At the beginning of 2017 we did a profit analysis on each of our packages, the results were surprising.  Our entry level package (then 10 hours per month) was only grossing $100 per month.  Why?  Because those clients got the same unbillable added value features that our larger clients enjoyed, and adding value comes at a cost.

So we re-evaluated and instead of having 10, 20 and 40 hour packages moved to 30, 60 and an OBM service.  More hours meant we could have more of an impact across their business (becoming strategic partners as well as task doers), make more improvements to their work-life balance and ultimately had a happier team and clients.

That said, the transition wasn’t easy.  Not initially.

PROBLEM: Some of our smaller clients didn’t have a need for more hours, their business wasn’t there yet.

SOLUTION: Use our existing relationship to transition (most of) these clients from 10 and 20 hours to 30.

The How To Part:

1. Be constantly thinking about how you can delight your clients and add value for them.  Some ideas:
   1. Send them a random act of kindness or freebie at their busiest time, something like a free coffee voucher with a witty comment like
      “When life gets busy get coffee”
   2. Spend some time looking for an article, resource, app or industry news which you think they’d be interested in.  Email this link to them with a quick note on why you think it would be of interest.
   3. Know what they personally are interested in. Fishing? Maybe send them a fishing magazine.
   4. Pick up the phone or send them a text just to say “Hi, how’s your day going?”
   5. Send them a thank you card, in the post!
   6. Resolve complaints with grace and speed.  Thank your client (if applicable) for bringing the issue to your attention and let them know the changes you’ve put in place to prevent the same mistake occurring in the future.
2. Keep your clients involved in change.  In this case I sent out a newsletter stating we’ve crunched some numbers, looked hard at the reasons why we are in business (know your WHY!), talked to our team and held one-on-ones with a number of clients.  As a result, rather than being a VA company who does what we’re told, we want to be your partners across your business.  By increasing hours in packages, changing some of the features of our packages, we can now do this, and we’ll be in touch with each of you individually in the next 2 weeks.
3. Some transitioned immediately, we’d built the trust in our relationship already so they knew we talk the talk.  Some were never going to be interested, I’d done my VA homework and did handovers with another VA I respect and was confident these clients would be happy with.  The balance, we had one-on-ones and came up with a plan to get their business to the point where our new packages were viable.  We set goals for revenue, put in a timeline and strategy to meet those goals – and for all but 1 client, within three months we’re making big changes for them under the new model.  The last client took longer – but we got there.

To recap; delight your existing customers (any way you can, constantly), be transparent and show them the value in an up-sell, finally work with them to make the transition (and be flexible).  This exercise increased our revenue from Jan to November 2016 t0 2017 by 133% (profit increase isn’t quite so healthy but that’s another post!)

So before you put all your efforts into lead attraction, take a look at your existing clients.  What could you do to upsell across your services, tweak your existing service or create a new service to add value for your clients.

Finally, if you’d like to be delighted, and have a virtual partner working with you to increase your own revenue, let’s chat:

Download your free guide here to discover how to boost your business by outsourcing to a virtual assistant.