Boundaries you could set as a Virtual Assistant so it never feels like employment
The title of this blog is worded purposely ‘Boundaries you could…’ as opposed to ‘should’. I don’t want this to be a ‘you must do this or you’re daft’ kind of thing, just a gentle way of explaining why setting certain boundaries as a Virtual Assistant might make your business easier, seem less like employment and help avoid stress and overwhelm.
As always, this is your business so you do what works for you and what makes you happy.
Here are a few boundaries many Virtual Assistants put into action in their business. Let me know in the comments which ones you might add to your booking form.
No Calls
Obviously if you love chatting on the phone and find this easier than email, then crack on but it’s perfectly acceptable for you to say to your client that you only do business via emails. You’re the boss of your business. If it makes you feel awkward telling them that you don’t want to be at the beck and call (scuse the pun) of your phone, you could tell them that you like to have a clear record of what has been discussed so nothing gets forgotten.
No DMs
DMs can be deemed a little casual for business but some like to use it. I personally think scrolling through your DMs is a less productive way of seeing an entire conversation and again DMs are a little like calls. Yes you can turn off your notifications but it is still expected (I think) that DMs are going to be answered like a two way conversation, so if they speak they expect a reply sooner than they would with an email. Can you guess which method of talking to customers I prefer yet??
No ‘Urgent’ Work
If you give in to the request of “just this once” you’re leaving the door open to another just this once (secret…. It’s never just this once!). It encourages poor time management from your client and can also backfire. They might be your only (beloved) client who you desperately want to cling on to but they won’t be your only client forever and if you get into the habit of doing things last minute for them, you’re setting the bar very high and when you can’t do this anymore they’ll be frustrated and think less of the service even though you’re getting things back to them well within the boundaries you originally set.
Make it clear how much notice you need to turn a job around and stick with it. You’ll be grateful you did when all of your clients would like something turning around “like yesterday!, but just this once”.
The other last minute request might be a job that comes in on Friday at 3 pm but absolutely has to be done by Monday morning or they’re for it!! Now it’s up to you, if you want to work your weekend but I suggest if you do, you reply, “I don’t usually work weekends but am happy to help on this one occasion” (though please re-read above – it’s rarely one occasion if they know you’ll do it) “though my rate will understandably be double the usual rate”. They might decide it’s not very urgent after all, or you might make enough money to have 4 days off the next week to recover!
No Micromanaging
Don’t put up with being micromanaged! Your clients are not your old supervisor, Debbie, who hovered over your shoulder making (helpful?) suggestions as to how you could work harder/better/faster/stronger (sorry, Daft Punk was just on the radio) but you get the idea.
You can nip this in the bud with your clients by asking that they trust you to do this in your own way and gently reminding them that they’re not actually using you to their best advantage.
Their time would be much better spent doing something else that you couldn’t do for them. If this is too difficult to say without the overwhelming urge to shout “just bloody let me get on with it will you Sonja/David!!” then you could always say, “I appreciate the input and advice but every time we talk about this I am having to charge you for the time we spend discussing it and it interrupts my flow and takes me a little while to get into it again. How about you let me do this in my way and give me feedback at the end, I can always change anything you want then”.
Extra Work Will be Charged
Scope creep! Your client has asked you to do a job, you’ve agreed terms and then halfway through you get an email “just wondered if you could just change the font on paragraph 2,12, 19, 27 and 42 it should only take you a minute”, or “if you could change the colours on the website to more of a pinky red??” You get the idea. Clients usually don’t know how long a task will take and what seems like a 2 minute job (to those not actually doing the job) may turn into another hour of work or more.
You should be flexible of course, you’re there to help but you need to make it clear that anything that takes more time than they have paid for will be charged. This might not seem a problem if your client is retaining your hours but in this case these little changes will impact the deadline.
You could make your client aware that, yes, you can make the changes but you may not then have it done by Monday as originally agreed.
The best way to avoid the situation is to have a very clear understanding, in writing, (I always put it on my Booking Form, which comes with the VA Terms of Business from KoffeeKlatch) at the start of the contract as to what is expected of you and make it crystal clear what would incur extra charges.
Also getting the client to request any changes on email (there I go banging that drum again!) and making sure you, and they are quite clear about what they want you to do, will save you having to justify why your version of pinky red is not their version and if they don’t tell you exactly what version of pinky red (hex code please) they had in mind then the guesswork and probably many amendments will definitely eat into their time/budget.
Calls Will be Charged
“Hi there (insert your name here) I know you said to email but it takes me soooo long to get my thoughts down that I thought it would be much easier (for me) to give you a quick call”.
As I said earlier if you like chatting with your clients, and are happy to do this then go ahead but unfortunately most calls don’t start with Hi, I wondered if you could do ….. by ……… thanks bye!! It’s generally thought polite to ask how they are, discuss the children, British weather, weekend plans etc. all of this can mean your business call that should have taken 3 minutes is more like 15.
If you are happy to talk with your client then you need to make it clear that calls will be charged (hmmm could I do this with my cousin Jenna who rings often to tell me how well Xavier – he’s not french but she did visit Paris 9 months before having him – is doing at school).
Sorry I drifted…
If a client still wants calls with you then you should book these calls into your diaries. A client feeling free to call when it suits them is a dangerous territory to get into. It eats into the time you have set aside for their work, or the work of your other clients, it distracts you and will take you time to pick up your chain of thought (approximately 23 minutes!).
If you receive a call from a client that you weren’t expecting, you could always ignore it and then send them an email saying you missed their call as you were busy with other client work (they really do often need reminding they’re not the only one!) but if they could let you know what they wanted, by email, you’d be happy to get back to them as soon as you’re free.
No Face to Face
I have a strict no face to face policy with my clients. Due to my health issues they leave me drained for hours afterward. I make the no face to face policy clear at the start. Even without health issues, face to face meetings allow for the same problems as the call situation above.
Not only will there be small talk but you’ll have to travel to meet your client which means time you can’t work, unless you’re on the train and even then, by the time you’ve got your coffee, held said scalding hot coffee tentatively for the half hour it takes to cool down, then maybe just a bacon sandwich, or is that just me? You’re getting very little done.
If your client really wants to see you and you are happy to oblige then you should work out how much time it will take you to get there and back, travel expenses and the time the meeting will take and say; I’d be happy to meet but I will have to charge X in expenses so it may be better from your perspective to do a Zoom? Again once they realise the expense it might not seem so important to meet face to face after all.
These are just a few suggestions that might help you think of some boundaries for your Virtual Assistant business.
Don’t overthink your boundaries, as it’s ever so easy to change them in the future if you find something doesn’t work for you. At the beginning of my journey as a VA I worked at client’s offices sometimes, allowed calls and met face to face!
If you’ve enjoyed this blog do leave a comment below and also, come and join my free community of VAs and business owners looking for VAs over in my Facebook group.