Real estate agents who engage in 1 – 2 transactions each month have manageable workloads. However, as soon as the workload increases, they’re bound to feel the pressure creeping in. Eventually, they may find themselves overburdened with work, putting in more than 60 hours each week. This leads to stress and may even interfere with family time.
If you’re an agent who has started to feel the effects of an unmanageable workload, it’s about time you considered hiring a real estate virtual assistant. To know more about what a virtual real estate assistant is, how it can make work more manageable for you, and the best tips for hiring one, read on.
What do real estate virtual assistants do?
Virtual real estate assistants perform tasks remotely, and they can be assigned a variety of tasks. Typically, agents hire virtual assistants to help them with tasks such as:
- Making phone calls and answering them
- Scheduling appointments
- Making travel arrangements
- Managing social media or email accounts
However, it’s completely up to you as to what you hire a virtual assistant for. There are no boundaries in terms of the tasks you can assign to a virtual assistant. So, any work-related task that’s preventing you from doing what you do best is something you can hand over to a virtual assistant.
Hiring virtual real estate assistants: The top tips
Now that you’re aware of what a real estate virtual assistant can do, let’s look at the top tips you can put into practice for hiring a quality virtual assistant.
Figure out why you need a virtual assistant in the first place
What are the tasks that are leaving you so drained that you can’t perform the most important ones? The answer to this question holds the key to why you should hire a virtual assistant. Remember to include this answer in a detailed manner in the job description. This will do two things – it will allow you to know what to expect from the virtual assistant and it will also help interested candidates understand what their roles and responsibilities will be.
Decide on the payment
If you want an inexpensive solution, you can look at options in non-native English-speaking countries such as India and the Philippines. The average pay for virtual assistants in the Philippines is around $5/hour. However, these inexpensive solutions may come with certain problems. While assistants from these countries may be well-versed in the basics of the English language, they may not be fluent enough for generating leads or sales.
Prepare for the interview
As a potential employer, it’s your responsibility to prepare for interviewing candidates. All the questions you want to ask should be prepared well in advance of the interview. Leaving everything for the last minute may lead to you asking questions that don’t really bring out the personalities of the candidates. So, spare considerable thought and time for the preparation process. Only conduct interviews when you’re fully prepared for them.
Conduct video interviews only
Video interviews are more effective than audio interviews as they will provide deeper insights into a candidate’s body language. Remember, body language plays a major role in engagement. If you’re hiring a virtual assistant to generate leads or sales, you must pay attention to the body language of the candidate, as that will potentially have an effect on future business dealings with clients.
Test, test, test
Candidates can prepare themselves for the interview as well, and that’s why only an interview isn’t enough to judge a candidate. Even more important than an interview is a skill assessment test, which can tell you everything you need to know about the candidate’s capacity to perform tasks. The level of performance displayed by the candidate in the skill assessment test will give you an idea about what you can expect from the candidate on the job.
Before hiring, be clear regarding your expectations
Once you’ve shortlisted a candidate, it’s important that you communicate your expectations in a clear and detailed way. There’s no way for a candidate to read your mind. So, inform the candidate about all important aspects of the job such as the roles and responsibilities, expected availability, legal obligations, and salary.
Train the candidate
You can’t hire a candidate and expect immediate results, especially if your real estate agency depends on complex software for its operations. So, after you’ve hired a shortlisted candidate, you need to invest in training to ensure that the candidate becomes familiar with the agency’s systems and software.
Conclusion
These days, numerous real estate agencies are turning to virtual assistants, and that’s not surprising. After all, virtual assistants are great options for reducing workload, which can allow you to perform at your peak and grow your business. However, when it comes to hiring them, you’ve got to ensure that you employ the best fit for your business.
