Published April 13, 2021. Updated October 2, 2023.
Adding a virtual assistant to your team can mean the difference between hours of working through low-level administrative tasks or spending more time building relationships with property owners and growing your business. With the right VA contributing to your team and taking on routine tasks that shouldn't be on your plate, you have more time to focus on big-picture items without sacrificing the quality of service to your owners and tenants.
So, how do you ensure that the person you choose as your property management virtual assistant is the real deal? VPM Solutions is here to share some things to look out for when you are ready to work with a virtual assistant.
Virtual Assistants (Should Be) Real People
Virtual assistants aren't AIs or computer programs. They're real people doing real work for small business owners! However, you might never meet your VA in person, so how can you know who you've chosen is who they say they are?
As a property manager, you know that some tenants try to fool you during the screening process. They look good on paper and might have good (but fake) references to convince you they'll be excellent residents in a property under your management. However, thorough research and a careful review and selection process can help you avoid bad or dishonest virtual assistants when adding one to your team.
A good VA will develop knowledge of your business and truly become an extension of your team and your brand. Before you let a scammer into your systems, software, and behind the scenes of your company, vet your potential new team member as thoroughly as you would an in-person W-2 employee coming to work in your office.
Choose the Right Outsourcing Platform
One key element to finding legitimate and skilled people for your virtual team is to start with a virtual job hub that delivers property management professionals who have already been vetted before becoming available to property managers.
Starting with a quality pool of specialized virtual assistant candidates means you'll find a VA you can trust in no time at all. VPM Solutions helps property managers verify potential remote team members through our background verification partnership. You can also use our platform to connect with candidates and schedule a video meeting to match a face and voice to a name on your screen.
They Must Integrate Well
Your VA will interact with property owners, tenants, and your other employees. So, finding a virtual assistant as an independent contractor with the right personality type and skills is critical to ensuring you've chosen the "real deal!"
Your VA should be an extension of your brand and the quality of services in your market. Someone pretending to be a "property management virtual assistant" won't be able to represent your brand well, and that will become clear quickly.
Your virtual assistant must have the poise and personality to take tenant maintenance calls, screen prospective renters, troubleshoot issues with the current tenants, respond to tenant complaints, and schedule inspections. Depending on their role, they should be able to stay organized and create work orders, dispatch vendors, follow up on work performed, and create/post invoices. They can even take calls any time, day or night (which your tenants will love!).
The best property management virtual assistants can be a primary point of contact for your business, interacting with all aspects of your business.
Thoroughly Vet Candidates
While personality is important when building virtual teams, skills and training are essential. When looking for the best candidate, keep an eye out for verifiable training and certifications.
At a minimum, you should look for VAs with experience in essential administrative duties, answering phones, and other critical business support tasks. Ideally, a candidate will be proficient in office and property management software, know property management terminology, have industry experience, and have some knowledge of social media automation tools.
Then, with a well-equipped VA, training them on the specifics of your business will help them ramp up as a valuable new team member right away.
VPM Academy Prepares Your VA
We help prepare your virtual team members for working in the property management industry by providing certifications and training courses through our VPM Academy. When looking for the best remote workers to fill a role with your company, you can search based on skills, training, and certifications!
Don't Forget a Background Check
Apply a thorough background screening you use during your routine recruiting and selection process. Verifying the information on a resume or platform profile helps ensure you choose a virtual assistant matching their posted credentials. Again, be sure to schedule a video meeting so you can "meet" your potential VA, ask questions about their experience, and get to know them a bit.
Be clear about what you are looking for when talking with remote team member candidates. In choosing your VA, aim for the 80-20 Rule, which guides you to select a candidate based on 80% personality and 20% technical and fundamental qualifications.
Skills can be learned! A person whose values, attitudes, and personality traits are contrary to your own will never be as productive for your team as you need them to be, regardless of their technical and fundamental qualifications.
Consider a Trial Period
As with any new addition to your workforce, it's appropriate to contract your new virtual assistant on a trial basis.
Typically, a 30-day contract is long enough to know whether a virtual assistant will work well for you. However, if you have complex systems or tasks that the VA will be handling, you may want to consider starting with a 60-day contract.
At the end of the trial contract period, you can work out a long-term contract if you are happy with the work your VA is doing.
We're the Real Deal! Find a Remote Team Member With VPM Solutions
Choosing and training a new team member is demanding and time-intensive. However, using a property management job search website like VPM Solutions can help you quickly find a remote team member who is qualified and ready to contribute meaningful work to your business!
With VPM Solutions, you have a pool of vetted and qualified talent to pick your next VA. Get started today with a Free Company Profile.
