Hiring an assistant is tricky business in real estate. For most new agents, the idea is unthinkable, and rightfully so– when the cash crunch is on, paying someone out of pocket to help with tasks isn’t realistic. But for many beginning to hit their stride, making the leap of hiring an assistant can be a huge help. If you find yourself closing three to four deals a month, overwhelmed by following up on leads, or failing to deliver the level of service your clients deserve, it may be time to consider hiring an assistant.
When hiring an assistant, your goal is to:
1. Free yourself up from the “grunt work” which is detracting from important tasks which only you can do.
2. Enable yourself to focus more on growing your business, rather than playing “catch up” to keep the status quo.
3. Improve the quality of your life while you improve the quality of your client service.
Don’t jump into hiring a full-time assistant. Ideally, you want to ease into an arrangement that begins with 10 – 15 hours per week, depending on the sorts of jobs you feel comfortable handing over to an assistant. This will help cushion the expense as well as prevent the assistant from having too much down time because you’re too busy to train them at one time on all of the tasks you want them to handle.
Since you’ll begin by looking for a part-time assistant, a good place to start searching is via your social network. A quick status update on Facebook or a mention on Twitter is a great place to get the conversation started with people you know and trust.
