Dealing With Clients Not Willing To Listen or Take Feedback

When you’re in the service based business, especially working with clients and Virtual Assistants overseas, you’re going to have issues. There was a time when I worked in my former company, I would handle complaints all week long, which is why when I started my current business we've done everything we can to minimize client complaints, and I’m happy to say that since launching BeeEPiC Outsourcing in Dec 2019, we rarely have client issues, as in under 5%, which is unheard of in our industry.

To set the scene, client was a business/life coach, she hired a VA for one hour per day, and honestly, I was not expecting any issues with this placement. Our hiring manager selected VA in this case has a lot of experience, good technical skills and their other clients are very happy.

After two weeks of working together, I received the following voice note via Whatsapp:?

Former Client: via Voice Note

“I am very sorry about this, but after numerous training sessions on the same issues, I have come to the conclusion that things are not working out with this VA. And I’m not even sure I want to try a different VA because many of the issues to my mind, we’re really not cultural, they were common sense errors made repeatedly. So, I’m not sure what the protocol is, but I’m afraid I need to let him go. Please advise me to how to proceed. Thank you.”

To Which I replied:??

"Sorry to hear that. Can you clarify, as I'm sure we can work through this? Often our intervention, stepping in to bridge the gap between what you're needing a VA to do and their understanding.?

The first month is onboarding and in helping you make it work and that can often mean a different VA.?

We can facilitate letting your VA go, but we've learned, having done this for 13 odd years that we can usually rectify these issues, if you're willing to allow us to help."

Former Client

“Well, my policy is hire slow and fire fast. That said this is the first time working through a VA company like this I think it would be better to have a conversation. I don't wanna try to type a massive explanation of the issues here. Please grab a spot on my calendar or send me some availabilities: <link to calendar>"

Beejel

"Hire Slow, Fire Fast is good general advice, but what if the issue is NOT with the VA or the person you hire?

Now, I am NOT saying this is the case... but 80% of the time, we can track the issue back to the client - AGAIN... not saying that is the case.

This is just a general observation from 13-14 years of matching clients and VAs.

Sometimes is expectations, instructions, clarity, etc."

Former Client

“Yeah, I understand. But that's why I hire slow. I want to be very sure of compatibility, and I rarely fire. I have not fired anyone in years. And I am open to the possibility that there is a disconnect that can be resolved, as I am indeed new to these circumstances.”

My Senior VA spoke to the VA and sent me a voice memo. I was about to forward the voice note, but given what we discovered, I wanted to pre-frame the voice note:

Beejel

“Manager has spoken to the VA and she has sent me a voice message on what they discussed.?I am hesitant to share the feedback as sometimes clients take it the wrong way, and I never want to get into a blame game or finger pointing, but as a feedback and an opportunity to make things right.

I can say this: based on his experience of working with you, the VA also wanted to release you as a client, but in a very typical Filipino way, was holding back.?

I would like to share the audio message about the feedback, in the hopes you're able to take it in the spirit in which it's meant.?Can we all agree to simply learn from this? After hearing the message you can let us know if you'd like us to find a replacement.?Sometimes it's just about chemistry as well as ability.”

Former Client

“OK I don't know what a very Filipino way means but I can say that 'my VA' was not very good at looking and acting like he knew what I was asking for without actually comprehending much of anything.?

Frankly, I am not interested in hearing a recording of him talking about how he might have felt mismanaged if that is how he experienced it. As you say, it's not about a blame game.?

Also when you say 80% of the time it's the client who is the problem, that tells me you already have a bias I am not interested in attempting to overcome. I would appreciate being refunded in full. I have spent a good deal of time with VA, coaching him with nothing but kindness.?

I have been managing and delegating to people for over 20 years. Overall I have a wonderful team but thought perhaps with the cost-of-living being lower in the Philippines, and the wonderful way your service is presented, I could be getting the same quality as I do from the VAs I pay $25 an hour to stateside, but I did not find this to be the case.?

I expected some challenges in communication to happen but not to such a degree that they did. I am very sorry it didn't work out.”

At this point, we just issued a refund. We know a problem client when we see one! Now, here’s what the VA shared with our VA Manager”

“I just spoke with VA and it seems that his working style is not jiving with 'Client''s working style. He feels that 'Client' is sarcastic every time he asks for clarifications. He said that 'Client' would make it humorous but insulting in his opinion.?

There is always a learning curve between the client and the VA. The reason why I put VA into working with 'Client' is because when I was speaking with 'Client', I felt that she didn't have time to train the VA from scratch. So I put VA there because VA is a technical VA and he's doing really good with his other clients and he would be able to learn the tools, but he needs guidance. And also there is always a learning curve between the client and the VA.?

The VA would need time to learn the culture and the way the client works. So 'Client' would have to be able to communicate. I think it's just a matter of communicating. For example, for the Asana task, 'Client' wanted VA to delete task in Asana, but VA is logging into his account and 'Client' had saved task there for herself, which are private. So VA is not seeing the task, but 'Client' is.

So 'Client' is now telling VA, Hey, you're not doing your job correctly. You finished it quickly, but you didn't do it well. I would appreciate if you took the time to do your task properly. But really, it's just a matter of communicating, like sitting with the VA, trying to figure out what happened. It would have been better if 'Client' and VA were able to talk about,?

The VA is really feeling that every time he has clarifications, 'Client' is not accommodating and 'Client' gets upset every time he has questions. That is what he shared with me. So if ever we are going to replace VA, it should be someone who is also as resourceful as the VA, but also 'Client' should be able to communicate openly with the VA and understand that there is always a learning curve as well. So that is my recommendation for 'Client' and VA.

We can definitely get a replacement, but 'Client' should also be willing to go through the learning curve and accommodate VA clarifications because the VA doesn't want to just work. They also want to make it right. So with a few times that they will be doing task for the client, there would definitely be clarifications because VA, he's just been working with 'Client' for only two weeks. So it's really fresh and he's still really trying to learn 'Client''s business and the way 'Client' works.?

What did we learn from this experience?

In conclusion, as a virtual assistant outsourcing company, we have learned that there will always be challenges when working with clients and VAs overseas. However, we have implemented measures to minimize client complaints, and since launching our business, we have had fewer than 5% of client issues, which is a rare feat in our industry.?

In this case, despite the VA's experience and good technical skills, there was a disconnect between the client and the VA, which resulted in the client wanting to let the VA go.?

Although we attempted to intervene and bridge the gap, the client was not willing to receive the feedback, and not willing to work with us, and thus we made the decision that a full refund was the best course of action.

As much as we strive to make every client happy, in a service based industry like ours, we have to accept and understand that not every client and VA placement will work out, but we strive to provide the best service possible and learn from our experiences.

Beejel Parmar

CEO/Founder

www.BeeEPiCoutsourcing.com

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