Your Discovery Call Is Not a Job Interview. Stop Treating It Like One.

One of the biggest mindset gaps I see with Virtual Assistants has nothing to do with skills, confidence, or experience… it is how they show up to a Discovery Call with a potential client.

Too many VAs walk into these conversations like they are applying for a job. They wait to be questioned. They try to impress. They agree too quickly. They quietly hope that they are “chosen”.

And in doing so, they accidentally position themselves as a quasi-employee… someone who will take direction, jump when told to jump, and mould themselves to whatever the client wants.

That is not a business. And it is not good for you or the client.

A Virtual Assistant is a business owner – full stop! And that means you are savvy, experienced, have expertise, and are offering something of value to the market. That is the starting point, not the end goal.

A Discovery Call is not an interview… it is a business conversation.

Think about how any established service business operates. They don’t beg for work. They don’t audition. They don’t promise the world just to secure the client.

Instead, they listen carefully, and ask intelligent questions. They explore what is possible. They explain how they work, what they do well, and what they don’t do. They outline their terms, boundaries, and ways of working.

In other words, they have conversations for possibility.

They are curious, enquiring, and engaged… and perhaps most importantly, they are assessing suitability on both sides.

Here’s the wake-up call many VAs need to understand: You are not there to be chosen. You are there to decide.

If there’s something that I’ve learned in all the years of running my VA business, it’s that not every client is a good client, and not every project is a good fit. And, unfortunately, not every opportunity is worth taking, no matter how desperate you feel in the moment.

Walking away from the wrong client is not failure… it is leadership and maturity in action.

When you show up to a Discovery Call as an expert, something shifts. The dynamic changes, and the client relaxes. The conversation becomes clearer, expectations are set early, and boundaries are respected.

And ironically, you become far more desirable to work with.

So, if you want different outcomes, stop trying to recreate employment in a slightly different format. Stop positioning yourself as an employee in disguise.

Be the business owner you are, and run your business like the business that it is… and remember that it’s okay to only work with clients you actually want to work with.

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For support with finding and onboarding the right clients, have a chat with VA Institute - we're here to help you build a strong and successful business.