Marketing Mindset Virtual Assistant
How to Answer “What Do You Do?”
By Sydni Craig-Hart
When you’re out networking or talking to your family and they ask you, “What do you do?” or “What is your business all about?” what do you say?
Do you freeze? Stammer?
Or do you apologetically and quietly say, “I’m a VA” or “I’m a Virtual Assistant.”
And then, you get the blank stare. You know, the deer in the headlights look that says, “I have no idea what that is. I still don’t know what you do. And I don’t think I need that.”
The truth is, saying you are a Virtual Assistant doesn’t mean anything because people still don’t know what you do. Just like there are different types of lawyers, there are different types of VAs. All have different specialties, expertise and knowledge.
So, what you need to do is really focus on a descriptive one liner that tells people exactly what you do. For example, “I help real estate agents manage their tasks so they can focus on selling properties.”
By having a descriptive sentence like this, you’ve accomplished three things:
- You’ve identified your target market: real estate agents.
- You’ve described what you do and show that you solve a problem: you manage tasks so they can focus on selling properties.
- You’ve opened the conversation for more questions about what you do; targeted questions that will allow you to showcase your expertise.
Whether you work online or offline, one of the keys to your success and having a full practice is networking. In order to network effectively, you have to do two things really well: 1) you have to build relationships so that others feel comfortable talking to you and referring your services to their friends, family and colleagues, and 2) you have to market yourself so that people know who you are and what you do – without questions or hesitations.
So, now that you know you shouldn’t just tell people you are a Virtual Assistant, you need to work on your presentation. Some people call it an elevator speech, others call it a 30 second intro. Whatever you call it – make sure it’s descriptive, make sure it’s effective and make sure it’s easy to say. Talk about the problems you solve and the pain you eliminate in a way that a young child would understand. (What would you say if your child asked you , “Mommy, what do you do?”) When something is easy to say, it rolls off your tongue and you don’t worry about it. You exude confidence, which tells people you’re ready for business.
And THAT is highly client-attractive!
YOUR ACTION PLAN FOR THIS WEEK:
- Get clear on EXACTLY who will best benefit from your services and who you are meant to serve.
- Brainstorm about the benefits and results your clients enjoy when working with you.
- Combine these two points into ONE succinct sentence: I help [GROUP] [ACCOMPLISH SPECIFIC BENEFITS & RESULTS]
- Leave a comment below and share what you came up with!
Great post! 🙂 In the beginning I said Virtual Assistant and I said it proudly because I knew what it was and what I could accomplish etc. However I quickly realized that in order for me to narrow my target market I pulled in my specialty in trucking. I am now still proudly a virtual assistant with a specialty niche in Transportation Safety and Compliance So my tagline on one of my sites is this “The Virtual Trucking Assistants; eliminating late nights with a driving force and committed to helping you stay on the road and in business” and then I use email signature is “Project Compliance Specialist, your right hand trucking virtual assistant”
I still get a look but it is no longer the deer in the headlight look now its, how do you do safety or assist trucking virtually. If you think about it Trucking is surely not virtual and it is starting to open up and not be such a male dominant industry, but still has a way to go.
With a specialty and by prooving I am an expert in my niche, I am no longer called the “virtual secretary” (I dont mind being called that) I know what I am capable of and I know in this type of industry and virtual assistance you sometimes have to show a potential client what you are capable of. 🙂
Thanks SO much for the post Dianna! I absolutely love what you shared and think you ROCK for so clearly defining your target market and speaking directly to them! Please keep me posted on your progress as you continue to grow your business and if there is anything I do to assist you, please let me know! 🙂
When asked what I do I take the opportunity to inform and educate. I tell them I am a virtual professional and my niches are helping people tell their story and proofreading & editing. Sometimes I am given the opportunity to expand to other things that I work on, such as database management.
Nice going Phyllis! Thank you for the comment. It’s always good to hear how VAs are getting their message out to the world. As long as your conversation partner can understand what problems you solve for your clients and the benefits that they receive, you will notice that people are more willing to give you referrals.
Let us know how you continue to progress.