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Today’s Summer of Success entry is provided by Janine Gregor and it is an audio tip. Click the black play button above to listen to the tip. Also, for your convenience, I have included the transcript of the audio below.
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Hello, this is Janine Gregor of Your Virtual Wizard. I’m so pleased to be a contributor to AVP’s Summer of Success program. Thank you for asking me to participate!
My topic for today is, “8 Client Tips to Submit the Best RFP Ever!”
There are several ways to find a compatible virtual assistant. One such method is the use of an RFP.
Well, what is an RFP?
This is the virtual assistant and freelance industry’s acronym for the words, Request for Proposal. Simply, an RFP is an online request featuring details of the work that a client is seeking to fulfill from the services of a virtual assistant.
Several virtual assistant-centered websites offer an online form however; some sites offer a ‘freestyle-type’ format leaving it up to the client or business owner to input whatever information may be needed.
I highly recommend the use of a pre-labeled RFP form as it is much easier to fill in the blanks as opposed to writing a request for services in freestyle.
Completing any RFP with good, descriptive information is important for 3 reasons. If the RFP is missing important information, the client may miss out on finding the best possible VA match for his or her business. Conversely, if the RFP is written in vague terms, the client may receive replies from virtual assistants who may not only be incompatible but reading the replies could be a time waster. Also, if the RFP is poorly composed, a virtual assistant applicant could waste her own time customizing a reply trying to match her skills with those listed in the RFP.
So, submitting a well-thought out, detailed RFP will help you, the business owner; receive the most compatible virtual assistant responses to meet your service needs.
Here are 8 tips which will help to receive the best applicants for your job.
Tip #1 – Know what you want your virtual assistant to do before you submit your request for proposal.
Make a list of those items which keep you from doing the work you want to do. It is not enough to say, ‘I need help with my website.” That could mean many things. Do you need your website completely redone? In which case you would want virtual assistants who have web design experience. Or, this could mean you just want to add photos to your site and would not need the services of a web designer. Or, this could mean you want the copy reworked in which case you may desire the services of a web copyrighter.
So be specific in your RFP. List exactly what you need. Say, “I need a web copyrighter to rewrite my web copy.” You will save yourself a lot of headache having to read replies from virtual assistants who do not specialize in this service.
Tip #2 – Know where to post your request for proposal.
Go where the virtual assistants are! Posting an RFP on LinkedIn or Craigslist may get you emails from virtual assistants but you may also receive responses from people who are not necessarily VAs. Save yourself the time and post where the VAs ‘hang out’.
Use Virtual Assistant Forums and Virtual Assistantville. There is no fee for posting an RFP on these sites.
Another reason to post ‘where the VAs are’ is that virtual assistants are heavily networked with each other. Many VAs build networks, particularly on the two sites mentioned. If an RFP comes in asking for specific services, it very likely that a virtual assistant will notify another VA about a pending RFP. So your chances of getting a truly compatible virtual assistant increases if you use the sites where ‘the VAs hang’.
Tip #3 – Include your company name, your company URL, the contact name and two email addresses in your RFP contact information. If you do not have a company URL, include your social networking websites.
A virtual assistant who may be interested in partnering with you will want to research your company before replying. This serves the potential client as well…many VAs can easily determine if they feel they are the right person for the job just by researching your company information. So the company URL and online background information helps to weed out incompatibility from the start.
Leaving two email addresses ensures that a virtual assistant’s reply to the RFP will be received. Occasionally, a potential client may type in an email address incorrectly which leaves the applicants scrambling for a means to send a reply.
Tip #4 – Be clear about the services you want a virtual assistant to do for you; not just in the description you write of the services you desire but in the format in which the RFP is written. So if you desire several services, break up the subject points into bullets or separate paragraphs. This type of format allows the potential applicants to quickly scan the desired services for compatibility as well as use an organized format to reply to the potential client in an orderly fashion.
It is important to understand that a VA is a business owner; not an employee. So Tip #5 is…Avoid using words in the RFP such as ‘resume’, ‘references’, ‘generalist’, ‘probation or trial period’ and ‘interview’.
A virtual assistant does not use a resume. Most virtual assistant have websites which include writing samples and portfolio work. If you are interested in viewing a VA’s work, ask for links to the website. Do not ask for a resume in the RFP.
A virtual assistant can set-up a consultation and discuss what your needs may be. There is no interview. The VA determines if you are the right client for her business during a consultation. The VA is evaluating the potential client much the same as the client is evaluating the virtual assistant so the consultation becomes a two-way conversation. A
interview is more about an employer choosing an employee.
A virtual assistant is an administrative and support specialist and not a generalist. A virtual assistant focuses on supporting small businesses and is as much a specialist in this area as someone whose focus is geared toward web design or accounting.
Every company needs administration and could never operate without administrative support. This is a service specialty and should be regarded as such. There is no such service as ‘generalist’.
There is no ‘probation period’ or ‘trial period’ with a virtual assistant. Please do not ask for either in a request for proposal. A virtual assistant has built her reputation upon offering value to her clients. She can explain the benefits of the skills she offers and what the results may be if you partner with a virtual assistant. There is enough information available online through testimonials, quality of posts and articles, social networking sites and VA marketing to determine if that virtual assistant will be compatible with a potential client.
Use of ‘probation period’, ‘interview’, ‘resume’ and ‘generalist’ within a potential client’s request for proposal sends a message to virtual assistants that the true definition of a virtual assistant is not understood.
You may not get the virtual assistant replies you want if you use employee-oriented terminology.
Tip #6 – Extend the courtesy of a reply to the virtual assistants who do respond to your RFP. I can personally vouch that 99 percent of the RFPs I have responded so carefully to never extend the courtesy of a reply.
It is just good business etiquette to thank someone in a quick email for taking the time to respond to an RFP. You never know if you may need to contact that virtual assistant in the future. So it pays to extend a hand of thanks even when the response is ‘no, thanks but I have found another virtual assistant’.
I personally follow up with every RFP I have ever sent to a potential client. Those who respond to me with some type of acknowledgement are the potential clients I want to consult with!
Some time ago, I submitted a response to a coach whose RFP was very well written. I knew that between the quality of her virtual assistant request, the professional nature of her website and the articulate articles she had written, I would not be the only VA to reply to this coach. So I spent several hours customizing a response which would help my name to stand out from all others. As it turned out, my name was one of the final virtual assistants to be selected but she chose another. This coach took a few minutes to call me on the telephone to thank me for my time. She appreciated the work that I put into my reply and wanted me to know this. Since then, whenever anyone needs a coach, I always recommend her name and forward her company URL on. I never forgot the professional nature of this coach and we have stayed in touch for some time.
Potential clients who take the time to acknowledge the effort which goes into carefully crafting a good response to a proposal is the first indication of a professional business person. These are the clients virtual assistants want to work with!
Tip #7 – Your RFP is an extension of your own business. Sometimes RFPs are indexed by the search engines and ‘passed around’ and forwarded on social networking sites. Take ownership of your RFP and show the world that you are a professional through a well-crafted RFP.
Check your RFPs for spelling and grammar. A virtual assistant will look at an RFP and evaluate the potential client on the overall composition. Is the RFP written well? Does the potential client know what he/she wants to achieve? So make that RFP as important as putting out a blog or a marketing article. You never know where the RFP will end up. Show your professionalism in all that you send out on the internet so make the RFP count.
Tip #8 – Know how much you can spend per month for a virtual assistant’s services and indicate that budget on the RFP. Leaving the budget or the rate area blank can eliminate virtual assistants who will not reply to your RFP due the uncertainty of the rate you are willing to pay. If you are not sure of the budget, then submit a rate range. This will give the virtual assistants an idea of where you stand with rate.
Do not get ‘hung up’ on rate either. When selecting a virtual assistant look for value, reputation, experience and the benefits that the virtual assistant can bring to your business. Virtual assistants are not a ‘cheap alternative’ to hiring an employee. Look at partnering with a virtual assistant as an investment in your business and not simply as an expense.
Make that RFP work for you!
About the Author:
Janine Gregor is the owner of Your Virtual Wizard, a Virtual Assistant business that offers professional administrative services, social networking services, article marketing and more.
Visit Janine’s website: http://www.yourvirtualwizard.com/
Follow Janine on Twitter: @urvirtualwizard
