Real estate virtual assistant tips & advice.
Hiring is one of business’ great challenges. Companies who master the art of recruiting and keeping the best people become legendary. Most companies never get better than just ok at it. Many go down in flames due to poor hiring & training practices that result in a dismal company culture. So, how can you do…
Outsourcing is difficult. Managing remote teams is tricky. It’s easy to fall short of your goals, even if you feel like you’re doing everything right. Hiring your first Virtual Assistant (or your next one) is a daunting task… whether or not you realize it yet. I know from personal experience, because I’ve spent in the…
I spend a lot of time talking about the different types of activities you can outsource to your real estate VAs… but I was thinking today that I don’t spend enough time talking about what NOT to outsource to your real estate virtual assistants. Because, while there are plenty of tasks that are no-brainers for…
Hiring a Virtual Assistant for your business is not only a good idea – it’s something that can change your life and send your business from borderline to booming. Let’s take a step back and examine why it’s critical to have help when you’re in business for yourself.
Chances are you wear many hats in any given day (even on those supposed days off). You probably answer phones, check and reply to emails, run CMA’s, prescreen buyers and sellers, write a blog post, do research, manage ads, write up a newsletter… The task list goes on and on. You’ll be able to hold things together for a while, but pretty soon you’ll reach a point where things get overwhelming and you actually want to stop growing. The thought of more time on the phone, more to manage or more of anything might make you want to throw in the towel. Staying stuck to every task in your business is a sure plan for burn-out. As your business grows it’s essential for you to grow with it, and that means adjusting the focus from mundane tasks to bigger picture operations.
The real key to having a strong, successful business while maintaining a balanced life comes down to three words…
The key to getting the most of your virtual assistant experience is to set him or her up with the proper tools in the beginning and providing ongoing feedback (especially in the beginning of a new task).
The more work you do upfront in detailing and outlining tasks the better your assistant will understand exactly what you want and how you want it done. There is no avoiding spending the time upfront in order for these types of relationships to work for both of you.
Creating Procedures and Systems
As the business owner, you want to get the job done efficiently and correctly in a timely fashion. The person you hire needs to be absolutely clear about the exact steps they must to take to do a good job for you. Try to look at your task outline with fresh eyes so that you pinpoint even the tiniest of details that you may just take for granted. Even try giving your task outline to a friend or colleague for some constructive criticism. It’s important to keep drilling down the instructions until you get it right. The best part is that…
As your business grows, or if you want it to grow even more, you’re eventually going to need to hire real estate virtual assistants (or local staff) just to survive. The bigger your income becomes, the more your task list gets longer and longer. Many real estate agents who started as “solopreneurs” soon discover that they can’t do it all themselves. This is the time when delegating becomes crucial.
The very idea that you need to find & hire real estate virtual assistants in the first place can seem intimidating and time consuming. The process is often delayed indefinitely due to belief in these common pitfalls:
See a theme here? It’s a challenge to take the “I” out of everything that happens in your business, but that’s the first step in delegating: letting go. The fact of the matter is that it does take some time initially to delegate and outsource tasks, but over time it will free you up to grow your business and even get your life back! Remember what vacation feels like? Free time is possible when you know your business is running smoothly without you.…
