MI: Laurie, how
long have you worked as a Virtual Assistant?
What led you to work in the virtual
administrative support field?
LM: I have been an
administrative assistant for more than 20 years.
I started out in the Highway Construction
industry providing support to a group of
engineers. Then I moved into the hospitality
industry where I was working as an assistant to
a marketing director when my job was phased out.
That is when I decided to fully commit myself to
my VA practice rather than take another
position.
MI: Tell us a
bit more about the aspects of your previous job
experience that were the foundation for your VA
services.
LM: My prior
positions provided me with a great deal of
experience in public/customer relations, project
management, contact management and lead
management. As I started working with clients,
it seemed very natural to specialize in
contact/lead management as I really enjoy
working with people and using my organizational
skills to streamline the follow-up process.
MI: How did
those skills you used in the corporate world
prepare you for working as a VA?
LM: Believe it or
not managing 12 engineers is a great way to hone
your organizational skills. My job involved
keeping them on track and organized, maintaining
all their contacts and working with the
engineer, the crews, and the various contractors
to keep the jobs flowing. We all know how
popular road construction is, so it is important
to keeps things on track so the job is done
within the time frame of the contract.
Organizing the sales leads and following up on
those leads really helped give me the experience
needed in lead management. I found that I had a
real passion for seeing prospects turn into
fruitful clients. Organization, planning,
project management, and the ability to keep a
team focused and on track were all skills that
seemed to me to be a natural progression into
the virtual assistance profession.
MI: What types
of clients do you work with, and what are the
primary support services you offer?
LM: My client base
consists of real estate professionals, some
"seasoned" and some that are new to the real
estate industry, as well as coaches. I enjoy
working with all of them. My primary support
services are contact and lead management, which
my clients find to be very effective tools in
keeping them focused on their goals. I have
found that concentrating or specializing in
contact and lead management has allowed me to
learn specific skills that really provide an
impact on my client’s sense of where they are
going. It puts their ducks in a row and allows
them to be able to really use their skills to
their best advantage because they know that
their contacts/leads are being taken care of.
MI: It’s evident
from your website that you’ve completed training
and certification in the real estate arena. Why
do you feel this is important for a VA working
with real estate clients?
LM: There is so much
out there for the RE Professional these days
that it can make your head spin. It’s my job to
know what is out there, find the best tools
available, assess how they will benefit my
clients and then learn how to use them. I think
that it is important that I keep up with current
trends so that my clients have the best choices
when it comes to their contact/lead management.
Real estate professionals don’t have time to do
this and they shouldn’t have to. That is what
their VA is for. My gosh, if the REP had to take
the time to do this they wouldn’t have time for
anything else. I can present my clients with
options on how to manage their contacts,
institute action plans, drip campaigns, how to
draw in more leads, and provide prompt and
consistent follow-up of those leads. I have a
multitude of VA resources available to present
to my clients should they need a VA for a
service that I don’t provide. It’s as simple as
saying “this is what I need, can you find
someone to do it for me.”
MI: What is your
primary focus in real estate support services?
LM: I have been in
the VA industry for a few years now. I started
out as a VA generalist and felt like I was all
over the place with not much happening in the
way of consistent clients. Then one day while
listening to you talk about the concept of
specializing not only as a real estate VA, but
to take it even a step further and specialize
within the real estate industry, it struck a
chord. It was genius! One of those a-ha moments.
From that point on I started to make note of
what I was really good at and what I really
liked to do and that led me to specialize in
lead/contact management.
MI: What things
does a client need to have in place for you to
handle lead management efficiently?
LM: It is important
to have some type of lead generation/lead
capture system in place. Once they get a name
and email address I can start the process of
entering them into a contact management system -
preferably a real estate specific contact
management program. Then I move these into lead
management “drip” systems that use repeated
e-mail contacts to keep the agent’s name in a
prospect’s mind long after the first inquiry. I
like to have fun and be creative, thinking of
things that will get the prospect’s attention,
mix it up a bit!
MI: Having
systems in place seems to be key to effective
lead management. How do you help your clients
create and/or maintain these systems?
LM: I find it most
beneficial to guide my clients toward real
estate specific databases to handle their leads.
This allows me to enter the leads into their
database on a regular basis, then they are ready
to be implemented into a drip campaign. Which
leads into your next question on how lead
management works on a day-to-day basis. You can
enhance your drip campaign by mixing it up a bit
by including e-cards, flyers, newsletters, just
listed/sold e-cards, anything to make it fun and
to keep the client’s name in front of the
prospect. It’s like the old saying, “keep them
wanting more.”
MI: Can you give
us an illustration of how lead management works
on a day to day basis?
LM: I need to know
where the client is getting their leads. This
helps to determine the contact type, which will
be invaluable when targeting markets for
follow-ups. Are they coming from their website,
referrals, prospecting, are they home buyers,
commercial buyers, past clients, open house
prospects? Once the lead comes in, I enter it
into their database, which might be TP7i or
Agent Office, or some real estate specific
database. Most real estate professionals already
have these programs and either do not use them
or do not use them to their fullest potential.
From this point we can put an action plan into
place and begin a drip campaign.
MI: What
difference has your decision to specialize made
for you and your clients?
LM: It has allowed
me to concentrate my efforts into learning and
implementing the best possible tools to provide
a high quality service. My clients can be
assured that they will get prompt follow-up
using quality follow-up materials that produce
results.
MI: What’s your
biggest challenge in working with a new client?
LM: The biggest
challenge I have run into is getting the client
to recognize what they need to do to put their
ideas into actions. It is imperative that we
communicate; I like to know how they currently
have their systems set up and what their
anticipated goal is. We need to communicate what
programs they have available or what programs
they are willing to invest in. Where the leads
come from and how they will get to me. Once that
is decided, we can enter the leads and put the
plan into action.
MI: What two
things would you say are essential in
establishing a successful Client/VA
relationship?
LM: Communication
and trust. I think these two things are the
foundation of a good relationship. I like what I
do, and I think I am pretty darn good at it. If
my client and I can communicate well and my
client has enough faith in me to be able to turn
over the project and let me run with it, all the
better.
MI: Laurie, it’s
obvious you’re enthusiastic about your business
and your work with real estate professionals.
Thanks for taking the time to share your story
and your expertise with us.
LM: Thank you for
including me in your newsletter and thank you to
YOU and your great VA staff for all the time and
hard work you put into this industry. You all
are a great inspiration.
To learn more about Laurie and her services
just send her an email at
millane@whosyourva.com or call her at
877-817-9538.
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
the perfect VA or VA team to help you get
organized, profitable, and in control of your
business.
