FUNDAMENTALS
PROPERTY MANAGEMENT
Extend Your Capabilities with PropertyManagerAssistants
THIS SIMPLE WAY TO SCALE STARTS WITH PROPER TRAINING
by Chase Collins
our company is growing and your staff is overworked, so to
hours a day to train the assistant but does not give your assistant unlimit - ed access to you. This will allow you to increase service hours by hav - ing someone on the team that can continue to communicate with your tenants and prospects after normal business hours, easing the workload of responding to to voice mails and emails the next business day.
your doors are open for business. Consider training your assistant to follow up with prospects to answer their questions about rentals and schedule showings until 9 pm every night. Your prospects will appreciate the convenience of texting or mes - saging someone after hours and this will create a great initial reputation for your brand. This won’t only allow you to schedule more showings, it will reduce how many calls your staff has to answer during business hours the next day. #4: WEBSITE CHAT Over 90 percent of your prospects are online looking for their next rent - al. There is no better tool to extend your service than website chat in the evening. This simple tool can easily pay for the cost of hiring an assistant by itself. With your assistant able to answer questions for a prospect immediately when they surf your website, you will increase showings and occupancy rates. Your assistant can handle as many as a dozen con - versations at one time and have time to find the best answer before they respond as opposed to having one phone conversation. #5: SO EASYACAVEMAN COULD DO IT The simplest of tasks that take up so much time are the first things
Y
help scale your business and support your team, you have decided to make the leap to hire your first virtual assistant! The biggest mistake prop - erty management companies make when hiring their first assistant is not dedicating the proper time to train effectively. Before you think you are going to save money by eliminating and outsourcing jobs, think again. Your first assistant should not replace any existing staff members. They should aid and extend the capabili - ties of your current operations. If you have an excellent plan for what your assistant will do for your company, you can both support your team and expand the level of your service at the same time. #1: WORK SCHEDULE Consider the schedule for your assistant. It can be a mistake to schedule them the same time as your other staff. Your staff is prob - ably already overworked, and they will feel increased pressure to show the new assistant what to do every minute of the day. You want your new assistant to be an asset to your staff, not a management obligation. The ideal schedule for your first assis - tant would be something like 3 p.m. to midnight if your business is open 9 to 5. This period gives you a few
#2: AFTER HOURS EMERGENCIES
One of the biggest pains in our line of work is after-hours emer- gency calls because most of these calls are not emergencies at all. Train your assistant how to take these calls and what to do based on the situation. There are only a few situations that warrant an emer- gency action and a decision tree can easily be created for what your assistant should do based on the scenario. Many of these calls can wait until the next day to address. Give your maintenance team some support by creating a buffer between the 24-hour maintenance line and your tenants so they do not have to wake up to a bogus emer - gency call late at night. #3: SCHEDULING SHOWINGS Most online traffic for people searching for their next place to live happens in the evening, not when
54 | think realty magazine :: april 2021
Made with FlippingBook Online newsletter