Lorem Ipsum

Best Practices: Additional Services

Everything you need to know to deliver a fuller offering

Additional Services

2

Additional Services is a tool that you can use to offer phone calls, video chats, remote desktop connections and more to customers to extend your range of service outside of the Q&A. For the first time, you can directly connect with a customer off the site to deliver a fuller offering.

What is the Additional Service tool?

Additional Services

3

Using the Additional Services tool will allow you to offer a phone call, video chat, document preparation service, remote tool assistance and more any time you find an opportunity to do so.

Name your own price Earn more revenue per customer

Make customers happier by delivering more

Why should I use the Additional Services tool?

Additional Services

4

Every situation will be different, but successful professionals have come up with a good formula:

1. Prove value with a thorough, well-thought-out answer. 2. Highlight the complexity of the problem to the customer. 3. Explain the offer informally within the Q&A, and then follow it up with an official offer.

Because you can use the Additional Services tool anytime you see fit, it’s up to you decide if and when you and the customer are ready to take the step forward. This might come very quickly or require a more thoughtful, conversation. We trust you to use your best instinct!

How can I make an offer?

Some professionals have tinkered with different timing, trying offers early on or after they’ve provided an answer. Though there isn’t an exact “right time” to make an offer, you’ll get your best clues by listening carefully and working with the customer to find the right solution.

Additional Services

5

Before you even consider sending the customer an offer, engage with them to both build the relationship and understand the scope of their problem. 1. A high quality greeting can outline your credibility and set the customer at ease. “Hi there, I’m Bob, and I am a licensed family therapist. I see you’re asking about couple’s counseling – I think I can help you, as I have over 20 years of experience in this area and have helped hundreds of couples to rekindle their relationships.” 2. Next consider asking a couple of clarifying IRs to have a full grasp of what the customer wants, as per the Anatomy of an Answer. 3. When you find an opportunity for service, you’ll be ready to proceed with making an offer. While you’re following your normal process for giving a great answer, be on the lookout for signs of complexity. From what we’ve been seeing, questions that are highly complex appear to be the best candidates for an additional service.

Step 1: Provide value first

Keep the customer’s perspective in mind during these delicate initial stages – they just paid for an answer, and they want to get some value for that question before getting asked to pay again

Pro tip: The most successful offerers are also following the Anatomy of an Answer model!

Additional Services

6

The customer is often unaware of the real complexity of the problem at hand, so it’s your job to show them exactly how valuable your help can be.

The first (left) is a model we’ve seen work, and shows the complexity of the problem and value of the solution. It gives the customer context for your offer and price, rather than leaving them to feel uneducated or unaware. The second offer (on the right) is very brief. While it diagnoses the issue at hand, it leaves them feeling isolated. Never forget: in cases where the situation is complex, you actually want the customer to understand that what they are asking is a very complex thing that will take considerable time and effort to complete or understand, so that they immediately see the value in having you help.

Step 2: Highlight the complexity

Customer: “Wow, that’s complicated!” You: “I can help – would you like me to do it for you?”

Additional Services

7

Once you’ve clearly demonstrated your value, a quick sentence at the end of your answer will be enough to get the ball rolling: “So those are all of the 27 steps needed to change out your operating system. I know that can be overwhelming, and I’m here to help – for an additional $100, I can have it up and running for you in a couple of hours. I know you’re in a time crunch. Would you rather do that?” Once your customer has seen the value of your offer to solve their complex problem, you’ll be ready to go ahead and use the Additional Services button to formally get started.

Step 3: Offer informally (and then formally)

Even if the customer doesn’t accept your offer immediately, it will stay ever-present on their homepage—they can come back and take the offer at any time. Consider leaving a phone number as an offer if the customer wants to chat on the weekend.

Additional Services

8

Congratulations! You’ve mentioned the service and your customer agreed that they would like your help. In the private information field, you can provide your contact information (phone numbers, email addresses, etc.) and encourage your customer to do the same. Then, get to work—jump on the phone, arrange a time to connect later, or send a quick summary email of the tasks you’ll do. By keeping an open dialogue beforehand, you’ll set expectations and stay on the same track. Never underestimate the power of good communication and thorough preparation once you’re ready to formally submit your offer with the Additional Services button and get started on the work. These fundamental basics will go a long way with making your work a success.

How do I get started on the additional work?

When working with a customer on an additional service offer, you should think of yourself like a small business owner. Use your energy and expertise to wow the customer!

Additional Services

9

Pricing an offer can be tricky, but there are a few guidelines you can follow to make it easier:

1. Do your research. Run a search for competitors or people offering similar services in your field and price your service

2. Be willing to divide a bigger job into smaller, lower priced services you can complete over time.

3. If the work ends up being more than you anticipated, you should always discuss this with the customer. You may find that a series of projects emerge, and can happily help them by making additional offers later.

Pricing an offer

Early research showed that some of the most successful offers were accepted when they were priced in the range of the customer’s initial question. While this may not always be a logical choice, it may be a good place to get start if you’re truly unsure about the value of the service you’d like to offer.

Additional Services

10

Trust and safety is an important topic, so you’ll want to remember the following:

1. All terms of service still apply, as do professional agreements and community guidelines. Check the Additional Services Center on the blog for up-to-date policy.

2. JustAnswer should remain the platform between you and the customer, and you should continue to use JustAnswer as your payment center.

What about trust and safety?

Always be aware that the Additional Services tool allows for private communication between the professional and the customer. It is your job to understand which sections are confidential and which are not to protect yourself and the customer.

Additional Services

11

Need help? Contact us!

We want to see you succeed, and we’ll do everything we can to help along the way. Come to our Office Hours, or schedule a 1-on-1 phone call with Krista. http://www.supersaas.com/schedule/JustAnswer/Office_Hours Once you've signed up, we'll send you a confirmation email with a phone number you can use to dial in at your selected time. We're looking forward to your questions, feedback and even more shared success.

Find us on the blog and get support.

http://experts-blog.justanswer.com

Email: experts@justanswer.com

Additional Services

12

While each offer poses different challenges, the following free tools may prove useful when engaging with the customer off-site: Email: You may wish to create a special email that you can share with customers only for your Additional Services work. Never expose your personal address. Phone: Instead of fretting about sharing your personal contact information, take a few moments to set up a secure Google voice phone number that will allow you to anonymously connect. Video chat: Not comfortable with FaceTime? Use a Skype account created specifically for your additional services work on JustAnswer to video chat. Meetings: Google Hangouts can be used to host a 1:1 meeting in a secure space. Bonus: many customers are already familiar with Google. Document/file sharing: Dropbox and Imgur will allow you to upload your files and share them with a direct link. You can delete them once your customer has finished with them. Remote Service: Join.me, Chrome Remote Desktop and TeamViewer have proven popular with the professional community.

Which tools do professionals recommend when using additional services?