TECH@WORK: Virtual Productivity

BY MICHAEL J. RUSSER

Let an assistant do it

Tech benefits—without the headaches.

Too many tech vendors make the false assumption that real estate professionals want to devote hours to evaluating and implementing ever-more sophisticated high-tech solutions. Most salespeople want the productivity benefits of these products but don’t want to spend time learning new programs.

There’s a solution to this digital dilemma. Instead of the frustrating and expensive exercise of trying to become proficient in half a dozen real estate applications, hire an expert or two. An increasing number of tech vendors is making this easy by training virtual assistants to use their product or service. In turn, these expert VAs offer training to other assistants—virtual and otherwise.

The training programs—which can run from a few hours to as long as a week—are primarily Web-based, but may also include conference calls and e-mail exchanges with an instructor. Depending on the program’s length, the cost can be as low as $35. Look for real estate VAs who indicate that they’ve received special instruction at sites such as REVA Network
(www.revanetwork.com) or Military Spouse Virtual Assistants (www.staffcentrix.com). VAs trained in working with REALTOR.com are also listed on its site. If your current VA would like specialized training, he or she can find help at REVA Network and Assist U (www.assistu.com).

Not convinced you’ll benefit from expert help? Here are some specific examples of how technology vendors and virtual assistants are teaming up to make your life easier and far more productive:

Elaine Stewart, a Colorado-based military spouse who graduated from the REALTOR.com training program, enhances listings and tracks leads as a VA for Jack Dice, a broker-associate with RE/MAX Premier in Dulles, Va. Dice e-mails Stewart specifics about the home, digital photos, and a short list of key selling points, then lets Stewart “enhance” his REALTOR.com listings as well as his other Web sites to increase their appeal to buyers.

In the seven months Dice has been working with Stewart’s company, eOffice Visions, visits to his REALTOR.com listings have doubled. “She’s so much more knowledgeable about the program than I am. What takes her a few minutes would take me hours,” Dice says.

After a couple of false starts in which he tried to “overcontrol” VAs he’d worked with before Stewart, Dice has found that having a very specific plan on exactly what the assistant should do and ensuring that each task is understood before adding another are key to working productively with a VA.

April Boomer, a South Carolina VA, completed special training from Imprev.net
(www.imprev.net),a multimedia marketing materials company. This enables her to quickly put together stunning print and Flash promotions aimed at FSBOs for Rebecca Levine of RE/MAX Best Associates in Overland Park, Kan. “I’d seen Imprev.net demonstrated and was interested in using it, but I didn’t want to spend the time to learn it,” says Levine. Instead, she obtained a software license and lets Boomer do the rest. Levine likes the fact that she benefits from ideas and new techniques Boomer learns from working on marketing materials for other real estate practitioners. “With April, I get the best ideas from several top practitioners in other markets,” says Levine.

Karen Drebes, a VA in Scottsdale, Ariz., manages transaction flow for Damian Janssen of Keller Williams Group One in Reno, Nev., with the help of an online transaction management system from GuruNet (www.gurunet.net). “Karen is really experienced in the program and does the same work for top performers in other markets,” says Janssen.

The benefits of specially trained VAs to both practitioners and tech vendors are only going to grow. The constant introduction of new technologies makes this approach an ideal solution for weary real estate professionals who don’t have time to learn “just one more new thing.”

Russer, better known as Mr. Internet, is a technology speaker, trainer, author, and consultant; he and Drebes are also founding members of REVA Network. See his column every month at REALTOR.org/realtormag. Contact him at help@askmrinternet.com.

ONLINE EXCLUSIVE
For more about using assistants, click Current Links at REALTOR.org/realtormag.

QUOTE

Seventy-eight percent of REALTORS® have home offices, compared to 12 percent of the entire U.S. adult population.
—2003 REALTOR® Magazine Survey, MRI, Custom Division