A R T I C L E

Why Pay Top Dollar For Amateur Results?


by Michael J. Russer

Let's face it, we all thought real estate sales was going to be "easy" when we first started out -all you had to do was list, sell and cash those enormous commission checks. What could be sweeter?! Yeah, right. Instead we spend much of our time doing many other tasks just so we can continue to sell. In addition to robbing the joy of working with people, it also costs us a lot of money. That's because every time we do a non-sales related task we end up paying top dollar (the value of our sales time) for amateur results (the lack of skills in doing non-sales things). Fortunately there is a way out of this mess, a revolutionary strategy that will free you up to do what you do best while very talented "others" take care of the rest -from a distance…

If you expect to have a business where you can focus on what you are primarily good at (i.e. sales), make a great living, and have plenty of free time to enjoy it all, you are going to need help. However as countless agents have discovered, hiring onsite assistants is time consuming, typically not very affordable, and difficult to manage. This approach is simply not practical for the vast majority of real estate professionals. There is another way to get help however, and in addition to being affordable and good at what they do, you never have to deal with them having a "bad hair day."

Assistance From A Distance

Real estate Virtual Assistants (VAs) are real people who typically specialize in supporting some aspect of your business (i.e. Direct mail, lead management, putting together Visual Tours, etc.) vs. a "jack of all trades" typical of most onsite assistants. Another key difference is that they can accomplish their tasks from anywhere (i.e. they don't need to be in your office) and they are independent contractors which means you only pay them for the work they accomplish.

One of the biggest eye openers during my speeches and workshops about VAs is the following comparison between a typical onsite assistant and a VA:

COMPARE:
 Onsite Assistant Virtual Assistant
Cost
According to Human Resource experts, every dollar you spend on wages for an onsite assistant will actually cost you 2 - 2.5 times more due to benefits, taxes, space, equipment, etc.
Have no hidden or supplementary costs associated with their work. Since they are independent contractors, there is no "employee wage multiplier".
Training
Often require extensive training because they are hired to do a broad range of tasks. This means they end up becoming a "jack-of-all-trades" and master of none.
Are hired for their specialties hence need little if any training. This means you save time and money because you have a "master" doing your work.
Management
Require more management because of the range of duties for which they are responsible increases the chance that something will fall through the cracks. This also means more of your time spent managing and worrying instead of selling.
Require little if any management because they are only responsible for executing those tasks for which they specialize -which means in most cases they know how to do it better than you!
Risk
Can easily become your competition. In fact the more you train them, the greater the risk of this happening. Also, since they are employees, your liability for their actions increases.
Can never become your competition by the mere fact they are typically located outside your market area.
Capability
Rarely master anything because they typically are too busy doing a broad range of tasks.
Tend to be very fast, efficient, and professional since they have a narrower range of focus. Also, since they do work for more than one agent, they tend to get continually "smarter" thanks the many ideas they pick up from all their clients.
Office Space
Require their own office space, desk, phone, computer, etc. In addition to taking up precious resources, it is expensive and time consuming to support this infrastructure.
Require no office space, desks, equipment, phones, computers, software -nothing, nada, zip, zero! This means you save a lot of money and hassle.
Flexibility
Will only show up to work for a minimum number of hours per week and typically only work during set hours. This means only highly successful agents can afford to pay for an onsite assistant.
Will often work with no minimum hourly requirements and can often be reached during off-business hours. This means everyone (including brand-new agents) can afford to have a VA since they can be hired incrementally.
Scalability
Are hard to find (often taking weeks or months) when times are good, and hard to let go when things slow down -especially when you took all that time to train them!
Can be hired in minutes (primarily because you don't have to "live" with them in the office) and scaled back at any time with just a phone call -no more agonizing or frustrations during swings in the market.
Focus
Are easily distracted (and can easily distract you too!) because they are in the office attempting to do too many different tasks -this greatly reduces their output, which means they become even more expense to you.
Are highly focused because they are in their own quiet environment and concentrate only on a narrow range of tasks. This makes them much more effective and efficient which saves you time and money.
Attitude
Can sometimes adopt an "employee mentality" where they become demanding and you effectively end up working for them!
Are independent contractors just like you and know what it takes to run a business and that their success is dependent upon yours. As a result, they always know who works for whom.

Now you know why I have to apologize to any assistants in my audiences prior to making this comparison!

Agents all over the country are using the power of Virtual Assistants for support in an amazing array of tasks. For example, Noel Bittinger with RE/MAX Classic in Detroit, MI loves using VisualTour for her listings. However after hearing me speak a couple of years ago she realized that her time was too valuable to put the tours together herself. Now she uses a VA in Pennsylvania to do most of the work which frees her up to sell more, knowing that the details of getting the tours expertly put together and posted are handled -thus enjoying the best of both worlds!

In my next article we will explore the secrets to finding, evaluating, hiring and working powerfully with awesome VAs that will help transform your business. In the meantime you can explore much more about real estate specific Virtual Assistants and the kinds of support they offer by going to REVA Teams and REVA Network on the Web.

About the Author:
Michael J. Russer, an internationally recognized speaker, trainer, author, and strategic consultant to the real estate industry. He is the "Father" of the Virtual Outsourcing movement in the real estate industry and co-author of the first book, workbook, and tape program on the subject. He is the CEO of two completely "virtual" companies and runs them from wherever he happens to be in the world. You can learn more about Michael and his ideas at his main Website Russer.com