Building relationships with clients start with good communication. As a virtual assistant, it is important to notice how you communicate to clients because it impacts your “personal brand”. While it is true that being authentic and being “yourself” builds the friendship, it is equally important to sound formal and decent because it shows how well you can work with them professionally.
Below are simple but important things you need to keep in mind when communicating to clients:
Emails:
When sending emails, you need to assume that the clients are busy and that they have no time for long chitchats. They are looking for the substance of the email which should be clear, specific and to on-point.
Here’s an example.
Hi Carolyn (Client’s Name),
Hope you are having a good day!
This is to inform you that I will be out tomorrow from 8:00am to 10:00am to do some personal errand but will be back immediately after. I will ping you on Slack when I sign in.
Just fyi.
Kind regards,
Tessa”
You will notice several elements that should be included in an email.
- First is addressing the person with her name (Hi Carolyn).
- It should be followed by a greeting (Hope you are having a good day) to set the right mood and
tone. - Immediately after the greetings is the body where you relay your clear, specific and on-point
message. - End the message with a closing (Just fyi).
- Before adding your name, put complimentary closing (Kind regards).
Another thing to notice in the example is using the correct sentence format. All sentences should start with a capital letter. There are VAs whose letter emails to a client have all small letters, including the first letter of the sentence. That does not sound formal at all. It looks like they don’t know how to make a sentence or looks like they are talking to their peers. The tone of the email matters too. It should be friendly and informational. Never sound demanding, rigid or negative.
Finally, make sure to use the right punctuation. As this is communication with clients, show them that you know how to use the punctuation correctly.
Calls:
Another way to communicate is through phone or video calls. Professionally communicating thru calls involves not just the tone but the appearance as well (in case of video calls).
When doing video calls with clients, always wear proper clothing and slight make-up. Look decent and neat; not just someone who just woke up from sleep.
One of the important things to remember is never to cut off or interrupt when the other person is talking. Always try to listen as much as possible and affirm or comment when necessary. If ever you mistakenly cut off or interrupted, apologize and give way rather than continue with what you are trying to say. It is more important to listen than talk.
At the end of the conversation, try to reflect on what the other person is saying. Reflection, or repeating what the other person just said, is a technique that helps you confirm what has been said. It is in the idea that you should not assume that you understand immediately. It also gives the other person a chance to listen to what he/she just said and be given the chance to clarify points early on. Simple reflection is basically just parroting the statement of what the other person said.
When it is your time to talk, always sound positive and interested. Be friendly and never sound negative, strict or demanding. Make sure to relay relevant and helpful information, not gossips or complains, and be decent and courteous.
There may be other tips to communicate professionally but these are very important to the key ones to follow.
Remember that whatever you show to the client by how you communicate becomes your brand so be sure to get it right from the beginning.
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