SOME CONVERSATIONS CAN BE SUPER AWKWARD...
In my experience, Virtual Assistants find confrontation difficult to handle.
The reason for this is that VAs usually come from an admin background so they're used to being told what to do and deferring to others.
They worry they'll damage the relationship if they "get it wrong" so they either avoid having the conversation and allow their client to walk all over them, or they end up apologising like crazy and trying to justify their position.
Luckily, there's another way...
You need to get it right
When it comes to having "awkward" client conversations, it's important to minimise the risk of misunderstandings by ensuring your message is clear and concise.
The email should set the right tone, strike a balance between empathy and professionalism, and be both respectful and assertive but not come across as overly aggressive or defensive.
Which is not easy!
Crafting an email that addresses a sensitive topic from scratch can be daunting and time-consuming, but using a professionally-written template means you can eliminate a ton of stress by having a solid starting point to work from.
Now all you need to do is simply edit the finer details to match your specific situation instead of agonising over what to say.
Templates Include:
- When someone asks you to work for free or for “the exposure”.
- Telling clients you’re raising your rates.
- Telling a client you’re charging a rapid turnaround or out-of-hours fee.
- Telling a client you don’t have the skills to complete a task.
- Addressing scope creep on a fixed-price project.
- Informally chasing an overdue invoice.
- Telling a client they’re nearing their retainer hours and will be billed extra.
- Telling a retainer client they can’t roll over any unused hours.
- Chasing a contract signature.
- Telling a client you no longer want to work with them.
- Telling a client you have to charge for phone calls.
- Addressing a client who consistently fails to turn up for pre-arranged calls.
- Reminding a client of your working hours.
- PLUS the (pretty rude) email you wish you could send!
EASY TO EDIT
Each template contains yellow highlighted words and phrases so you can pick the one that matches your style and what you want to say.
MULTIPLE VERSIONS
To reflect different situations, half of the email templates contain at least one more alternative paragraphs for you to choose from.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
I've also provided notes for each template as well as advice on how to prevent these situations from arising in the first place.
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