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How to Hire an ISA for your Real Estate Team and the Truth About Virtual Assistants

ISA Prospects: Licensing and the Best Personality Types

While most ISAs will need to be licensed, and it’s certainly handy to hire someone who has already checked this off the list, don’t let the convenience of that blind you to the bigger issues at stake when hiring someone (personality, drive, fitting in with your team, etc.) Getting the right hire licensed is a small price to pay when compared to the alternative with hiring a person who lacks drive and personality fit with your team.Real Estate ISA

Those using the DISC profile assessment to guide their hiring have found success with DI or ID profiles. These personalities are friendly, driven, and can still maintain momentum after hearing some “nos” on the phone. For Inbound ISAs specifically, a High I and High S are great for nurturing buyers.

If you’re using the Activity Vector Analysis (AVA), candidates with a high vector 1 (assertive) and high vector 2 (sociable) are good fits as well. You want anyone in the ISA role to have strong organizational skills and a proactive approach too.

How to Recruit Top Performing ISAs

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  • Start with your sphere of influence and referrals from any networking groups
  • Post ads on jobs sites like Indeed.com, Craigslist, and on social media sites like Facebook and LinkedIn
  • Consider candidates from other (similar) industries like mortgage loan officers and insurance sales

As Tom Ferry says, “Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither will your team. This is a learning process. You will quickly learn what and who works best for you.” There may be some trial and error in the search, but let your company culture and values guide you when you’re unsure.

Also, here’s a sample job description to get you started (no one likes to start from scratch):

Real Estate ISA Job Description

Job Description: The Inside Sales Agent (ISA) prospects for new clients, cultivates client relationships, sets client appointments, and manages all leads within the contact management database. Calls are made each day to reach potential clients, obtain the necessary information to qualify them for an appointment, and schedule meetings with the listing and/or buyer specialist.

Required Skills:
Effective written and verbal communication
Excellent phone skills- strong closer to set appointments
Comfortable memorizing and delivering call scripts
Excellent Customer service and listening abilities
Strong relationship building know-how
Highly-organized and detail-oriented
Able to meet and exceed goals
Must be tech-savvy and able to effectively work with spreadsheets and client management software

Responsibilities: (Work a scheduled 40 to 50 hour week)
Prospect for new clients calling on:
Expireds/FSBOs
Buyers
Sphere of Influence
Past Clients / Database
Just Listed / Just Sold
Open Houses
Call past clients for referrals
Practice call scripts at least 3 hours per week
Conduct 10 to 20 hours of lead follow-up per week
Manage contact database system.
Attend training/coaching sessions and establish daily role-play partners.
Track weekly goals to measure lead conversion ratio and meet performance benchmarks

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Should You Hire a Virtual Inside Sales Assistant?

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Some teams have chosen to hire virtual ISAs to work on specific jobs in order to avoid (or delay) making an in-office hire. (Think: the added assistance without the overhead expenses.) Here are what the proponents of virtual ISAs cite as the major benefits:

  • They’re contractors, not staff. (No HR paperwork and much lighter onboarding responsibilities).
  • They work remotely, so there’s no office shuffling and making room you might not have.
  • Many virtual assistant companies let you choose between part-time, per-project, or as-needed assistance.
  • Virtual assistant companies will also help pair you with an assistant that fits your team’s specific needs.

One of these companies, and a popular resource for ISAs for quite a while now, MyOutDesk, was founded by BoomTown client, Daniel Ramsey. According to Daniel, the best tasks to assign virtual assistants are ones where systems have already been put into place. He says they’re great at “taking a program you’ve created and then running with it.” Many VA services offer highly trained ISAs specifically.

“Going virtual” is not a silver bullet, however. It still goes back to setting expectations on the front end. There needs to be an initial coaching call, a detailed job description in place, an office manual developed for the virtual ISA, and quarterly goals that are agreed upon and tracked. There will always be a ramp up period for the virtual ISA to be 100 percent comfortable and performing, and at the end of the day someone on the team still needs to be leading and coaching this hire.

While some teams have developed and maintained very successful partnerships with remote workers, others have felt that the risk of having a person off-site representing the team’s brand is just too great. It’s all about your team’s dynamic and your unique needs.

Grow your Real Estate team

 

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