Delegation… a Lost Art Part Two
June 1, 2010 by Christina Littrell-Williams
Filed under Biz Development
Do you find yourself thinking I don’t even have the time in my day to delegate a task to 
someone… This is a pitfall many of us fall into. The truth is you don’t have the time NOT to delegate.
As a business owner your calendar is probably your most valuable tool. Notice I called it a TOOL – you need to use it that way. Schedule everything you have to do on the calendar that includes shopping, paying bills not just business meetings and networking! You will get a clear picture of the REAL amount of time you have in a day. Now while you are scheduling things – schedule in a block of time for delegating tasks, the beginning or end of the day is always best!
During this time you will focus on tasks you can hand out to others to complete type up an instruction email, include all attachments and don’t forget to include a date you expect this task to be completed – send it and consider that task completed! Your support team will get it done! It is important to make time work for you not you rush around trying to keep up with time!
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!
Your Virtual Assistant can help you with on-line Shopping Cart programs!!
May 13, 2008 by Christina Littrell-Williams
Filed under Tools, Why VA's
Many small business owners have product for sale. Products can consist of tangible “touchable” items like books, CD’s or DVD’s. Products can be digital too like e-books and MP3 downloads. Products can also be service or event based like counseling time, coaching time, seminars, webinars and workshops. All of these items can be managed online through your website and programs called “shopping carts”. There are several shopping cart programs you can subscribe to, 1Shopping Cart is just one to name for the moment. Your VA can create items within your shopping cart and create a link to be put on your website. Customers then can purchase or register right through the website. Your VA can also set up “auto responders” so that your customers receive immediate messages regarding their purchase. You can also use the shopping cart for reports on your product sales, tracking your customer’s purchases along with sending global “news blasts” to the data base that has been created by your customers. Having a shopping cart is a great way to begin to automate your business and employing a VA to run it can even makes it more hands free for you!