Outsourcing: A Guide to What You Should Know Before Choosing to Outsource, 3rd Edition on NOOKbook

The 3rd edition of “Outsourcing:  A Guide to What You Should Know Before Choosing to Outsource” can now be found at NOOKbook at Barnes & Nobel for $35 each. 

This edition talks about outsourcing trends and how it is applied to today’s daily business processes.  The guide helps to identify the best ways to select an outsource vendor, idenfity and analyze cost, negotiate contracts, how to terminate a contract effectively, and the best practices that should be exercised by the outsource vendor.  The do’s and don’ts to outsourcing are highlighted.

In a struggling economy the guide is a good resource in aiding in the financial balance of outsourcing when crucial moments arise and the decision to hire additional staff becomes critical.  Business professionals must focus on the bottom line of their buget and determine if whether or not outsourcing would make better sense or if there is an immediate need to hire additional staff when in-house staff are not available to for projects and or tasks that are needing to be done.

Through outsourcing, businesses have the unique opportunity of only outsourcing what they deem necessary to outsource based on their current immediate needs and can only pay for services they want on a long- or short-term basis.

The guides plays a major role in understanding how to foster positive and workable established relationships with outsource vendors and how to maintain control of the negotiated contracted.

This guide was written to maintain the equality of outsourcing to the business community, to better protect the client from unqualified outsource vendors who are not prepared to fulfill the structure of the contract.  It helps to broaden the understanding of the concept of the outsourcing model and the role it plays in serving the business operation as a whole.  In short, it keeps outsource vendors well in their place.

Order the guide and see what some outsource vendors don’t want you to know and what it is as a business owner needs to be understood about their place in establishing outsource relationships and their ability to contract out on agreeable terms.

If you prefer to order the guide in print, email your request to officeservices@asstservices.com and indicate how many you are requesting, or send check or money order payable to “Assistant Services & Associates” to Assistant Services & Associates, PO Box 191984, Los Angeles, CA  90019.   Please be sure to include $35 for each copy you order and a total of $3.95 for shipping with your request/order.

2011 Services as an Alternative and Addition to How You do Business

This year is expected to be a good year with newly upgraded services to, but not limited, the small business community.  Assistant Services & Associates is moving to explore the many opportunities of reaching out to major corporations through the use of marketing the services as an alternative and as an addition to how they assign tasks and projects.

As an alternative, because some corporations have had to change the way they do business with the current state of the economy, their hiring practices have been modified, focusing on the bottom line of their budgetary guidelines set forth in how they are to proceed moving forward; whether or not they can afford to hire additional salaried employees or if temporary help would be preferable, or if exploring other opportunities such as utilizing outsourcing methods would prove to be a money-saving and cost effective approach.

As an addition to their in-house staff, the services would play a role in providing assistance in taking on projects and tasks otherwise not able to be handled by in-house staff.  This saves time and is a cost-effective tool to have available.  At this level the services can be used whenever the clients deems necessary, and the client pays only for those services rendered.

For more information on the services visit Assistant Services & Associates website to learn about the many services available, or call toll free at 877 436-7077. Services can be tailor made to meet specific needs.

Tax Cuts Raise Expectations For Economy In 2011

It was reported that a cut in workers’ Social Security taxes and rising consumer spending have led economists to predict a strong start for 2011.  The problem is people wont feel at ease until employers have gotten off their battle grounds of the over-influenced hiring policies that are seeming to leave out people who are qualified to do jobs they are play tit-for-tat with.   In a still struggling economy, how can they expect consumers to buy more homes, cars and even stocks and bonds?

So, in an article I read it said that analysts are predicting economic growth next year will come in next year close to 4 percent.   That it would mark an improvement from the 2.8 percent growth expected for this year and would be the strongest showing since 2000.  Has there been any real evidence of this?  We are heading into 2011 on a high dosage of skepticism simply because jobs are still being lost and there is no heighten sense of job security anywhere without the fear of sudden layoffs.

“Looking ahead, circumstances are ripe for the economy to develop additional traction,” said Joshua Shapiro, chief U.S. economist at MFR Inc. in New York. He is estimating growth for 2011 to be above 3.5 percent.  I find this hard to believe simply because there was no movement to keep jobs in 2010 and the money that was said needing to be saved in these job cuts just didn’t seem to add up.

The economy grew at a moderate pace last summer, reflecting stronger spending by businesses to replenish stockpiles, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. Gross domestic product increased at a 2.6 percent annual rate in the July-September quarter. That’s up from the 2.5 percent pace estimated a month ago. While businesses spent more to build inventories, consumers spent a bit less.

Many analysts predict the economy strengthened in the October-December quarter. They think the economy is growing at a 3.5 percent pace or better mainly because consumers are spending more freely again.

Still, the housing market remains a drag on the slowly improving economy.

The National Association of Realtors reported Wednesday that more people bought previously owned homes rose in November. The sales pace rose 5.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.68 million units. Even with the gain, sales are still well below what analysts consider a healthy pace.

Even if analysts are right about 2011 being a better year for the economy, growth still wouldn’t be strong enough to dramatically lower the 9.8 percent unemployment rate.

By some estimates, the economy would need to grow by 5 percent for a full year to push down the unemployment rate by a full percentage point. Even with growth at around 4 percent, as many analysts predict, the unemployment rate is still expected to hover around 9 percent.

The third-quarter’s performance marks an improvement from the feeble 1.7 percent growth logged in the April-June quarter. The economy’s growth slowed sharply then. Fears about the European debt crisis roiled Wall Street and prompted businesses to limit their spending.

“It sure looks like the `soft patch’ is over,” said Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at IHS Global Insight.

In the third quarter, greater spending by businesses on replenishing their stocks was the main factor behind the slight upward revision to GDP.

Consumers boosted their spending at a 2.4 percent pace. That was down from a 2.8 percent growth rate previously estimated. Even so, consumers increased their spending at the fastest pace in four years. The slight downward revision reflected less spending on health care and financial services than previously estimated.

More recent reports from retailers, however, show that shoppers are spending at a greater rate in the final months of the year.

Companies are discounting merchandise to lure shoppers. A price gauge tied to the GDP report showed that prices – excluding food and energy – rose at a 0.5 percent pace in the third quarter, the slowest quarterly pace on records going back to 1959.

Americans have more reasons to be confident. Stock prices are rising, helping Americans regain vast losses in wealth suffered during the recession. Job insecurity remains a problem, but the hiring market is slowly improving. And loans aren’t as difficult to obtain for those with solid credit histories.

Even with the improvements, though, consumers are showing some restraint. In the past, lavish spending by consumers propelled the economy to grow at a rapid pace. After the 1981-1982 recession, the economy expanded at a 9.3 percent clip. Consumers increased their spending at an 8.2 percent pace.

Consumers have yet to display that level of confidence in the economy. While hiring is improving, employers still aren’t adding enough jobs to lower the unemployment rate.

Even with stronger economic growth anticipated for next year, analysts predict it will still take until near the end of this decade to drop unemployment back down to a more normal 5.5 percent to 6 percent level.

The government’s estimate of GDP in the July-September quarter was its third and final one. The government makes a total of three estimates for any given quarter. Each new reading is based on more complete information. GDP measures the value of all goods and services – from machinery to manicures – produced within the United States.

Best Credit Card Companies for Rebuilding Personal Credit

Struggling with bad credit is not uncommon in today’s tough economy.  We have to look at the growing scenarios that are driving accounts into delinquent status.  But don’t give up, there is hope. 

If you’re struggling with credit card issues and your credit score is below qualifying level to obtain decent credit, and you’re a good person looking to rebuild your personal credit, you’ll be happy to know that there are companies such as Orchard Bank (also HSBC) and First Premier Bank that offer credit card programs designed to help you  achieve your credit card goals. 

These programs provide unsecured accounts where a security deposit is not required, and they are established to help you get back on the path of being credit worthy by improving your credit score despite prior credit problems.

Approval for credit with these institutions are likely to have credit limits starting at $250 – $300, and is based on your credit.  Maintaining an excellent payment history will make you a good candidate for receiving credit line increases and a good payment history is reported monthly to all major credit reporting agencies, and keeps your APR at a manageable level.

Orchard Bank currently does not issue credit line increases, but suspects that this is an option they intend to offer in the very near future.  They encourage their customers who are interested in this option to check back with them.

First Premier Bank offers credit line increases on their credit cards in this program but there are qualifying factors before an increase is given.  Your account has to constantly be in good standing, you must have not made any late payments, and your account can never be over the limit in order to qualify. 

They also allow you to have both their Visa and Mastercard.  Caution, should you choose to receive both cards, you must maintain both accounts in good standing.  Having one account in good standing while the other is not can cause them to suspend your account until the other account is brought current.

Orchard Bank will allow you to have both their Visa and Mastercard, but I recommend waiting at least a year or two before applying for the other, they may have some restrictions that apply.  Or do yourself a favor and just keep the one.  Same goes for First Premier Bank.  If you don’t have to have both cards, then don’t apply.  One is always manageable, two can be a headache. 

In short, these are two credit card companies I highly recommend for rebuilding personal credit.

Business News: Screening New Clients

Screening potential new clients is not necessarily a bad thing, especially when we are continuing to experience a high level of fraud in the business world today.  It’s not hard to fall victim to scams without knowing the tell-tell signs.  The damage caused can be very devastating.

2005 I nearly fell victim to a business scam.  I received an email from what at that time looked like a legitimate potential new client.  Their request had all the makings of what my business was able to offer until I got down to the bottom of the email and read the “fine print.” 

What gave me cause for alarm was as I re-read the email, there was no indication as to where the located my information, no indication as having visited my previous web site or had been referred by a colleague, partner or associate.  When the requestor indicated they needed someone to receive payment from out-of-country customers, and wire the funds to them via Western Union (you know the scams), with me keeping a percentage.  Honestly, I’d never heard of such a transaction before until then. 

I decided to request verifiable documents from them such as a copy of their business license and other information that would prove they were who they said they were.  Of course everything I received looked forged and thrown together, and the dates didn’t match up.  I went ahead and did a search on them because the never provided a website address. 

All the alarms started going off when the information I located came back as their being one of the biggest frauds currently being investigated by the F.B.I.  By this time I had already agreed for them to send me cashier check from one of their customers to my PO Box, the one I had at the time before I changed it.  When I received it, well over $4,000, I reviewed it closely.  It had all the makings of a forgery document.  I have a background in banking and finance, so I know what to look for in financial instruments. 

The paper was very thin, cut crookedly, nowhere to sign on the back, and there were no watermarks establishing it as a legitimate payment instrument.  I called the financial institute the cashier check was supposedly drawn on and the representative I spoke to informed me, as well as verified my suspicions and the information I located, they had the F.B.I. investigating this group and encouraged me to forward to them everything I had received from them.  As requested I did exactly that and later contacted the would-be client, informed them of what I had done, and never heard from them again.

Some time back there was a woman on day-time court TV who was sued for having gotten involved in one of those schemes.  From what I remember of that episode, she was not able to return the plaintiff’s money because she’d spent the majority of it, the bank had closed her account and was ordered to pay them back the money she owed them.  She never verified they were who they said they were, never verified if the cashier check she received was valid, in turn placing her in a very bad situation.

Individuals and small businesses cannot be too careful nowadays.  As a business, knowing who you are working for makes all the difference in the world.  If a potential client cannot comply with your policies and procedures, you do not want to do business with them because they would be considered a high risk.  I learned this very early on, which is why I adopted Policies & Procedures and Fraud Detection Policy for my business.  Anyone who cannot comply with my policies and procedures, I do not do business with them.  I cannot afford the kinds of losses they would cost me.

I receive many of my requests via email.  Some from my VA4U site, and some in directly to my email.  Before I agree to provide services to them, I have to be guaranteed that they are an established business and proper payment drawn on legitimate accounts will be achieved.  I do the following:

1. Request they send me a letter on business letter via email attachment or mail describing their business, length of time in existence, the type of service they are requesting, their current operating budget, and who the primary contact will be.  I ask for a website address and other verifiable information.
2. I verify who they are, ensure they are not another fraudulent company.
3. Once I have ascertained that they are a legitimately established company, and I can feel comfortable enough working with them, they must complete a request for service form and a confidentiality agreement form.  Without these forms, services cannot be provided.  No exception.
4. If there are deposits required based on their requests, the deposit is due and must accompany their forms.

This process protects both myself as a business and the client.  I always communicate that this is the process all new clients must go through.  They are grateful that I take the time to protect everyone’s interest.

Business owners take pride in creating and building their business.  They are going to do whatever it takes to protect it going forward.

Clean Up Your Resume and Heighten Your Interviewing Skills

Today’s workforce calls for well written and polished resumes that show a stable work history, as well as professionally presented candidates. 

Employers have changed their hiring practices during the downturn of the economy, making it much harder and more difficult for qualified candidates to find employment within their company where their skills and qualifications match the duties of the job which they are applying.

It’s unfair that social networks and current credit worthiness are being used to their benefit to determined if you are employable based on your characteristic traits, how you present yourself outside of the work, your overall social habits, often overlooking your ability, experience, educational background which may more than qualify you for the position. 

Employers view any negativity they find when considering you for employment as a mark against you aside, which goes hand in hand with showing up late to an interview, not being properly dressed, conducting a poor interview, and not being an effective communicator.  If you can sell yourself on paper, but not in person, that automatically poses a problem.  After all, first impressions are a part of the deal breaker; it can make you or break you.

How you carry yourself in social networks, pictures you upload, your social lifestyle in addition to what your credit score may be is the icing on the cake and will determine the final outcome.

Assistant Services & Associates developed the resume service catered towards helping individuals who are returning to work, seeking employment for the first time, or looking to make a job and/or a career change. 

For $35 you receive professionally prepared or update of your resume, up to 30 copies for your distribution, a CD containing a copy of your resume, information on how to conduct yourself in an interview, and other valuable information to act as your guide during your job hunt.

Yesterday 5 Ways Companies Mistreat Job Seekers, an article by US News, was posted on this blog.  It presents interesting facts as to how employers treat people looking for work. 

If you think about it if you were comfortable and were making a good living at your last job and enjoyed the work you did and the people you worked for, or the job you are currently in is presenting a comfortable lifestyle for you with a handsome income you can live on and you enjoy the people you work with, you would not be in the position of having to feel like you’re at their mercy of seeking their employment.

My resume service will provide you with resourceful tools to arm yourself and guide you through a successful interviewing process.  And I can’t emphasize this enough, but ask questions during the interview.  The more questions you ask and keep a good communication level with good eye contact, the better your odds.   

The information you receive will help you to becoming savvy in conducting a productive interview that will leave with the interviewer a long-lasting impression.  It is information I have used that has been beneficial in meeting my employment needs over the years.

If an employer sees that you are just as quick to think on your toes as they are, there is no reason why you wouldn’t be in the top rank of candidates to select, especially if you can show you are qualified and can sell yourself both on paper and in person.

The service starts the process guiding you in the right direction, it’s up to you to do the rest.  Do you think this service can help you?  Email me today to get started.  If you do not want to email your resume, you may send it with your payment if sending by mail.  Payments* must be made payable to Assistant Services & Associates and mailed to:

Assistant Services & Associates
PO Box 191984
Los Angeles, CA  90019

Paypal users may submit payments to asstfinance@officeservices.com.

*NOTE:  Checks returned unpaid by the financial institution are subject to a $25 returned check fee.

In The Know Headlines: Call for Article Contributors and Calendar of Events

In the Know Headlines has been the voice of Assistant Services & Associates for a long time spotlighting on the successfulness of internal services and its clients.  As the business is experiencing some new growth, I am opening the newsletter up to other business professionals who may be interested in submitting to the following topics:

• Business and Finance
• Employment 
• Health Care 
• Education
• Calendar information that will list health and employment fairs, education opportunities, business workshops and seminars.

Right now I expect the newsletter to run every two months, with first the edition of 2011 being January – February 2011 scheduled for the updated date of January 2, 2011. 

Interested individuals should have some experience or be expert in writing articles of this capacity relating to their area of interest, or are authorized to submit calendar information.  Sorry, as part of the guidelines articles that promote spam or get rich quick schemes will not be considered, so please don’t submit them. 

I am looking for quality articles and calendar information that would be of interest to the readers.

For immediate consideration interested of submitting articles individuals should send a sample article, include their name and title, the company they are with (if applicable, but not mandatory), describe their experience in writing articles or the industry they represent, and email to officeservices@asstservices.com with “Newsletter Contributor” and the topic or if calendar submission in the subject line of your email.

I expect to make a final decision on or before Wednesday, December 15 on the articles to be included.  All required articles with all necessary changes made will be due Monday December 27 for final preparation of the first 2011 edition.

Feel free to email me if you have any questions or would like additional information.  I look forward to hearing from you.

What Companies are Doing to Job Seekers

In truth the rules to hiring have changes in the today’s current job market since the 2008 crash of the economy.  It seems that companies have found their own loop hole in determining who are qualifiable candidates based on their current job and skill set experience.   Bottom line is they are lead to believe they are stakeholders in going beyond the screening method of how they choose those they deem are both qualified and capable to hold down specific job positions.

In theory it’s wrong for them to play games with job seekers’ livelihood when needing to find jobs that not only pay for their skills and experience but also keep them in a margin where they are among the exceptional of staying in the game. It used to be that qualified candidates had options, that they had plenty to choose from in the job market.  That is no longer the case.  Nowadays, in a still struggling economy, employers have upped the stakes.  It’s no longer that you can get around not having a degree for jobs candidates are and can prove to be qualified for.

In recent research it was determined that there are ways in which employers have seemed to forgotten their place in the job market where qualified candidates are greatly concerned:

Employers are notorious for cancelling interviews at the last minute, leaving the candidate waiting for long periods of time, or just not showing up, and often leaving no room for apologizing for the fact that the candidate had to go through a great deal to even get the interview scheduled.  The one thing that is really annoying is that some employers have no care or concern for others’ time, that they can do whatever it is they feel in order to keep a productive day going.  It’s said that in order for a candidate to conduct a good interview that they should take the time to learn as much information about the company in order to ask the appropriate questions, the time they had to take off from their current job in order to meet with the individual conducting the interview.  Think of what that person had to go through, but that’s just it, employers like to play games and show no regard for the candidate who took time out of their own busy schedule to meet with them.

A candidate goes through so much to get the interview that they are anxious to know how soon the position is to be filled.  It’s a question that many candidates ask, especially when they are overly interested in the position.  They want to know how good their odds are and what their chances are for getting the job; how many others they have interviewed already for the job and how many more they intend to interview before making a final decision.  The problem comes when employers evade the question altogether or they beat around the bush rather than just coming out with a straight answer.  It’s not the practice of all employers to contact the candidate to let them know of their decision.  In order for the candidate to not be kept uninformed they find that they must contact the employer to learn if whether or not the position has been filled otherwise they are left in the dark with no contact at all from the employer.  How rude can they be?

It’s funny how employers deliberately avoid telling you what the current salary range is for the position you are applying for, and yet they insist on wanting to know what your current salary range is what you made on your last job.  I have been on several interviews where I’ve asked what the salary range is and have had to go through a song and dance routine just to get a straight answer.  I think getting that information out of the way first off clears the air for everything else.

Don’t they realize that candidates want to avoid ending up taking a salary cut because employers want to wait until they’ve hired them then hit them with the shocking news that they are going to be paid much less than what they were making before.  Trust me, it’s happened to me.  I signed on with a company temporarily making salary, then when to to hiring me full time, I was made to take a lower salary.  Why?  Because I did not have a degree for that position, although I was never told I had to have a four year degree.  Did I challenge the final decision on salary?  I was not given the opportunity to do so.  It took me almost five years to get back to where I left off prior to going to work for them.

To candidates this is considered starting all over again, having to work their way up to what they are coming from.  The idea that they could possibly hire a candidate at a much lower salary range is often entertained, however, they are not often as willing indulge in sharing that information in an interview.   But wouldn’t it be much easier to just throw that information out there at the beginning of the interview?  That would put all the unsettling feelings of being underpaid to rest, this way the employer and the candidate can come to some happy medium.  Truth is where the employer is not willing to pay for good skills and qualifications there is always another employer who is waiting in the wings ready to have the candidate sign on the dotted line.

Let’s not forget how job ads are inflated to make the job description of a position sound more better than what it is; spell out these great job duties, making it seem that the candidate is going to have this great job in an environment they can strive in, when it fact it’s the total opposite.  In fact once a candidate is hired they find out quickly that the job is nothing like it was advertised or how it was described in the interview.  So the employer lied just to get someone in to do the job nobody else wanted to do?  It would seem so, but that’s the game that some employers like to play.  What employers are not realizing, t0o, or have failed to highly consider is that they risk losing the candidate just as quickly as they hired him or they run the risk of having a very pissed off employee for the duration of their employment.  The upside to the situation is that the candidate has the option to opt out of the job before becoming too settled into the company.  Making a quick escape is often better than staying in a company where there is no motivation.  This saves them time and the company money.

In the end interviewing for positions can be exhausting.  So much of time goes into planning and preparing for the interview that candidates spend a great deal of time making sure they are well presented; their resume is polished, their clothes are appropriate, and they conduct an excellent interview that leaves a long-lasting impression.  It goes without saying that some employers send the wrong signals that lead the candidate to believe they are being considered for the job based on their experience, first impression, personality and ability to start within the time frame needed, just in something they may have said or something they may have stated leading to that assumption.

It’s like a slap in the face to go days and weeks without hearing back only to find out through a phone call the candidate has to make to discover they are no longer being considered for the job because they chose to go another route, or they just chose to hire someone else better suited for the job.  It’s a draining affect that candidates go through followed by a huge disappointment.   Their action is not excusable, highly intollerable, and is downright wrong, but what can candidates do in situations like this without ruining their chances for interviewing with that company at later times if they chose to?  Employers need to show a little more respect to the candidates feelings.

In closing, employers are using today’s job market as leverage to scrutinize candidates a little more closely than they really should.  Where some jobs never required four year degrees, the tables have greatly turned and several qualified applicants are being left out of the opportunity to apply for these jobs they are qualified for.  What separates good and qualified candidates from getting jobs they deserve is often a piece of paper and lack of education.

We are in a desperate need to put many men and women back to work, and put first-time job seekers in jobs they can no doubt perform well.  Job fairs are supposed to be designed to hire people who turn out for these events.  If employers continue in this route, the unemployment rate is not going to see any change in decreasing, in fact it can only go up if companies acting in this manner are not greatly reprimanded.

My 1-2-3′s of Being an Effective Support Service Provider

Being in the support industry I have to be ready for almost anything.  Often times I’ll receive requests for services that are so far off the richter scale that it goes beyond being unbelievable.  It’s always a learning process because no one client is the same nor do they operate in the same manner.  The 1-2-3′s of being an effective support service provider brings being a support service provider to a more focused level.

One thing I have to remember is that clients are not going to continue using my services or refer new clients unless I actually know what I’m doing and I am delivering my services properly using these tips that have been instrumental in building my businesss:

1. Display Services:  My clients appreciate a detailed listing of services.  It helps them to narrow down exactly what they need to perform a specific task or complete projects.  Having the ability to tailor services to meet specific needs on services not currently available reassures the client that I am willing to work with them on all levels.  If I can’t provide them the services they need I will work to locate someone who can.
2. Be consistent and Communicate Effectively:  No one likes working with a business whose level of quality assurance and how services are received is all over the place.  Never knowing what to expect.  I provide my services in one manner which has proven to be well received by my clients. They know what to expect when they call me.  I answer their questions directly and always in the same manner.  This shows consistency and keeps them comfortable in using my services.  I don’t deviate from how my services are delivered, how I process new clients, and paper work required for requesting services.  If you make exceptions for one new client, you have to make exceptions for all new clients and that takes away from the quality of my business.  Communication is another vital source of providing effective services to clients.  I have to be able to make them aware of any problems that arise, or if there is a deposit due, or if they are late in making their payment — whichever the case, effective communication keeps the business relationship strong.
3. Policies & Procedures and Fraud Detection Policy:  At the beginning of every year I take time update the Policies & Procedures and Fraud Detection Policy to maintain accuracy in how the operation is running and to ensure that I have followed procedure for preventing fraud due to use of receiving credit card and check payments, and how I screen new clients verifying their validity of existence.  If I change any aspect of Assistant Services & Associates, that change is made in the Policies & Procedures and Fraud Detection Policy.  Clients who purposely choose not to adhere to that which is written in the policies is grounds for termination of the contract and any and all outstanding fees become due at that time.

In order to remain successful in this field, it’s important to address each specific need with care and consideration to the clients.  I’ve discovered that they appreciate the one-on-one service with personal attention given to the work assigned.  The one thing I never do is hit clients with last minute information or details, or hidden fees that are not readily available on the website and/or in the written proposal.  That throws them off and it will make them second guess using my services, thus damaging the relationship overall.

I like using evaluations at the end of each job I do.  It’s something I picked up when Assistant Services & Associates was originally launched in 1996, but was just Assistant Services at the time.  Relaunching the business in 2006 helped me to take a closer look at its representation both virtually and in meeting the client face-to-face and how the website is perceived.  I view evaluations to be taken as a learning tool.  I use the information I receive:

• To see where there is room for improvement
• What to do and not to do next time in working with a client
• Whether or not the services need to be adjusted or modified in any way; if there are services that need to be added or removed
• Whether or not the projects were completed in a timely manner
• If I need to take a closer look at the rates; do they need to be adjusted to better fit budgetary guidelines
• Or any other aspect of business that feedback is given.

I’m passionate about my business.  How it is represented shows in how I am able to deliver the services requested.  Having the 1-2-3′s of being an effective support service provider keeps the business in perspective.  Maintains consistency and gives my clients the confidence they need when working with me.

Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone