by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Oct 4, 2013 | Communication, Customer Service, Small Business
We are never too perfect or the absolute best at everything NOT to ask for feedback from our clients, stakeholders, or teammates. There is always room for improvement and growth on many different levels. Input from your network can offer guidance for better communications, systems and service. When you are passionate about doing your best and providing unsurpassed products and service, then requesting candid feedback is a must.
We need feedback in order to keep ourselves in alignment and not attempt to dance in tunnel vision.
Don’t think of it as criticism, but an opportunity to discover what is working, what isn’t and where you can make corrections, further develop your processes or enhance your performance. If you aren’t asking for input, then you are losing the chance for change.
“Feedback is the food for champions.”
What you do with it is then up to you. Choosing to only ask and then ignore ensures stagnation, a place to remain the same with closed ears. If you want to elevate you and your business, then you need to be prepared to listen, evaluate and take action.
Feedback is a tool to identify strengths, weaknesses, isolate problems, boost execution and improve your operations.
Consider Feedback as a SHARP tool
Specific: when asking for feedback, make sure you request details on what is working and what isn’t. Where did you fail or hit the mark.
Honest: feedback should be nothing but brutal honesty or it is pointless
Actionable: consider each sentiment and statement. Think deeply and take it to heart. What action steps can you implement?
Recovery: know that these learning cues are meant to be authentic, valuable tools, rich with insight to make amends, re-evaluate and upgrade
Progress: feedback allows you the greatest opportunity to instigate change for forward movement. You should feel empowered, like an endorphin rush, with such SHARP information.
Embracing feedback is a gift to you and your business. It reflects your professionalism, your dedication to correcting things and demonstrates your desire for exemplary customer service. Follow up on concerns and implement action, letting your responders know you are committed to change and improvement based upon their helpful feedback.
Leverage feedback to deliver value and exceed expectations.
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Sep 30, 2013 | Delegation, Productivity, Small Business
Business growth depends on your ability to leverage time, money, expertise and “human” power. As you have probably discovered, it is virtually impossible to manage every single task, system and project in your business, all by yourself. There just aren’t enough hours in the day to operate at 100% effectiveness, 100% of the time. Even with your action lists and priorities, you only have two hands and one pair of eyes. Your income is limited by your time.
Can you just imagine how freeing it would feel to be able to count on someone else for support? A team partner? Someone who is vested in the success of your business while still saving you money?
The answer for your small business?
Leverage the power of other people’s strengths and time so YOU can get more done: focus on your core genius to scale your business to the next level. Think of all of the everyday mundane tasks that while necessary, do not represent direct in-pocket revenue for you. Why do you use your valuable time for these low payoff activities?
“Within the first 6 months I added a virtual bookkeeper and personal assistant. I went from making about $4,500/month to making over $15,000/month.” Melanie Benson Strick
- What tasks do you perform on a daily basis that actually generate income?
- What projects or business operations are required, but are not money makers?
- Which of the two take up most of your day?
- What is on your plate, that shouldn’t be part of your steady diet?
Are you truly cognizant of all of the hours you spend on basic office administration? Project management? Social media? inbound marketing?
This is just a small sampling of what you should be outsourcing so you can focus your time on what you do best. How many of these low payoff activities do you manage every day?
- Triaging and responding to emails
- Creating email templates
- Researching statistics and industry data
- Content curation
- Social media best practices
- Social media automation tips and tools
- Sending out client birthday/holiday cards
- Travel planning
- Editing, proofing blog posts
- Image search and creation
- Uploading blog posts and adding SEO
- Creating systems
- Tracking deliverables
- Generating office policy and procedure docs
- Researching online business tools
- Managing your database
- Creating spreadsheets
- Managing your online newsletter
- Tracking web statistics
- Testing new software
- Interface with team members
- Blog promotion
- Cross promoting your content on social media channels
- Calendar and appointment scheduling
“Exceptional leaders, however, understand the importance of and how to surround themselves with exceptional talent and delegate tasks and responsibility to them.” Peter Gasca
How much more do you think you could accomplish if you outsourced just 5-10 hours per week? I am not suggesting anything new to you or something I don’t do myself. I have a phenomenal virtual assistant and without her tremendous assistance, I would go insane. When you continue to do it all, or attempt to, you become the bottleneck to your growth and expansion. If things are falling through the cracks, you have little time to yourself or you are a slave to your business, it is time to re-evaluate your systems.
What are you willing to give up in order to grow?
If you are interested in testing the waters or learning more, please contact us to discuss your business, operations, systems and how we can partner. Working through any apprehensions about working with a virtual assistant is easy with a little guidance and reassurance.
We can do this together.
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Sep 19, 2013 | Time Management
Time management is always a hot topic as we seem to think we have so little time to effectively manage our days and have some semblance of work life balance. You too want to get more things accomplished while the clock keeps ticking and more tasks seem to pile up.
What can you do? Get a handle on your time, your interruptions and your distractions. Thanks to technology and the digital world, we are always connected and being bombarded with data overload. Crush the chaos. It can take all of the discipline you can muster to tune out the influx of information coming at you. Time can be an elusive mystery when you are in a constant struggle to find more of it, so it is up to you to invest in your time, in your life, in your business. The best thing you can do is learn to manage yourself to better manage your time. “Choice management.”
Determine where you want to be and who you want to be when you grow up and then, start planning.
4 Steps to Effective Time Management
Step One
Release your tie to your inbox.
It seems so simple, yet as soon as a notification pops up, off we go. Let’s see what came in. Every email does not need to create a sense of urgency. By continually monitoring your Smartphone and inbox, you generate a stop/start cycle in your work. It distracts you from your most current focus. You can let it go. Schedule specific times during the day to read emails. You can create an autoresponder letting your senders know the times you will be checking your email. You can also apply this to your phone, text messages and other IMs. Each time you stop to read a new message, you not only interrupt your work flow and concentration, but you tack on more time to complete a project, thereby decreasing your efficiency and productivity.
You must manage your Blackberry; do not let it manage you. Many executives check their smartphones throughout meetings and during off-hours. This is not good for concentration, and has a negative impact on decision making. Use it only in bursts: check emails for an hour or so and then put it away so you can focus on the task at hand. Richard Branson
Step Two
Have a plan!! A blueprint for success
Your outline or goal sheet will help to give you a roadmap to accomplish your objectives. When you don’t create a plan or at least a daily To Do list at minimum, your days are spent “willy nilly,” putting out fires, managing what you can remember, they daily influx of projects or the To Dos that are most current. You need a clear direction and plan, outlining your short term and long term goals for success enabling you to prioritize your tasks, projects and desired outcomes. You don’t want to wander aimlessly and miss an important oasis.
Prioritizing is the root of all small business evil. You must take the time to sit down and prioritize your day. Ideally before you leave the office, have a list written for the next day. Once you have a priority of daily tasks being organized becomes easy. Steve Freeman
Step Three
Tomorrow never comes! Tackle it now.
Procrastination is a killer of all things; don’t be fooled by putting something off until you feel like it or think there is a better time to finish up. The time is now, not later. Does your procrastination resemble a little fun on Pinterest, trolling Facebook profiles and your news feed or other types of busy work? Well, just stop right now and realize what you aren’t accomplishing. You are setting yourself up for doom and gloom because when you take the time to review your completed list, nothing got done or was only half managed. Set a To Do timer and commit to it. Forget the non-essentials, your time robbers and FOCUS!! Know what is important and why. Make your list with action steps and stick to it. Create task reminders. Use whatever system works for you, but use a system.
Step Four
Organize!
Organization enhances your time management and productivity. If you have to consistently search for documents,you are wasting your valuable time. File documents, emails, bookmark websites, make lists of your logins and remember everything has a place so keep it there. The more time you spend searching for things, the more time you lose.
You can learn to be more efficient in your time management which will in turn fire up your productivity.
What steps will you institute today?
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Sep 17, 2013 | Communication, Leadership, Social Media
When my daughter attended Montessori they had a plaque in the room that said: Be Kind.
So simple, yet so powerful.
Kindness is the basis for all relationships in the home and the workplace. Building long-term, mutual healthy connections relies on a few humble premises. Look at the people around you, past and present: do they resonate with your core values? What is their track record? Have they always been honest and forthright? Any red flags? Have you ever questioned their intentions or honesty?
I believe fundamental honesty is the keystone of business. Harvey S. Firestone
Communication styles vary from person to person, but honesty and truth should always take precedence, no matter your position, status, or relationship (business or personal). What we say and do is explicitly related to the measure of trust we have with others and they have in us. How you interact with someone is a reflection of your character and integrity. If you opt to forgo this most common sense trait, then you forfeit your reputation and connections.
Building credibility and trust requires authenticity, consideration, integrity, and intent. It is to be earned, not assumed. Reputations can be instantly destroyed, sales lost, partnerships dissolved. There is nothing more important than building trust; in your business, in your life.
Strengthening Relationships
- Engage in frequent honest communications
- Express gratitude
- Be well intentioned
- Demonstrate sincere interest
- Be present in the moment
- Actions speak louder than words
- Make sure your actions/decisions backup your words
- Say what you mean and mean what you say
- Transparency is key
- Listen and hear the other party
- Practice best behaviors
- Do what is right for the situation
- Always know the facts, don’t assume anything
- Never make presumptions about someone else’s decisions
- Don’t gossip and create unnecessary drama
- Keep your commitments
- Value and respect another’s time and voice
- Show compassion
- If you don’t know something, say so
- Relationships do NOT succeed on a need to know basis
- Ask yourself why you tend to omit information
- Re-examine yourself before you cast stones
- Clarity and understanding sets the stage – don’t close the curtains
- Vulnerability is a strength
- Spin your life from the heart, not for gain
- It isn’t all about you
- Act don’t react
- Be open to positive change
- If you want trust, be trustworthy
- Ask for feedback
What you get in your life is not a result of what you want, it is a result of Who You Are. ~ Marlon Smith
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Sep 14, 2013 | Life Thoughts
This blog post stems far from the norm of my usual banter of social media, inbound marketing,virtual assistance, time management or productivity and I trust that is acceptable. A few of other my other posts discuss branding, people buy from people, be real, be authentic and transparent. Well this is one of those posts. Sharing a little bit of me, further adding to the human touch. I am not just a virtual robot managing your online business. I think sometimes we forget that there is a human behind the content.
Today I am writing about family and the strong bonds that tie us together. Are you interested? I am not really sure but I will share anyway because sometimes we all just need a voice.
I began this company after both my mother and sister passed away from breast cancer. I knew that I needed more and wanted to be able to share my passion for giving back and helping others. I spent 6 months researching businesses and initially discovered the personal assistant/errand and concierge industry. My role expanded into 100% virtual when I joined Twitter and it has only grown from there.
So that is part of my story. Today I am traveling to Miami Fl to say my last goodbyes to my 34 year old niece; my sister’s daughter. I don’t know how much time she has left but all I know is I must get to Florida. I certainly let US Air know this too, with lots of very big words and 3 hours of trying to book matching connecting flights with my daughter. I didn’t want her to make this flight alone.
We now have three generations of women in my family battle this dreaded disease and lose their fight.
My point here?
There is nothing more sacred than family. Cherish them while they are here. Tell them every day how much you love them and never take them for granted. Life is too short to miss these opportunities.
Your job will always be there or another will. Make sure you have a very healthy work life balance enabling you to MAKE time for the important parts of life.
How many hours do you spend at the office, behind a computer or on your mobile phone? Is it all that vital? Do you ever shortchange the people in your life because of work? We all need financial stability, but at what price.
Rethink your day today. Your time with friends and family and please do me this one favor: make more time for them. Put down the phone. Close the computer and truly be present and engage!! Give them a hug. Share the love because you never know when a life could end.
If this post resonates with you, please share it with your community, your network. I appreciate it very much. “Pay it Forward!”
