Virtual Assistants Use Them Wisely In Your Business

Many of us have heard of the concept of hiring virtual assistants.  In this fast paced business we call real estate, to be effective you’ve can easily have many things going on and many times they are on multiple fronts.  Whether it’s marketing, research, putting contracts together, talking to leads to name a few, it’s a near endless supply of things to do.  However we have a solution and that is virtual assistants.  They can do amazing things to help you out and help streamline your business.   However, before you go running off to Odesk or Craigslist or somebody’s other job sites where you can find such help, it will pay great dividends to think about what is it exactly that you want to do with them?  How will you leverage their time?  How will you measure if they are effective?  How will you judge that they are fit for your business?  These are all things to consider.  It is all too attractive to see some of these people that we hire and just get very excited hiring them quickly just because the price is low compared to American standards.  Quite honestly even though you’re getting “deal” in terms of pricing, the amount of time and work involved with that deal could easily increase the cost of your assistant very, very quickly.  Thus, it is important to plan.  So I would encourage you to think about these things before you even post the ad.  Ask yourself, what exactly do I want them to do?  Ask yourself, is this a repeatable process that can be documented?  Ask yourself, how will I measure if it is been effective?  This last point about measuring is probably the most important.  Yes, you could sit there and say, well I tried this, spent $100 or $200 and it didn’t work out so I let them go since it wasn’t a fit.  But that’s not really why you hire them in the first place.  You hired them to help make your business run better.  As a result, isn’t it important and worth your time to make sure you have got a measurable process?  We think it is.  In our company we are leveraging more and more assistants.  And we are finding that we are now to the point where if something is not measurable then there has to be an incredibly compelling reason to lift a finger to do it at all.  As a result, we gained better visibility into our business.  We’ve had better results and we are able to make better decisions to be more effective at a much faster rate.  All this is helping to grow our business and truly build a business as opposed to having some additional help just because it’s inexpensive.

Also keep in mind and I’d like you to never forget that when you hire virtual assistants they are not just inexpensive assistants.  They are people with lives with families and they have a lot to care for, wherever they may live.  Please keep this in mind that some of these assistants are working extremely hard for you so you want to be insensitive so make sure you pick the right person for the job.  Don’t let the low dollar entrance point allow you to think they are disposable.  They are not disposable assistants, they are real people that can make or break your business if you leverage them the right way.  They can make your business soar in ways you could not have dreamed and help them tremendously in their way of life at the same time.  It is a true win-win.  It’s an endeavor worth taking as you can learn so much about cultures around the world in the process.  It is truly an evolutionary process to work with virtual assistants.  Cherish the opportunity.  Choose wisely, post wisely when you advertise for them and best of luck to you in growing your business.