Today I had the honor of doing a consultation with an amazing fellow on Twitter regarding my Bookkeeping services using QuickBooks.
We had been somewhat “informally” introduced about a month ago as we were both guests on @LauraKennedy’s tribute series on Virtual Assistants. During the month of April I sent out a number of Tweets promoting Laura’s show and always mentioned who the guests were on the upcoming show. However, other than that he and I have never truly “connected” on Twitter.
“Out of the blue” I received a DM from this gentleman last week indicating he would like to speak with me regarding my services. I responded and said I would love to chat with him and we set an appointment to chat on the phone. During the initial email he pointed out that he currently works with another Virtual Assistant for his bookkeeping needs.
I was somewhat intrigued as to why he was contacting me but decided to wait until we were on the phone to see what transpired.
During today’s call regarding QuickBooks and Bookkeeping he casually mentioned that although he has a service right now he’s thinking of switching because, “Well, I’m not really sure why I’m looking elsewhere. I guess it’s because they are not pro-active enough and maybe the chemistry just isn’t there.”
Upon finishing the call I immediately emailed Laura to let her know what he had said and indicated I felt that had to be “digested”.
Laura pointed out the seemingly obvious to me that it happens all the time, not only in Brick and Mortar businesses but also in Virtual / Internet Businesses.
It took me back to my days as a Manager and the “arguments” I would have with the owners of the company regarding, what I felt, were inadequate team members. I used to be quite insistent with my Bosses that I felt a bad fit between an employee and the company was more damaging to both parties than it was to have a position vacant.
How does that equate in the virtual world? Why do business owners tolerate services that do not fill their needs rather than begin the hunt for a more suitable fit?
I told Laura I was determined to find the root cause of this and I was going to put together a survey to find out why small business owners are reluctant to take that first step to find their perfect Virtual Assistant match!
Lucky for me www.SurveyMonkey.com allows you to create a 10 question survey for free. You can find the survey here http://bit.ly/ojM5P
Please fill out my survey and leave your comments below to give me your opinion as to why we, as business owners are so reluctant to get rid of what is not really working for us and finding that perfect match.
I will share more over the next few weeks as I collect responses to the survey and further analyze the data received.
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
great discussion! I believe several things related to this:
1-small biz owners are afraid that if they narrow focus they will lose business. This is scarcity thinking
2-often we think we really need the work when a right fit is very important in the long run.
I tell my clients that they should evaluate the right fit and focus of a client and then get to know others in their field (yes their competitors) to refer clients that will be better matched. This has worked beautifully for me as the customer feels valued and often refers more people to me!
Lastly keep in mind that you business grow faster when you embrace this.
Ann Evanston
The Warrior-is Within You
http://Warrior-Preneur.com
Ann – once again I am honored that you commented on my post. I have found, in this newest chapter of my life as a Virtual Assistant, that collaboration – even between “competitors” is crucial. I have formed a great close knit group of friends with “so-called” competitors and we have been an awesome force as we each have strengths the others do not (we do have overlapping ones as well) yet we use each other for projects and refer out. I saw a Tweet today about collaboration that I think is very fitting: When collaborating: 1+1 should = 100 (or more). If 1+1=2 what’s the point? And if 1+1=-1 run for the hills
I can’t agree with you more. I find business owners tolerate way to much from their employees and their service providers. I don’t think this is unique to small business owners; big companies do it too. It’s just more obvious when it’s happening in a small business.
Here’s my take on this disorder from my newsletter http://www.anchoradvisors.com/pages/article_view/22.php?aid=48
Brad – I just left a quick note as a comment on your newsletter link you sent me! After I hit send and was trampling around on your site to find the subscribe button I see you are also in Milwaukee! That is where I used to work. If you are on Twitter I’d love to connect with you there. I am @mmangen