The recent thread on virtua's much deserved and long awaited vacation got me thinking about how often we (my husband and I) travel and relatively, how often we need to tell our clients we will be out of the office.

We've been out of office about 20% of the time this year, weekends aside, when all is said and done - which is quite alot. Some of our trips were holidays, some were travel plans necessary for our preparing to return to the States, and some were dates we could not be online because we were moving from one country to another.
Fortunately our clients are very well aware of our penchant for travel and they understand and appreciate that we give as much advance notice as possible.

We also send a list of personal and 'standard' holidays each year so that clients are aware that we will be out of office for Valentine's Day or our birthdays (these are holidays that are equally as important to us as New Year's or Thanksgiving - and because we are a family of mixed cultures we include a few Persian holidays on the list as well.) Giving our clients the heads-up well in advance of these unusual holiday closures means no one is left without the services or completed projects they need.

How do you handle your holiday time and how do you ensure it has as little negative impact on your clients as possible?

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If you're taking extra days off this season for the holidays - do you have any special procedures in place for keeping your clients happy and their businesses healthy?

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I always contact my clients at least two weeks in advance and tell them of my vacation time... And I follow that up with several calls and emails before my last day.. Is usually works out fine, they are fairly flexible!

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Winslow Girl Virtual Assistant
www.winslowgirlva.com
Taking Virtual Assistance to the Next Level

I always let my regulars know about a month in advance so they can plan what they need to have done. I remind them 2 weeks out and then the week before. I have a team of VAs who back me up so my clients know this and I can organise for work to be done in my absence if needed. I also do a general announcement via my newsletter to my whole list so that all know. But despite that there is often the 'last minute' thing that comes through from someone who 'didn't know', or from a client who 'forgot something'. Usually works out in the end though.

Wow, I haven't given any thought to this occuring. Thanks,

It hasn't been an issue yet, but I am taking a few days off in May and driving to Louisiana (from Oklahoma) for my niece's kindergarten graduation. She asked me to come so I'm going.

The biggest thing for me is working around payroll deadlines, but luckily the dates worked out for this trip. Plus, that's the great thing about being virtual, all I really need is my laptop!

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Rebecka Melson ~ Virtual Business Services

As a further thought, how have you handles other issues such as illness or maternity leave?

The same way Although with my baby's birth coming up I'm letting clients know what's going on ahead of time so we can all plan ahead together - and anyway it's fun to share the news with them.
I'll take off a few weeks, I guess, but am playing it by ear...sure I'll be itching to get back to work for a few hours a day fairly soon.

Many VAs subcontract to other VAs during extended leaves.

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Originally Posted by Tess

The same way Although with my baby's birth coming up I'm letting clients know what's going on ahead of time so we can all plan ahead together .....

Congrats Tess - I was not aware that you were expecting . I hpoe that you will continue to be active on the board during your maternity leave.....although having just had a baby myself 9 months ago, I am thinking you may have your hands full!!
Thank you for all of your help this week - your input as a veteran has been priceless.

Aw, thanks Lidia, that's sweet
I'll be around if possible for sure - and fortunately we've got so many amazing people pitching in here that the site will be in great hands when the time comes!

Rebecka, that's so sweet that your neice is graduating Kindergarten - and nice that you're able to go. You're so right - all you need is a laptop and a good net connection and you can tend to those things that just have to be done if necessary. THAT is one of my favorite parts of being a VA, to be sure!

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