Showing Value as a VA Part 2

In part 1 we discussed different methods to demonstrate value to your clients. In this section, we get to the real juicy stuff and begin to understand the who, what and why.  By the end, you’ll have some great strategies on ways to keep on impressing your clients without even putting in much more effort.  If you haven’t read Part 1 yet I would highly recommend doing so, you can find this here. 

Why this is important 

Now we get to the fun bit. The Why. This can be broken down into two areas:

– Increasing your rates – As time goes on you will have to increase your rates otherwise eventually you will be making a significant loss. Understandable this can be nerve-racking as the client may turn around and say they can’t afford the new rate. However, if you’ve done all of the above this should be easy. Why? All you have to do is go through your quarterly value emails and explain this is why you’re increasing your costs. Remember it takes time to bring on a new VA and you already know all their processes. 

If a client is unable to afford the new fee, offer fewer hours (on an amount you know they can afford) on the main tasks. Walkthrough the risks associated with not doing certain tasks or projects (i.e. we might miss this or that), document and advised them of the risks, and then propose a new scope of work. You never know they may turn around and say we can pay a bit more. You are a vital part of their functions. 

Bonus Tip – I would highly recommend in your contracts having the standard 3% increase/ year as per the standard rate of inflation.

– Negotiation – ‘’Wait it’s going to cost how much…?’’ Now thankfully I’ve yet to come across someone pushing back on my prices… (it crosses my mind maybe that’s a sign I’m not charging enough..) 

However, I’m going to play devil’s advocate and assume some clients will want to negotiate your rates. First of all, this should be non-negotiable, but a client might not take that without some kind of explanation. 

Scenario A: they are a current client and want you to do a project you’ve done for them before (same scope) but are offering less – this is easy – if you’ve been keeping track of the above and perhaps have already done a value check email you can again lean on it to further enhance why your rates are as is. 

Scenario B: New client – If you’ve done the above you will have ‘War stories’. These are tales of how you helped x client and what it allowed them to achieve. You can use these to ‘back up’ your rates and explain this is why clients chose me over someone cheaper. 

When should you 

As mentioned in Part 1, I recommend doing this quarterly, but there are also other key times:

– Annual review – this is good for you as well as the client as you can see if there any tasks you are doing more of / prefer/ enjoy over others.

– New project proposal – anytime you are outlining the cost for a new project the client has asked you to do you can mention what this meant for another client and why you have xyz pricing. 

– When being compared – If a client lets you know you are being compared, which to be honest will happen in most cases as they will want to make sure they are investing in the right person and not waste anyone’s time. Thus enhancing your email with a quick story of why another client chose you (back it up with a testimonial if you have one) can only help your cause. 

Quick note: Remember you are trying to help them, therefore would be selfish to not let the client know of your experience! 

– Anytime money/ rates/ budget is brought into the conversation – the best tool I’ve found for this is having a ‘War Story’ bank which upon writing this I’ve decided to do an entire blog on. But in short, these are stories of value that you have created with other clients. 

– Quick reminders – this can be done on a call or in an email. But here just quickly reminding a client how you did xyz may sometimes seem as non-essential but those quick 10 seconds of you reminding a client add up and before you know it they may ask you again or better refer you onto someone else! 

Who can this be used again for/ benefit 

There are numerous times you can use this again and other areas it can benefit: 

– New clients – make them feel like they are in safe hands right from the get-go.

– Case Studies – what better way to showcase the work you’ve done and re-affirm clients in your expertise. 

– Blog posts – You never know from writing / collecting them you may become a bit of an expert and decide to write about it and give top tips on how to help others. 

– Returning customer – Depending on how long ago they worked with you they may not be aware of the new tasks you can help with. By knowing what valuable task you’ve helped with you can let clients know they can take you on.

– Ex client – Maybe a previous client has recently updated their LinkedIn with a new role they are endeavouring in. Or you now have some new skills you can help them with. 

These are just a few, but I imagine there are many more ways showing value can be used. 

Essentially,  once you’ve written down the value you’ve provided to one client you can keep on using it in multiple ways to further promote your business and reaffirm who, what and why you are doing business – you may find it gives you a confidence boost in your service, product/ offering. 

To wrap this all up I only have one final piece of advice (I may have hinted at this a few times). Don’t cheapen yourself. Believe in yourself and your product. 

All you’ll do is cater to tire-kicking cheapskates who don’t value your offering in the first place and will run at the first difference of a penny. You’re worth it. No matter who’s asking or what economic environment we are in. 

I really enjoyed writing about this as it turns out I feel quite passionately about people charging the right amount and being paid the right amount for their work. If you have any questions on this topic and would like to discuss further please feel free to reach out on oliver@olivera28.sg-host.com.