When I talk with potential Online Business Managers, the first thing I want to know from them is “What services do you want to implement on a daily basis” ie: what will make you love your services and love your clients?
The answer to this question is imperative when you are building a service based business. Specifically if you are a virtual assistant or online business manager. I personally am not a fan of the ‘maintenance’ mode of a business. If day in and day out I had to spend all my time doing recurring tasks, copy / pasting replays, etc… I would likely loose my mind. Simply put, these are not services I enjoy. Are they needed in the business? Absolutely/ These tasks are vital to the health of any information marketing business model. The goal for an OBM is almost always to find a way to wash, rinse, repeat. But if I have to ‘do the doing’ of it, forget it!
Knowing what I enjoy and how I am created to best perform in the business really helps me LOVE the services I provide. And it allows me to love working with my clients. The sense of satisfaction in my work is a key indicator of whether or not we can build a successful business in the virtual service business model (OBM’s, VA’s, bookkeepers, social media specialists, etc…) No one wants to sell a service they do not enjoy performing.
I have experienced this time and time again within my own business. Being willing to compromise the package to fit what a client desires. Knowing I do not want to perform that task. What happens, three months later, I am figuring out how to know longer work with that client. Creating a constant stream of chaos and break-up, which doesn’t serve my vision nor does it lend well to creating long term relationships with clients. I know I am not the only one who has had this experience 🙂
So what do we need to do to love our services and love our clients?
STEP 1: We need to be very purposeful in understanding what we love. (both in services and ideal clients)
If you are not clear on what services you truly love, how can you love your business? Does this mean you ALWAYS get to ONLY do the things you love, unfortunately not. But what if you get to spend 60% of your time doing the work your really love, then the other 40% isn’t that bad. Think about parenting… I love my kids and love being a mom… but let’s be real, changing diapers, toddler fits, character building, disciplining, cost… these are not the things I really love. Business is much like this. If we can focus most of our time and attention on the things we do love, then the other tasks will not be huge deterrents to our success (or enjoyment).
Just as important is understanding what type of client you really enjoy working with. It is very important to me that I work with high performing, fast moving and big vision clients. If I am too far ahead of them in what I believe is possible, that is not enjoyable for me. If they want to take it slow, test, process and develop every piece before moving forward, or have a real need for perfection over progress then they are not a fit for me. I know this because every time I work with clients that fit the latter, I get annoyed. This did take some time to learn and develop and understanding of as I worked with various types of business owners.
STEP 2: Change your mind, decide today to love the work you do!
When I married my husband 20 years ago, I decided I was going to have the greatest love affair of my life. It was a decision that has expanded many ups and downs through 20 year of marriage. When I started my business I decided I was going to love the work I do. Love the lessons, love the tasks, love the experience, love the journey… what does this mean. It means: I am NOT going to complain, whine, judge, fear, quit… no matter what the experience at the moment is. Often we do not enjoy the work we do because we are so busy complaining instead of being in gratitude for the clients and revenue. We whine to anyone who will listen to what our clients are doing that they shouldn’t or we think we are right and they are wrong and so we get stuck in that place of not loving what we are doing. It’s a mindset, a decision to focus on what we love.
What you think about is exactly what you will create. So if you are always thinking about what you don’t enjoy and how much you don’t like a client, or tasks… guess what, that is all you will experience. Our experience always flows through our thought processes. If you truly want to love what you do, simply decide to.
STEP 3: Commit to doing what you love and loving what you do 🙂
Simply merge Step 1 and Step 2 and commit to it! A commitment is going beyond simply making a decision but putting action steps to it. What are the actions you are going to put to ensuring you are building your virtual service based business based on packages you love to do with clients you are excited to work with? Committing to focusing what you love and enjoy and not what you feel is lacking… will ensure you love your service, love your clients!