When I started working with my first client I thought that within 2 months I’d have her business down pat. Of course, I had expected a learning curve… but I was in for a big surprise!
We got off to a good start, exchanged pertinent foundational information, such as contract, client profile etc., and started setting up our partnership. Anne had never worked with a VA before and she was careful. As with every new business relationship, we needed to learn to trust each other. We eased into comfortable communication and work came my way.
When you start working with a new VA, a new client, you need to be aware that developing this relationship takes time. You need to “learn” each other’s language, to read between the lines of an email, be honest, ask questions, and take time to explain and explore each other’s work modus. One of you might be a night owl and work best in the evening whereas the other one might be a morning person. How might this affect your working relationship? You need to know about the expectations each of you have; about timelines, and how you will communicate; about priorities and how they will be determined. And… you need to be open for questions, to take time, and to be willing to be vulnerable, to let someone into your business.
Three months into the working relationship I finally felt that I was slowly getting a “grip” on Anne’s business, the structure, her goals, what needed to be tweaked to help her get to the next level, and how we’d design our “team” to be the most time-efficient and productive. It took another 2 months until we both felt that we had found our “groove.”
What tips and experiences do you have up your sleeve that you’d like to share and that could help someone else in the creation of the VA-client relationship?