As I watch my business grow and consider endless opportunities, I constantly contemplate what other Virtual Assistants and real estate agents do to handle their business growth opportunities when there is clearly more work than there are hours in a day. So I sent a message to the REVA Network to learn more about teams of Virtual Assistants and how they benefit real estate agents, and this is what I discovered.

Wow – the sheer number of VA teams working together to help real estate agents grow their businesses is absolutely amazing! There are a lot of benefits to working with a team of Virtual Assistants. Everyone was eager to share their knowledge about the virtual team environment and how it benefits their clients.

Having “one primary contact” was the benefit mentioned most frequently by both virtual assistants and agents. Petra Jakobskrueger, Creative Partner’s manager stated, “real estate agents want one person who takes care of them and is in charge of their projects.” For Creative Partner, that person is often Sharon Trombly, consulting and working with the real estate agents and coordinating with the VAs to make sure that every detail is done “just right” and “on time.” Sharon says, “Our clients need to make ONE phone call and ALL their office needs are taken care of!”

Typically, the VA team leader is the primary contact and coordinator for the real estate agent. In this scenario, the agent saves great deal of time by being able to explain the project to one person. Sunita Dillon of Virtual Type is a VA and team leader that does everything. She stated, “I find it helpful to know every single aspect of what my clients need.”

Randy Hemm, Realtor’s Virtual Assistant, and his partner are both a REALTOR® and a VA – now that’s an interesting model. When discussing the concept of teams, Randy said, “The best thing about working in a team is being able to have the knowledge of more than just one person working for you.”

Kim Hughes is the owner of a successful VA practice that also uses the team concept. However, Kim was clear during our interview when she said, “I pick and choose what I want the team member to handle and I monitor the task very closely. There are a number of tasks that I handle myself and other tasks I will delegate to a VA that specializes in that area. We are in constant contact to make sure it is done and done right.”

Cathryn Jones, Assistants For Realtors, works as a member of Kim’s team and also as a team member for real estate agent Brian Kreick of RE/MAX Northwest. Cathryn said (and Brian agrees!), “Real estate agents have so much to accomplish they could be working 24/7. With a team, the tasks are spread out and the Realtor’s business grows by providing excellent service to clients and allows for greater listing and selling time for the agent.”

Michael Patton, Help-U-Sell of Las Vegas, attended a conference with Michael Russer (a.k.a. Mr. Internet®) in December and has thoroughly embraced the VA team concept. He hired Michelle Thornton, eClosing Coordinator, to manage their transactions online, as well as manage the marketing support for all their listings. Currently, that is about 50 listings just for the one office. Michelle and her team work together to deliver excellent service to Patton’s team and are watching the listings grow to more than 150 per month. Patton said, “Michelle has done an outstanding job at helping to get this program structured for us and now we send her every deal we do.” That’s quite a testimony to the quality of work that a VA team can bring to the real estate agent’s business.

Another benefit that was identified by Amber Drake, a member of Michelle’s team, was that an agent benefits from a team by having access to a wide variety of knowledge, experience and time zones. Time zones? “Yes,” explained Amber. “It’s great working in a team with three different time zones. We are able to play “tag team” when a big project comes in at the last minute. We are able to work together through the different time zones and when the agent gets to the office in the morning – the work is completed!”

When talking with real estate agents, many really like the idea of using a VA or a VA Team (VAT), but wonder when it’s appropriate to start looking for that support. Here are some questions to help you determine when you’ve reached that point in your business.

• Are you spending more time in the office managing tasks instead of talking with prospects and building your business?
• Do you need a specialist to help you with certain tasks such as marketing, listing, transactions, or database management?
• Would you like to be able to pick up the phone or send an E-mail to one person and know your tasks will be taken care of?
• Have you figured out that you will never be able to grow your business to the level you want by yourself?

Well, if you answered “YES” to any of these questions you should strongly consider a VA or a VAT to help you grow your business.

If you have grown your business to a level that requires multiple specialists to help you – then a VA Team might be the answer to your situation. If you don’t like managing multiple projects or supervising individuals, you should consider talking with a VA who can act as your Team Leader —which of course, frees you up to do what you do best!

P.J. Babcock is our VA CORNER columnist and one of the founders of REVA Network. You can visit her website at Virtual Training Center and contact her via e-mail at pj@vacentral.com

(NOTE: Mr. Internet, his company and staff receive no compensation whatsoever from any third party vendors or service providers. Also any virtual assistant or consultant profile found in this publication is not to be construed as an endorsement of their services by Mr. Internet or his company.)