Giving Away Free Hours in Your Virtual Assistance Business
August 27, 2007
Dear VA Coach:
I am a new virtual assistant and I am trying to launch and expand my virtual assistance business. I have seen other VAs offer free hours for new clients so that they can test drive their services. Do you recommend this?
- S.L.
No - absolutely not. I don’t recommend giving away free hours, discounting your hours for a ‘trial run’ or any other reduction in your fees. As business owners, we must recognize the importance of keeping our value in tact.
If you are worried about potential clients running for the hills when they hear your prices, here is some good advice.
Remove your rates and fee structure from your website.
Let people contact you, learn a little more about you and figure out how you’ll improve their lives before you give up what you charge. In my experience, the people who have scheduled a complimentary phone call to discuss their needs first convert into clients. If you just tell someone, “My rates are $40 per hour” they are not going to recognize the value in what that hourly rate represents.
Part of being your own marketer and salesperson requires you to do a bit of ‘pitching’ when you talk to potential clients. Tell them what your hourly rate includes, how you track your time, what services you offer, what value-added services or products you add to that hourly rate (ie: Basecamp project management software or an e-book that will help them with working with you) and anything else that makes the $40 per hour seem worth it.
If someone e-mails you and says, “How much do you charge?” don’t respond with your rate info.
Instead, tell them that in order for you to properly quote a rate, you need to learn more about what it is they need in their business. You can say that every single client has different needs and you like to learn more about them, their company and their anticipated needs for a virtual assistant.
Once you are on the phone with them and you’ve had a good conversation, they’ll more than likely ask for your rates and at this time it’s appropriate to offer them that information.
Just by doing those two things, you won’t feel like you have to throw your hours at someone to entice them to be your client. Do good work, get referrals and build your business through word of mouth and you won’t have a need to do that.
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I absolutely agree. You have to show a prospective client that value you offer. One thing that I do is reward clients’ loyalty to me. Instead of discounting my retainers, I offer some free hours with the second and subsequent retainers.