You just HAVE to have it!
Buying a product on the spot, with little thought, might sound familiar.
Perhaps you hoped that what you are buying is going to solve a problem.
A fear of missing out on something that everyone seems to be getting might have led you into following the herd.
It could have been clever marketing by the salesperson that made you think you really needed it.
Whatever led you to buy that product on impulse was short lived.
You went, you bought, you left.
You now have a product that you are either pleased you invested in or resentful that it has been put in the back of a cupboard and rarely used.
Buying into, or rather investing in, a service is (or should be) entirely different.
Much thought and deliberation often goes into the choice you make for you or your business.
There is one reason for this and it is quite simple.
The scope for long lasting disappointment is higher if you were to chuck your money into a service based on an impulsive reaction.
With little or no research, you cannot ascertain a person’s qualifications, you are unable to get a sense of their credibility, their professionalism or get a proper indicator of their credibility.
Picking a name out of a hat is likely to lead to disaster when it comes to engaging with a service provider.
Let’s take engaging with and parting with your money by using a Virtual Assistant as an example.
There are many of us out here and there is more than enough work to go around all of us.
So how do you find the right one for you?
After all, you are giving them the responsibility to support you and your business needs (and often personal needs in the case of VAs that offer lifestyle services).
It is essential to do your homework to find the person that fits your needs and your requirements.
Putting in the effort to do this will pay off in the long-term and you are less likely to be disappointed by the person that you choose to help support you and your business.
There are many things that I see as important before embarking on any business relationship because if it is a ‘one-off’ ad-hoc piece of work, it needs to be just as good as any piece of work that could lead to a potentially longstanding relationship.
When engaging with anyone I meet, I always look to build the relationship from the very moment we meet.
I do not expect anyone to meet me for 10 minutes and then tell me they want to retain me for X hours a month starting from next week; and whilst I can work with people that I do not know, working with a Client often comes from months (sometimes years) of interacting through a series of conversations, networking events and forums in which we can discuss and debate many topics at length.
Human touch is remembered
A perfect example of this has come to fruition recently.
I shall never forget the moment I met a particular person. It was during an online networking event and there was a healthy discussion about a controversial issue that one or two people were quite vocal about, expressing their opinions with less consideration of others that you might expect.
I watched and answered carefully when I was asked for my thoughts.
As ever, I was considered, I didn’t sit on the fence but I didn’t ‘go out all guns a blazing’ as some others had decided to.
I caught this lady’s reaction to what was happening before our very eyes and so, when I got the chance, I asked her what she thought about the topic we were discussing.
She immediately brought the tone from fraught to calm in less than a minute and it was incredible to see how everyone in the room could suddenly appreciate the others’ points of views, albeit they did not agree.
From this moment on, this lady and I had ‘clicked’.
She said that we would work with one another one day and she was right.
During the next couple of years our paths crossed over social media, direct messages and a few further networking opportunities, and our relationship grew and developed.
Last year, I met her colleague and, similarly, we got on immediately.
I can safely say that the synergies we have amongst us in the values we hold, of our beliefs and how we should go about our daily lives and, more importantly, how we treat others to get the best possible result for everyone involved was refreshing.
She, too, said that she would like to work with me when the time was right.
That right time came at the end of last year and they are now an ongoing Client that I cherish.
Since launching AKA Virtual Assistant in February 2020, I promised myself a few things.
One of them was to really follow my gut, my instinct would allow me to learn a lot, and not to rush what I was unsure about when it came to working with people.
I felt that I had worked with enough toxicity in my life and that because I was in a position to be able to choose who I worked with and how I worked, I could do things ‘my way’.
That is just what I have done.
There have been a few times that, whilst I had capacity to take on another Client, I did not get a good feeling about it. They might have been brash, pushy or non-communicative.
Just like not buying on impulse, I have not taken on Clients impulsively.
It is the most important relationship I can have in business. Whilst I need to get along with everyone I deal with to be able to do my job effectively, if I don’t like the person I am working with directly, I see little point in doing it.
Making these smarter decisions has led me to gaining credibility with those I come into contact with.
Recommendations and referrals, for me, are the best way to meet potential Clients.
This group of people have been told about me by whoever I have a relationship with and so they are bound to get the full truth of that person’s opinion of me rather than them have to do an element of guess work if they were to meet me for the first time with no other clues available to them.
When someone refers me to a potential Client, not only do I feel satisfied that I am obviously doing a good job for people, I also feel a sense of responsibility to make sure that their recommendation is well founded.
I shall always do my best in everything I do, even if I have met a Client by chance, however there is an element of mutual understanding when someone has met me and then gone on to say that others should work with me.
Trust has to be gained
There is no better person than me to truly understand how challenging it is to ‘let go’ and entrust someone with their business and personal matters.
As a Business Owner and Virtual Assistant, I know just how hard it is to relinquish control of even the smallest of things and so it is essential to feel confident that a person chooses a person they have confidence in. This doesn’t happen overnight and can take weeks, if not months, to build up and develop.
Working with someone and trusting them in your business and personal matters is too important to do on impulse.
It is easy to find a person that, on paper, is perfect – but until you get the real feeling that they are a solid choice in many ways, impulse buying when choosing a service provider is not going to do you any favours.
Another promise I made myself was to be visible as myself using my own voice. I was never going to voice anything on social media, in networking groups or within forums if it was to gain anything other than relationship building.
Naïve perhaps, however, I never want to sell out on something that I don’t truly believe in, demean the value I have of something or push a matter that is not of good standing.
Building this has been a slow burn for me. My only strategy in securing new business is that I shall always be myself.
They say that patience is a virtue.
I have found, in business, that to be true.
I continue to enjoy building relationships in whichever way they are presented to me.
Some of those shall become Clients, others are becoming what I can see as lifelong friends.
If you want to get to know me a little more feel free to check out my pages on LinkedIn, Facebook or Instagram.
If you would like to take the discussion further, please get in touch with me.
Anna