Keller Williams Agents Utilize Virtual Assistants to Maximize Productivity

Keller Williams agents have always been ahead of the game when it comes to technology and will be the first to tell you how essential it is in their business. However, real estate agents are in business to sell property, not to be sitting behind a desk downloading a newly found, can’t live without, plugin for your Wordpress blog. From maintaining websites, social media profiles and pages, marketing listings, and keeping appointments with buyers and sellers, it can be a struggle to get it all accomplished. Today, more than ever, real estate professionals are relying on virtual assistants to provide them with a solid skill set and knowledge to support them in building and growing their real estate business. This can include technical prowess, creative talent and in-depth knowledge of the ins and outs of running a successful real estate business. 

What exactly is a virtual assistant? The first thing that comes to most minds when they hear “virtual assistant” is delegating tasks to a Siri-like application. However, virtual assistants are not automated programs, but real life human beings. A Virtual Assistant (VA) is an independent contractor providing you with administrative, creative and technical support through the use of internet, phone, fax, and other types of communication. You also have several options when adding a virtual assistant to your team: An assistant an be hired for one project — such as to help with a transaction or even something as simple as ordering a closing gift — or you can hire a VA for a specified number of hours per week or month.

Another benefit to hiring a virtual assistant is saving on cost. Hiring a young assistant or a temp will run you at least $10 an hour whereas virtual assistants come out to about $3 per hour. Going the virtual route also saves agents from wasting too much time and money on training transient temps. Hiring a virtual assistant will also save you on overhead costs as they work from a remote location and do not require a provided workspace or office equipment. In addition to overhead costs, having a virtual assistant saves on employee taxes. No FICA tax, workers compensation insurance or federal and state unemployment tax to pay. As an independent contractor, there is no requirement to pay a virtual assistant health, vacation or holiday benefits.

You might be wondering, “How can a VA work for me?” Here are some sample tasks that are frequently delegated to real estate virtual assistants:

• Manage and optimize your Listing Coordination/Marketing on all your online sites, making sure to maximize features like number of photos, Open Home announcements and virtual tours
• Assist with seller reports, market reports and market data
• Assist in content creation ideas and research for your blog and social media marketing sites
• Execute the posting and management of your content on your sites
• Monitor and edit your profiles and pages on social media sites
• Assist in Transaction Management; keeping your inspections, appointments and documents organized for you
• Design, manage and maintain your website and/or blog
• Create, manage and maintain your email marketing, email lists, and subscribers
• Design and create your offline marketing collateral like postcards, flyers and brochures
• Manage the vendors and various accounts to streamline costs, renewals, and shop for the best service professionals
• Arrange travel and conference attendance, and assist in debriefing you of all the new ideas you would like to implement.

If you are struggling with how to make yourself more productive and effectively use all the new tech tools, you may want to consider partnering with a virtual assistant and outsource some of the time-consuming tasks that prevent you from working on the most profitable areas of your business. At Keller Williams, agents pride themselves on being tech-savvy. But being a tech-savvy agent doesn’t mean that you still have to go it alone – far from it. Real estate Virtual Assistants bridge the gap between you and your ever-increasing online presence and social media needs. You will, however, still have to get your own latte. 

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