Don’t Care More Than Your Client

As Virtual Assistants, we are natural helpers. We enjoy making the lives of others better through our contributions. We’re driven by deadlines and an innate need to cross tasks off our to-do list.

When our clients are action-oriented, responsive, and excited about our work with them, it’s exhilarating, and we can’t get enough.

However, clients are often not as responsive or action-oriented as we’d like. Some Virtual Assistants find themselves feeling stuck, unappreciated, and ghosted. That’s a sign that the VA has made an emotional investment in the work that is larger than the investment their client has made. That’s a recipe for disappointment.

People talk about changes they want to make in their business and projects they want to take on all the time. But not all humans are built to make those things happen, especially on a timeline.

Think about when you’ve let life get in the way, missed a deadline, or given up on a project you wanted to accomplish. It happens to clients, too, and it has nothing to do with you.

If you want a thriving business, you must manage the emotional investment you make in your clients' work. Otherwise, you’ll be on a constant rollercoaster of ups and downs that will detract from your life and from working on your own business.

Here are three ways to stay on track:

1. Shift your mindset. It’s essential to realize it’s the client’s prerogative to slow down or even stop the work at any time - even if they’ve promised you a certain number of hours each week or month.
   
   As a business owner, not an employee, it’s up to you—not your client—to make sure you have enough billable hours every week. VAs have asked me how they can “get their clients to give them more hours?” My response: “You can’t.” Putting pressure on your client in any way is never a good idea. You’re here to help, not nag.
    
2. Keep moving. One problem with slow-moving clients is that we wait for them instead of moving on. Stop doing that.
   
   When a client stops responding or seems to be taking forever, check in with them via email and then move on. Spend your time on YOUR business, specifically on bringing in more clients. Throughout my 13-year career as a Virtual Assistant, I brought in between one and three new clients every month and never ran out of work.
    
3. Stop the worry. Two common fears are: 1. You’ve done something wrong, and the client is angry at you, and 2. The client will wait until the last minute to give you what you need to finish a project and still insist on the original deadline, even if it’s unrealistic.
   
   Problem number two is solved with a simple email.
   
   “Thank you for sending X to me. When we originally set the timeline, I expected to get X by DATE. Given my commitments, we’ll need to move the completion date to NEW DATE/TIME”.
   
   And then #stoptalking. There is no need to get emotional or place blame.

 
It's natural to feel invested in your client’s success and get upset when things don’t go as planned.

However, it’s important to remember that just because a project is stalled doesn’t mean you’re in the wrong or the client doesn’t care about you. It means that the work isn’t a priority for your client. Period.

If you’re not already a member of our Facebook Group, The Virtual Assistant Connection, and would like to join, here’s the link: https://www.facebook.com