Taking the leap from real estate agent to broker isn't easy. If it was, everyone would do it and succeed. Scaling a real estate business takes time, energy, and money: It'll take time to assess your business to find opportunities for growth, it takes energy to vet and hire staff, and it takes money to purchase new technologies to support your business's growth.
In this article, we'll discuss...
Timing is everything. So before you start hiring staff and buy new software, you must determine if it's the right timing for you. Let's take a look at Valorie Ford's Agent Insights post. In this post, the real estate agent from Richmond, Virginia talks about the perfect timing for hiring a virtual assistant.
Why do I say this? Here are 3 reasons:
One thing that many people overlook when hiring a virtual assistant (VA) for the first time is the fact that you must have a game plan for them to follow from day one. Without proper planning your new VA will not know what to do and you will end up paying for a lot of wasted time and energy. Assuming that your VA will simply “jump in” and start performing miracles is not very realistic. Remember, most VA’s are telecommuters and will not be sitting next to you in the office. You need to provide them with a definite strategy and details on exactly what they need to do.
This means that you must have a proven system in place before hiring someone to take on those particular duties. It’s time to hire a VA when you are already doing their job for them. If you are spending too much time answering the phone, posting blogs, placing ads, doing administrative tasks and so on, that is the time to hire a VA. Your new assistant can be taught exactly how you want these things to be done and you will then have more time to deal directly with clients and do the things that you do best. More time with clients can translate into more business and isn’t that the ultimate goal?
You need to give your new VA the time to adjust to your specific needs and goals. Be picky when hiring your new assistant. You wouldn’t hire any other employees based on a 5 minute Skype interview, right? Then why do this with a VA? You might be surprised to hear me say that in many ways a virtual assistant is the most important person in your company. Does that sound strange to you? It shouldn’t. A well qualified VA can do something that other employees can’t - they can increase your productivity time.
What is more important than having enough time to keep your clients happy and to respond to their concerns quickly and efficiently? I can’t think of a single thing because even the most efficiently run business is obsolete without clients. A VA can literally change your life if you take the time to hire the right one and train them well.
What's more precious than time? Delegating tasks to a third party gives you time to manage face-to-face elements of your business while still being able to enjoy friends and family. This balance is critical to a healthy work-life balance.
In many cases, virtual assistants are significantly more affordable than in-house administrators. Costs vary widely by a contractor and company, which gives you the freedom to seek out a real estate virtual assistant who meets your budget and requirements. Just keep in mind, the most affordable option is not always the best option. You're often better off investing a little more for a well-qualified employee.
Do you find yourself constantly frustrated with ever-changing social media, marketing or tech trends? The truth is, it's not possible to be awesome at everything. Instead of putting hours into trying, stop spinning your wheels and hire someone who specializes in areas you struggle with to lend you a helping hand. It'll save you time (and will be good for your sanity!).
Virtual assistants often have flexible hours and work on a contract or month-by-month basis. If you hire someone and realize a few weeks in that their performance isn't up to par, you can easily replace them with someone who is a better fit for your business.
One of the biggest challenges with hiring a generic virtual assistant is that many tasks you tackle on a day-to-day basis require at least a basic knowledge of the real estate industry and how transactions work. Because your work is so highly regulated, it can cause challenges when bringing new people on board - especially when they are remote. Your best bet is to have a well defined job description and a training packet ready to go for your new hire to reference so you can reduce the learning curve.
You can't glance over at your assistant's computer screen and see them typing a blog post or updating contact info in a CRM. If you're someone who likes to have control of every task, this may be a deal breaker for you - but you have options. You can require that your contractor use a productivity tracker that shows you what they're working on or you can ask them to submit an itemized time sheet. If you decide to do so, track your own hours on various tasks and add a buffer to accommodate a learning curve before you hire an assistant.
Some meetings and conversations are just better face-to-face. You can use tech tools like Skype or Facetime to work around this issue, but lunch meetings just aren't quite the same over a tablet screen.
If your assistant's Internet goes down and they're tasked with handling urgent projects, it can cause big problems. In many cases, you can take the reigns and make sure whatever task is at hand gets done, but you need to be able to communicate with your assistant. Make sure you have a backup plan in place so they can communicate with you if this ever becomes an issue.
Chances are, your assistant will be interacting with your most precious asset - your clients. Before you start introducing lots of client-focused tasks, have your assistant start out with more administrative duties and see how they do. Getting a feel for the way they communicate via phone and email will build trust.
The bottom line is, there are lots of things you need to consider prior to pulling a trigger on a virtual assistant hire. If you decide it makes a good financial sense to bring a helper on board, make sure you have a clearly defined role in place before you put an offer on the table so you get the most out of their time and your money.
Scaling your real estate business isn't an easy task, nor is hiring the right virtual real estate assistant. To make your real estate responsibilities less stressful, let us generate new real estate leads for you. You'll partner up with our virtual real estate marketing assistance giving you the time to close more deals. What are you waiting for?