Hiring an Assistant is like trying to find “Mr. Right” you have to kiss a few frogs to find Prince Charming.

It’s lonely out there you tried it a few times, finding someone special but it never seemed to work out.  So you keep working long hours and nothing ever seems to get done, you need another pair of hands, a partner to share the load.  You look at other people they seem to cope without anyone, then there are the others, the one’s that have found that perfect partner, why oh why can’t it be me???

One day you are sat in the office working on the never ending pile of admin and the phone rings again another great opportunity but you have all these other things to do. Enough is enough; you decide I need an Assistant.

Right!  Where to start? You grab the notebook and start writing feverishly all the things you can delegate, marketing, database management, transaction coordination.  You are at least a bit organized you do like to make lists.  That will come in handy when I have my Assistant you think I can delegate. Oh goody, now what else can I delegate that I don’t like to do and that takes up all my time…………

Now that I have my list, what’s next?  Do I want them to live in the office next door or will they need to share with me? Will I want them here all the time or could it be a part-time relationship?  You decide to phone your BFF because let’s face it they do know everything about you and they always
come up with a solution for all your problems.

They say “Why not hire a Virtual Assistant?”   Wow what a great idea!  Why didn’t I think of that, my BFF is so smart!   Virtual Assistants are independent contractors and they work by the hour so I get to try them without a long term commitment and if it doesn’t work out then we can go our separate ways.  No messy divorce, BRILLIANT!!!!

Working with your Virtual Assistant to build a strong Business Plan.

Establish Goals

First you need to sit down with your Virtual Assistant and establish your goals for next year.  What are your short, medium and long term goals that will need to be achieved in order for you to be successful?

Map Out Your Plan

Together you will then write out your action plan for achieving these goals.   This will provide you with the structure, organization and direction for your daily activities.

Follow The Plan

This will require discipline which is where your Virtual Assistant becomes your Accountability Partner.  Your Virtual Assistant will set up a daily schedule to include all the tasks that need to be done in order for you to follow the plan and achieve your goals.

Focus On Being Profitable

What were the actions that made you the most R.O.I. (Return on Investment)?  These are the investments that you need to focus on in order to secure a profitable business.  By working with your Virtual Assistant establish those tasks that are not a good use of your time and hand them over to your Virtual Assistant.

System Implementation

As you focus on your business plan and subsequent actions then your business will grow.  In order to maintain growth your Virtual Assistant will set up quality systems to ensure that your hard work does not go to waste.

Monitor Your Progress

In order to follow your business plan you need to monitor and measure your results.  Schedule time every week with your Virtual Assistant to evaluate your progress and make adjustments as necessary.

Balance Your Life

In order to succeed you need to have balance in your life.  This includes family, personal, spiritual and business time.  By working with your Virtual Assistant to alleviate the mundane repetitive tasks will allow you to spend time with your family doing the things that bring you joy.

Every successful real estate career in order to continue to grow will reach a point where the Agent must delegate.  Your Virtual Assistant is committed to your success as your success is their success.

Are you running your business like a business?  If you were once in corporate America then you probably worked in a team environment.  You had administrative support and a marketing department which allowed you to go out and meet clients to promote the companies services and products.  This made you and the company successful as year on year the company grew and your sales target was met or surpassed.  It was maybe one of the reasons you decided to go into real estate because you were a great salesperson and wanted to help people buy and sale real estate.

So why I ask do a large number of real estate professionals decide to be their own Real Estate Assistant?  Is it because:

A.  You like to be in control

B.  Finances

C.  You love to do the paperwork

Control: 
You are still in control. It is not cost effective for you to sit in the office and enter names in a database, add a listing to the MLS, design a flyer or chase documentation for closing. You should be overseeing the work, not actually doing it!

Finances:
How are you going to grow your business if you are sat in the office.  You need to be talking with past, current and future clients.  The more people you are in touch with the closer you get to meeting your financial goals.

Paperwork:
I have yet to meet a salesperson who loves to do the paperwork.  They would rather be out meeting people and doing what they love to do which is sell. 

If you are going to continue to grow your real estate business then you need a good support team.  So sit down and look at your business and decide what you can pass over to a real estate Assistant.  This can mean either hiring a real estate Assistant or using an online real estate Assistant to allow you to get out of the office and be the Rainmaker.

So why is good follow up hard to find?  How many times have you met someone and have meant to follow up with them, but for one reason or another the days go by and you have not been in contact.  Weeks go by and then you feel that too much time has lapsed for them to even remember you.

Do not fear you are not alone.  Only a small percentage of people actually follow up, so if you want to stand out just send a quick note and you will be miles ahead of the crowd.

Here's some ways to help you get noticed:

• Add the new contact's information to your database immediately
• Email or send a note within 12 to 24 hours
• Remind them of something that you spoke about i.e. hobby/shared interest
• If you casually made arrangements to meet again let them know you are going to call and set a firm date
• If you did agree to meet for coffee/lunch etc then reconfirm the time and date
• Hand written notes addressed to them personally always get opened (see my post "7 Tips for Writing Thank You Notes")
• If you see an interesting article that you know they would find of interest then clip it out and send it to them.  It lets them know you are thinking of them
• Always focus on what you can do for them
• Set a reminder to follow up either by phone or email within a month after the initial follow up
• Do not forget to thank the person who may have introduced or referred you to this new contact.  Let them know how things went and how much you appreciate their help

 Following up is the key to your success, so make it automatic and make it a habit.

Remember your Online Real Estate Assistant is an integral member of your Team and is committed to helping you to grow your business!

I was with some friends the other evening and one of them said how much they enjoyed receiving my hand written note cards and looked forward to reading the message.

This got me to thinking, is the custom of writing to say thank you something of the past, especially as most of us communicate via Email, Twitter, Facebook etc.  My mother always insisted that we wrote thank you notes and the habit has stayed with me.  I write notes to clients, business associates and of course my family and friends.  I always get a positive response of gratitude and appreciation for taking the time to write to them. 

So I would like to share my tips:

1. Always follow up promptly, timeliness is the key
2. Address the thank you note to the person by name
3. Be brief you do not need to write an essay
4. Include a topic of interest from your conversation
5. Some of us find it easier to talk than to write, so take a moment to say out loud what you want to say and then write it down
6. Use good paper, a note card or your own personalized stationery
7. Always express your gratitude

I look forward to receiving all your thank you notes - only joking!

Remember your Online Real Estate Assistant is an integral member of your Team and is committed to helping you to grow your business!

Most agents when you walk into an open house will greet you at the door and hand you their card and a flyer.  Well they are missing a great opportunity to market their services to potential clients. 

How about giving them a "Guest Package" that includes:

• Property flyer
• Other properties for sale in the area
• Neighborhood information
• School information
• Utility information
• Community brochures
• Sold comparables 

This information can be placed on the kitchen table to encourage your visitors to stop and talk to you about the area.  Each piece of information should have a label with your contact details so that potential clients know that you do not just know about listed properties you are a resource for the community as well. 

No time?  Then this task can easily be handled by your online Real Estate Assistant.  If you have taken the time to sit an open house in order to meet potential new clients then you need to take advantage and show them you are the area expert.

Remember your Online Real Estate Assistant is an integral member of your Team and is committed to helping you to grow your business!

You are at a party or networking event and someone asks the inevitable question "So what do you do for a living?"  Do you give the inevitable answer "I'm a real estate agent".  Or, do you have a USP (Unique Selling Proposition) that is a concise statement that you can use as a reply to this question.

Why do you need a USP, because there are millions of agents out there and if you really want to set yourself apart you need something that will make your prospect sit up and take notice and that will influence and motivate them to hire you.

So how do you go about creating your USP. 

Who is your target audience

What can you do for them

Why is that different from what other agents can offer

Why that solution matters to your target audience

For example:

I would be - "I help real estate agents who spend too much time on the computer to have more time to spend on income generating activities"

A real estate agent could be - "I help real estate investors looking for great deals to find the best deals by providing up to date information on new listings and property valuations on a daily bases"

A lender may be - "I help first time buyers who are trying to decide if they can buy their first home to find the right financing option for them"

You are now telling the person exactly what you do, who you do it for and the benefits.  The chances are they will know someone who is in that exact situation and this will start the conversation.  They may ask for your card so that they can either call you or pass it on to a friend.  Now you are using your USP!

Remember your Online Real Estate Assistant is an integral member of your Team and is committed to helping you to grow your business!

A brokers open is a good way to gather feedback on your new listing.  Create a small questionnaire card that you can give them when they arrive to preview the property.  Let them know that it is their ticket to leave the home (LOL).  By making it anonymous you may get more honest answers.  Have a bowl for them to leave their responses as they exit the door and don't forget the extra pens!

Below is a suggestion of the type of questions you can use for the card, keep it short and simple:

123 Home Road

Your expertise and opinion would be invaluable to myself and my clients.

Please take a moment to give us your honest feedback with regard to this home.

Pricing                                  _____Excellent      ___Good            ___Fair            ___Poor

Exterior Condition                  _____Excellent      ___Good            ___Fair            ___Poor

Interior Condition                  _____Excellent      ___Good            ___Fair            ___Poor

Comments __________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

This information can then be shared with your clients especially if there are items that need to be repaired or you need price opinions.

Remember your online Real Estate Assistant is an integral member of your Team!

Buyers and sellers want to work with agents who they believe are knowledgeable and who can show they are successful.  A great way to demonstrate to potential customers that you are that agent is to keep track of your success rate.

Agents will quote the market averages for their area but how many know what their numbers are?  A great question to ask the seller if you are in competition for the listing is does the other agent know their own personal statistics.

You need to track:  

• Average Time on Market for Your Listings
• Ratio of Sales Price to List Price

These are powerful statistics so use them to build your business and personal marketing campaign.

If you would like help to record your numbers email me at info@SharonSenger.com for a copy of the work sheet and start tracking your numbers today.

Remember your online Real Estate Assistant is an important member of your Team!

I just wanted to say thank you for making my fifth blog "Are You Farming Your Past Clients?" a featured post.  I must admit that I was nervous about blogging wondering how my views would be received.  I need not have worried everyone has been so friendly and helpful.

My goal in writing my blog is to give information that can be used to help you build and grow your business.  I am still searching in the dark a bit to see what is going to be of interest, so if anyone has any suggestions then please feel free to leave a comment. 

Again, thank you everyone for your kindness and as always wishing you all "A Million Dollar Cash Buyer".

Remember your online Real Estate Assistant is an important member of your Team!