I’m usually up early checking for messages that have come in overnight via email, whilst having my breakfast and first coffee for the day. However, it’s rare I answer client emails early, preferring to keep them within business hours, so I can spend time networking with forums and friends during my reading time instead.
However this morning proved an exception as I received a ‘help’ message from a client at 6.46am. He’s a business coach and speaker and he’d left home without his memory stick. Aaaggh! Disaster – he didn’t have his presentation and neither did the IT folk at the event. Enter his VA – me – who saves the day!
He sent a message via his blackberry saying: If you are at your computer, can you send me the powerpoint I did for the xxx conference? I answered straight away and sent it to him. He was due to begin his presentation only 15 mins later.
A speaker’s nightmare – not having your electronic presentation with you.
Just another demonstration of how a VA can save your day!
VA saves the day, virtual assistant, business coach, speaker, Powerpoint
Kathie is the former owner of VA Directory and is former past President of the Australian VA Association. She founded the Virtual Assistant industry in Australia in the mid 90s, having already been operating a home-based secretarial service. Today the VA industry covers a multitude of office-based services for clients worldwide.
Cindy Opong says
Perfect Kathy! I have done similar things for clients during off-hours and to me it’s a natural outcome of a great partnership. My clients don’t abuse my time but are eternally grateful that they can reach me in such true emergencies.
A while back, I had a client who discovered on a Sunday evening that his flight reservation for the next morning had been mysteriously deleted. Since I was the one who had booked the flight, I immediately got on the phone to sort it out. It took an hour of being on hold and required my family to delay going out to dinner, but it never crossed my mind to NOT take care of it right then. I could only imagine my client’s predicament at 6am the next morning if I hadn’t been willing to step up in my “off-hours”.
I’m a partner in my client’s business and truly want them to succeed. Making sure everything goes smoothly is all a part of the “job”!
Teri Dempski says
I’ve been supporting a VA friend all week who is out of town with a client on business. She has her laptop, but forgot to leave her desktop on to log in to. Her desktop has (Photoshop on it, not the laptop) It feels so good to help her, who knows, one day I may be in need of her services too!
Scott Allen says
Great that you were there — what if you hadn’t been?
Better solution — post it on SlideShare, or a private collaboration site if it’s confidential. Then you have it no matter where you go.
I always have my presentation 3 places: my laptop, a USB drive and online somewhere.