HireYourVirtualAssistant.com » Owen McGab Enaohwo

How to work with your Virtual Assistant – Managing the right Candidate

Owen McGab Enaohwo — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:49:27 +0000

Hiring a Virtual Assistant (VA) for your business is ONLY the first step in the process of leveraging your talent and your time. Ensuring you get the expected results from your VA, as well as setting up the working relationship between you and your virtual assistant is the main goal of the whole process.

Allow me to walk you through the details of managing your Virtual Assistant. The process is seemingly straight forward; just be aware that you also need to constantly adjust to the situation. Working with anyone – real or virtual – is a dynamic situation where adjustments need to be made at all times, every time. The key word here is resiliency.

Interacting with your Virtual Assistant is done by means of various new technologies and the internet. Setting up a virtual workspace for communicating with your VA is essential. The tools needed are readily available and cost anything from free ($free.99) to a fraction of what it would have cost to implement 4 to 5 years ago. I am going to cover some of the basic tools that your VA needs to have set up.

Here are 3 important basic tools to set up (and how to use them):

Email

Set up an email address where you and your virtual assistant can send and receive instructions and documents.
Set up a message system that will not confuse you or your virtual assistant. Example:
1. Instructions should be labeled as instructions, and should refer to a specific job.
2. Feedback should be labeled as feedback, also referring to a specific job.
3. In case your message is a mixture of both, separated the instruction set from the feedback set. And always refer to a specific item on the task list.
File names should refer to specific tasks so it will be easy for both of you to refer to instructions and track down feedback.
Email messages should have the date and time the message is sent for easy reference, aside from the task list item.

Chat client

Being able to communicate in real time is valuable in a virtual work environment. Make sure you and your virtual assistant have at least 2 chat clients available, so you have a back up in case one client goes into maintenance or offline mode.
During your chat, make a list of items you would like to discuss with your assistant. Having a list allows you to maximize the use of time, and makes both of you stick to what really needs to be discussed.

Voice and Web Cam Communication (VoIP)

Make sure that your virtual assistant has the necessary tools needed so you can make calls to each other directly. This will allow both of you to interact directly with each other especially when the task at hand needs to be explained to the VA in depth.
Since the quality and clarity of sound / voice during the call might be an issue it’s advisable to sign up with a reliable VoIP provider.
After each voice call, ask your virtual assistant to send you a summary transcript of your discussion so you can be sure that they fully understood the topics discussed during the call and they have a clear idea of how to execute the tasks.

I have just list some of the basic tools required but be aware that the use of additional tools is a given depending on the type of working environment, your business niche and your needs. You may provide all the necessary tools or ask your virtual assistant to acquire them.

System Orientation

After setting up the communication tools, you need to orient your virtual assistant on the systems and steps you use to complete tasks. Be as detailed as possible when presenting the system to your VA, but also be willing to allow your VA to be creative too and use their own initiative when completing tasks. Remember systems are meant to grow and evolve, hence encourage the VA to determine better ways of getting the tasks done.

If you need to explain something using a video, then by all means make one. If you need a document or spreadsheet formatted in a specific manner, provide your VA with your required format. Resorting to generalities and expecting your VA to sort things out for you will not do both of you any good.

Make a list of deliverables and your required timeframes. Make sure that if you were asked to do the same thing, you can do the same within the timeframe you require from our VA. The best way to determine what to realistically expect from your virtual assistant is to immerse yourself in the task before hand and fully document how long it takes you to complete it.

What to do when communication links break down

Web based communication links are as temperamental as the service providers and the reliability of power suppliers. PC hardware can act up any time. As Murphy’s Law states – Things can go wrong – and they will – at the worst possible moment. So you need to clarify this detail with your VA. Ask your VA to inform you through email (your VA can use another internet connected PC to get in touch with your). In case you are the one who has communication break down issues, inform your VA. The needs to be constant communication hence come up with contingency plans to handle this issue.

The most important item – “Synchronize your time zones“

I purposely left this point until now because I need to emphasize a point. Since you and your VA might be located in different time zones, make sure you agree upfront to a common time to communicate with each other and when work will be done. I call it “Time Zone Synchronization”, you need to consider that even though it might be day time at your place, it can be mid night at your VAs location.

Working late nights can affect productivity over time so I suggest giving your VA a day off during the work week so that they can get replenished and energized; do you know what happens to you if you keep working on the night shift over a long period of time? If you don’t then I suggest you give it a go and you will quickly understand the reasoning behind my point.

Conclusion (okay, I now have to end my rant!)

A Virtual Assistant is not a magician so don’t expect them to put together the entire system from the scratch for you. Your VAs output is greatly dependent on your orientation, and the systems that you have already set up. As they say – Garbage in, Garbage out. You might get a smart enough VA who can do wonders for you, but you will still have to set up the systems needed to execute and complete your tasks. Working with your VA will take sometime to mature. Changing a VA just because there are issues right at the start will get you no where. Unless that VA becomes so undependable and does something that’s totally out of order, be resilient with your VA. In 4 to 5 weeks, you will start to see your patience and resilience paying off.

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How to hire your Virtual Assistant – Choosing the right Candidate

Owen McGab Enaohwo — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:27:43 +0000

Hiring your own Virtual Assistant (VA) needs proper preparation and candidate selection. Making the decision to hire a VA and posting the job position online are the easiest parts of the process. The crucial parts are; choosing the right candidate, and managing the Virtual Assistant that you eventually hire. In this post, I will present to you the first part – Choosing the right candidate.

What job or tasks do you need the VA to do?

Before posting the job online, it is wise to determine the specific tasks the VA will be doing on your behalf. Knowing what task you will be asking the VA to be responsible for will give you a clear idea on the specific skill sets the job requires. List the task and the skills needed to carry out the task, and then ask yourself how many hours will be needed to carry out the task, and how much you are willing to pay for the number of hours that the job will require.

You then will have to determine if this task is a one time task, such that once the job is done, then there will be no need to repeat the job, in the future. If this is the case, then this job can be posted as a fixed price job. But if this task is part of a repetitive process within your business, then this job is classified as a weekly task that will need a fixed amount of time each week. Jobs of this type will require you to set a budget on a weekly basis to compensate the VA for doing the job.

Posting the job

There are several good websites to post your job such as oDesk.com, Elance.com. Most sites all you to post your job based on its category or type. You will be required to set up your account including entering in your credit card details. Before posting a job on any site, make sure that you have complete understanding of their terms and conditions. Pay particular attention on their charges. Some sites add 10% on top of what you are offering to pay the VA, while there are others who deduct 10% from the amount you pay the VA. Also take note of their dispute resolution process should you need to resolve an issue with the VA your eventually hire.

The hiring process

After posting the job online, you need to keep track of applicants or job candidates.

There are two types of job candidates you need to be aware of:

The newbie
1. These are applicants who are new to the online job posting site. And there are two types of newbies.
  1. i. The newbie who is a veteran. This job candidate is a new user of the job posting site, but has extensive offline experience.
  2. ii. The newbie who is just starting off. This job candidate is a new user of the job posting site, and has relatively short off line experience with jobs requiring a similar skill set.
The 2^nd type of applicant you will encounter is the veteran. This applicant has been a member of the job posting site and has logged quite a number of hours and jobs over three months. This type of applicant can and will ask for a higher fee owing to the track record the applicant has established over time. Hiring this type of applicant MAY ensure successful delivery of tasks. But you have to take note of the fee that the candidate indicates.

There are veteran applicants who have already logged on quite a number of hours and jobs, but are new to the task that you want done. You will find this out in the job applicant’s profile.

Always look at the job candidates posted profile. This profile paints a more or less accurate picture of the candidate. Before doing the interview, take particular attention to the application letter that the candidate sent. This letter will reveal to you the communication skill of the prospect. A letter that appears to be a standard format letter can be a red flag. A letter that is written in a flowing manner, referring to details found in your job post is a good indicator.

The Interview

When doing the interview, ask for the candidates’ views on the job you posted and how the candidate intends to carry out the task. Emphasize to the candidate the number of hours you will be requiring for the task and your preferred work schedule. Take note of the time zone difference in other to synchronize real time communications across time zones can become a hassle.

Hiring a candidate due to low fee considerations sets you up for a trap. Low fees do not necessarily mean savings on your part. In most cases, this is a red flag for a frustrating relationship with a possible hire.

In the world of online outsourcing, the reality is – you get what you pay for.

In doing the interview, see to it that you are able to come up with a decision within a short time frame. The best candidates do not wait. They are always on the hunt for other jobs. You could miss out on a good candidate. Job Candidates who linger on are those who have no current work, or are not online often to keep track of their job candidacies.

Once you find the right candidate, hire that candidate immediately and prepare the virtual workspace where you and your VA will be interacting in.

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So what do you think?

This is the first part of the process in hiring your VA online. I am sure you have your questions and ideas. Take time to share them with me. So we can enrich each others ideas and views on hiring a Virtual Assistant. You may have questions. Post your questions / suggestions in the comment box below.

In my next post, I will show to you how to manage your VA and set up the virtual work space so you and your VA can interact in a more efficient and effective manner.

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Can Virtual Assistants help Real Estate Agents Negotiate Short Sales more efficiently?

Owen McGab Enaohwo — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 08:44:37 +0000

The “short” in short sale simply means that the amount paid at the sale of a property on behalf of the borrower for an outstanding mortgage is less than the amount owed. But there is nothing “short” in the short sale process. In fact I think it should be called “long sale” because real estate professionals who specilize in short sale transactions are well aware that patience and diligent follow up is the name of the game.

The current Real Estate Market

Due to the increasing numbers of distressed homeowners, there has been an upsurge in the number of potential short sales available to real estate agents. Many of these homeowners will need someone to negotiate their short sale once they have decided that it’s the best option for them to use to avoid foreclosure. The sheer amount of documents that needs to be prepared as well as the time one spends on the phone going back and forth with lenders during a short sale negotiation makes investing in a Virtual Assistant (VA) a strategic decision to make.

The question is – how can hiring a VA ensure that each short sale negotiation is carried out more efficiently and effectively? In order to answer this question, allow me to walk you through the entire short sale process and then point out the crucial areas wherein a virtual assistant can complement the agent’s efforts.

The Short Sale Process

Short sales usually follow the same sequence of steps for those real estate agents who handle the entire process from start to finish; it begins with the agent marketing for prospective clients, screening them, signing up the listings, getting the lender’s specific short sale requirements and instructions, sending in the Authorization to Release Information document to the lender, listing the property on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), scheduling showings and following up with potential buyer agents, preparing and submitting the short sale packet, following up with the lender once the short sale has been initiated, getting the short sale approved by the lender and finally, getting the buyer to close on the transaction.

1) Marketing for clients: Agents have various means to find clients such as sending out direct mails, going door knocking, internet marketing and so on. The VA can assist the agent by handling all the calls that come in as a result of the marketing effort. The VA can also schedule time for the prospects to speak with the agent in order to get all their real estate specific questions answered as well as follow up with them prior to an appointment to confirm their availability.

2) Screening potential clients: To start off the process, agents usually have to screen potential clients to find out if they meet certain conditions that qualify them to sell their property as a short sale. These conditions are:

The home owner is experience a financial hardship.
The current value of the property is less than the amount owed to the lender.

Instead, the VA can ask the homeowners the necessary questions to determine if they meet the criterias listed above so that the agent only spends time explaining the entire short sale process and the steps to be taking to the right candidates thereby saving time.

3) Preparing the listing documents: Once the homeowner has decided to move forward with a short sale, the VA can then prepare the listing documents. This step prevents the agent from having to spend time putting together the required paperwork. Once prepared, the agent can then meet with the homeowner to sign them up as a client.

4) Getting the lender’s short sale requirements: During the first call to the lender the VA can get all the necessary information such as the fax number to send the authorization, the fax number to send the complete short sale packet, the status of the loan and pending foreclosure and so on. Since the lender may not have already received the “Authorization to Release Information” document from the homeowner giving them the authority to speak with the agent and the VA, hence the VA can set up a three-way call whereby the lender gets to speak with the VA while the homeowner is on the line. The agent doen’t have to be on the phone to do all this because it’s usually the same set of questions that each lender will be asked so this can be systemized and delegated to the VA.

5) Sending in the Authorization to Release information: After the first call to the lender the VA can immediately get this document from the homeowner and send it in to the lender’s designated fax number. The authorization has to state that the homeowner has given both the agent and the VA the authority to talk to the lender on their behalf, its also necessary for the VA to send it in as soon as possible because it takes time for the authorization to take effect with the lender.

6) Placing the property on the MLS: This step is self explanatory; essentially the VA enters in the listing information into the MLS along with the pictures of the property in order for it to be exposed to buyer for offers. The agent sets the property price at a level that will bring in a flood of buyer quickly, while the VA can takes care of all the time consuming data entry required to list the property on the MLS.

7) Scheduling showings and following up with potential buyer agents: Assuming the agent listed the property at the right price, it won’t take long for buyer agents to start calling to take their buyers to see the property. The VA can take these calls and give the buyer agent all the necessary information for them to get access to the property. If the property is not vacant, the VA can find out from the homeowner the best time for the buyer agent and their client to come out to see the property. If the selling agent needs to be at the property during the showing, then the VA can make sure that the showing is scheduled at a time that is convenient for all parties. Also the VA can follow up with buyer agents after the showings to get instant feedback from them to see if their client is interested in buying the property.

Preparing and submitting the short sale packet: Once the agent gets a suitable offer from a buyer and the homeowner accepts it, the VA can prepare all the necessary documents required by the lender for the short sale and then send it to the designated fax number. This process can be very time consuming because it is of utmost importance that the complete short sale packet is turned in. Hence it can be a benefit to the agent to know that they don’t have to be bugged down by this task because the VA can handle it.

Following up with the lender once the short sale has been initiated: A couple of days after the short sale packet is submitted the VA can begin the process of regularly calling the lender to find out the status of the short sale. This is a very monotonous process because it involves being on hold for quite some time until someone picks up the phone. When this happens the VA can then transfer the call to the agent to find out the current status of the short sale. The initial follow up process continues for another period of time until the lender assigns a Loss Mitigation officer to the case. It is at this point that the agent actually begins the negotiation process. The loss mitigator then orders a Broker Price Opinion (BPO) to determine the value of the property and establish the amount the lender is willing to net as a result of the short sale. The entire short sale negotiation process can take typically between one month to four months (or more) depending on the lender hence the VA can handle all the follow up calls so the agents only gets on the calls once someone representing the lender is available.

Conclusion

As a agent, the most productive activities you can partake in is getting new listings, negotiating contracts and closing transactions. As a short sale specialist two additional activities needs to be added to the three above which is ethically influencing the BPO so that the final value reflects the the current value of the property and also negotiating with the loss mitigator to approve the short sale in a timely manner in order for the buyer to close on the deal. Everything else in the short sale process can and should be delegated to your Virtual Assistant. By dividing the short sale process into those task that are most important and those that the VA can handle, it allows you to focus on what matters most – developing a track record as the “go to” agent for getting short sale negotiated and approved successfully.

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Can a Virtual Assistant help a Real Estate Agent complete more Broker Price Opinions (BPOs)?

Owen McGab Enaohwo — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 07:20:08 +0000

How a Real Estate Agent can increase their number of Broker Price Opinion assignments by hiring a Virtual Assistant

The current need for BPOs

Banks and other Lending Institutions are currently overwhelmed with a record number of properties needing Broker Price Opinions (BPOs). This is an opportunity for Real Estate Agents to increase their earnings by getting paid; usually within 30 days or earlier for their BPO services. It is an additional stream of income for agents since they do not have to depend on getting paid only when a property is sold. But accepting large number of BPO assignments can be a daunting task especially if you want to handle the entire process all by yourself. Is there a way to increase the number of BPO orders you accept while making sure that the quality of your work exceeds the expectations of the BPO companies? Before I answer that question let me explain what a BPO is for those who don’t already know.

What is a Broker Price Opinion?

A BPO is essentially a tool that is used by banks and lenders to quickly determine the value of a property without having to pay for a full blown appraisal. An agent is usually assigned the task of carrying out the BPO which can either be an exterior BPO that requires only the pictures of; the street, the street name, the address numerals, the front of the property, the side(s), the back and so on; typically pictures that can be taken without entering the property itself OR an interior BPO wherein pictures of the interior are required as well such as pictures of every room, repairs needed, mechanical parts – water heater, HVAC, sump pump and so on. These pictures are usually accompanied by additional information of three sold and three actively listed properties that are comparable to the subject properties. Agents are paid more for the interior BPOs than the exteriors; depending of the market area, agents can get paid between $30 on the low end to as high as $75 (and sometimes more).

How to increase your number of BPO assignment by using a Virtual Assistant (VA)

Registering with new BPO companies: A VA can help you get additional BPO assignments by taking over the time consuming task of signing up with new BPO companies. All you need to do is give the VA the required information and they will go ahead to fill out the application forms on your behalf. The competition between agents for BPOs is fierce; it can easily become a question of how badly do you want it and how quickly can you accept it. In order for you to get a sizeable and predictable number of BPO orders daily, then you need to be signed up with a lot of BPO companies.

Following up with BPO company contacts: A VA can help you follow up with key contacts at the BPO companies in order for you to get assigned BPOs. Most times these contacts will tell you that they are no longer looking for agents in your area or might just tell you to be patient and wait to be assigned a BPO. The solution is really to attempt to get them to assign you BPOs that are needed in a hurry – rushed BPOs or those that were previously assigned to other agents who for one reason or the other did not do a good job on it. The VA can call these contacts quite frequently using a script you design to ask for BPO Re-Assignments and rushed ordered BPOs. After helping these BPO companies with these kinds of BPOs you will become a much needed resource to them because they can depend on you to correctly turn in BPO that other agents dropped the ball on or BPOs that they need to get back immediately.

Entering time consuming BPO data: A VA can help you enter the BPO data into the system used by the BPO companies so that you do not have to spend time doing data entry. All you need to do is supply the VA with the comparable sold and actively listed properties in form of a Comparable Market Analysis (CMA), as well as the pictures of the subject property. Once the VA has completely entered in the data, you can then go back and quickly review the data and enter in the final comments to establish the value of the property. One of the reasons why using a VA to enter in the data is a great option is that you can keep track of what type of information each BPO company requires and essentially create a system for the VA to actually pull the data on their own without you having to actually pull the data yourself.

Taking pictures of the property: Okay this point has two sides to it because it depends on where the VA is located. If they are located in your state, you can actually train them on how to take the required pictures for the interior and exterior BPOs so that they go out and take the pictures themselves. In situations whereby they are not located in your state, they can help you find people to go out to take the pictures on your behalf by posting ads on online classifieds such as Craigslist, Kijiji and so on. In this economy folks are eager for a paying job, I suggest paying them $10 per property and also paying for their gas. The VA will then be responsible for coordinating the picture taking activities of these folks by letting them know the addresses for each property, the types of pictures required and when they are due back.

In essence, I have gone through various reasons why it makes sense to have a Virtual Assistant help you with your BPOs. It really boils down to the systems you have in place because if you have a good system for doing BPOs a VA can easily take on some of the task or all of it so as to free up time for you to work on getting more BPO orders while ensuring the quality of your work so that you do not lose your relationships with the BPO companies.

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So what do you think? I am sure your mind is already buzzing with other ways a Virtual Assistant can help to increase the number of Broker Price Opinions you do. I will like to hear from you so leave your comments below.

If you want to hire a VA that has been already trained on how to handle BPOs then please click on the flashing button above that says “Click here to Hire your Virtual Assistant Now!”

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Great News! A brand new Testimonial from one of our Note Buyer Clients

Owen McGab Enaohwo — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 05:41:17 +0000

His words exactly

…”We wanted to thank you for your efforts on our behalf. We’ve been extremely pleased with Courtney, Martha and HYVA…“

He likes our services so much that he willingly gave us a testimonial in his company letterhead. Please check it out the complete testimonial by clicking the link below!

Actual Written Testimonial

for other testimonials from our clients please go to

www.HireYourVirtualAssistant.com/clients/clients-testimonial/