I recently
spoke to about 500 Toronto area real estate
professionals and had an awesome VA help me during the
session. Kerrie Jean of
RealAssist in Georgetown Ontario is a professional
VA who specializes in helping REALTORS® with their
marketing. Read on to see why my own team was
"wowed" by her professionalism.
MI: Kerrie,
share with us how you happened to become a
Virtual Assistant and why you choose to
specialize in real estate support…
KJ: If we go back in
time about 7 or 8 years, I can recall watching
Sandra Bullock in the movie “The Net” and boldly
proclaiming, “THAT’s what I want to do!” I was
fascinated by the idea of working from a home
office and using the Internet to connect with
clients. The virtual seed was planted.
With an extensive
background in sales, customer service and
information technology, I had the basic
foundation for a business idea. That combined
with my love of people and homes created the
perfect mix for working with Real Estate Agents.
MI: What is your
area of specialization in terms of helping real
estate professionals?
KJ: The focus of
RealAssist is working with REALTORS® to prepare
marketing materials to help maximize their
advertising potential. RealAssist can design and
produce unique print or digital materials to
increase exposure within their targeted markets
helping them to stand out in a sea of Real
Estate Agents. In short, we make them look good!
We can produce such items as flyers, feature
sheets, postcards, follow-up cards, property
CMA's, listing/buying presentation packages and
web page design.
We also help Real Estate
Professionals (REPs) harness the power of the
Internet. It is one of the best advertising
tools available and endless in its potential. It
is global, and as such, it can reach an audience
beyond what any print material can even dream
of. The content of a website can be changed
instantaneously, potential buyers and sellers
can reach them at the click of a button and best
of all, compared to print advertising, it's
practically free!!
MI: As a
Canadian Virtual Assistant, what differences
have you noticed between Canadian sales
associates their US counterparts?
KJ: Canadian
REALTORS® are still just tapping into the VA
community. Recent studies have shown that
Canadians in general have taken a much more
gradual approach in their acceptance of the
Internet. Being a VA requires almost all
communication and collaboration to occur over
the Internet and the Canadian Agents are much
more hesitant than their US counterparts to take
advantage of the tools available to them.
MI: When a real
estate professional makes initial contact with
you, how do you proceed in determining if there
is a good fit, and if so, which tasks are the
most appropriate for them to outsource?
KJ: Most of my
communication with clients is via E-mail,
however, when an REP contacts RealAssist, we
arrange a telephone consultation. By conducting
this phone interview, personality traits will
emerge from both parties that determine whether
or not a business relationship is possible. Once
we establish that we are able to work together
effectively, we can begin the process of
developing an action plan.
We usually recommend that
RealAssist handle any technical aspect of their
business that they may not be comfortable or
experienced with, such as activities pertaining
to website design and maintenance or desktop
publishing software. Other areas that are
suitable for outsourcing to a VA can include all
of the menial tasks that need to be done but
they hate to do (drudgery!) to run their
business. Marketing campaigns, E-mail filtering
and response, database management, appointment
scheduling, and the list goes on!
MI: Have you
ever turned down a real estate person's request
to do work for them --and if so, why?
KJ: Absolutely. It
is for this reason that we have the telephone
consultations. In one particular case, it was
determined during our conversation that there
was very little personality match between us. I
learned very early on to trust my gut instinct
when I felt that a relationship might not work
with a potential client. This also allows an
Agent to find a VA that better matches their
personality and further understands their needs.
MI: What do you
like most about working with REALTORS® and what
do you find most frustrating?
KJ: A large majority
of Real Estate Agents entered the realm of real
estate because they are outgoing, friendly and
very sociable. These qualities make REALTORS®
excellent clientele. Conversely, REALTORS® have
the uncanny ability to disappear for days on end
with no contact. They are famous for having
pagers and cell phones practically fused to
their bodies, however, trying to get in contact
with one when you need to can sometimes be
difficult and frustrating.
MI: Where do you
see the VA industry going over the next 3 - 5
years?
KJ: Up. Up. Up.
Speaking from a Canadian point of view,
according to a recent report from Statistics
Canada, most small businesses are successful in
getting off to a good start but maintaining
their growth momentum usually stops at the
five-year mark. Two out of every three start-up
businesses are home-based and many of these
Canadian entrepreneurs are discovering inventive
and innovative ways to keep their businesses in
operation. One of these methods is by using the
services of a Virtual Assistant. When a Real
Estate Agent decides that they want to grow
their business, they need help. It’s plain and
simple. When the 60,000+ Real Estate
Professionals in Canada realize that the best
place to get help is from the VA industry, we’re
going to need a few more VA’s.
MI: Last
Question: What is the best way a real estate
professional can prepare themselves prior to
speaking to a VA about outsourcing some of their
work?
KJ: The most common
piece of “homework” that we give to our
potential clients is for them to create a “Hate
List.” We invite them to write down all of the
tasks that they perform in a day and at the end
of the exercise they have built a list of
potential activities that can be outsourced to a
VA. This is also an eye opener when the REP
realizes just how much time they are actually
spending on administrative tasks and not selling
real estate.
MI: Kerrie,
thank you for sharing your thoughts and insights
with our readers. You are an awesome example of
VAs north of the border!
KJ: Michael, you are
an inspiration to us all and it is a pleasure
and an honor to work with you. My gratitude to
you for providing me with the opportunity to
talk about RealAssist and share some experiences
with your readers is tremendous. Your efforts to
promote the VA industry are remarkable and I
know I am speaking for VA’s around the world
when I extend a heartfelt thank you.
You can learn more about Kerrie and her VA
services by visiting her Website at
http://www.realassist.ca, contacting her via
e-mail at
mailto:kjean@realassist.ca or by phone at
877-773-8248. Always remember to do a thorough
due-diligence before hiring any kind of assistant.
This interview is part of an ongoing series of VA
profiles designed to help you find that perfect VA
that will launch you to the top quicker and with
less effort than you ever thought possible!
