Have you ever wondered how to hire a real estate assistant but weren't sure exactly how to do it?
Here are the steps you need to take when hiring a real estate assistant.
The first thing that I recommend doing is figuring out what you want that person to do. What is it that you want them to take off your plate?
Maybe it's the task that you don't enjoy doing, or maybe it's things that you just need a lot of help with because they happen over and over again. An example would be if you're closing a lot of sales, and you have a lot going into the transaction coordination part, and maybe you want to hire somebody to do just that.
The next thing that I like to consider is the type of person needed for the job. What I mean by that is, do you want a generalist or do you want a specialist? If you're just starting to grow your team, you may need a generalist who can do a lot of things, whereas if you have a larger team or a larger company, a specialist may make more sense. So going back to the previous example, if you're closing a ton of transactions, a transaction coordinator is more of a specialist. You're going to look for a detailed-oriented person. You're going to look for somebody who really knows their stuff.
Now the next thing you should consider is where should your assistant be located. If you're in and out of the office all the time, it may not make sense to have them located in your office, especially if you're working remotely a lot. You can also save a lot of money by finding somebody affordable in another area, maybe in an area that's less expensive than the area you live in.
The next thing is, where do you find your assistant? What services do you use? What websites do you find them on? Craigslist or Indeed? Or if you're hiring someone virtually, where do you find them?
If you're hiring someone locally for an assistant, one of the best sites is Craigslist, because there's a lot of people searching there. And it's really affordable; it’s only $25 to post. You can also use sites like indeed.com, Monster.com... there are a lot of job ad sites.
And don't forget about your sphere of influence. You have family, friends, and past clients who may know somebody who's really good. Referral is one of the best ways to find a good person to come join your team. Go to your social media accounts where you're active and post an inquiry.
The next part of the process is hiring. Hiring is a really big deal, and this is probably the area where it's the easiest to make mistakes. There's a lot of things to do, from screening to looking at their resumes to interviewing.
My suggestion to you is not to take this lightly, because when I was new to hiring people, I messed this up royally, and I made so many mistakes. I'll say this: if you hire the right people, your life can be simplified. Assistants can take a lot of work off your plate, and it's enjoyable to grow a business with other people on your team. But this also can be the biggest frustration in your life when you get it wrong.
My suggestion to you is to think this through. Ask the right questions. Either read books or get resources or watch videos on YouTube like this one, and make sure you don't mess it up. Get your free guide at smartagents.com/assistant.
Once you've hired somebody, how do you onboard them and train them? Onboarding is that first four weeks up to 90 days after a person joins your team.
Believe it or not, I've interviewed a lot of people who left another job within two weeks due to being frustrated with how they've been onboarded. They were already looking for another job. So this is a big deal. When you onboard somebody, part of the process is training them, making sure they know how to do their job right, setting proper expectations, putting into place KPIs, which are key performance indicators, and establishing communication. If you're in and out of the office all the time, showing homes and listing homes, it's really easy to get busy and to let stuff fall through the cracks with an assistant. There are so many variables, depending upon who you hire, where they're located, and what they do for you. I will say this: the better you train them, the better the job they will do for you.
That’s why it's important to put SOPs, standard operating procedures, into place. When it comes to managing, there are systems that you use. For an example, time tracking software, where they clock in and clock out.
The goal of hiring an assistant is to take work off of your plate and help you be more productive and grow your business. But when you mess it up and you don't do this process properly, it will actually do the opposite. You'll get less done. You'll be stressed out.
Fortunately, you can learn more about hiring an assistant with ease from our guide, available at smartagents.com/assistant.