Dealing with an Unhappy Client, guest article by Alyssa Gregory
of Virtual Assistant Hub

We don’t want to think that we will ever have a client who is less-than-thrilled with our work, but it can happen. Here’s how to deal with it.

Whether it’s from a rare episode of poor work quality or if you’re just having an off day all around, there may come a time when a client calls or emails you with a complaint. Part of being a professional is recognizing the situation and making it better. Here are some easy ways to do that.

Address It

The worst thing you can do is ignore an unhappy client. Ask him or her why he or she is unhappy and what you can do to fix the situation. The longer you wait to bring it up, the worse it can get.

Own Up to It

No one wants to admit you were wrong, but if you were, your willingness to face it head-on will tell the client you care about the project and his or her satisfaction. Accountability is vital.

Fix It

If the issue is unsatisfactory work, do it again and fix the problem. This is the easiest and quickest way to make an unhappy client happy again.

Talk About It

Many problems stem from miss-communications and can be corrected with effort. If you have been handling everything via email, schedule a phone call to see if you can get things cleared up voice-to-voice.

If All Else Fails…

If you’ve done everything you can, but the client is still not satisfied, it may be time to part ways. Be honest, direct and professional.

One way to end a client relationship is by recommending them to another VA who may be able to help them better than you can. This supports someone you respect, gives the client what he or she wants and gets you out of a frustrating situation. It’s a win-win.

by Alyssa Gregory of Virtual Assistant Hub on 29-Dec-2009

Thanks, Alyssa. Very good advice. There are going to be some clients, at least occasionally, that are just a “poor fit”, as well. I have mostly clients I would work with for free if I won the lottery tomorrow, BUT have had a couple of people I just could not seem to work with, no matter what I did. I did as you suggest and found another Virtual Assistant who better suited these personalities and was happy to let go of the stress for both myself AND the unhappy clients.

I take pride in my work and in doing the very best job I can and when I do not feel I am able to deliver this, it is time to move on. I have had mostly happy clients and prefer to keep it that way.

Remember, I am a Virtual Assistant who LOVES to do editing, proofreading and transcription assignments!

Jan Tallent
Tallent Agency Virtual Assistance

573-775-4520 jan@tallentagency.com

Hard to believe that January is already GONE and tomorrow starts February of this fresh, new year! I have no idea where the time went to and everyone I talk to agrees, it just FLEW~!

I know a lot of bloggers, online business owners and others who I am involved or connected with who seriously need at least one more hand or even one more head. Why not give the “gift of time” to someone you know that has so much to do they feel they will never catch up?

Or, even give the gift of time to … YOU! All of the experts advise to outsource the busy-work or tasks you do not want to do or that drain your time so that you can be free to concentrate on what you love doing the most and/or are best at. This is a wonderful way to test the waters, as they say, with having your own Virtual Assistant .

Take my help, for example … Love to write blog posts but hate the actual posting? I can easily do that for you and love doing this. Until I have a designation on the site for that purpose, you can just use the Schedule a Product option and tell me what you want me to do for you.

I see a lot of really informative, beautiful and entertaining blogs and web sites but they are full of typos and spelling & grammar errors – this is my favorite task of all so you can hire me to proofread and edit your pages so that you can showcase your work in its best possible light.

If you offer seminars, blog talk radio or other shows, do webinars, etc. it is a great idea to have those audio recordings transcribed and yes, I do perform this service . Plus, as an added bonus, your file is triple proofread / edited before I consider the assignment to be finished!

This option is often over-looked by web masters, coaches, performers, etc. because they offer a down-loadable mp3 or other file for people to listen TO, but I can tell you from not only some of the shows I have transcribed but also those I have just attempted to listen to, a lot of times it is hard to hear every word, especially with talkers who talk over each other, run on sentences that should be cut into paragraphs, start one story and then interrupt his or her own flow by going in another direction entirely and so much more that you might not realize unless YOU were trying to type it all up for a file people can read!

The other way I can help you save some time for the fun things you want to be able to do is with assistance with your Social Networking maintenance. I can search for others in your chosen niche for you TO connect with, weed out those you would not care to associate with, send hello, welcome and thank you messages to those you want to connect or interact with, etc. and free YOU up to just do the fun part; the interactions and conversations. This is another service that is not yet designated on this site but can be scheduled with just a message to me.

I plan to offer help setting up Face Book and Face Book Fan Pages soon – I am still learning my way around them myself but as I learn, I will be glad to share that expertise as well as help you set up and maintain a Twitter account and/or a professional networking presence on LinkedIn .

If you are needing help with any of the above mentioned Social Networks, just let me know and we can work things out – I have insisted on keeping my name and reputation clean and honest for over 11 years on the net so you can rest assured your passwords and log in information are safe with me and if in doubt, feel free to contact any of my wonderful clients who will be glad to vouch for me.

If hours of assistance is out of your budget, or if you are just curious about how much time a helper really can be, I have reasonable and highly competitive rates and you can try “just an hour” or just one project. I do offer discounted rates on bigger or long-going projects, so this might be the option you prefer. I am easy to work with and love what I do and think I can safely say it shows with the service I give my clients and the tasks I perform for them.

Have a wonderful, love-filled, Happy Valentine’s Day and I am “wishing” you the Gift of Time for this holiday and every other day.

Remember, I am a Virtual Assistant who LOVES to do editing, proofreading and transcription assignments!

Jan Tallent
Tallent Agency Virtual Assistance

573-775-4520 jan@tallentagency.com

I have had a great week with my Virtual Assistance business and have learned a lot of new things plus some new ways to do “old” things! As I used to tell my newbies that I would mentor, never stop learning – things change so quickly on the internet, that what was brand new last week is obsolete this one. It was so true.

I have had the pleasure of working with a very smart and savvy lady this past week and have learned a lot by doing so. Things I know HOW to do in one program or control panel, etc. are completely “new to me” with a different system.

In an earlier blog post I had mentioned that Even VA’s occasionally need VA’s . I have had helpers on previous projects and appreciate them greatly. This time, I have the pleasure of helping another Virtual Assistant, Amy Bleser of virtualservices4u . She has been extremely patient while trying to teach “this old dog new tricks”. I am quite proficient in my limited range of expertise BUT am still a newbie with a “new to me” system, editor software or website and am like a sponge soaking up every new thing I can learn. Amy has been the epitome of patience and sweetness. Go visit her site if you have the need for a really well organized and knowledgeable Virtual Assistant who offers a much broader world of services than I do, with my specializing in proofreading , editing , transcription , and various miscellaneous duties like Social Marketing Assistance and doing research, etc. for other Webmasters or small business owners .

I *met* most of my terrific clients AND my helpers on Twitter and am proud to be connected with all of them. I do the very best work I can, with the most strident mind to detail I can give and know they are pleased with my work. I am also very happy with the VA’s that have helped me with assignments I could not have finished in a timely manner without their generous support. AND, I get the extra added bonus of learning both new things and new ways to do the old things I was already doing.

One of the latest things I have learned is how to use a program, I guess it would be called, that enables VA’s and their clients to manage assignments, files, time sheets and more. The one I am getting familiar with is called BaseCamp . It has every feature I could imagine would be needed and there are several different levels, from a free “one project” level to the ultimate. I learned that each of my clients or VA’s that I help have the same basic things the same but then their own unique ways of handling the assignments, etc. I rarely endorse a product so my doing so here says a lot – I really like it and think it can be the answer to almost any businesses assignment needs.

Remember, I’m a Virtual Assistant who LOVES to do editing, proof reading & transcription assignments! PLEASE help me spread the word if you know of someone who could benefit from my services.

Jan Tallent
Tallent Agency Virtual Assistance