Loree is my new assistant. Hip, hip hooray for me!! I realized some time ago that in order to reach my production goals (especially since I have a very limited amount of time to originate)
Loree came highly recommended by a Realtor friend of mine. She has no mortgage or real estate experience, and most recently worked in a law office. At first, I was a little hesitant to hire someone with no experience but the silver lining is that she has no pre-conceived ideas and I can train her to my way of doing things.
Over the next few months, I will share the process Loree and I go through to get her up and running. Obviously, this is what works for me and your situation may be different.
Here are a few things you might find helpful:
- Loree works Monday-Thursday from 9:00 - 12:00. This can vary if I need her help with something that falls outside those hours or if we start to get busy.
- My company requires all assistants to be licensed. Even if they didn't, I would still want her to be licensed. Credibility, baby! Loree's goal is to be licenced by January.
- Right now, Loree is primarily working to get me organized and help me have time to get out and market. I'll be sharing her task list as soon as we figure out exactly what that is :)
- Loree sits in my office. Now, don't go assuming I have a fabulous large corner office (
though I do have a beautiful view ). My office is only about 11x11, but I feel very strongly that the best way for Loree to learn is to absorb the way I work with Realtors, clients and support staff. This is why a virtual assistant was never an option for me. I moved out some furniture and hit Ikea for a small desk.
Hiring an assistant, especially if you have never done this and have no systems in place to make a smooth transition, is a difficult process. Your life doesn't magically become better and you need to be patient during the training and educating phase. Both you and your assistant need to find the systems that work for this new team.
But it will be worth it!
