New Jersey agent Susan Bai of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage recently discovered that having true "control" means focusing on what she does best while letting talented others handle the rest. Building a virtual team gave her the tools she needed to transform her business quickly. Here’s how she did it.

Dear Michael,

When I first heard you speak about e-Productivity™ at a Coldwell Banker convention, I found it fascinating and daunting at the same time. Anything related to the web was a bit out of my comfort zone at that time. But I was looking for a way to find my own niche after working with my mother who has been a top producing REALTOR® for the past 20 years. e-Productivity™ was the perfect answer.

Your telecoaching program showed me where to start and how to implement these principles. I ate up the e-Productivity™ end of it right away, and immediately recognized the benefits of working with a VA. It makes sense to concentrate on what I do best and let a VA handle the support aspects that she loves. My challenge was figuring out how to move a VA into an already established business with established practices. With an onsite assistant, and local out of office vendors who helped with our projects, we had to figure out who had responsibility for what and streamline the process. Initially I was resistant to giving up control, but once I saw how capable and efficient my VA was, I was ready to dump everything on her. Now it’s all coming together in a way that makes sense for all of us.

I’m now working with two VAs – the first started in January, and handles my listing coordination and snail mail marketing. These used to be hit or miss, and are now regular monthly mailings that she supervises, so I no longer have to be involved in making decisions about every aspect of a project. Plus, we get to see what works and what doesn’t.

A shining moment was when she created a brochure of listed and sold homes in our area that presented a challenge due to a new state disclosure law. She not only did this beautifully, but in 3 hours completed what would have taken me 2 weeks – and I’m not sure I could have pulled it off!

I had anticipated obstacles with a VA not being from my local area and not understanding the character of the local towns and neighborhoods. But this is not as big an obstacle as I thought, and she is quickly learning the details of the areas and customers we serve.

An aspect of e-Productivity™ that was more challenging for me was the online technology, and although I got through the course, I saw myself letting the ball drop on getting a website up and running. I know it’s critical to have a web presence and I couldn’t afford to let the ball drop for long, so in February I found a second VA to handle the website creation. She is also setting up and managing my database and drip email campaigns. I had a great logo developed through eLance (for $150!), and I’m now well on the way to having my new website ready to go. There’s no way I had the expertise to make this happen on my own. Having these two VAs by my side as support is so empowering. They keep me on track to work at my business, not in the business, as you would say.

Another real benefit of the telecoaching program was having my eyes opened to a broader picture of real estate. I saw the many ways other agents approach the business, and this gave me the courage to define my own approach to real estate – it gave me a format to use.

Attending the telecoaching course was probably the best thing I have done so far for my business. It has helped me move a one-man shop operation into a systematized business. I love to learn and implement what I learn. You gave me key morsels of information that I could take with me, put into place and watch them grow. Thanks so much!

Susan

Susan Bai
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage
Ridgewood, NJ
Direct: 201.445-9400
Cell: 201-981-6400
e-mail: susan@susanbai.com
www.susanbai.net 

Susan, your story illustrates what can result – and quickly – from having the courage to not only recognize transformational tools and techniques, but to implement these solidly into your business, even when thought of giving up "control" was not at all comfortable for you. Watching your continued success will be a real pleasure and inspiration to all of us.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Susan was recently a student in my Total Solution™ 10-Week Telecoaching Program where a great group of agents receive live coaching from me on how to immediately implement a breakthrough approach to business without having to do the work themselves. They’re seeing how you can focus only on what you love to do, make a great living doing it and have all the free time you want to enjoy your success. CLICK HERE to learn more about the most advanced training in the industry on Internet Marketing and using Virtual Assistants.

Because Susan is our success story of the month, she will receive her choice of the three valuable tools below. (She selected the Imprev membership and will now have access to dynamic marketing tools to promote her business).
 

Remember, even if your story isn't chosen you still win because you get to see how other top performers do it. Besides, you can always try again!