Marvin is a top-ranked, nationally recognized financial advisor with a focus on helping people invest & save more wisely for their golden years. As the founder of Compass Retirement Solutions, his team leverages MyOutDesk virtual assistants for both administrative & inside sales roles, and on average, they’re making him over a 20x ROI – and sometimes even more.
“My virtual assistant made me $43,000 in commissions less than half an hour ago, so if you’re still on the fence about hiring one, my advice is: just do it. The ROI on our virtual assistants is amazing – it’s definitely going to finish the year over 20x…”
Marvin isn’t just leveraging his ISAs for prospecting: he’s also using them to prequalify prospects, which saves his team of advisors countless hours – and lets them focus on advising only qualified prospects who are ready to take advantage of his expertise. This is only one of the many strategies Marvin has used to grow his business into the #3 financial advising firm in the United States. Take Marvin’s advice: just do it! Schedule your Double My Business Strategy Session now!
Marvin grew up in a working-class family in St. Louis, with little money. The first in his family to earn a college degree, Marvin put his law school education on hold to help care for his grandmother after she was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer. Marvin soon discovered that, although his grandmother had worked her whole life, she was still susceptible to financial turmoil as a result of poor financial advice and a stock market crash. Inspired to help other, hardworking retirees, Marvin became a broker for a large financial institution in 2005 before founding Compass Retirement Solutions.
“Once we get that lead, that’s where my MyOutDesk virtual assistants come in – they’re following up on those leads, getting them on our calendar and making our time more efficient. It saves us literally hundreds hours of time because we don’t have to skim through all of those individuals to find the most qualified people – and it’s changed our average case size from $325,000 to over $850,000!”
In 2016, he received the Salute to Business Excellence Award as voted by the St. Louis American Newspaper, and also that year, he was an honored recipient of the St. Louis County NAACP Distinguished Legacy Award. Schedule your Double My Business Strategy Session now, and drill down on doing your one thing to the absolute best of your abilities.
Honestly, we hear this more often than we would like. Other virtual assistant companies are hurting the trust that businesses have for virtual assistants — and these are the companies which do not hold the same gold standards as MyOutDesk does. The truth is, there are broad opportunities & huge potential when choosing the right virtual assistant provider & business partner.
Like most business owners, the past quarter went by as a complete crash course for many.
MyOutDesk is here to support your business as you go through this change in today’s market. We serve you by supplying valuable resources, helping you support your customers, and providing remote solutions that allow your business to thrive and survive!
You can get past the hurdle as we did & see profits again using our free & timely resources:
Business Continuity Plan – Disaster Recovery
Internal document for disaster response
Crisis contingency planning
Management responsibilities
The Entrepreneur’s Thrive Guide in Today’s Changing Market
The CEO Mindset
How to access government CASH relief
Reinvent your value & REDUCE operating costs while staying effective
Go Remote Fast Guide
Stay productive & save your business
Effectively transition to a fully remote workplace
You can access all three guides when scheduling a no-frills strategy consultation with us.
MyOutDesk started its business to scale with virtual assistants DURING the last recession, the global financial crisis of 2008. We are uniquely positioned to help you BEST respond to the current health crisis. That’s why we’re offering FREE strategy consultation calls & downloads.
During the call, we’ll walk you through step-by-step on how to use these guides & understand what your business needs to recover ASAP.
In 2018, only 5% of Americans worked remotely. Today, over 50% are attempting to do it, but are they doing it correctly?
Be prepared to shoot back up while understanding today’s market. Don’t wait around like many businesses, and stay ahead of the curve. Schedule a strategy consultation & access these 3 guides today!
From marketing to administrative tasks and even sales, the help of Virtual Assistants offers a ton of benefits. The demand for virtual assistants is multiplying. To help you make the best decision for your business, understand the benefits of virtual assistants here.
Top talent Virtual Assistants bring you a huge return on investment. Claim a free business strategy consultation & Thrive Guide
These are compelling reasons to hire a virtual assistant, and for many jobs ranging from administrative work to telemarketing, a Virtual Assistant working remotely is a perfect fit. Here’s what career Virtual Assistants know they contribute when working full-time with clients.
1. Increased flexibility
Regardless of the industry, you’ll experience incredibly busy periods, as well as slower periods. Your goals may also change throughout the year, impacting the types of tasks that need to be addressed. In order to achieve this level of flexibility, a virtual assistant is an ideal solution.
This strategy will allow you to pinpoint opportunities that’ll likely lead to increased productivity and growth — all while you continue to develop new growth ideas and techniques.
MyOttDesk Virtual Assistants are selected through a stringent talent-matching process. They are a professional talent pool with experience serving real estate, healthcare, finance, commerce, utilities, and much more!
MyOutDesk can save you up to 70% on employment costs
2. Cost-saving strategies
When considering hired help, you must compare the potential cost-saving benefits associated with a virtual assistant. When hiring a full-time employee, you’ll need to consider costs related to onboarding, benefits, and other hidden costs.
In contrast, a virtual assistant can help you overcome busy periods without needing to pay someone during slower periods. Although you’ll still need to pay for their services, a virtual assistant is an investment — the type of investment that can significantly boost long-term revenue.
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3. Enhanced efficiency
The old saying, “Two heads are better than one,” could not be closer to the truth. When hiring a virtual assistant to address x, y, and z, those tasks no longer require your attention. Learning to delegate such tasks is one of the most effective ways to boost overall efficiency.
Also, a virtual assistant can help you become much more organized so that you can easily access the files and documents you need when you need them. From bookkeeping to CRM management, a virtual assistant will provide the level of support you need.
4. Consistent customer service
Some weeks seem as though they are hitting like a ton of bricks. As you try to catch up, prospective business is not addressed as it should be. Whether following up with last week’s clients or are sending out client documentation, you can INSTEAD spend your time on more dollar-productive activities and leave the rest to a mighty Virtual Assistant.
In turn, your clients/customers are not getting the attention they expect — and your business could suffer. Virtual assistants can address all of your customers’ questions and concerns, all while you focus on driving your business forward.
5. Greater lead generation
Just imagine being able to grow your client list while you strengthen your relationship with current clients. Perhaps you have a contact list that you have not yet used for marketing purposes? If so, a virtual assistant could create an email or telemarketing campaign to gain more leads and, in turn, grow your client list.
If routine, non-dollar productive tasks are steering your business into a rut, it’s time to eliminate these tasks off your plate. MyOutDesk has been serving business professionals across the country for over 13 years, becoming one of the top service providers in virtual assistant services.
Survive and Thrive
We are here only for your success. That’s why we are offering zero-obligationstrategy calls with free access to our guides and books.
The CEO Mindset. Lead by example, double down, and gain market share.
Refreshed value. Understand what people want and need now, and how your business can respond to these demands.
Becoming an exceptional force – all while reducing operational costs. Reduce operational costs with virtual assistants, a forgivable expense through the SBA. Restructure to a remote workspace and create new plans with a CEO’s mindset.
MyOutDesk brings you 13 years of recession-tackling knowledge. We are committed to supporting your continued drive to champion a thriving business and support your local community during the COVID-19 health crisis.Schedule a free strategy call today.
Claim a free business strategy consultation & Thrive Guide
Nobody knows remote work like MyOutDesk. Watch this exclusive webinar event to give you complete, step-by-step instructions to take your business remote!
Watch now & download our free how-to guide below!
This week, California implemented a “Shelter In Place” policy, locking down the Bay Area to everything but essential businesses. Washington State has done the same, closing restaurants, bars, gyms, and schools – with other states soon to follow. Make no mistake: for most businesses, this will be a forced transition to a virtual/remote work environment, so prepare now for a smooth, seamless transition! Also, to get the knowledge, support & staffing you need to go fully remote, schedule your Double My Business Strategy Session now!
MyOutDesk has thousands of clients & virtual assistants across the world working in a virtual environment, giving us 13 years of experience in virtual & remote workplace environments – and in this exclusive, upcoming live webinar, we’re going to be walking you through EXACTLY how to take your business remote during the COVID-19 crisis.
This must-watch webinar event is presented as a community service by MyOutDesk to help you prepare, transition, and keep your business going during our current economic uncertainty.
What You’ll Learn In This Webinar
How Remote Work Differs From In-Office Work
Fundamental Steps To Get Setup To Go Remote
How To Prepare Your Employees Mentally
How to Prospect & Hold Sales Calls Remotely
How to Avoid Client Cancelations (Key Objection Handlers)
Beginning & End Of Day Productivity Reports
Voip Vs. Traditional Phone Systems, What To Use & How To Setup
Remote Video-Conferencing Software: What To Use, When & How To Use It
Team Chat Software: How To Effectively Setup & Manage A Team Chat Environment
Personal Communications Solutions: Facetime, iMessage, Skype & Messenger
Remote Documents & Signatures: Docusign, FedEx & More
Remote Productivity: Time Blocking, Managing Family & Work Responsibilities)
Naming Conventions For Share Files & Folders
Productivity (Time Blocking, How To Manage Your Time)
File Sharing Solutions for Remote Teams
Important Checklists, Guides & To-Do Lists
Using ScheduleOnce For Meeting Management
How To Run A Virtual Meeting
Task Management Solutions To Stay Organized
In Chinese, the word “crisis” means danger + opportunity. In today’s market, agile businesses will adapt to new rules & challenges of the remote workplace & rise to the top of the market, while brick & mortar competitors continue to struggle & lose market share. Which of these would you prefer to be?
Virtually any professional services business can go remote: from real estate to telemedicine. The question is how to do it quickly & effectively. MyOutDesk is your partner in going remote – schedule your Double My Business Strategy Session now and let us help you!
Lock-downs, social distancing, and community quarantines are in full force all over the world, and for those whose who are able to accommodate it, working from home is the new norm for many businesses as well. Switching from a normal office setup to a remote setting can be a huge adjustment and those of us who have been doing this for years would like to share some tips and insights on what you can do to ensure that you and your business continue to thrive despite this major shift. Make sure to read all the way to the end, we’ll be sharing some other articles we’ve posted in the past that might be helpful as well!
Navigate the ins and outs of running your team remotely with a MyOutDesk Virtual Assistant. Book a consultation with us today to find out how.
Your Home Office
Setting up a home office can be a great way to ensure that you continue to remain focused on your daily grind. If you don’t have one already, make sure you have enough space and all the materials and supplies you need. Anything from stacks of notepads and sticky notes, a corkboard, and even a snack drawer think of everything you usually need at your office desk and make sure you have them handy. You might need to invest in some hardware or technology that could be very helpful to you as well. Like a good pair of noise-canceling headphones or headset, a webcam, etc.
If space is an issue for you, putting up a divider of some sort can be a great option. If you have children, roommates, or other people who are staying home just like you, have a conversation about what you need and perhaps agree on “quiet time” or “do not disturb” hours so you can all focus on what you need to get done.
The important thing is to focus on the positives of working from home, like your fully equipped kitchen and the fact that you can wear your PJ’s to work, oh and did we mention the short and hassle-free commute from your bed to your desk?
Your Team
Leading a remote team will have its unique challenges but if you are able to set it up well then you can expect smooth sailing. By setting specific parameters that you not have had to do in your office, you can all go on as you usually do. Assess the roles in your team and how working remotely might change the dynamics of that role and find solutions to how those differences can be addressed in your new setting. As time goes on, make sure you are all clarifying and re-clarifying goals and roles so that nothing slips through the cracks.
A disruptive event like coronavirus will generate new and competing tasks across the business. As a result, leaders need to continually clarify goals at the team and individual levels to stay focused on key priorities. A great way to keep track of this is by using a project management tool like Monday or Slack. Make sure all members of your team are\updating their boards consistently and in real-time so that nobody gets lost and everyone knows each other’s progress.
Keep your team’s unity strong by creating ways to interact online. Schedule regular meetings via applications like Zoom or GoToMeeting. Many programs offer free subscriptions and many are offering free services for companies and businesses in light of the coronavirus. Make sure you also set time to have interactions that are not work-related so that you and your team have a chance to check in on each other’s personal lives.
The Harvard Business Review suggests the following:
Take a virtual tour. At the start of a project, encourage each person to take a few minutes to show the team his or her home workspace and share some personal context. What are the possible distractions — like barking dogs, noisy passing trucks, or kids coming home from school? The aim is to help colleagues develop an understanding of each person’s work context so they can be more sensitive to each other’s constraints.
Acknowledge non-traditional workspaces. Michael, a millennial working in New York City, lives in an apartment with multiple roommates and doesn’t have private office space for working at home. If some of his roommates are also working remotely, he is likely to face the challenge of people walking or talking in the background during video calls. Let Michael know you appreciate his challenge and are open to discussing alternatives like flexing work hours so that calls happen when it’s quieter for him.
Keep your assumptions or stereotypes in check. Sarah, an executive participating in a conference call, received a text message from a colleague: “Mute yourself. We can hear your baby crying.” She replied: “My baby is napping. That’s Matthew’s son you heard.” The ambiguity inherent in having team members working from home can lead to biased assumptions about focus and commitment to work.
Here are some articles we’ve published that might further help you out as you lead your virtual team:
HOW TO BUILD AMAZING WORK CULTURE FOR YOUR VIRTUAL TEAM!
While the coronavirus and other such calamities might lead to disruption and cause you to have to change things quite drastically, we now have technology and means to be able to adjust with the right strategies.
If you would like to find out more about MyOutDesk Virtual Assistants and how they can become key players in your team during this time, please schedule your consultation so we can help you out.
When it comes to the fear, uncertainty & doubt associated with the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, it’s important to remember that employers play arguably the most important role in preventing panic. We’ve all seen the growing number of headlines in the news about COVID-19 and the ensuing state of public hysteria. By educating & reassuring your team, you’re in a good role to help them make keep a level head & make good decisions – both for the business as well as in their personal lives.
If you’re scrambling to decide how to best ensure employees, this is the guide for you. We at MyOutDesk are offering you a free and easy communications guide to best discuss health risks and safety with your employees, and if you want to learn more about remote & virtual solutions, Schedule a Free Consultation Now.
Here’s what you need to communicate for reassuring your team and tackling the panic:
1. Striking a Balance on Communication
In the workplace, employers take up the role of protecting their employees, enacting response plans, and overall fostering a state of preparedness. Employees trust their place of employment for reliable information and guidance. Through all the panicked news headlines, you will present a voice of reason.
We’ve sifted through the facts for you. Here at MyOutDesk, we’ve distributed various guidance communications for our employees, including an FAQ Notice that your business can use as well.
3) Rely on Information from Official Health Authorities
Discuss with your employees on finding reliable information from local and national health authorities. As tempting as checking the news may be, media often times are sensationalizing the health crisis, fostering panic instead of promoting preparedness.
The CDC and your local health authorities will give the most accurate information about the immediate impacts and risks of the health crisis for your community.
Link to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):
The following resources are centered around virtual assistant services, yet they are helpful resources for any business that are promptly transitioning to remote work and want to train any virtual employee.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website recommends businesses actively encourage employees to stay home and/or to practice good hand hygiene and coughing/sneezing etiquette in the workplace.
Luckily, our Virtual Professionals are most optimally positioned to work remotely from their homes. We encourage your business to take advantage of and utilize the telework tools and systems that are in place with your Virtual Professional(s) should you need to expand remote work for your employees.
We pray that your team, families, and communities remain safe and healthy during this time of heightened concern. If you want to learn more about remote & virtual solutions, Schedule a Free Consultation Now.
The threat of the Coronavirus or COVID-19 pandemic is steadily growing in the United States and as a result, many companies have turned to order their employees to work remotely. As this continues many companies face the challenge of reframing their business protocols and processes. The increasing uncertainty and anxiety about the personal dangers from the potential pandemic and its impact on the economy will make the challenge of adjusting to these work changes even greater.
For example, the social media platform Twitter has encouraged its employees to work from home to do their part in preventing the spread of the virus. Other companies such as the tech giant Google and investment bank JP Morgan are also amongst the companies currently exercising remote working protocols for safety. While only a third of people in the U.S. currently work remotely, this sudden shift may be a taste of what experts predict that in the year 2025, 70% of workers will be working remotely. If you want to learn more about remote & virtual solutions, Schedule a Free Consultation Now.
A global poll from 2018 by data and insights company Kantar found that of 33,000 people, 32% valued a job where they could work from home. Joe Hirsh, a leadership and communication expert, told CNBC that he believed the outbreak of the coronavirus has the potential to make working from home more common practice. He argued that if more companies follow in the footsteps of Twitter and Google, this could “shift workplace dynamics.” Jon Addison, vice president of talent solutions EMEA at LinkedIn, agreed that businesses would inevitably find it more challenging to continue with “business as usual” under the current circumstances if they lack the technology infrastructure to work remotely or flexible working policies. For some, he said, the coronavirus outbreak could act as a “wake-up call” to enact this change. He said that working from home could actually prove advantageous for certain tasks, such as those which require “deep focus or privacy due to the sensitive nature of what’s being worked on.”
As more and more companies are following suit in asking their employees to work from home, some may worry that they are not equipped to handle such a change despite the necessity. Fortunately, many systems and programs already exist and have been around, being utilized by those businesses and companies where remote, virtual and outsourced staff is not by any means new. Many platforms are offering free access in light of the Coronavirus outbreak while many others have free account options already available.
Cisco’s WebEx, for example, reported that traffic on its backbone connecting China-based Webex users has increased by 22 times since the outbreak began. At the same time, it’s seen four to five times as many users in Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with the average time spent on Webex video meetings doubling among users in those countries. Simultaneously, free signup rates in countries with infections have increased by 700% or more.
If you are setting up systems for your team and or business to prepare for the possibility of having to work remotely, here are some options you may want to look into:
Cisco WebEx
Long-time conferencing service WebEx’s default-free plan offers you conferencing for up to three users with HD video, screen sharing on desktop and mobile devices, and limited recording options. It supports up to 50 participants per meeting, with meeting times capped at 40 minutes and online storage limited to 1GB.
With its special, Webex is offering unlimited usage with no time restrictions, support for up to 100 participants, and toll-call dial-in in addition to existing VoIP capabilities. This offer is being made with a free 90-day license to businesses that are not already Webex customers.
Google Hangouts Meet
Google, with 8,000 employees in Ireland, has already put its remote working conferencing to the test when it asked for all staffers to work from home for fear of possible coronavirus infection. Google isn’t offering free conferencing services to new users, but it is rolling out free access to its advanced Hangouts Meet video-conferencing capabilities to all its G Suite and G Suite for Education customers. This includes larger meetings, for up to 250 participants per call live streaming for up to 100,000 viewers within a domain; and the ability to record meetings and save them to Google Drive.
These features are typically available in the Enterprise edition of G Suite and in G Suite Enterprise for Education, but they will be available at no additional cost to all customers until July 1, 2020.
LogMeIn GoToMeeting
LogMeIn is another experienced video conferencing company that usually comes with a 14-day free trial. Now, according to the company, starting immediately, it will provide critical front-line service providers—including eligible healthcare providers, educational institutions, municipalities, and non-profit organizations—and current LogMeIn customers with free, organization-wide use of many LogMeIn products for three months through the availability of Emergency Remote Work Kits. This includes its flagship program, GoToMeeting and GoToWebinar.
Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams, which is more of an Office 365 feature than a separate service these days. In response to the virus threat, Microsoft is offering a new six-month Office 365 E1 trial offer that includes full meetings, collaboration, and workflow capabilities and will enable all global customers—e.g., hospitals, schools, and businesses—to start using Teams immediately. In addition, beginning March 10, Microsoft is rolling out updates to the free version of Teams that will lift restrictions on user limits and make it possible for users to schedule meetings for video calling and conferencing. The free version of Microsoft Teams was already impressive in its own right. It supports up to 300 members, with guest access, one-on-one, and group video and audio calls, shared files (2GB per user and 10GB per team), screen sharing, and document collaboration using online Office apps.
Zoom
Zoom is offering, for its Basic (free) users in China, unlimited meeting time for conferences with more than two participants. Like Microsoft Teams, its default-free offering is good enough for many small-to-medium businesses (SMB). Its free tier allows unlimited 1-to-1 meetings group sessions of up to 40 minutes and 100 participants.
Other major conferencing services, such as Slack and Zoho Meetings, haven’t announced any special deals although it is safe to assume that they and all other conferencing services will be offering new deals soon. The demand for remote-meeting software is spreading faster than the virus as worry infects the business world. You may also want to look into project management software such as Monday or Basecamp.
For those who are new to the world of virtual and remote work, these are just a few programs and tools you can utilize to make sure that everything is business as usual, despite the change in location. Next week we’ll share tips on how to manage your new work situation, in the meantime check out our other awesome articles about remote teams and remote work.
We hope everyone is safe and doing well. In times like these, the best thing to do is stay informed, keep calm and hope, and pray for the best. Learn more about MyOutDesk remote & virtual solutions: Schedule a Free Consultation Now.
Marvin Mitchell is the founder of Compass Retirement Solutions, a top-ranked, nationally recognized financial advisor on a mission: to help people invest & save more wisely to have the financial security they need in their golden years. In this exclusive interview, you’ll learn Marvin’s strategies for business growth & savings, along with the strategies he’s used to growing his business into the #3 financial advising firm in the United States.
For Marvin, achieving success hasn’t been easy: he overcome a difficult childhood & numerous family responsibilities with optimism, hope, and hard work – and he learned along the way that building systems is the key to success. In this interview, you’ll learn how he went from working in the business to working on it, and how virtual assistants helped him get there. Schedule your Double My Business Strategy Session now!
Marvin grew up in a working-class family in St. Louis, with little money. The first in his family to earn a college degree, Marvin put his law school education on hold to help care for his grandmother after she was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer. Marvin soon discovered that, although his grandmother had worked her whole life, she was still susceptible to financial turmoil as a result of poor financial advice and a stock market crash. Inspired to help other, hardworking retirees, Marvin became a broker for a large financial institution in 2005 before founding Compass Retirement Solutions.
Marvin has dedicated his career to helping those in or near retirement protect their retirement portfolio. He believes in safety first, keeping it simple while earning a reasonable rate of return.
A St. Louis native, Mitchell is passionate about giving back to his local community. He and his team at Compass Retirement Solutions spend extra hours volunteering, donating college scholarship money for lower-income students, and contributing to breast cancer awareness and education. Mitchell served as vice president of leadership development for Urban League Young Professionals of St. Louis and is a former board member of United4Children.
In 2016, he received the Salute to Business Excellence Award as voted by the St. Louis American Newspaper. Also in 2016, Marvin was an honored recipient of the St. Louis County NAACP Distinguished Legacy Award.
Marvin can be heard weekly hosting his financial and economic radio talk show, “Re-thinking Retirement” on NewsTalk 97.1 FM, and seen hosting Four on 4 – Your Retirement on News Channel 4. Schedule your Double My Business Strategy Session now, and drill down on doing your one thing to the absolute best of your abilities.
A Guide for Employees:
Virtual Professionals & Transitioning Towards a Blended Organization
This FAQ guide is for employees and team members getting ready to welcome a new MyOutDesk Virtual Assistant.
First, Congratulations!
Having a new Virtual Professional is a recognition of all the hard work done to this point by all in the team – which includes you!
Congratulations on bringing in, or highly considering, a new MOD Virtual Professional for your team! This marks the beginning of a new and exciting time for you, your coworkers, and the company. Employing a virtual assistant means that the company is making an investment in your team and looking to achieve the next level of excellence and performance. The efforts you’ve put into the company have made it possible to hire a MOD Virtual Assistant.
What is a MOD Virtual Professional?
Simply put, a MOD Virtual Professional is a full-time addition to your organization, but they will work with you virtually. They can shoulder specific daily responsibilities, help maintain smooth operations, and allow the team more freedom to focus on their work.
Dedicated, full-time team members with a global background.
College-educated professionals who will work in your time zone.
Skilled with experiences desired by your organization.
Extensively screened and vetted through MyOutDesk.
Interviewed by your organization prior to being hired.
What will a MOD Virtual Professional bring to my team?
MOD Virtual Professionals will be a dedicated team members and trained by your organization. Since certain tasks and responsibilities can be distracting and preventing your team from focusing on more important work, they will be assigned to focus on a particular need within administrative duties, sales, communications, or another function. In short, the virtual assistant will specialize in specific business needs and save the team’s time and energy for their own projects.
Our virtual professionals, serving MyOutDesk’s 5000+ clients, are responsible for phone calls, emails, paperwork, data, appointments, social media, IT, data maintenance, and much more — specific to the client’s industry.
For example, in sales, a MOD Virtual Professional would make appointments and handle prospecting calls for the entire day. In marketing, they would learn your company’s brand and voice to support with email campaigns and a full-time social media presence. For the reception, they would answer all incoming calls, book meetings, and triage the caller’s request. Once your hired virtual assistant is fully onboarded and equipped, expect to see overall increased productivity and improved results in your team.
Preparing for a MOD Virtual Professional & A Blended Organizational Model
In today’s global economy, many companies are leveraging talent between both physical and remote employees. Small- and mid-sized businesses increasingly have remote workers. This means businesses are adopting a blended organizational model. Most top US corporations developed a blended model over the last five decades.
To prepare — when your organization hires a MOD Virtual Professional, they will need to be onboarded and trained like any other employee. At the same time, the team will determine and adapt to best practices, technological tools, and procedures for training a strong blended team.
MyOutDesk offers training materials and resources that will help prepare you to interact successfully with a virtual team member. We equip all clients with a service portal, a dedicated account manager, and a virtual solutions trainer.
Hiring a MOD Virtual Professional means that your organization is ready to increase its capacity, impact, and overall performance. The MyOutDesk team is excited to support you and the success of your team. Feel free to contact your main contact at MyOutDesk with any questions and to discuss any next steps.
Erin McCormick-Torres is the Chief Operating Officer at Hergenrother Realty – the #4 top-ranked RealTrends team in America. What’s her secret to success? MyOutDesk virtual assistants! Her organization leverages them to dominate the Burlington, Vermont market with over 2,000 transactions a year.
“I actually don’t like personally the word delegate. I prefer leverage, because I think it speaks to opportunity. When you view it as I’m not giving this person a this task because I’m too good for it – I’m giving them them an opportunity to contribute. It’s a growth opportunity for someone else on my team, and it allows me to be freed up for things that are dollar producing.”
Erin believes that every successful agent has what Gary Keller calls their “one thing” – and if they’re wasting time on paperwork & repetitive administrative tasks, it takes them away from doing what really matters: the dollar productive opportunities that generate new business.
That’s why Erin has implemented MOD virtual assistants throughout the Hergenrother organization – supporting agents, brokers & executives with administrative expertise to allow them to focus on what matters. If you’d like to learn how to leverage virtual assistants in your business, learn how MyOutDesk can help boost your productivity for a fraction of the cost of in-house staff! Schedule your Double My Business Strategy Session now!
As Chief Operating Officer for Adam Hergenrother Companies, Erin oversees listing management, transaction coordination, finance, marketing, client care, and agent services. She also works on branding and positioning, lead generation strategies, content development, and overall marketing strategies for Adam Hergenrother Training, BlackRock Construction, Adam Hergenrother Foundation, and Keller Williams Vermont.
“Look really hard at your calendar, because if its filled up with tasks that aren’t actually income producing then it’s time for you to hire. By eliminating six hours of things on your calendar that don’t matter by hiring a virtual professional, you can use that time purposefully to generate more business – and you’re going to pay for that leverage many, many times over.”
Outside of her COO role, Erin is also a licensed Realtor, runs the popular Vermont blog Travel Like a Local: Vermont just published her first book and enjoys consulting with Vermont businesses on marketing, branding, and audience acquisition strategies. She handles a lot of tasks, but she doesn’t do it alone: her virtual assistants support her 100% of the way, giving her the ability to apply her expertise to top-level tasks that make a difference!
It comes down to leverage: if you don’t have it in your business, get it now! Schedule your Double My Business Strategy Session now, and drill down on doing your one thing to the absolute best of your abilities.
Do you want to learn from industry leader Knolly Williams about listing success? Do you want to know how to focus on your listings and get your business to thrive? Knolly Williams has helped Realtors® all over the nation get the life they deserve with training geared to getting more listings and making more profit while working 30 hours a week or less. Watch this exclusive webinar and get his eBook called “Why Focus on Listings?”— a curated excerpt from his book “Success with Listings,” as well as three training/coaching videos.
Knolly Williams has been featured on ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, Newsweek, and over 300 newspapers worldwide. He is an Author, Trainer, National Speaker, Entrepreneur, Real Estate Broker, and Pastor of the Front Row Church. Knolly has been a consistent top-performing Real Estate Broker and has coached tens of thousands of people worldwide, and his vision is to see you living your life to your fullest potential.
Schedule your Double My Business Strategy Session today and find out how a MyOutDesk Virtual Assistant can support you to boost your business.
Building a Listings Pillar for your Real Estate Business
When you’re talking about listings, the first thing you have to do to succeed in the game is to decide that listings are what you want. Listings aren’t what every agent wants. Some agents love working with buyers. What’s the number one way to get more buyers? That’s to have more listings. The more listings you have, the more buyers you’re going to have; if you will focus on listings and make that your primary focus, make that your one thing in the real estate game, it will reward you with the life of your dreams. What do we mean by the life of your dreams? This means, how would you like to make a quarter million or more a year, take several vacations a year and be debt-free?
Your Sphere of influence
After talking to many people, Knolly says that taking a blended approach works best. Knowing the place and space for spending on buying leads, marketing, buying ads, etc., is essential to building that listings pillar in your business. The reality is you don’t have to pay for leads until you’re maximizing every single opportunity that you currently have. That means, number one, utilizing your sphere of influence. Seven out of 10 people that you close will be people in your sphere. So that’s 70% of your paycheck. So if you’re going to make 100,000 this year, 70,000 will come from that one bucket. This also means getting referrals from your sphere of influence and getting reviews as well. Your sphere of influence is your first and most powerful arsenal in your business. Once you realize it and start utilizing it, you are well on your way to that dream life. The first answer is never to spend. As we mentioned early, there is a time and space where that will be needed. Leveraging your sphere of influence correctly is important. You want to make sure that you have exhausted every opportunity and wrangle every bit of business you can from here before you even consider any other strategy.
Creating a Cause
The business has to have a heart. Creating a cause behind your business will not only help it thrive, but it will give you a purpose and a greater sense of achievement. People who do business usually love people and are not simply driven by sales but by a love for serving others. Connecting with other people to drive towards a similar goal that serves a greater good is a great way to make connections and expand your sphere of influence.
Be Accountable
Creating a cause and working with your sphere of influence creates accountability for yourself and your business. While earning that money to go on your vacations is great, knowing that you are accountable for things beyond your wealth is a great driving motivation. By being accountable, you have a driving force that goes beyond just sales, and this will cause you and the people in your sphere to be more inspired.
Leveraging a Virtual Assistant for your Listings
There are 46 steps in every listing, but you only have to do three of those steps as a listing specialist. That means over 90% of all the activities can be delegated to someone else. And who is that someone else? A Virtual Assistant!
Now keep in mind that a virtual assistant isn’t a “plug and play” device – it will take time and patience to get your VA keyed into the point where they can function with minimal supervision. However, investing time in training your virtual assistant will produce excellent results. MyOutDesk is unique in that we offer a substantial support system for all our virtual assistant services. Not only is there intensive training before we endorse them to any client, but throughout the course of their career, they have a team of people in place to help with additional training they might need, to act as a resource for all the tasks they need to accomplish and to interact with you and ensure that you and your business are seeing the benefits to having your virtual assistant on your team.
Anything and everything that an employee can do without physically present can be done by your real estate virtual assistant. Three major areas that they can be utilized in are marketing, administrative work, and sales calls. With all of these different aspects being handled for you, you can truly take the time to focus on constantly excelling at what you do best.
Schedule your Double My Business Strategy Session today and find out how a MyOutDesk Virtual Assistant can support you to boost your business.
