I know that most of you when you get your first client say yes to whatever clients want to do business with you.  When money is tight and the future is uncertain, it is all too easy to fall into those traps of making “easy decisions”.  However, to start and keep your VA business successful and rewarding for YOU (you know–you the person who has to live with your choices every day), you need to consider these six items (at the very least) when interviewing with potential clients.

1. Can you tell on the phone if they’re expecting to treat you like an employee rather than respecting you as a fellow business owner and collaborator?  A major clue for identifying this is if they tell you what hours they want you to work.  Clients are not permitted by law to dictate how, when, or with what equipment the job is to be done.  They are only permitted to request a specific result.

   If they do anything other, they can get in big trouble with the IRS for having an employee that they are not paying worker’s compensation and appropriate payroll taxes on during that year.  If you don’t believe me, visit the IRS’s own site for the definition of independent contractor:  http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=179115,00.html

   You may choose to work the hours they need you, but at a higher rate if it’s after your normal posted business hours.  Yes, as a VA, you should have regular posted business hours, just like any other business; otherwise, you’re treating yourself like an employee instead of an independent contractor.

   Some VAs do work into the wee hours of the night, but typically those are the ones who take on more work they can handle, prefer to work at night, fall behind due to illness or other emergency, goofed off all day instead of worked (lack of priorities), or are poor at scheduling their tasks.

2. Can you already tell if they are going to be overbearing or demanding?  Let’s face it, if you can already tell on the telephone interview that they’re going to be high maintenance, they are only going to frustrate you in the long term.

   However, if you really believe their needs are a perfect match to your skills, you need to charge extra for them.  I call it the PITA-25 factor where you increase your normal hourly or retainer rates by 25% for the extra hassle of dealing with this client.  No, don’t tell them that.  Just tell them that is your current rate if they agree to contract with you.

   If you have your normal rates posted on your website and they mention that, simply state your site is in the process of being updated.  Sometimes money can’t even recompense for the frustration of a PITA client.  It’s best to cut the string before it chokes you.

3. Do they want to argue rates with you or haggle your price down?  This is a huge red flag.  You are not a flea market, and you shouldn’t care what someone in India charges.  If you are not in India, you must charge accordingly to the cost of living and comparable VAs in your own country or region.

   When they start to negotiate your rates with you, it’s time to say thanks but no thanks.  Now, this is not true if they are discussing retainer rates versus hourly or per-project rates.  Those should logically be lower since they are paid up front.  However, you should still have those established ahead of time.

4. Ask them how many VAs they’ve had in the last two years.  If they appear to have a high turn over in VAs, that’s a strong signal to you.  While there are a lot of “bad name” VAs out there, there’s not enough that would make me confident in a client who’s changed VAs 6 or more times in the last couple of years.

   To me, that screams my VAs keep leaving me, because I’m not worth it.  Remember, they are not just interviewing you.  You are interviewing them too!  So you can ask questions, and you would be crazy not to ask any.  Even go as far as to ask what happened to their last VA–why they are no longer working with them (they don’t have to give you a name to protect privacy just a reason).

5. Do they require you to have expensive or unique software that you cannot afford to purchase?  You need to find out everything they expect of you (and of course, you can and should offer more of your skills if they don’t request others you do have).  It’s unprofessional to say yes to something knowing that you have no way of getting the software they require or doing the tasks they require you to do.  It will not only sully your reputation as a VA, but it leaves a bad taste with the client about the VA industry as a whole.

   The same is true with skills.  Do not ever lie about your skills and what you can and can’t do.  Find out what they need and be honest with which tasks you can handle and which ones you cannot.  They may still want to do business with you for the ones you can do, and they may even ask you for a reference for the other skills, which is where networking with other VAs comes in handy.

6. Do you find them easy to communicate with on the telephone and/or in emails?  Typically, you exchange a few emails with them and then have the interview call.  What was your feeling, your instinct telling you?  Do they understand what you’re trying to say easily?  Do you understand what they’re trying to say easily?

   If it’s a struggle on either end, communication problems could be a devastating factor to a relationship with a client.  So trust your instincts on this one, because subconsciously you know more about people you can communicate with well than you realize. 

There are many more things you can watch for, but I feel these six are some of the most important I’ve seen arise in my experiences.  As you’re writing notes down about the client, their business, and what they want, also jot down in the sidebar of the page your feelings as they talk to you.  Do they make you feel excited?  Dread?  Bored?  Confused?  Angry?  These cues are indicators of how you will feel when you work with them.

Keep moving toward success!