In real estate, a lot of customer service comes down to one simple thing: how well do you know your clients?

When you’re working with buyers, you need to know who your clients are in order to make sure that you’re finding homes that fit with their idea of where they want to live. When you’re working with sellers, you’ll need to know them well enough to be able to help them sell.

Your real estate assistant can help you not only get to know your clients, but also to show that you know them.

Maybe it’s as simple as creating a “getting to know you” questionnaire that will let you keep track of the important details so that you never have to think “does their son play soccer or basketball” – you’ll have a reference point.

Of course, showing that you know your clients isn’t something that needs to be quite so specific: if your real estate assistant were to work with you to create buyers’ and sellers’ guides that addressed the most common questions that you’re asked, for example, buyers and sellers alike would be able to see that you “get them” and can anticipate the questions they have.

Knowing your real estate clients is sure to boost the success of your business; why not let a real estate assistant make getting to know them much easier?

Some real estate pros make the choice to work with a real estate assistant simply because they don’t know how to fit everything that they need to do into their work day. What those agents and investors don’t always recognize is the wide variety of services that their real estate assistant can provide.

Rather than setting your real estate assistant up simply to answer calls that come in, consider having her work on triaging your email so that you can address urgent questions first. Rather than having her simply submit listings to the MLS, allow your real estate assistant to take control over making changes, adding the listing to your website or even sending information about it out in an email to those buyers who are looking for similar properties.

Similarly, if you’re using your real estate assistant to help manage the content on your website, why not look at having her create a daily blog that helps you to get the word out about the services that you offer more effectively (and keep driving traffic to your website)?

Everyone has tasks that they want to be sure are completed. However, with just a little bit of thinking ahead, a little bit of looking at the big picture each one of those tasks is just a gateway to something bigger – something that could be even more effective for marketing your business.

Knowing the market in your area is essential to your success in the real estate industry. Unfortunately, those who are out there working with buyers and sellers and doing everything in their power to answer questions and make the transactions as seamless as possible don’t always have a chance to stay on top of the market in their area. A real estate assistant can be there are your side, working with you on a regular basis to monitor the real estate market.

When homes in you area sell, for example, your real estate assistant can keep track of the selling price and the amount of time that the home had been on the market – information that you’ll need when you’re working with sellers to price their home correctly. Similarly, your real estate assistant can keep track of which listing agent put those homes on the market; as a result you’ll be better able to know who your competition is – something that will assuredly come in handing when you create your listing presentations.

Likewise, when your real estate assistant is working with you to keep an eye on the market in your area, you’ll be more aware of homes that may interest the buyers that you’re working with – and will be able to get the details to them as soon as possible (though, granted, this is less essential during a buyers’ market than it is when homes are sold before the land heals around the for sale sign).

When you’re on top of the market, your clients will be in a better spot – whether they are buyers or sellers. Keeping track of the market doesn’t need to suck up all of your time though, not when you have a partner who’s there to help you every step of the way.

Sometimes it’s abundant clear that a real estate assistant would be a welcomed addition to your real estate business; other times, it’s not quite so clear cut.

If you’ve been thinking about working with a real estate assistant or real estate virtual assistant but aren’t sure whether it would really benefit you, ask yourself the following questions as each can help to determine whether or not a real estate assistant would be a valued addition to your business:

1. Am I able to return all of the calls that I should each day?
2. When was the last time I was on time to show a property to an interested buyer?
3. Has my listing presentation been updated within the last few months?
4. How many messages are piled up in my email inbox?
5. When was the last time that I was able to follow up with my leads within 48 hours?
6. What do I really know about the buyers I’m working with?

If you can’t return calls, follow up on leads or stay on top of your inbox, having someone on your side is essential. If you’re using an older listing presentation, there’s a risk that you’ll lose listings – a real estate assistant could help save the day. Similarly, your real estate assistant can help you to better manage your time and get to know your clients.

All of those tasks can help you to build your business; if you’re trying to move forward but keep coming up short (or you recognize that you could be doing even more), choosing to bring on a real estate assistant might just be the best decision that you’ve made for your business.

There are some things that, as a real estate pro, you can expect. For example, in a seller’s market, you know that buyers are going to be looking for tips on getting the home they’ve dreamed of at a reasonable price with as little hassle as possible. In a buyers’ market, your sellers are going to be looking for tips for showing or home staging that can help them to get an advantage over others who are selling in their area. But what about the details that are harder to figure out?

When you’re working with a real estate assistant, you’ll have the ability to determine what your current and prospective clients are hoping to accomplish. In other words, when you’re working with a real estate assistant, you’ll find that you’re better able to “get” your clients.

When you know what buyers and sellers are looking for, it’s easier to provide them with the details and information that they need – yes, it really is as simple as that.

Your real estate assistant can create polls, participate in forums, address questions that come in on the phone and in email messages. She can then compile information about what people are really looking for and create information that addresses those needs. As a result, you’re better able to give your clients what they need and, when that happens, you’ll find that your real estate business becomes far more successful.

Chances are good that your real estate website is not performing as well as it could (it’s probably also a safe bet that reading that statement stings a bit – sorry about that); are you able to look at it and figure out why?

If you’re working with a real estate assistant – particularly if you’re working with a real estate virtual assistant who knows a bit about running a business online – you just might find that an objective look at your real estate site can determine where improvement can be made.

Your real estate assistant can help you go through your website, feature by feature and page by page to see what you’re not offering that you should be, to see what’s getting a good reaction and what site viewers aren’t thrilled with. More importantly, your real estate assistant can take a look at the sites your competitors have and see what they’re doing well to help identify improvements to be made.

Then your real estate assistant can help you to make some updates to your site, and ensure that you’re getting as much out of it as possible.

Your website is a valuable marketing tool – at least it should be; your real estate assistant can make sure that it’s successful for you.

Adding real estate listings to your website is becoming increasingly necessary for most agents and brokers – but not everyone has the time to focus on adding them. Now that there is discussion of new online listing standards, having a real estate assistant who can ensure that your listings are not only appearing online but also that they are appearing in the right format is essential.

The latest discussion is centered around the specific features that don’t pertain so much to all listings – things like water views aren’t relevant for homes that aren’t located near lakes, rivers or oceans; info regarding ski areas and access to lifts isn’t going to be relevant in, for example, Miami. But, if you’re in an area where those features are relevant – where home buyers are actually looking for them – wouldn’t it make more sense for your real estate assistant to focus on them in the listing?

Yes, the number of bedrooms and bathrooms along with total sq. footage are still essential to your listing and will be included. But as Yahoo Real Estate and others like it adopt a new standard, shouldn’t you know that your listings will still have a place?

Some real estate agents market their services simply by using the tools that other agents have worked with – there’s this idea of, “well, if it works for them, it will work for me.” But here’s something for you to think about: marketing materials are supposed to make you stand out – if you’re using the same materials as everyone else, how will set yourself apart?

A real estate assistant can work with you to create marketing materials that will work – materials that will keep your business going strong.

Your real estate assistant can work with your to create:

1. Marketing materials that do more than just add your name, photo and address to a pre-designed template; rather than creating mail that looks like everyone else’s – mail that looks like junk mail to many who receive it – your real estate assistant can design materials that stand out.
2. Marketing materials that focus on those who will use your services not on services that you’ve provided to others. When your materials talk only about your successes, they are less likely to “speak” to buyers, sellers or investors that you’re trying to reach.
3. A message that really helps you to reach out to your target audience – in other words, your real estate assistant can help you craft the right message for each group of prospects that you’re trying to reach rather than a general message.
4. Marketing tools that encourage people to act and that have a professional appearance.

It’s the little things that determine the success of any marketing campaign; many real estate pros don’t have the time to focus on all the little details – that’s just one more reason why have a real estate assistant or real estate VA is so beneficial.