Consultants are a rare breed. They choose to eschew the stability and financial rewards of a day job in order to bring their unique perspectives and leadership abilities to many clients, sometimes all over the globe. But today’s consultant isn’t usually part of a large firm operating out of a traditional office. One can find consultants whose offices are really in coffee shops, co-working spaces, or other non-traditional office spaces. They need to be on a plane to where the client needs them to be at a moment’s notice—without worrying about how to pay the rent on traditional office space lying unused at the moment. This is why virtual offices are the perfect solution for today’s modern consultants.
Virtual Assistants and Receptionists
Whether a busy consultant needs a Girl Friday or a right-hand man (J.A.R.V.I.S anyone?), a virtual assistant can be the perfect companion to help manage a busy schedule. Virtual assistants can help with a wide variety of roles from simply picking up the telephone to managing calendars and even surveying clients or scheduling appointments. Even better, a potential client won’t simply ring to voice mail just because a consultant is on an airplane or even in an important meeting. Instead, your potential clients will be met and engaged by a bright, knowledgeable and friendly assistant who works just for you (as far as the client knows).
A Swanky Business Addres
It is very doubtful that a lucrative high-tech corporate client is likely to engage a change management consultant whose business card reads “Apartment C below that Greek place on Montecito Avenue between the liquor store and the launderette.” Even if you simply operate from home or mostly virtually, clients may assume that a consultant without an address may be some fly-by-night operator who is only in the game to parachute in and win a big contract. But by engaging a virtual office, consultants can acquire a respectable business address, not to mention mail-handling and assistant services that mean the bills get paid and invoices sent.
Meetings in Minutes
It is often the expectation of a client that a consultant be prepared to travel to their location or work site in order to perform their duties. But for a busy single consultant with many clients or even a dynamic nonprofit consultancy with too many gigs on their hands, flexibility is a vital characteristic of a virtual office. By engaging a virtual office space, a consultant or consultancy can set up meetings with clients on the fly. Need to do a big presentation with complex presentation technology and a fully-catered lunch? That’s no problem for a great virtual office, which can set aside conference room space in a classy office location that is equidistant between your clients and your location at the moment. By the time you arrive, a virtual office can have your slideshow deck loaded, hot coffee at the ready and even copies of your presentation ready for participants to acquire right at the meeting room table.
