Today I have my very first guest blogger, Pamela Cather from Headshots by Pamela! She’s a local business headshot photographer and she’s the one who created my lovely headshot photos!
Hey everyone. Jeanne and I have been getting to know each other through our respective businesses. I met Jeanne when I had the pleasure of taking business portraits for her marketing. When we met I had no idea what a Virtual Assistant was. When she explained that she would do data entry, social media management, even web development, I was definitely intrigued. I quickly hired her to do some dreaded marketing research for me.
We’ve been talking about some of the challenges of hiring a service provider. It’s really hard to know if one will meet your needs and produce the quality you want. We thought, as her readers, you could use a few tips on hiring one.
Get referrals and references
These days this is so much easier than in the past. All you have to do is go online and check out reviews. Ask around. The best review is a referral from someone you know. Just remember, if someone looks interesting to you and they don’t have many reviews online it doesn’t mean you should skip over them. Some great service providers are just not tech savvy. Or like Jeanne, they could be just getting started. Give them a call. Have a few questions for them. And ask if they can send you some references.
See their work
It would be hard for a plumber to show you the drain they fixed or for a virtual assistant to show you the Quickbook work she’s done for another business. So referrals and references are more important for some businesses. But let’s say you want to hire a carpenter to build you a deck. Ask them if you can go see one that they’ve built. Or like my services, you can see samples of my headshot photography on my headshots website.
Make sure the provider is a good communicator
The one thing that really impressed me about Jeanne was her ability to ask good questions. She also gave me very specific answers to my questions. I felt comfortable knowing she understood the scope of the project I was asking her to do. It was clear how long it would take her and what my budget should be. Here are some sample questions you might want to ask a potential service provider. Make sure you are comfortable with the detail and clarity they provide.
- What is the best way for us to communicate? Email? Text? Phone?
- How long do you expect the job to take?
- How will you charge me?
- Are there things I need to do to prepare for you starting the job?
- Do you have insurance? (if you are going to be on their property or they yours)
Get it in writing
Don’t assume that if someone is a professional they will get the job done to your satisfaction with very little discussion. We’ve already talked about the importance of asking good questions. Now make sure that everything you’ve agreed to is in a signed contract. The more specific you can be the better. I once did a job for a good friend. I didn’t go through my usual conference call with her. I later learned that we both had different expectations of the session. That was a great learning experience for me.
When hiring a professional service contractor of any kind, make sure you ask questions, look for reviews or ask for references, check out their work if possible and get it all in writing. Things will usually go smoother and you’ll have a better chance of being satisfied with the work done.
