Before the culture of being busy redefined success, a person’s wealth was measured by their spare time. Being rich meant being able to work less because money gave a person the freedom to take vacations or spend leisure time with friends instead of pushing long hours at work. Today, busy has become a status symbol. But being perpetually busy can shortchange your clients, hinder your employees’ development and harm your health. And it does not necessarily equate to having a profitable and growing business.
As an Estate Agent, do you feel like you are busy running on a hamster wheel – working like crazy but not really going anywhere? Here are 5 signs that its time to hire a Virtual Assistant:
- Routine admin tasks consume your day
Being an Estate Agent is a busy job. Relentless admin and back-end work goes with the territory. But if you regularly suffer from more work than week, you are clearly trying to do too much on your own. Being consistently swamped by routine work can be a serious obstacle to business growth – especially if It means you are too busy to get to priority tasks.
- The solution: VAs today are experienced professionals who are technically savvy. Taking on a VA with great administration skills, or an Executive Assistant, will free up valuable hours in your working day. Their tasks can include phone, email, and calendar management; research and preparing reports; and any task that can be done via digital technology to free up your day.
- Your client follow-ups are lagging
Successful Estate Agents understand the need for excellent customer service. However, wearing too many hats can get in the way of getting back to clients and prospects promptly – not to mention having the time to cold call prospects. This is bound to have a negative effect on business – getting in the way of landing new clients and servicing existing clients in a way that builds positive, long-term relationships.
- The solution: A VA with well-developed communication skills will assist with intelligent, personalised, timely client communication. Handing over the management of your CRM system to the right VA will lead to moving sales along more quickly, generate a greater number of qualified leads that contribute to increased sales, more referrals, and happy repeat clients. Plus great client service will give you a competitive advantage over other agents in your area.
- You are missing out on valuable opportunities
Estate Agents who prioritise day-to-day operations over focusing on mission-critical priorities can be busy enough to miss opportunities for growth and market expansion. This is likely to lead to stagnation and leave the business vulnerable to shifting trends in the competitive landscape.
- The solution: Taking on a VA with prior experience in estate agency or an allied industry will not only help to streamline and automate processes, it will improve your efficiency and free up your time so you can be more productive where it matters most. This will allow you the time to innovate new service offerings and chase up exciting opportunities.
- You’re too busy to scale your business
UK-based Estate Agents have been found to spend on average between 30 to 50 hours per week at work. However, during peak periods their working week can reach 60 to 70 hours as they put in additional hours. While it can be easy to equate being super-busy with growth and success, in truth pushing the envelope without a plan and the right skills onboard is not conducive to having the time and resources to scale your business.
- The solution: Take on a VA – or team of VAs – with precisely the skills you need. Delegate routine administration, bookkeeping, letting or sales administration or even property management tasks to a skilled professional who will do the job quicker and better than you can. And utilise the specialist skills of a VA who is an experienced Digital Marketing Manager or Social Media Manager in implementing your strategy to grow your business.
- You have no hope of work-life balance
As an Estate Agent, you’re pretty much expected to be on call, seven days a week. On the weekend, when everyone else is relaxing or socialising, you’re very likely glued to your phone, showing properties or catching up on admin backlog. Yes, weekend work is par for the course, but better work-life balance can be achieved when you enjoy the benefits of a flexible schedule.
- The solution: Taking on the right bespoke VA who becomes a trusted member of your team – along with developing a good working system for touching base and regular work reviews – means that you can work a flexible schedule that better integrates your work and personal life. Plus you can rest assured that when you take a decent and much needed break, your business continues to run like a well-oiled machine.
By delegating routine tasks that are not your forte to a specialist VA you gain far better results, for a fraction of the cost of your hourly rate – saving you both time and money. In this way, taking on an experienced Virtual Assistant will allow you to work smarter, not harder, freeing you up to leverage your strengths and make the most of your time to grow your business.