpose of support for the Virtual Assistant, whether they be new to the business or a veteran to it, along with a place for people searching for a VA could go and post “help wanted” adds. The industry has grown very large and I for one am thankful to Stacy Brice for having such a vision. I love what I do! How many people can say that about their “job”?
