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Wednesday, April 29, 2020

Virtual Assistant for Real Estate: What to Expect in One

Real estate agents juggle marketing tasks, listings, and customer engagement to keep pace with market trends. Posting ads on Craigslist or Facebook, responding to hundreds of email inquiries, and filing tons of paperwork is just the tip of the iceberg. Luckily, performing this balancing act shouldn’t be a problem when you have a virtual assistant for real estate agents.
Virtual assistant services specialized for the real estate industry enable agents and realtors to focus on meeting clients and closing deals. In other words, a realtor virtual assistant improves the way you work while increasing sales conversion at surprisingly low costs. With your everyday tasks carefully looked after, you get less stress on a well-balanced day.


The value of having a virtual assistant for real estate

Real estate businesses are jumping the chance to delegate administrative tasks like calling, scheduling appointments, and documentation to a virtual assistant. There is no doubt that outsourcing virtual assistant services is a valuable asset. It is, indeed, only natural especially when you understand the growing demands of the real estate market.
The 2018 housing market had its share of ups and downs and the 2019 forecast is a bit bleak. Real estate listings website Realtor.com sees rising rates and home prices overshadow inventory increases. As a result, it’ll be more difficult to buy or sell a home this year. The next three quarters may be a bit rocky, but a virtual assistant can help you conquer these intimidating data.
2019 Key Housing Indicators – Realtor.com
What’s even better with today’s virtual assistants is their wealth of experience in understanding the real estate market. You don’t have to worry about hiring and dedicating time to train them because they are skilled enough on how to be an effective virtual assistant for real estate businesses. The key to maximizing a virtual assistant’s skills and experiences is understanding what to expect in one. Here are examples of skills that an experienced virtual assistant for real estate can bring to your business:

Planning a sustainable online strategy

A realtor virtual assistant knows the ins and outs of online marketing. Skilled VAs are typically good at creating and managing content by incorporating their SEO knowledge. This ensures healthy website traffic as they tailor-fit content to meet market demands and give you a competitive advantage. Moreover, you can entrust them the management of all your social media accounts. They can handle updates and client engagement through these channels to give your business a viable online presence.

Communicating effectively

Communication is one of the core skills a virtual assistant is expected to have. This skill set touches on getting the right messages across, whether it’s via email, text, or chat. The success of how well your transactions are coordinated lies in a VA’s skill to communicate information. Let them manage your correspondence with clients and take care of transactions by interacting with fellow realtors, vendors, and customers.

Organizing documents and schedules

A virtual assistant for real estate makes sense of the million things on your to-do list. They know how to prioritize tasks and leads that will generate the most revenue. They can particularly monitor a short-sales process and organize the documents involved in it. Hand over the lead generation and database administration to a virtual assistant to give you more time to focus on other tasks. In addition, maximize their organization skills by letting them carry out scheduling appointments and site visits.

Designing analytics and gathering feedback

Opening your listings to constructive feedback is an effective way of improving your marketing and sales strategy. Additionally, a virtual assistant can help keep a pulse on your client’s preferences and opinions by responding to their feedback. Let a real estate VA monitor the success of your campaigns and listings. Allow them to generate reports and perform analytics on website traffic as well as customer feedback.

Get only the best VA for your real estate business

Working in real estate means busy and hectic days ahead. Just imagine the amount of work that goes into closing a single deal. Generate leads, post listings, schedule appointments, meet with clients – the list of tasks goes on and on. This, however, should not deter you from achieving success in the industry. Hire a virtual assistant for real estate to lessen the burden.
A virtual assistant for real estate increases your productivity levels which leads to improved work quality. Outsourcing virtual assistant services through HOPLA gives you access to its rich pool of multicultural talents. Let our experts at HOPLA help you focus on your real estate business’ core functions.Get in touch with us today and get a VA for your real estate business ASAP.

Sunday, April 12, 2020

Why Common Sense Matters in Virtual Data Entry Jobs

Most candidates boast of their technical skills for virtual data entry jobs. But with the rise of artificial intelligence, should they start to worry?
Intelligence represents the algorithmic mind, while common sense represents the reflective mind.
AI replacing human jobs has been a predicted scenario for quite a while, and debates are ongoing to determine whether or not it is possible. But despite numerous milestones in technology, they cannot replicate the ultimate secret of the brain: common sense. Luckily, it is an innate skill for humans.



What Makes Common Sense Important to Virtual Data Entry Jobs

Intelligence and common sense are two different things. Intelligence represents the algorithmic mind, while common sense represents the reflective mind.
With the advancements in artificial intelligence, it can easily learn skills that would take months for virtual data entry assistants to master. Furthermore, it reduces the time needed to accomplish a task. However, that’s all it can do: get a task done.
Success is 50% hard work and 50% common sense.
As a business owner, you know that an accomplished task is the start of something new. In the reflective mind, you start to understand what the bigger picture is and how the tasks contribute to it. And when you begin to understand, you can set goals realistically and make decisions quickly.

How Common Sense Helps Virtual Assistants Do Better

As mentioned above, common sense is a vital skill that AI cannot replicate, especial in virtual data entry jobs! This is what gives humans the upper hand in handling online data entry jobs and other administrative tasks. But how does it help in virtual assistant tasks?

See What’s Missing

Why is there an ongoing need for virtual assistants? Aside from reducing workload, they also act as a trusted consultant. They know the ins and outs of your business and with their reflective mind, they notice what’s missing.
Let’s take airline reservations as an example. An AI assistant can do that for you with just a few taps on your phone, right? A human virtual assistant understands why you made that reservation, so they will automatically book a place for you to stay, too. How will the workplace be once you’ve left the office? Your virtual assistant will help you plan on it, considering important factors affected.
data entry jobs
In a nutshell, they make sure that all the pieces of the puzzle are in sight to build the bigger picture. If it’s missing, they quickly find a way.

Initiative

Another thing AI cannot guarantee is initiative. Their programming can only execute once an input is available. Meanwhile, a virtual assistant learns from experience, keeping in mind what needs to be done and when to do it.
Most of the time, virtual assistants take initiative not only on accomplishing tasks but also doing more than what is required of them. They don’t just do, they also participate.

Thinking outside the Box

Undoubtedly, humans surpass AI in providing creative outputs. However, for online data entry jobs, thinking outside the box means so much more.
When working on multiple tasks, assistants always do their best to accomplish them in a timely manner. But when unexpected troubles arrive, they can think of creative solutions to overcome the issue. Since they do not follow algorithms, virtual assistants continue to persevere in the most difficult situations. No inputs needed, just common sense.

Communication

Imagine finishing a task with the help of an AI, only to get a flashing error screen. If you’re not an expert in handling this kind of technology, it can cause more harm than good. Not to mention the delay and frustration it will cause.
With virtual assistants, you don’t have to play the guessing game. Issues are immediately discussed and solutions are easier to plan, thanks to active collaboration.

Finding the Perfect Virtual Assistant

The ideal virtual assistant is a master of technical skills and possesses valuable soft skills, including common sense. Is this what your business needs? Let HOPLA help you find them.
We are a managed outsourcing company with an active and growing database of professional virtual assistants. Our team helps you connect with the best talents who will match your needs and goals. All you have to do is call us for a free consultation today!

Friday, April 3, 2020

Remote Recruitment Mistakes: The Horrors of Hiring a Mismatch

Remote recruitment is offering talents the option to work away from the usual office setup. It technically means hiring people who work from home and do online jobs. With the way technology has seeped into our daily lives, it is only natural for business to take advantage of the cost-effectiveness of hiring remote staff.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard about how business owners of all shapes and sizes are shifting to working remotely. It’s not hard to understand why considering the numerous benefits it provides both a company and an employee. In fact, in the US alone, adoption of the working from home system can save over $700 billion a year on a national level. Additionally, from 2015 to 2016, the growth in self-employment since 2005 among the home-based incorporated businesses is up 43%.


The Horrors of Hiring a Mismatch

Even with the widespread interest in remote work, remote recruitment still takes time. Searching for the potential talent that will match your company’s needs and objectives is as crucial as building the business itself. It’s only natural to look for someone who would represent your company missions and vision and hope that you make a good decision in hiring the right talent out of the online jobs you offer.
Besides, hiring an unqualified candidate is a concern for any company. No business wants to end up getting someone unsuitable for the job and make a habit of saying, “Thank you. Next.” time and again. This dread is even more prevalent in remote recruitment because of the same reasons why remote work is appealing – geographical and schedule flexibility. You do not have full visibility of how and when they work. There is also not so much opportunity for you and your remote team to bond over coffee.
Flawed employee onboarding, in turn, can cost your company a lot. You can’t expect someone with a web designing background to write your content for you. Similarly, if you hire a candidate from a higher rank for a job that’s not within his scope of experience, you will only waste time and money because of unsatisfactory performance. In effect, substandard operations can lead to poor work quality, financial costs, and reputation damage.

Retaining Talent through Best Remote Recruitment Practices

As a remote recruiter, cherry-picking candidates for online jobs means attracting the best talents the world can offer. The benefits of creating your business through remote recruitment are undeniable. However, a business operating with remote staff is not safe from frequent employee turnovers. You can manage employee turnover, yes, but the key to keeping them in your employ should start from good remote recruitment practices.
Best remote recruitment practices begin with knowing what mistakes you should avoid as a remote recruiter. Let’s take a look at these examples:
  1. Writing an unclear job description. It all begins here. Writing a job description is part of a remote recruiter’s job. For a fact, you need to know what exactly your company is hiring for. You are best positioned to know what the job opening is all about. A well-written job description also gives candidates an idea of what the opportunity entails and how their experience matches with the responsibilities that come with it.
  2. Giving video interviews a pass. You cannot and must never hire someone based only on their CV. Always find a time that will work both for you and your candidate to conduct a video interview. This is a good step to get to know your candidates more than their CV. A video interview provides a remote recruiter a closer look at candidates’ communication skills and personality. This will help you determine how they can contribute to your company’s success.
  3. Failing to do a test task. Test tasks give remote recruiters a first-hand look at what a candidate can do. These assignments can give you a handful of insights into a candidate’s work behavior, how professional they are, and the quality of work that they complete. This helps steer remote recruitment in the direction of the right candidate for your job opening.
  4. Improper new hire inboarding. Proper employee onboarding means taking the time to introduce your new hire to the team. This can be your way of planting the seeds for great teamwork. It can be a chance for your new hire to experience what your company culture feels like. Get them accustomed to the work that you do and the team that keeps the wheels turning.

Hiring only the Best and the Brightest

Remote recruitment opens a lot of doors for both a business and a talent. When done right, it can offer your business a talented pool of people who can collaborate to bring you success.
If you think you still lack the experience to dodge the horrors of hiring unqualified talent, let HOPLA do it for you. With HOPLA’s expertise in building remote teams, you can rest assured to flawlessly attract and retain the best and the brightest talents. Learn more by getting in touch with us.