Long time, no see! I truly have a great reason for my small blogging hiatus here. Which brings me to my post today. Not only am I a Virtual Assistant, I use Virtual Assistants as well.
Obviously, I have been known to promote the value of using Virtual Assistants to help agents and other businesses streamline their admin overload, and marketing tasks. I AM a Virtual Assistant after all, so of course I want encourage all to engage with those in my industry (and most of all, use ME as their VA).
Well not only do I talk the talk, but I walk the walk as well. In the beginning of May, my family was blessed with the arrival of our beautiful baby boy. It was necessary for me to take a maternity leave so I could figure out being a first-time mom and get to know my son. But I did not want to abandon my clients and leave them in the dust for the couple months I was taking off. So I did what any savvy business owner would do and used my Virtual Assistant team to handle the reigns of my business while I was away. My awesome VA team members, Sandra Sims and LoriAnne Rehrig, took over for me and covered all my client business so I could take that time off. My business was able to run without me! If it wasn’t for them, I surely wouldn’t have been able take that time, or my clients would have been very upset if I just dropped the ball on them for a couple months.
That is one of the wonderful things about partnering with a Virtual Assistant in your business. You can take a vacation, sabbatical, or family leave, and you can be comfortable that your business continue to run without you in the hands of your Virtual Assistant (or multiple VAs). Your lead follow-up can be handled like clockwork by your VA as well as your listing updates, marketing activities, etc. None of it has to stop because you’re not there!
Now that I’m fully back, I am roaring to go and excited to be adding new services and activities to offer busy real estate agents. And with the backing of my VA team, my return has been seamless. Again, I couldn’t have done it without Sandy or LoriAnne. Thanks ladies! I truly have a fabulous team!
In the business world, REALTORS are some of the busiest people I know. So many tasks are involved like working directly with clients, marketing their listings and then marketing themselves. Agents make their money by working directly with their clients, eyeball to eyeball. Much of thee “busy work” type of tasks involved in running their real estate business can take away from their bottom line. And if a Real Estate Professional doesn’t have an assistant, they ARE an assistant.
Still wondering what a Virtual Assistant can do to help keep you from burning the candle at both ends. Here are 10 things a VA can do to help:
Listing Coordination – You just received a signed listing agreement with a client, and now it is time to deliver on your marketing promises, all of which can be very time consuming. Your VA can handle everything from the moment you sign the contract. This can include entering the data into the MLS, creating flyers, creating and mailing “Just Listed” postcards, arrange print advertising, publish to personal website, Realtor.com, Zillow, Trulia, track showing feedback and much more. All you have to do is send the pictures and the info, and your VA can do the rest.
Contact Management – Making sure you stay in touch with your database, keeping them up to date, and keeping track of appointments, birthdays, anniversaries, etc, can be a daunting task. Let your VA manage your contact management, by using such CRM’s as Top Producer or the Wise Agent. The VA will keep your database up to date, make sure action plans and campaigns are being applied appropriately, set up your reminders for events and appointments.
Internet Lead Management – Receiving lots of leads from your websites or blogs? Let your VA help you manage your lead intake. They can import them into your CRM, make sure follow-up and drip campaigns are going off without a hitch, and help you stay in touch to convert those leads into clients.
Website Maintenance – Have several websites, but never have time to update listings or add fresh content? Let your VA maintain your real estate websites by making sure they are optimized for search engines, make sure your listings are updated, and that you have fresh relevant content for your visitors. Most VAs even have the ability to customize and design your sites to set them apart from the rest of the competition.
Listing Presentation Preparation – Want to impress potential seller clients? Your VA can create a professional listing presentation for you that will clearly outline your marketing plan and selling process for your sellers, in digital or print format. It can be customized to the the house you aim to list, to really knock their socks off!
Transaction Coordination – From the moment you get a sales contract, things can go from zero to crazy in an instant. Your VA can manage your transaction from contact to close and you can rest easy. They will manage all the documents and signatures, schedule inspections, handle the appointments and be main point of contact for your transactions.
Custom Marketing Materials Design – Want your flyers, postcards, and presentations to have a professional look, but have no idea of how to make them that way? Hire a VA to custom design your marketing materials with your branding scheme. It help you put your best foot forward and set you above the rest.
FSBO & Expired Prospecting – Want to tap into the FSBO and Expired markets? FSBO and Expired prospecting takes some special attention that your VA is well equipped to handle. By the use of certain programs, your VA will be able to harvest the FSBO and Expired leads, start the campaigns, send the letters & emails, etc. With the help of your VA, you will show those prospects that you are the one that can successfully list their homes.
Social Networking Assistance – So you have a profile on Facebook, MySpace, Plaxo, ActiveRain, LinkedIn, or other popular social networks, but you can’t keep up with the friend requests and updates. Let your VA screen and manage your friend requests, make sure your latest blog entries get posted, post listing information, and make sure you get “out there” in the social networking world.
Marketing Planning – No idea on how to focus your marketing efforts or any idea on what to budget for? Your VA can strategize with you to come up with long term marketing plans with many different options to make sure you get enough “touches” and stay in front of your clients, contacts, and farm.
Now if any of the above options sound like something you would like to unload from your busy schedule, than you should consider delegating these kinds of tasks to a Real Estate Virtual Assistant.
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