One of the most asked questions by agents attending my CRS courses is, ”When should I hire an assistant?” The answer at first appears to be obvious: When you do not have enough time to meet the needs of your business. But it is a much more complex answer. Many times agents hire assistants because they are extremely busy and need additional help, but they do not have time to teach the assistant what needs to be done. As a result, the agent who is already over-worked, does not properly utilize the assistant. Before you bring someone else on board, consider these three conditions.
1. When you are ready to let go of responsibilities
Because agents work for themselves, they become very independent and things are done in specific ways, to their standard. A new assistant will often enter the team with little real estate knowledge and understanding of what needs to be accomplished. When given a task, an assistant will use their own experience to figure out how to complete the assignment. While keeping your standards, you must also avoid forcing tasks to be accomplished in a way that is identical to how you would work. Most people (with some exceptions that must be recognized early on) work best if given a task and allowed to figure out the best means to accomplish the task. When you are ready to let someone else take over your tasks, even if they fail a few times, you are partly ready to hire an assistant.
2. When systems are developed for the assistant to begin work
One of the reasons agents do not have enough time to train an assistant is because they have not developed systems prior to hiring the assistant. You should not hire an assistant to develop systems for you. It is imperative that you have systems together so that an assistant can begin working through the checklist. Some systems you should already have in place include the following:
- New client intake and file setup
- New listing setups
- Marketing steps for a new listing
- Open-house checklist
- Buyer-communication checklist
- Contracts to closing checklist
- Past-client relationship management system
- Showing feedback checklist
- A system for all of the different responsibilities that you maintain on a regular basis
Once your systems are in place, a new assistant will require far less training and you will have more time to concentrate on expanding your business (or taking more vacations).
3. When your production level reaches approximately three transactions per month
Most agents who are spending dedicated hours on their business will be able to handle approximately three transactions per month. This amount will adjust according to the amount of support offered by your brokerage company and could be a little higher or lower (four or two transactions). When an agent is trying to coordinate more than three transactions, they often begin to lose focus in other important areas of their business (such as marketing or follow-up communications). Most importantly, at three transactions you are so busy working with your existing buyers, sellers and closings that it can be hard to grow the business further.
Just remember, you must be ready to give up some of your responsibilities, and you must have your systems in place prior to making this step towards growing your business or taking more time for yourself.
