Do you want to create packages for your virtual assistant services, but don’t know how? If you don’t know how to do it, it’s time to learn!
It’s vital to create packages of virtual assistant services for your clients. It helps you to manage their workload, it allows you to set appropriate pricing instead of working by the hour, and it helps you avoid a laundry list of service offerings, to name a few benefits!
It’s a tricky thing, to estimate how much you will charge for a certain amount of work.
No one wants to lose money by undercharging.
And no one wants to have a conversation with a client about increasing rates, especially if you have just moved them to a package.
So I do suggest learning how to package your virtual assistant services if you aren’t feeling confident or you are not quite sure how to do it. (I can help!)
It takes some specific work – and some decision-making – to do it properly.
Here’s where you need to start:
1. Calculate how long it takes you to do everything. Everything!
Procedures will be your best friend when you are talking about building packages for your virtual assistant services. Take the time to detail everything you plan to do for your clients.
If you can send a newsletter with Aweber, write down the steps of how that needs to be done – including what the client needs to send you, and how many drafts or reviews they get to do once you have prepared it. Know what the service is, and detail the time involved to get it done.
Write it all down and doublecheck that you didn’t miss any steps.
2. Set a time limit for open-ended tasks like checking email.
If you don’t have a start and stop step for your task, it could be open-ended. Like responding to customer service emails or doing a client’s scheduling.
If you aren’t sure how long something will take, then you have to set time limits for them.
For instance, if a client needs customer service email responded to, I usually tell them I will check it once a day and respond within 24 hours. I know that will take me 15 minutes every day. Some days it might take me just a couple of minutes, and some days it might take me 30 minutes. But it will balance out to 15 minutes per day x 20 days per month (or 30 minutes, or 2 hours if you prefer – whatever your math is, is what you work with).
Setting the time you will work within is the key.
3. Determine the number of times you will perform a task in given period of time.
If the client needs analytics or reporting, offer them reporting once a month, one a week, or daily, depending on their needs and budget.
When you provide social media virtual assistant services, offer set numbers for production – how many updates, how many platforms, how many days, etc. By setting the number of times you will perform a task, you can offer the client a variety of options inside their budget.
The number of times you can perform a task is a very important part of packaging your services effectively. Don’t leave this open.
These three steps are the first ones you need to take to create packages for your Virtual Assistant services.
Often these are the things that trip up Virtual Assistants that want to move to packages.
You don’t know how long something takes to do. The answer? Do it and write it down. Time it. Record it. Then you’ll know.
You don’t know how to time open-ended tasks. The answer? Set time limits and stick to them.
You don’t know how to tell the client how you will manage their work over the course of the month. The answer? Tell them how often you will perform these tasks.
You have to make these decisions as a business owner in order to fix a rate to a package.
You need to know how long everything takes YOU to do, and then you need to make sure that you get the task done in the time frame that you quote the client. If not you will lose money.
Once you know these things, though, the billable part is easy.
You add up all of the things the client needs you to do in a given period of time, and then you multiply that total time by your billable rate. Bam! Package price.
I do this exercise with my clients using my Post It Notes exercise. It’s very effective – but you do need to do the three steps above first before you can start that.
So get started!
For more information on packaging your virtual assistant services, read my blog posts on how to build a service package, and how to price your service package here.
And if you want even faster help, this is one of the things you will learn in my Getting Started as a Virtual Assistant self study program. Get your business foundation in place in just 8 lessons!