The writings on the wall from the guy in admin covering some of my ups and downs in the profession.
Rush Job.....Lasting Effects
Posted 12-19-2008 at 03:30 AM by virtualguy
I just spoke with a friend of mine from Detroit today. She's just as new to the VA profession as I am. She told me about her first day as a VA and a client that was in her own words "hastily signed." The client was a busy executive type who needed to get a letter drafted and emailed out to some of his colleagues in his field.
My friend didn't probe this gentleman's needs in depth and failed to fully understand the scope of work that she was to perform. She admitted that she made a mistake as we all do on occasion. She was under the impression that after getting the letter approved, the client has all of the contacts and email addresses in Outlook or in a .csv file. Unfortunately that was not the case.
The client has just the individual's names and company info but doesn't have any email addresses for these people. His expectation was that he could simply email her this file and she would research these individuals and get their email addresses to send out the letter. The bigger problem was that he was running behind schedule and the project needed to be completed in 4 hours....there are 455 recipients that need to get this letter. Talk about being out in a poop storm without an umbrella..ella...ella...aaaaaa aa.
I really felt bad for her because this was her first client and she was eager to get down to business. I don't drink but I was so tempted to pour myself a huge glass of Aņejo tequila and drown out her sorrows for her. Not getting all of the information that you need BEFORE starting a project can be disastrous later. As she realized what she'd promised in her contract was not going to happen, she called the client and let him know she she couldn't deliver as planned. He was furious and called her so many creative four letter words that she felt like he was making some of them up as he went and hung up the phone.
She cried and it hurt my feelings to hear her so down about it. She wanted to quit but I told her not to quit but to change the process in which she gets her information. After speaking for over an hour she felt better about the business and I told her to stop by the VA Forums and learn the ins and outs from some seasoned professionals and to ask questions. The lesson that I learned from my friends mistake is to never take on a project that you don't have enough due diligence on.
My friend didn't probe this gentleman's needs in depth and failed to fully understand the scope of work that she was to perform. She admitted that she made a mistake as we all do on occasion. She was under the impression that after getting the letter approved, the client has all of the contacts and email addresses in Outlook or in a .csv file. Unfortunately that was not the case.
The client has just the individual's names and company info but doesn't have any email addresses for these people. His expectation was that he could simply email her this file and she would research these individuals and get their email addresses to send out the letter. The bigger problem was that he was running behind schedule and the project needed to be completed in 4 hours....there are 455 recipients that need to get this letter. Talk about being out in a poop storm without an umbrella..ella...ella...aaaaaa aa.
I really felt bad for her because this was her first client and she was eager to get down to business. I don't drink but I was so tempted to pour myself a huge glass of Aņejo tequila and drown out her sorrows for her. Not getting all of the information that you need BEFORE starting a project can be disastrous later. As she realized what she'd promised in her contract was not going to happen, she called the client and let him know she she couldn't deliver as planned. He was furious and called her so many creative four letter words that she felt like he was making some of them up as he went and hung up the phone.
She cried and it hurt my feelings to hear her so down about it. She wanted to quit but I told her not to quit but to change the process in which she gets her information. After speaking for over an hour she felt better about the business and I told her to stop by the VA Forums and learn the ins and outs from some seasoned professionals and to ask questions. The lesson that I learned from my friends mistake is to never take on a project that you don't have enough due diligence on.
Total Comments 2
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I think we can all relate to this in one way or another - a valuable lesson learned. Unfortunately, some lessons in business just come the hard way... at least she'll have this sort of issue covered the next time around!
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I feel for her. I have been on a same shoes several times. Clients can get really nasty and be ready to hear all the name-calling!
Tell her, she's not alone. Stuff like that happens.  |
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Recent Blog Entries by virtualguy
- Rush Job.....Lasting Effects (12-19-2008)
- The Admin Guy (12-19-2008)
