Recently I became aware of a challenge a VA was having and it is something I’ve come across before but had forgotten about it.  It’s an ideal post for this category.

Be clear about your quotes/rates when discussing a job with a client. This VA had quoted a rate which the client accepted but there was a problem. You see the client thought the quote was the total price for the job, whereas the VA was giving a quote… per hour!  She had forgotten to add those very words ‘per hour’ and the end result was a massive difference in what the client thought she was paying and what the VA thought she was getting for her work.  They now have to discuss the matter and try and come to some agreement – not a good situation to be in.

If you’re a VA quoting a client for a job be very specific on how that rate is worked – especially if it’s transcription as there are so many ways it can be quoted for, i.e. per audio hour, per typed hour, per audio minute, per typed line or word and so on.

If you’re a client getting a quote from the VA don’t be afraid to ask specifically how the quote works. Sometimes you might have to ask the same question in 2 or 3 ways – hopefully you won’t get 2 or 3 different answers but the same one.

Being clear in your discussions at the start of the job will help prevent any nasty surprises for both parties when the job has been completed.