While real estate agents are known for efficiency, tackling every small task that arises on your own can be a challenge. As your clientele grows, you may find yourself wondering whether a little help could make you more productive.
If you’re beginning to feel bogged down by logistics, hiring a professional who’s well-equipped to handle them could free you up to focus on your clients. It could be one of the best business decisions you ever make!
Here are a few signs that it may be time to hire a real estate assistant…
Are you sufficiently busy?
The first step is determining whether the hours you’re putting in match your workload. If you’re managing several transactions each month, having an assistant to handle the details can help you avoid major headaches while your business grows. If you aren’t yet securing that many monthly deals and you’re working at full capacity, the culprit may be a time-management strategy that isn’t optimized. Fortunately, you can improve your efficiency by observing how long regularly-occurring tasks take you—and prioritizing accordingly.
Are you in a financial position to hire?
While having an assistant may prove helpful, overextending yourself financially to hire one could be a recipe for disaster. For this reason, it’s important to do the math before embarking on your search. Start by performing some industry research. Once you’ve determined what constitutes a reasonable salary for a real estate assistant in your market, it’s time to look closely at your budget. Given your average monthly income and expenses, is there room to pay another professional’s salary?
Do you have solid processes in place?
Having the funds to hire an assistant is one thing; ensuring that they’ll have everything they need to succeed is another. From your lead generation efforts to the CRM you use to your marketing plan, you should have clear systems and processes in place. With this foundation to start from, your new assistant can roll up their sleeves and dive into administrative tasks. From there, greater overall efficiency will follow.
Do you have time to train someone?
Onboarding a team member is rarely as straightforward as employers assume. It requires time and effort on your part—but it could be the key to your new recruit’s success. From clarifying their scope of responsibility and setting specific criteria to demonstrating how relevant tools work, the training you’ll provide will likely take a few hours out of your workweek—at least in the beginning. If you don’t have that time to invest, it may be wise to shift some other priorities in your life before you think about hiring.
Can you let go of some control?
Last but not least, make sure you put great care into hiring the right professional—and put your trust in them once you have. The truth is, being overly involved in small, day-to-day details can prevent you from building momentum—and seriously hinder your achievement. While there’s nothing wrong with taking a hands-on approach, don’t lose sight of why you’re hiring a real estate assistant in the first place.
While there are bound to be a few growing pains, preparing yourself to cede (at least some) control will help sow the seeds for future success!
Ready to work with a team that has your best interests at heart? Contact us to learn more about the advantages of joining RE/MAX Professionals.