Today is a new day. Whether it be the beginning of a New Year is really irrelevant because you can put into motion the 3 Cs on any day. All it takes is putting these 3 things into action.

No, I don’t profess to be a master teacher, by any means, on how you can achieve success this year. From looking at our own small virtual assistant business, I’ve found that for us, there are 3 Cs you can incorporate into your action plan to achieve success this year.

Communication

Communication is key to achieving success. Every day, you are working with staff, colleagues, competitors, clients or vendors. Talk to each other for heaven’s sake! Whether you use a smart phone, a telephone, email, Skype, in person or internet messenger, don’t leave room for misunderstanding which can lead to ruffled feathers, hurt feelings, or worse yet, cause you to do irreparable damage to the reputation of your business.

Don’t misunderstand. You should not have to be the only one to demonstrate good communication skills. This is a two-way street. The client also needs to communicate so we can provide them with the best service they want and expect. This, of course, would apply to the other groups I mentioned — your staff, colleagues or vendors need to speak up too.

Customer Service

I had a real dilemma as to whether to put this as the 1st C because it is so vital in order to achieve success this year, but I decided to put it second because it really only makes sense. One of the items you need in order to provide excellent customer service is good communication. You could say they actually go hand in hand.

Take the time to understand your clients’ needs. This key element pertains to whether you are in the virtual assistance industry, information technology (IT) industry or whatever other field you are in. You MUST provide superior customer service. You must provide a comprehensive customer service experience for your client!

Commitment

So based on the first 2 Cs I gave you for what you can do to achieve success this year, that brings in the element of commitment as our third C. You’ve got to be in this for the long haul. You are going to have up days and you are going to have down days. You need to be committed and work hard for that ultimate success you want to achieve. You can do it! As Margie Warrell, the best-selling author of Find Your Courage:12 Acts for Becoming Fearless in Work and in Life said, “Your failures don’t define you. Your response does.”

So repeat after me. The 3 Cs you can do to achieve success this year are communication, customer service and commitment. If you want, take each C one at a time and work on it so it becomes a habit. Then slowly incorporate the other 2 Cs so they become a way of life. Be diligent, consistent and look forward to the success you know you can achieve this year.

Pam Lokker is a master writer and proficient virtual assistant. Borlok Virtual Assistants is the place to get global expert VA services with quality and on-time delivery.

Clients are even more precious than gems. Client retention is critical for small- to medium-sized businesses.

I’ve been thinking the last few days about what attribute I would like my business to be known for. What do people think of our small business? Are we a trustworthy business? What does it mean, and take, to be trustworthy?

Trustworthy has a lot of synonyms that mean similar things; but first, let’s look at the definition of trustworthy. According to the Encarta Dictionary: English (North America) that is included in Word 2007, “trustworthy means reliable, deserving trust or able to be trusted.” Some synonyms are dependable, reliable, responsible, truthful, honest, constant and honorable.

As we work with colleagues in the industry we’re in, my partner and I would like to think that Borlok VA is a model for other aspiring virtual assistants – whether or not they are just starting out or have been in business for many years. In order to be worthy of trust, we need to demonstrate certain characteristics and traits that would show that we are dependable.

As a company that works in the highly competitive virtual assistance industry, we would hope that our friends, clients, staff and colleagues view us as being fair and dependable, that we have a good track record and that we’re knowledgeable. But, along with those qualities are the unwritten connotations that we are profitable, up to date in trends, skilled and credible.

So what are some ways that you can ensure your small business is trustworthy? Let’s take a look:

• Be honest all the time with yourself and with others – Be sincere and truthful in your dealings with vendors, colleagues and clients and friends. Go above and beyond to foster that precious relationship that you can have with your customers — and everyone else.
• Be consistent – To me, this means that our clients should be treated the same; and in our case, that means to provide global expert services with quality and on-time delivery. In addition, provide excellent customer service to ensure you don’t have issues with client retention.
• Deliver on your promise – if you say you are going to meet a specific deadline, meet it; but better yet, exceed it.
• Say what you mean and mean what you say; then follow through by walking the talk – there’s no room here for being wishy, washy, is there?
• Have an open door policy – no one should be afraid to speak with you. Foster collaboration.
• Honor your contracts – if you have a non-compete clause in your contract, make sure you honor it. The same would go for a non-disclosure agreement and all other aspects of that contract.

Becoming trustworthy doesn’t happen overnight. It takes working at it 365 days a year. The benefits of being trustworthy mean you get – and keep – more clients and build a solid reputation. So, is your small business trustworthy?
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Pam Lokker is a master writer and proficient virtual assistant. Borlok Virtual Assistants is the place to get global expert VA services with quality and on-time delivery.

Summary: For whatever reason, virtual assistants (and small businesses in general) come to the realization that their customer list is dropping. Are you doing all you can to get those customers to come back to you?

What we have found is that customers can and will come back to you if you follow three steps to get back those customers that seem to be lost. Let’s take a look at each of them individually.

Own the mistake

What this means is that you can’t blame the customer for a falling out. You need to take ownership (at least part of it) for what caused them to go to another provider. Were you rude? Maybe you irritated them by always pushing ‘I’ instead of ‘you.’ Maybe the customer left because of personal reasons. Trying showing a little empathy.

Do a reality check

Have you checked back with the customer to see how they’re doing? Do a reality check — ask them for their input as to what could have been done differently if they felt the falling out was due to something that you did. Clients generally are very good about giving you feedback about what ‘coulda, shoulda’ been done.

Our virtual assistant small business has come to realize that customer feedback is great because the client appreciates being included in decisions (makes them less cranky when something’s not going their way). Not only that, what a wealth of information you could receive to help you improve how you operate your business. Who knows; maybe their answers won’t hurt as bad as any solution you would have implemented.

Go above and beyond to fix what YOU did

Personally, if the customer shows you that you or your small business was the culprit in helping them to make the decision to leave, apologize. That’s right; I said apologize. Then discuss with the customer a possible action plan that you can implement that will ensure a healthy business relationship with you should they agree to return. Make sure that you are integrating a good comprehensive customer service action plan. Finally — Follow through on that action plan.

Clients (and/or customers) are the core of any virtual assistant’s or small business. Take care to provide A-1 customer service and satisfaction to those clients you have. However, if a client should tend to stray and go to another small business provider, be proactive and contact them. First, own up to any mistakes you might have made if they should suggest that you were the problem. Do a reality check and get their advice on how they think things could have gone better. As a last step, go above and beyond to fix what you did. By following these three steps, virtual assistants can get back those customers that seem to be lost. Being lost doesn’t mean they have to stay lost.
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Pam Lokker is a skillful writer and proficient virtual assistant. She is co-owner of Borlok Virtual Assistants, the place to get global expert VA services with quality and on-time delivery.

Reward your customers with comprehensive customer service tactics in order to improve customer satisfaction.