How Your VA Can Help You Get More Clients

Did you know that it costs five times as much to attract a new customer than to keep an existing one?

So why do we business owners tend to focus most of our energy on acquiring new clients, when we could simply focus on adding value to our existing clients who can be our best salespeople, spreading good words about us to their own networks.

I want to share with you how at Outsourcing Angel, we have implemented a program for ourselves called The Rimba Experience, our own Customer Appreciation Initiative.

What is The Rimba Experience?

It all started in June 2017 when I went on a family trip to Bali, staying at a beautiful 5 Star Resort named Rimba. It was the best resort I have ever been to in my whole entire life. It wasn’t that it was the most beautiful resort, the friendliest staff, or best food. It was the little thing that each of their staff did that made me feel “WOW! You really didn’t have to do that for me, but I really appreciate that”. Some of those things were

• Offering to walk me to the place I need to go instead of just giving me the direction
• Passing a handwritten note under my door to remind me of my restaurant reservation
• When they booked me a taxi, they didn’t just hail the taxi and help me in, but they also handed me a card with their address on it and telling me to keep it in case I may get lost.
• A handwritten note to farewell me on my departure.

It was all the little thoughtful things they did, that was beyond what I would expect even at a 5-star resort. Since coming back from this resort, I couldn’t help but share my experience with others. I told my family and friends how I felt about the resort, I gave them a 5-star review on their website and Facebook and I seriously can’t wait to visit them again.

After what I have experienced, I asked myself, why don’t I start giving my own clients this kind of Rimba Experience. What if I spent my time focussing on the happiness of my clients and my VAs? How would this impact my business? And so I did. On VAs’ and clients’ birthdays, we sent them an e-card and video greeting. We sent out random thank you messages or gifts to our clients. Gifts included cupcakes, flowers and hampers. We got our Client Happiness Manager to call up clients and VAs before they start after they start and regularly touching base with them to show that we care and we are here to help. Instead of focussing all our effort on how to attract new clients, we focussed more on how to keep our existing clients and VAs happy and let the happiness do the sale. And it did! We have seen many more client referrals and VAs knocking on our door to work with us.

How Does It Work

Here is the process of how your VA can help you with this task:

1. They can help gather your clients’: Telephone, Email, Mailing Address, Work Anniversary, DOB
2. Provide VA with access to CRM where they can gather the information
3. Provide VA with company email and call credits to contact clients for missing data
4. Let your VA know your budget for each gift, how many clients to send gifts to each month (Note: You can get a good gift including delivery for $50-$100, other virtual gifts can be done for less)
5. Upload credit to a visa debit card for your VA to use to purchase gifts on your behalf
6. Your VA can help design a custom Birthday e-card to send to your clients on their birthday
7. Your VA can help organise gifts to be sent to your client on special occasions such as a birthday, Christmas, a work anniversary, or a general thank you. (Advice: We recommend sending gifts at random when a client least expects it, some year it can be on their special day, some year it can be on any day)
8. Your VA can also prepare email designs for Easter, Xmas, New Year, Australia Day or other important holidays for you to send to your clients

Here are some ideas on the types of appreciation gestures and gifts:

• Personal note/email/card

A timeless art of appreciation will always leave your customer feeling special.

• Help your customers learn something new

Help them make the most of your product or service by educating them, show them insider or expert tips on using a service or tell them something they might not know about a product.

• Wow a customer

Go out of your way for just one lucky customer, over the top! Make it so delightful that their acquaintances, friends, and family will be told this story about you.

• Give the occasional friendly call

Something as simple as giving them a phone call to talk about how their first quarter is going so far. There needn’t be any ulterior motive of upselling them or pushing a promotion of some sort. Just a genuine interest in the growth of their brand or goal, that way you better understand them

• Show value feedback

Send an email to your customers to tell them how you’ve implemented their suggestions. There is no better way to communicate with a customer than to show them you were listening.

How Can OA Help You

We have developed a tracking template for you and your VA to use to gather the client’s details and we can share that with you. If you and your VA are unclear about the process shared above, you can speak to us and we can help you along the way. You know your business best and you know what your clients like, so feel free to customise the process to suit your liking. Overall the point we want to make is that you should do things that will surprise your clients and make them feel loved.

Next Step

1. If you would like a copy of the tracking template please let us know.
2. If you want to get started with us, get your VA to contact us and we can provide them with some training so they can initiate the process for you.
3. If you have any questions or comments you like to share please contact happiness@outsourcingangel.com.au.