Outsourcing for Real Estate Agents Solutions

 

As entrepreneurs, real estate agents are used to managing tasks on their own. It is part of the process of building the business from the bottom up. This arrangement is perfectly fine when starting out. But when you begin to gain traction and work gets busier, those tasks will soon pile up. Like a house of cards, your business will fall apart as more opportunities are foregone and deadlines missed. You may have to consider outsourcing to real estate virtual assistants.

Outsourcing is nothing new in business. It came about as a short term fix for companies that were having difficulties sustaining revenues and had to resort to cost cutting strategies to remain profitable. Back then, companies merely outsourced to third party service providers in order to save money.

But there is more to outsourcing than just generating cost savings. It can improve productivity, raise the quality of work, introduce flexible business strategies and reduce the risk of business expansion.

In the real estate business, outsourcing can become a valuable strategy because there are so many things that have to get done. You can be inundated by work that is administrative in nature or be faced with a task requiring a specific skill set. With only limited hours to work, time management becomes a critical issue. Outsourcing for real estate agents’ solutions is the key for unlocking greater efficiency at work.

Which Tasks Should You Outsource?

 

As the business owner, your main focus should be to allocate more time to the core functions of the agency. In real estate, these are the high contact activities that bring you closer to achieving a sale and building up your company’s finances.

For sure you would rather be out on the field meeting with clients or prospects; showing properties, negotiating contracts, attending open homes and auctions, expanding your network, building your list and making corporate presentations.

If you find yourself held back at the office taking calls, checking e-mails, reviewing your calendar, setting appointments, doing research work, paying bills or preparing spreadsheets for a presentation, you are not getting closer to making money.

These tasks are referred as non-essentials only because they keep you from attending to the priority concerns of your business. But non- essential tasks are important because they organize your business and provide support to clients. You should outsource these responsibilities to virtual assistants.

Here is a summary of real estate functions that you should outsource:

1. Administrative Work

 

As a real estate agent, you need to start the day right. It wouldn’t hurt to enjoy your first cup of coffee, a healthy breakfast and a welcome chat with the family before getting into the swing of things.

But some agents are creatures of habit. They absolutely must open their e-mails or check messages in their mobile phones. Before they know it, they’ve spent the next hour filtering e-mails and responding to text messages.

Outsource administrative tasks to a virtual assistant and get a more productive start to your day. Other responsibilities include managing your schedule, appointments and preparing the documents you need for the day.

2. Technical Skills

 

If you have to come up with slide materials for an important presentation in 2 days, you’ll have to prepare great looking images and easy to understand charts. You can probably do this on your own but why compromise the quality of work?

You can easily find virtual assistants who are experts in MS Power Point. They can make stunning slide visuals including graphs that are clean and well organized.

Another important technical skill to outsource is website management. Interested clients always check the realtor’s website to get an idea of his or her qualifications. You can’t afford losing your website to a virus or technical error. Hire a Virtual Assistant who can manage your website and keep its programs updated.

3. Marketing

 

Real estate agents should be active in marketing to shore up their online presence, gain more contacts and expand their network. But marketing takes time. It’s not an activity that you can expect success without giving your approach some thought and strategy.

For example, social media marketing is a proven strategy for generating leads. But it’s not just about posting and sharing content. You have to make sure content is always fresh, relevant, engaging and usable. And you have to maintain a strict posting schedule.

Virtual assistants are adept in social media and other forms of marketing. They know how to create great content and are responsible when it comes to following a posting schedule. They are also experienced in engaging followers.

4. Sales

 

Once you get a regular flow of leads entering your funnel, you should have your sales people ready to move in and convert these into paying customers.

Moving a lead through the funnel is not easy. It requires a nice balance between timing and persistence. There are virtual assistants who have worked in the real estate industry for years. They know the “language of sales” and have ways of winning the trust of the prospect without getting them annoyed.

Closing a sale is an activity you cannot afford to slack off. Success is a matter of capitalizing on opportunities.

5. Back Office Work

 

Accounting, Human Resources and IT Management; which covers website management, comprise the triumvirate of back office work. Just like the roots of a tree, you never see them but they keep your business together.

You can designate specific virtual assistants for each of these tasks. Accounting’s records have to be regularly updated so you can keep track of your payables and the financial position of your business. Many businesses, including those in real estate shutter down because they did not manage their finances very well.

6. Customer Service

 

Running a successful real estate agency isn’t just about landing new clients and closing deals. You should also take care of your existing clients. After all, they got you started in the industry.

With a team of virtual assistants, you can set up a low cost, easy- to- manage customer service group that can offer inbound call handling, chat support, e-mail support and moderation services. With at least 3 points of contact, your agency can be accessible to new, current and upcoming clients.

You can also instruct the VA to frequently update your existing clientele about new developments in the real estate market. This can be done either through e-mail or personal call.

If you are outsourcing for the first time, start out with 1 Virtual Assistant and delegate only administrative tasks. This will allow you to gauge how reliable the VA is. Remember that virtual assistants were primarily hired for their organizational skills.

When you are more comfortable working with the VA, find out if he or she can manage a more specialized task such as social media marketing or content writing. From there, you can grow a team of virtual assistants to whom you can outsource solutions for your real estate agency.

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