Articles by our Transcriptionists and Virtual Assistants!
This is where we give our members a forum to contribute valuable and informative articles.
How fortunate we are to have so many skilled and talented people within our midst. This article is from Damaria Senne, a writer based in Johannesburg.
What Happens When You Drop A Client Without Notice?
What happens when you dump a client without notice?
For many people who are working very hard to market their business and to win new clients, it’s very hard to imagine that someone could put in all that work, only to dump a client without notice when they are supposed to deliver. Yet, it happens, and too many times for comfort.
Here are 10 reasons why you may have been unable to do the assignment:
1. You didn’t understand the assignment requirements properly, and have come to realise that you do not know how to do the job.
2. The assignment is boring
3. The assignment is taking too long, demands too much effort from you.
4. You have too many assignments and were unable to fit the assignment into your schedule.
5. You had a family emergency( family member got sick, died)
6. You lost the assignment brief, so you don’t really know what you’re supposed to do
7. Your computer crashed and you had to reinitialise your hard
8. You’re depressed and can’t be bothered to move, never mind do the work
9. You were sick for a lot of the time you were supposed to do the assignment
10.You died
OK, except for the tenth reason, you can still salvage the situation by notifying the client and asking for an extension/handing the job back. However, there are many people who are unable to manage the situation properly [mostly because they are too afraid to tell the client of the change in plan], so they simply stop communicating with the client. No emails. No phone calls. No nothing. They simply fall off the face of the earth.
Making a difficult situation worse
For me it was a hard lesson to learn and appreciate that such a move makes a situation that is already difficult for the client (your lack of delivery), worse.
1. The client wastes time he/she does not have waiting for you to deliver / respond to communiqué. This is the time they may have used to manage the situation.
2. The client wastes time trying to track you down.
3. The client may even be worried about you on an individual basis. For all he/she knows, you died.
4. The client looks bad to his colleagues. In many instances, your client has to report to someone else, be it their boss, a business colleague or if you were sub-contracted, the main client.
5. If you client sub-contracted you for the job, they may also lose future business from the main client.
The last point is particularly important for TAVASA members, and the strength of the organisation lies in the members’ capacity to source large projects and dish out portions of the work to members.
My suggestion is, if you can’t face the client by phone or in person, send a quick email [in time] stating that you are unable to do the job afterall, giving an acceptable reason. The client may be vaguely annoyed that you’re bailing out, but it will give him/her the chance to find alternatives. And you won’t be left feeling so bad, dreading the phone in case it’s your dumped client.
Damaria Senne is a writer based in Johannesburg. Read her blog at http://damariasenne.com
4 Types of Businesses That Could Use Transcription Services - Damaria Senne.
I was chatting by email to Gaynor Paynter (Typewrite Transcription and Typing Services, www.typewrite.weebly.com) today, asking her a question about the capabilities of a voice-recording software when she reminded me that she was available to do transcription for me if I did end up recording interviews on audio. Essentially, she was evaluating my business to see if there was opportunity for her to provide a service. Later, this got me thinking about the kind of businesses I know which might require transcription services. Here are four that came to mind:
Researchers
I know I’m not telling you anything new when I say that a lot of researchers could use the services of a transcriptionist. But I’m not just thinking about university-based researchers.
You must also look at consultants who provide services for government departments. A lot of the work that they do is based on an initial evaluation of current services, before making recommendations. This may also include determining customer satisfaction levels, which means that a researcher may have to interview over 50 identified targets.
The good news about these consultants is that they want to do the report as soon as possible, so they can move onto another project. So I suspect if they can outsource the transcription work to someone else who works much faster, they’d be ever so much happier. Where to find these kind of researchers – government bulletins.
Look at tenders for research issued by government departments (www.info.gov.za) and then track to see who the tender was awarded to. You may not get the business of that project, but it would be useful for you to introduce yourself to the company and inform them that your services are available. Emphasise that you will save them time, as you can transcribe faster, helping with their delivery process.
Another type of firm that uses research extensively is the analyst firm. These guys are constantly researching their markets, and sell the reports to their clients. In role as a telecommunications journalist, I was constantly going to these guys to look for new research data.
It strikes me that the analyst firms are small, and that some of their capacity could be wasted with the researcher/analyst transcribing the interviews over time, rather than letting a professional do them. To find these firms, read business articles - journalists love quoting these guys, so you should collect a few names of individuals and companies.
The NGO
The NGO sector usually require a consolidated report of proceedings after a major conference. Make the life of the organisers easier by transcribing the event proceedings for them, so that they can start working on paper. The NGO may hire you directly, or they may contract your services through an event management company.
Check out www.sangonet.org.za to see what NGOs are up to ( and who is hosting a conference) and www.prodder.org.za for a database of South African NGOs, with contact details.
PR firms and event management companies
These companies like to offer their clients a consolidated service, and if the client wants a report of the proceedings after an event, they will want to be able to deliver painlessly. Get yourself into their books.
Market research companies
Years ago I used to make extra dosh by taking part in focus groups on products that I use. I knew a couple of market research consultants, and they had a full profile of me – where I shop, what I buy, the brands I favour etc. So, for a two-hour chat with a nice group of people, I’d get dinner (usually pizza and lots of drinks) and R150 bucks. Not a bad evening’s work.
The other side of the coin is that these focus groups were recorded, and I am aware that some people on TAVASA already do transcription work in that industry. Still, it bears looking into.
Check out www.biz-community.co.za and www.marketingweb.co.za , where a lot of event management, PR firms and market research companies are mentioned. Some advertise on those publications which means that their contact details are on record.
Anyway, I’m sure there are many other types of companies that use the services of transcriptionists, but it’s late and my brain is fried. I hope you find this useful. Till next time.
Damaria Senne is a writer based in Johannesburg. Learn more about her and her writing career at http://damariasenne.blogspot.com
Learn Through Someone Else's experience - Johan Scholtz. Johan Scholtz is a Cape Town based transcriptionist and we thank him for his submission.
LEARN THROUGH EXPERIENCE - SHARING MY STORY TO HELP OTHERS NOT STEP INTO THE SAME TRAP
Dear fellow transcribers,
I thought it wise to share my story with you all to make sure that you don't meet the same fate as I have.
As you will all know it is not easy to take that initial plunge to start working for yourself and it takes time and perseverance to build up a relationship with clients and transcription companies. Through cold canvassing and endless e-mail to potential clients and transcription companies I was approached by a certain Ms X (name withheld due to legal matters in progress). At the time she was in the processing of a merge and wanted to place my name on her list of transcriptionists. I was promised that once the merge went through I would be contacted as they would then go digital and I would be able to receive my assignments electronically.
Months passed and when I finally did make contact with her again I was informed that she was now merging with somebody else. The only good thing that then came out of this horror story was that she put me in contact with Gaynor! Nearly a year passed and I subsequently joined a transcription company down here in Cape Town and started working for them on a full time basis. Although I had a constant flow of work I still needed more to make ends meet.
In July of this year I crossed paths with Ms X yet again. After I explained my situation to her I was promised by her that she had so much work I would never want for work and that she was able to pay me much higher rates than the company I was working for at that stage. I started receiving some assignments. I subsequently resigned from the transcription company I had built up a relationship with thinking that I had better prospects with Ms X due to the promises that were made. All went well up to a point and then the problems started. I was never given a style guide and every assignment was different. I either sat without work for 3 or more weeks, or I was pressurised to the brink of insanity. I even received phone calls at 6:45 in the morning to complete assignments of typists that had dropped her!
Very quickly I ran up a statement in excess of R10 000 with her. I was promised more assignments and over one weekend received the files of one assignment and only half of the second one, no notes and was then informed that her modem had conked in. Countless phoned calls later I was every time promised that she would find someone to send me the remaining files and notes. Up till this point I had not received a cent and was starting to run out of money as I was not earning from the transcription company anymore. Then all of a sudden I was informed that I had submitted such sub-standard work. She couldn't find anyone to e-mail me the remainder of the assignments, but she could find someone to e-mail me pages worth of "mistakes" on my previous assignments.
All these "mistakes" were style guide issues, something that I could never get out of her. I subsequently resigned from her services, and to date I have only received R3 000. I can never get hold of her, all her e-mails keep jumping back, she doesn't return phone calls, and when I do get hold of her it is always a different story - she still hasn't received payment (however all the transcripts were for corporate companies who have a strict 30 days payment policy - this I know from previous personal dealing with them), and the latest is that I handed in such sub-standard work that she had to scrap most of it and that is why the transcripts went in so late, however when I did them 3 months ago they were due the next week!
I feel that it is important that all my fellow transcriptionists out there know about Ms X. It seems that this is not an exception but the norm with her. I have subsequently taken legal action against her, but it is going to be a long drawn out process and it is going to mean that I will have to fly all the way up to Johannesburg to take the case to the Small Claims Court as it has to be done in the Magistrates area where she resides. I think that people like that should be ashamed of taking advantage from innocent hardworking people like ourselves and that they should be exposed for who and what they are. Not only has she robbed me of money, but an entire years of hard work building up a relationship with the transcription company is down the drain and I am now finding myself back to square one - my dream of working from home gone up in smoke and having to start all over again where I now should have been settled and enjoying myself.
A word of advice: Make sure you have some sort of agreement between yourself and any person you accept work from before you commence doing work for them. My advice to you all would be is ask for a style guide immediately, if none is provided be careful. If you do not receive prompt payment within promised timelines DO NOT continue working for that person until your first assignments fee has been paid. Join Legalwise for a nominal monthly fee and get legal back-up behind you! They will also assist you in drawing up standard agreements which you can make any potential clients sign. It might sound like a lot of effort, but believe me in the long run it is all worth it.
I will gladly supply Ms X's name to any interested party, but have not used her name in here due to the fact that I have taken legal action against her, but should you feel that you don't want to step into the same trap please contact me directly and I will gladly inform you who she is.
Johan Scholtz – [email protected]
My Story - Annemarie Robertse - Annemarie Robertse is a VA based in Pretoria.
Admin & Marketing with Wings
Admin & Marketing with Wings opened its doors in May 2008. I left my full-time job last year and decided to combine all my skills and experience and offer my clients honest, trustworthy, quality work in the Virtual Assistant (VA) and marketing field.
First I did some work for a woman and after 2 months she didn’t pay me. She “couldn’t afford me” she said and she disappeared. I was broken! I worked days, nights, through the nights and weekends for her – she still owes me R10 400!
I decided to start building a database and start doing e-marketing. I’ve always loved marketing, I’ve been successful in marketing so that will be my work!
My first Email Campaign was a disaster! I had a database of 10 000 South African Businesses and started marketing a workshop. The due date for enrolling for the workshop was 2 days away! To top all, our ISP had some trouble and I couldn’t send all the emails in one day. I worked till 04:00 in the morning!
When I completed the campaign, the customer paid and when the workshop started we received one response! I wanted to run away!! I told the client that the due date was a bit close and next time we will have to give the readers more time to respond. She agreed but never asked for another campaign!
I continued building my database and advertised on every website I could. I sent out advertisements of my services – no reply. Then the miracle happened.
One of the clients of the woman who didn’t pay me, contacted me – it is a huge Supermarket Group in South Africa and they wanted my services! I nearly fell off my chair! We started an email campaign and there was a response! The client was very happy with the response and quality of the work and till today he is one of my clients!
I’ve done quite a few smaller campaigns since then and the response differs every time! Some clients get a huge response, others a little less and others zero. Then I have customers that don’t get a response the first time and the second time their phones are ringing off the hook. I cannot explain why this happens – I suppose people don’t need certain things at the time of the first campaign but they do the second time around!
In between all of this, a lecturer from the College where I worked while studying, contacted me – she is designing Mathematical Literacy Workbooks for Level 2 – 4 students and she wants me to do the typing and computer design. When I worked at the College, I designed and typed the Grade 12 Study Guides and I enjoyed every moment of it. We are still working on the Workbooks and we will be finished in time for next years’ Level 2 – 4 students.
I’ve continued with my database and I’m proud to say that I have 30 000 South African Addresses with an “extra” database of 15 000.
Admin & Marketing with Wings
Annemarie Robbertse
E-Marketer & Virtual Assistant
Tel:083 534 1995
Email:[email protected]