How virtual assistants create more time for busy real estate agents
Real estate agents often have hectic schedules and demanding workloads. Juggling client meetings, property showings, administrative tasks, and marketing efforts can be overwhelming, and the boundaries between “work time” and “personal time” are often blurry at best.
Using virtual assistants, real estate agents can have an efficient solution to streamline their workflow and increase productivity. In this blog post, we will explore how virtual assistants can specifically assist busy real estate agents in three key areas: Executive Assistants, Administrative Assistants, and Inside Sales Associates (ISAs), breaking down specific examples of proven tasks our customers use their VAs for every day.
Executive Assistants:
Schedule appointments for you and your family:
Virtual assistants can take over the responsibility of managing your personal and professional calendar. From setting up client meetings to coordinating family events, they ensure that your schedule is well-organized and optimized.
Schedule and manage travel itinerary for work or vacation:
Planning work-related trips or personal vacations can be time-consuming. Virtual assistants can handle the logistics, such as booking flights, arranging accommodations, and creating detailed itineraries, allowing you to focus on your core responsibilities.
Research projects that you don't have time for:
Real estate agents often require comprehensive research on market trends, property information, and local regulations. Virtual assistants can conduct research and compile relevant data, saving you valuable time and providing you with the information you need to make informed decisions.
Coordinate continuing education requirements or other classes of interest:
Staying up-to-date with industry knowledge and acquiring new skills is crucial for real estate agents. Virtual assistants can research and enroll you in relevant courses, track your continuing education requirements, and help you stay compliant with licensing regulations.
Schedule coffee or meals with clients or prospects on your behalf:
Building and maintaining relationships with clients and prospects is essential in the real estate industry. Virtual assistants can schedule coffee meetings or meals with your clients and prospects, ensuring that your networking efforts are well-coordinated.
Facilitate or manage bookkeeping duties in coordination with your CPA:
Managing finances and bookkeeping can be time-consuming and complex. Virtual assistants can collaborate with your Certified Public Accountant (CPA) to handle bookkeeping duties, such as expense tracking, invoicing, and financial reports, ensuring your financial records are well-maintained.
Make decisions or move deals forward on your behalf, based on preset parameters:
Virtual assistants can be empowered to make certain decisions or move deals forward within pre-set parameters, allowing you to delegate tasks and focus on high-priority matters. This helps in maintaining momentum and efficiency in your real estate transactions.
Facilitate the gathering of signatures, information, or requesting reports as necessary for personal or business:
Virtual assistants can assist in gathering necessary signatures, information, or requesting reports from clients, ensuring smooth document management and transaction coordination.
Manage your non-work related vendors:
From electricians to house cleaners, real estate agents often have multiple non-work related vendors to coordinate with. Virtual assistants can handle vendor management, scheduling appointments, and ensuring that your personal errands are taken care of.
Facilitate content creation for your social media:
Engaging with your audience on social media is essential for real estate agents. Virtual assistants can provide guidance and suggestions on content creation, such as recommending places to visit or events to attend, enabling you to focus on creating meaningful connections.
Administrative Assistants:
Scheduling your showings:
Virtual assistants can manage and schedule property showings, ensuring that your clients' needs are met promptly.
Scheduling your photographers:
Coordinating with photographers for property listings is time-sensitive. Virtual assistants can handle the scheduling and coordination with photographers, saving you the hassle of managing this task.
Weekly check-in with escrow and mortgage:
Staying on top of escrow and mortgage processes is vital in real estate transactions. Virtual assistants can conduct weekly check-ins with relevant parties, keeping you informed and ensuring a smooth closing process.
Managing your calendar:
Virtual assistants can efficiently manage your calendar, ensuring that all appointments, meetings, and deadlines are organized and synchronized.
Assisting with compliance and payment approvals with your broker:
Compliance with brokerage policies and obtaining payment approvals can be time-consuming. Virtual assistants can help you navigate through compliance requirements and assist with payment approvals, ensuring that your transactions adhere to regulatory standards.
Running your social media:
Maintaining an active presence on social media platforms is essential for real estate agents. Virtual assistants can handle your social media accounts, posting updates, engaging with your audience, and ensuring consistent branding.
Preparing your touch or engagement list the day before:
Virtual assistants can create touch or engagement lists, including important dates like birthdays or monthly check-ins, allowing you to stay connected with your network and foster strong relationships.
Handling non-emergency issues for clients faster:
Clients often require assistance with non-emergency issues that can consume your time. Virtual assistants can handle these inquiries, providing prompt responses and resolving minor issues, allowing you to focus on urgent matters.
Acting as the front desk for your real estate business:
Virtual assistants can serve as the first point of contact for your real estate business, answering calls, responding to emails, and ensuring efficient communication with clients, prospects, and other stakeholders.
Coordinating with vendors on behalf of you and your clients:
Virtual assistants can handle vendor coordination, ensuring smooth communication and timely completion of tasks related to property repairs, inspections, or maintenance.
Inside Sales Associates (ISAs):
Monthly engagement of your past clients or sphere of influence:
Virtual assistants can maintain regular contact with your past clients or sphere of influence, nurturing relationships and generating referral opportunities.
Immediate response to incoming leads:
Promptly responding to leads is crucial in real estate. Virtual assistants can handle initial lead inquiries, providing immediate responses and ensuring that no opportunity is missed.
Social media monitoring to pick up referral opportunities:
Monitoring social media platforms for potential referral opportunities can be time-consuming. Virtual assistants can keep an eye on social media activity, identifying potential leads or referral opportunities and alerting you accordingly.
Contacting local businesses to set up business development meetings:
Building relationships with local businesses can lead to collaborative opportunities. Virtual assistants can reach out to local businesses on your behalf, scheduling business development meetings and fostering valuable connections.
Prospecting neighborhoods with just sold or just listed information:
Virtual assistants can conduct targeted prospecting by identifying neighborhoods with recently sold or listed properties. They can assist in gathering relevant information and preparing personalized outreach materials.
Prospecting with tax protest scripts:
Utilizing tax protest scripts can be an effective prospecting strategy. Virtual assistants can handle the initial outreach using these scripts, engaging potential clients and generating leads.
Long-term lead nurturing:
Lead nurturing is a critical aspect of real estate success. Virtual assistants can manage long-term lead nurturing campaigns, ensuring consistent follow-up and keeping your brand top of mind.
Contacting past clients to routinely ask for referrals:
Generating referrals from past clients is an important source of business for real estate agents. Virtual assistants can regularly contact past clients, maintaining relationships and asking for referrals on your behalf.
Prospecting expired listings:
Virtual assistants can prospect expired listings, reaching out to homeowners and offering their services to relist their properties.
Recruiting (if you are incentivized to do so):
If you are interested in expanding your real estate team, virtual assistants can assist in the recruiting process by conducting initial screenings, scheduling interviews, and handling administrative tasks associated with hiring.
Wrap Up
Virtual assistants have become indispensable tools for busy real estate agents, offering a wide range of services that optimize efficiency, productivity, and client satisfaction. Whether it's executive assistants managing schedules and research, administrative assistants handling showings and social media, or inside sales associates nurturing leads and generating referrals, virtual assistants provide valuable support across various aspects of a real estate agent's workflow.
By delegating time-consuming tasks to virtual assistants, real estate agents can free up their valuable time and focus on activities that require their expertise and personal touch. This not only enhances their productivity but also allows them to provide a higher level of service to their clients.
Furthermore, virtual assistants bring flexibility and scalability to real estate businesses. They can adapt to changing workloads, assist in peak periods, and even support expansion efforts by facilitating recruitment and lead generation.
If you’re interested in learning more about how our team can help create more time for you, please contact us.
