As your client base grows, so should your overall operation. It’s the nature of business, and trying to do everything alone could actually hurt you, and your business. Hiring a general assistant or outsourcing virtual transaction coordinator services are two options that can quickly grow your business without breaking the bank.
To help out with your decision, we have gathered some of the most prominent pros and cons of each.
General Assistant
Hiring a general assistant has become increasingly popular in the real estate industry. The benefits of their services are being realized across the country, and more agents decide to invest in one everyday. A general assistant can complete a diverse list of tasks for you.
Of course hiring someone in-house is the most comprehensive type of assistance you can get, but it also has the heftiest price tag, and you have to decide how to handle benefits, time off, sick days and more.
Pros of an Assistant
Able to assist you in a variety of tasks.
Affordable, depending on how much and what type of help you need.
Can compliment areas you are not strong in
Cons of an Assistant
It may be difficult to find one who could bring any real estate expertise or experience to your operation.
If you hire virtually, you could encounter language or time zone barriers.
If you hire in-house the price tag could become expensive after adding benefits.
Virtual Transaction Coordinator
Transaction coordinators can be extremely beneficial to any real estate agent. They handle the tasks that are often the least appealing to agents, and those that are not directly revenue generating. These types of tasks do not contribute to the growth of your business, and are therefore, the lowest hanging fruit to be outsourced.
Virtual transaction coordinator can be counted on to handle almost all of the paperwork related tasks for your transactions, but they do not stray outside of those tasks. It is important to realize that the responsibilities of a transaction coordinator are not as flexible as those of a general assistant.
Pros of a Transaction Coordinator
Gain a partner with years of experience in the real estate industry.
Takes non-revenue generating tasks off your plate – to allow you to focus on the things that help you make more money.
Can give you on average 16 hours of your time back per transaction they assist you on.
Hiring a service allows you to scale your help up or down with your busiest times.
Cons of a Transaction Coordinator
Not a constant source of assistance in your office that you would attain from having a general assistant.
If you hire in-house you face a bottleneck during your busiest times.
If you outsource with a service, you are not their only client, so your transactions will not be occupying all of their attention.
What Tasks Do You Want Taken Off Your Plate?
Ultimately the significant difference between a general assistant and a virtual transaction coordinator is the type of tasks they can take off your plate. Both options will help you increase your productivity and efficiency, so it truly comes down to what tasks you still want to be responsible for.
-If you don’t want to handle balancing your schedule, monitoring social media, or keeping in touch with your network then a general assistant would be a good fit for you.
-If you want someone with industry experience who can reliably take care of your transactional paperwork then a virtual transaction coordinator is what you are looking for.
Evaluate what kind of assistance would be most beneficial to you, and your business. Then take action and invest in the help you need. You will be surprised at the relief you feel when some weight is finally lifted off your shoulders!
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