So, you’ve made the decision to expand your team by taking on a Virtual Assistant in the New Year. It stands to reason that for a busy Estate Agent who is overwhelmed by administrative work, spending time on the setup can be a bit frustrating. But the outcome is totally worth it. The up-front investment of your time to prepare for your VA will transform your business by freeing up many more productive hours down the line. And the investment in streamlining and automating routine work will pay dividends way into the future.
Step One
The first step in preparing your estate agency for hybrid workers or Virtual Assistants to join your team is to choose the right digital tools for your business to automate your work processes and enable seamless communication.
- Invest in the right digital tools and software for smooth workflow
Virtual Assistants are tech savvy professionals who are equipped to use a wide range of online tools, including scheduling, administrative, project management, CRM, analytics and bookkeeping software. Here are 5 examples of essential software to facilitate remote work:
- Project management platforms such as Trello are vital tools for Virtual Assistants to oversee and track tasks and projects remotely in their home office.
- Communication tools like Slack are great for teams that need to be in constant communication. Slack is essentially a team online chat tool with some extra functionality that makes it way much more than just chat.
- Video conferencing software such as Zoom or Google Meet allows for face-to-face meetings.
- Cloud document storage and file sharing such as Google Drive simplifies document storage for a virtual team by saving all documents on the cloud. Plus multiple people can even work on a document at the same time, with changes visible to everyone.
- Time tracking software, like Clockify, is essential for keeping track of time and work output. Clockify gets credit for being one of the best completely free time tracking tools for Virtual Assistants.
- Invest in software to automate administration, operations and marketing functions
From sales and lettings administration to property management and client accounts, there is a range of Estate Agent-specific software available, like PortalHub, full of time-saving features. Platforms such as Alto are a comprehensive cloud-based CRM solution for estate and letting agents, providing one solution from CRM to property management and marketing to accounting. There are also digital tools in the marketplace that will streamline planning, creating and rolling out marketing campaigns.
Look to automate the following functions:
- Diary management
- CRM
- Sales progression
- Lettings administration
- Property management
- Marketing
- Content creation
- Social media scheduling
When it comes to remote workers, today’s Virtual Assistants are highly digitally competent. Your incoming VA will be able to play a valuable role in helping you set up your automated systems. You will not necessarily need to have your platforms completely up and running in readiness for them to start. Many of the suppliers of industry-specific software provide support and training for new clients. Your VA can make use of this training to get up to speed – whether this is via video conference or online tutorial.
Step Two
The second step to preparing to take on Virtual Assistants is to get clear on their job description and gather all necessary information
- Get clear on your Virtual Assistants’ description
It is important to define the processes involved in your daily operations to determine which tasks you want to hand over to your Virtual Assistant so that you can create a comprehensive job outline and KPIs (Key Performance Indicators).
- Make a list of all once-off and reoccurring and tasks, such as scheduling meetings, managing email, responding to customer inquiries, posting on social media or invoicing.
- If you have ongoing tasks, whether they are daily, weekly, or monthly, create milestones and deadlines as to when and how often these tasks must be completed.
- Once you have your final task list ready, rearrange the tasks in order of priority.
- Where you feel it is necessary, provide clear, written instructions as to how you want a complex task to be completed.
- Create training resources. Upload so you can share training documents on platforms like Google Drive or Dropbox as you create them, for easy access by your VA.
- Gather important information
To do their work, Virtual Assistants will need to have access to computer software, mobile apps and a variety of messaging apps and software that can improve your flow of communication.
- Decide on your preferred communication tools – whether it be by email, direct calls and text messages, or video conferencing.
- Create any login credentials and passwords so your Virtual Assistant is ready to go.
- Compile a list of contact details for any team members, vendors or suppliers your VA with whom your VA will need to liaise.
At this point you will be ready to onboard and train your new Virtual Assistant so they can hit the ground running. The most important thing to remember is that your Virtual Assistant is a member of your team. It is important to build a trusting relationship and streamlined method of working together. So, take the time to get to know who they are and what motivates them. Share your company values and vision – and make it clear how their role is important to the success of the business. Your VA will appreciate being treated like a part of the team rather than a “virtual outsider”.
