I'm a firm believer in the concept of Virtual Assistance as a potential luxury service - not in the usual sense you'd associate with 'luxury' as in something expensive or an 'extra' - because VA services are fast becoming a norm in business...but in the sense of adding aspects to the *ways* in which we do business that can elevate our services and client relationships to include a touch of luxury.
It's pretty easy to run a basic VA service - doing what is asked on time and doing it accurately, responding promptly to client questions and requests, having knowledge of the latest innovations for small business support and growth (both online and off) etc. but what are some of the ways we can add a touch of luxury to our practices that leave clients truly bowled over and excited to mention your name and confer that much sought after gift of a viable referral?
Just think about the services you interact with yourself as a consumer - which ones provide special extras or go above and beyond the call to make you feel like you're an integral part of their own success? What are those 'little things' they do that elevate them in your mind to a luxury service?
There are any number of ways to do this; I've included just a few of my own methods and would love to know what others are doing to craft a luxury service in their own practice!
-Send specially selected, personal
handwritten birthday, major holiday, and client anniversary cards (commemorate each year they're been with you) from Hallmark.com (or better yet, write and post the card yourself!) Also sending get well cards and flowers when a client is not well or has a surgery, etc. coming up.
-Offer special discounts once in a while to long-term clients, relative to tenure
('Christmas in July' is something I'm working on sending out in 2008 - gifting a hefty discount on the next invoice to clients without whom my practice simply would not exist)
-Sending an immediate 'thank you' for each and every invoice payment.
-Wishing clients a fabulous weekend on Fridays! Wishing them a bright and cheery happy Monday as well.
-Avoiding standard 'corporate gifts' like the plague and spending the time to seek out personal gifts for each client (for referral thank you's in particular) that illustrate an understanding of the client as an individual, not just a business entity.
(I've sent everything from inspirational decks of cards like Sark and Hay House to gift certificates for a swank restraunt local to my client, as well as high ticket items like new office equipment and funky jewelry...but this can be done effectively on a smaller scale and doesn't require a huge expenditure! You can find lots of great personal gifts online for less than $10.)
-Keeping tabs on a client's industry issues in order to better facilitate relative success (Google News Alerts are a great way to do this! As is subscribing to the same newsletters as your client.)
-When booking flights or hotel accomodations for clients, ask the airline for a possible upgrade or request the hotel to leave a special gift or flowers in the room.
-When a client has a speaking engagement, performace, or otherwise important event find a local florist to deliver a small bouquet of flowers with a supportive message on the card.
(I sent flowers to a client at a publicity event in a city she'd never been to before...she was anxious about the event and the flowers were an unexpected joy.)
-When you know your client is working hard for something send a motivational card or item...something to help inspire them further.
(I had one client, an author, who wanted to be on Oprah more than anything else...I went online and found a studio photo of Oprah and superimposed my client's book on the screen behind the host with a bit of text introducing the book as the next book club book...I also photoshopped one of Oprah's O Magazine covers with my client's name and book title - my client *loved* these simple, silly little inspiration and it still hangs above her desk!)
-Create and send a batch of business cards or client company letterhead.
(And you can do it for free with
Vistaprint!)
-If your client is paying for a service (online or off) spend a bit of time trying to negotiate a better deal for them
(I've done this more than once for internet services, cel phone bills, printing services, travel arrangements, etc. and it *always* pays off, takes little time, and costs me nothing -, and of course the client is overjoyed at the savings)
I'd love to know what
you do or any additional ideas you have to elevate a virtual assistance practice to a luxury service
Adding a touch of 'luxury' to your virtual assistance practice
Lily Chambers, The Virtual Office Goddess, LLC
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