Today I had a potential client call me. One project was straight forward and well defined but the second is going to develop as the company is grown and could lead to a leadership position for me and a need for assistants. I developed a table that discussed each project, the clients needs, how I would meet the needs and how I would bill them. This is just a form I made so that we could work on developing the position and how they will be billed and I am pretty certain that he will hire me. This will be my first client. I think that I need to develop my contract and of course as part of my contract include these spreadsheets that I have developed. Is this the correct next step? Am I doing the right thing?

Jody

PS - I knew this was potentially a great situation when he didn't balk at all at my fees.

It sounds like a great start to me! I would definitely get the contract 'up and running' so you'll be ready when he hires you. Keep us informed!

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Lily Chambers, The Virtual Office Goddess, LLC
Author "How to Do Your Own Small Business Bookkeeping"

Hi Jody,

This sounds like a great opportunity!

If you have already discussed working with the client on the project(s) and have gone over everything, I would follow-up with an email detailing everything that was discussed along with a contract for services.

This way the ball is in the potential clients court and allows you to let the client know you are ready to meet the clients needs.

All the best,
Andrea~

Originally Posted by VirtualAssistant

Today I had a potential client call me. One project was straight forward and well defined but the second is going to develop as the company is grown and could lead to a leadership position for me and a need for assistants. I developed a table that discussed each project, the clients needs, how I would meet the needs and how I would bill them. This is just a form I made so that we could work on developing the position and how they will be billed and I am pretty certain that he will hire me. This will be my first client. I think that I need to develop my contract and of course as part of my contract include these spreadsheets that I have developed. Is this the correct next step? Am I doing the right thing? Jody PS - I knew this was potentially a great situation when he didn't balk at all at my fees.

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Action Jackson Virtual Assistant|

Well...he didn't hire me for now and that is ok because it helped me to develop a scope of work. And I am a little relieved because I wasn't quite sure about the phone work - I don't want to turn work away but I also don't know if I want to be tethered down. After all, one of the reasons that I wanted to develop my business is because of the flexibility.

To me, the scope of work is a document I would share with a client following a consultation. It narrows down the details of the work that they need addressed and how it will be billed. Then, if they want to hire me, I would use it to develop the actual contract. Now that I have it developed, the next time I have a consultation I can deliver it to a potential client within an hour or so after we talk about their needs. So it was a very worthwhile endeavor and its always good to practice consulting and selling myself.

By the way, thank you for the responses Ladies...I was a little concerned that I had done the right thing with my follow up.

Andrea - I love the idea of following up with a contract right away but have a question. As I said above, my process would be to have the consultation, prepare a scope of work which the client could address anything before the contract is completed, then I would send it back with any changes they suggest as part of the contract. Are you saying that when you send the follow up email to the consultation you would just send the contract and scope of work spreadsheet? That is a great idea...it does put the ball back in the court and the ball would be ready for active play. I like that. Let me know if I understand this right because I think that is the way that I would like to handle it.

Have a wonderful afternoon,

Jody

Hi Jody,

Yes, you have the right idea.

Generally when I do a consultation I make sure to get what they want, when they want it and how often. I also determine if it is per project or retainer.

Your consultations should be at minimum 30 minutes. This allows you to make the above determinations, get the scope of work and if it will be retainer or per project.

Then this information is put into the contract and sent to the client as a follow-up email.

I hope that helps
Andrea

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Action Jackson Virtual Assistant|