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Dear Danielle: Will Certification Make Me Look More Professional?

Posted by Danielle Keister on
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This question comes up frequently. And I often see  newcomers to the industry being preyed upon due to their mistaken belief that “certification will make me look more professional.”

The fact is, no one’s little piece of paper is going to make you look more professional. The only thing that will make you look more professional is by DEMONSTRATING your expertise and competence and skills in everything you do. That includes how your website looks, how you speak, your message, your business operations and processes. These are the things that make you look more professional.

In over 14 years of business, I have never once been asked by a client if I am certified. They simply do not care. Sadly, many people will waste their precious time and money on certifications that will have absolutely nothing to do with getting clients and whether they succeed or fail.

I’ve written about this topic extensively on my old blog and have just moved all these posts over to the new blog here under their own category called “Certification Is a Joke.”

If you are thinking about paying for certification in our industry, read the posts I’ve written on this subject first.

Dear Danielle: Is Virtual Assistant Certification Necessary?

Posted by Danielle Keister on
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Dear Danielle:

I have wanted to start my own Virtual Assistant business for a while now. I’ve been with the same large corporation for 12 years, some of that time spent in the Medical Law department, as a human resources assistant and about six years as an executive assistant juggling multiple managers. Prior to that, I worked from a woman’s home as her assistant as she ran her own company bringing in over $400,000 gross per year. I have the experience, I have the drive and motivation; I learn quickly; I’m resourceful; I am able to work independently and have a record of excellent customer service and problem solving skills. I am concerned that not having a Virtual Assistant certificate from a college may hinder client selection. From your experience, are degree-less Virtual Assistants making a living out there? Do you know of a legitimate online Virtual Assistant certification?

Fabulous! You have listed just about everything you need to start an administrative support business:  experience, drive, resourcefulness, ability to learn quickly and excellent customer service and problem-solving skills. The only other requirement is going to be excellent business sense. Because running a business and doing the work and taking care of clients are two completely different things.

I’ve written extensively on the subject of Virtual Assistant certification. You do not need anyone’s piece of paper to “certify” that you have the administrative expertise to offer your services. I say this as someone who has been in this business for over 14 years and never once been asked by a single client–ever–whether I was “certified” or not.

Most of the certification programs in our industry are a joke. I’ve even had colleagues go through some of these programs where the administrators themselves can’t spell, litter their correspondence with typos, and get their own exams wrong. There’s a proliferation of opportunists and exploiters out there who are just using these programs as personal sales vehicles and will certify anyone willing to pay. These “certifications” will have absolutely no influence or affect on your success or client attraction whatsoever.

Pay for skills training. Pay for business knowledge and education. Pay for products and services that have actual, practical value and use in your business. But when it comes to “certification,” save your money.

There is only one thing you need to prove to clients and that is done by simply demonstrating your qualifications, competence and service in all that you do. Your site, your messages, your writing and articles… every bit of it is an example of your skills, expertise and professionalism. When you demonstrate a professional level of expertise and competence, no one is going to ask you about certification. Those questions only come when prospective clients don’t see those things exampled on your website, your business image, your content and your communications. But when you do demonstrate those things in all those places, you instill credibility. You instill trust. They don’t need to ask because they already get that sense of your competence through all your displays of marketing, presentation and interaction.

No piece of paper will prove those things. And any certification you get becomes meaningless if you can’t demonstrate on a daily basis, in everything you do, the qualities that the certification is supposed to “prove.”

Here are some other posts I’ve written on the topic of certification that may be of interest to you:

http://www.administrativeconsultantsassoc.com/blog/2008/05/11/are-you-trying-too-hard/

http://www.administrativeconsultantsassoc.com/blog/2008/01/08/demonstrate-your-competence/

http://www.administrativeconsultantsassoc.com/blog/2007/10/10/dear-danielle-what-can-you-tell-me-about-credentialing/

It sounds like you’ve got all the qualifications and experience you need to open a business as an Administrative Consultant and offer professional level administrative support and expertise. Learning to be a good businessperson may take some additional skills and education, if you don’t have those already. Don’t bother with certification, though. Just become a good student of business. Read business books. Find business mentors. Ask lots of questions. If you do take some kind of course, I would recommend classes on business management and marketing, not a certification course.

Good luck to you and thanks for the great question! We need more highly skilled and competent people like you in our field!

Are You Trying Too Hard?

Posted by Danielle Keister on
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Have you ever had a conversation with someone who goes into so much explanatation or effort to provide “evidence” that in trying to convince you, they actually have the opposite effect? In trying to make you think they know what they’re talking about, you clearly see they don’t know what they’re talking about at all. It’s like the criminal who offers up such advance intricate detail of his alibi and reasons for his every minute action that he actually ends up looking more guilty. They’re trying too hard.

Many Virtual Assistants think getting clients is all about jumping through hoops and junking up their websites with every credential and work sample they can think of. They want to put up examples of PowerPoint presentations, spreadsheets, brochures, yada yada yada…

This indicates the erroneous thinking that a website or work sample is going to be the thing that clinches the deal. In fact, any work samples you provide will make very little difference. They will be of only passing importance, after the fact, after the prospect has already made up their mind about you one way or the other.

You know what? It’s not necessary… especially if you truly are what you say you are.

First of all, you need to know, really know, what business you are in. Are you in the business of writing or design or bookkeeping or secretarial services? Or are you in the business of administrative support. What is your first and primary focus?

If you are in the administrative support business, what you are “selling” (so to speak) is an administrative relationship, not line-item services. And think about it… how do you provide a “work sample” of a relationship?

The absolute, most important credential you need to have in this business is competence. That qualification isn’t “sold” or evidenced through work samples. It is an intangible characteristic that is demonstrated throughout all your interactions with your prospects and site visitors.

It’s in how you’ve set your business, policies and processes up. It’s in the conversations you have with would-be clients. It’s in your ability to lead your own business. It’s in your writing on your blog and your content on your website. It’s the confidence you project when you meet with new clients (whether that’s in person or on the phone). It’s the professional image you present visually, verbally, in writing, even in the operation of your business.

All of these things combined become a living, dynamic demonstration–work sample, if you like–of your competence and expertise. While they are intangible, these are the things that clients will directly and powerfully correlate with your administrative ability and skill level. That might not sound right to you. It might not be logical. It is, nonetheless, absolutely true.

Consumers make purchasing decisions for emotional reasons. It’s a researched, proven and verifiable fact. They are also hugely influenced by instant, unconscious judgments they make within minutes of meeting you or visiting your site, as well as other subliminal messages they receive along the way. They will only look to rational “evidence” to back up their emotional decision. Nothing, and especially not any work sample, will have more effect on your ability to be perceived as worth every penny you charge than the things I’ve outlined above.

So the questions you should be asking yourself don’t have to do with what work samples to provide. Instead, the questions to really be pondering are:

What message is the visual presentation of your website communicating to your site visitors? Is it one of high-calibre competence and ability? Is it one of an established, truthworthy, credible and committed business? Will your audience have an affinity with it?

What about your written message? Does it portray a confident, qualified and skilled professional? Does it demonstrate an absolute understanding of the difficulties or problems your target market wants to solve? Does it expertly inform them about the solution you provide for those difficulties and problems? Does it convey warmth, trust, perhaps even the feeling that they are having a close and personal conversation with you? Does it portray, without any doubt, that you know exactly what you’re doing, are highly skilled and have a plan to help take away their burdens?

What about practical correlations? Is it flawless in its execution of spelling, punctuation and grammar or is it littered with typos and misspellings? Are the ideas coherently presented?

Keep this in mind as well… No one is going to come to your website and decide to work with you based on a brochure or desktop publishing sample. “Selling” professional services is a far more personal, intricate and involved dance. Most of the time, clients come to us through our networking efforts and word-of-mouth. And why is that? Because through our writing and interactions with them (or those who refer them), we have demonstrated our competence and instilled the know, like and trust factor. Your most well-placed efforts, with a great return on results, will be along those lines.

Demonstrate Your Competence

Posted by Danielle Keister on
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Actions speak louder than words.

You can say you are the smartest, most competent, most wonderful administrative expert in the world, but if those statements aren’t backed up–evidenced–in all that you do in the most visible, tangible ways, your message will fall on deaf ears.

Everything you do is a demonstration of your professional competence. Every action, communication, effort and follow-up is an example of the level of skill, awareness, intelligence, professionalism and critical thinking ability you possess.

Even the visual presentation you provide, be it in your personal appearance or the design of your website, is communicating certain messages, either positive or negative, about you as a professional.

When someone doesn’t know a thing about you, they are unconsciously looking at any and all evidence of what you’re about. And they make assessments (yup, you can call ‘em judgments) about you instantly, without even thinking, based on what you show them.

Think about it.

A prospective client doesn’t know anything about you, even less if they aren’t coming to you on referral. If your website is sloppy, they will assume your work is sloppy, too.

If there are misspellings, punctuation errors and poor grammar used, they are going to wonder whether you have the most basic of skills to provide professional services to them.

If you don’t take care in the messages you write or can’t seem to follow the simplest of directions, they are immediately going to correlate that with what it will be like to work with you–and probably pass.

Understand the dynamics involved in the prospect-provider relationship. It’s not the prospective client’s job to waste their time (and they won’t) trying to figure out if someone really is competent if all other indications tell them that’s not the case. Nor will they second-guess the poor image or example you present. Trust me, they are going to take you at face value and assume that your services are amateur, sub-par and not at a professional level.

That’s why it’s really important to pay attention to the details. You have to show up, in everything you do, in a way that clearly demonstrates your professional competence and the kind of experience they will have if they choose to work with you.

Dear Danielle: What Can You Tell Me About Credentialing?

Posted by Danielle Keister on
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Dear Danielle:

What can you tell me about getting credentialed? I have worked as an administrative assistant for over eight years, so I feel I am qualified to start my own business. How important is it? And where is a reputable organization to obtain training, if needed? —FA

I personally don’t think you need to get credentialed.

Virtual Assistant industry designations have no meaning to clients; they don’t know CVA from MVPA to QBCPAMVAP. And these days, questionable organizations are springing up left and right in our industry who will sell “credentials” to anyone willing to pay.

(Here’s a tip: If the business–and make no mistake, it’s a business to them–trying to sell you “credentials” can’t themselves spell or articulate like a grown-up professional organization, that’s a good clue that they don’t have any business credentialing anyone, much less taking your hard-earned money.)

My advice, save your money.

The most important credential and qualification you need to be offering professional level services is your administrative experience and masterful skills. When folks ask about getting credentials, what they’re really asking is “How can I prove to clients that I am skilled?”

Well, first you have to take the word “prove” out of the equasion. You don’t have to prove anything to anyone, especially if you know darn good and well what you are capable of. But what you do need to do for clients and prospects is instill and nurture trust, credibility and rapport.

You do that by demonstrating your skills, competence, intelligence and capability in everything you do… How your website looks, how you speak and write, how you craft your marketing message and materials, how you interact with prospects, how you follow-through with what you say you will do… these are the ways you “prove” to clients that you are what you say you are and that you can do what you say you can. Any “credential” you might plop on your site means absolutely nothing if you can’t back it up with these demonstrations.

So, forget “credentials.” If you’re intent on buying pieces of paper and wasting money, become a member of the Better Business Bureau instead (although I would still tell you to save your money). At least the BBB is a well-known organization that is widely recognized and established.

What would be a far more useful investment of your money is investing in business training. Because being highly skilled and knowing how to do the work is far different from knowing how to run a business. That’s where the learning curve is for most new administrative support business owners—learning how to run a smart, profitable, self-sustaining business.

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