Published May 4, 2021. Updated August 10, 2023.
What kind of assistant is right for you? If you've put off hiring help for your property management business because you need more than a "personal" assistant, we understand it can be confusing when trying to understand the difference between a personal assistant vs. a virtual one.
We're here to help! While a personal assistant can be an excellent help for a business owner or CEO, they won't boost your company's overall productivity, enhance the quality of services you offer, or help your company grow.
There are plenty of excellent benefits to having a personal assistant. However, if your goal is to add a team member that makes an immediate impact on customer service, alleviates workloads, and helps streamline operations, you need to find a property management virtual assistant!
Keep reading to learn more about the differences between these two types of assistants.
What Is a Personal Assistant?
If you're thinking of someone who helps extremely busy people stay organized and handle some of life's most mundane tasks, you're probably thinking of a personal assistant.
You don't have to be a CEO or rich and famous to hire help with errands, scheduling, taking phone calls, or picking up dry cleaning. However, someone doing those things for you won't necessarily be the help you need for your property management business!
A personal assistant can help you maximize your time — but when thinking of your company, clients, and growth, property managers need to think bigger! Most property management business owners don't need a personal assistant. They need a company-wide virtual assistant (or remote team member)!
What is a Property Management Virtual Assistant?
A virtual assistant could be the answer to many challenges in your company, including having more work than team members to do it (with excellence) and not having the staff to support business growth.
Think about the goals you have for your company. What does your business need to grow? If you need more people and hours in the day, it's probably time to add a virtual assistant for property management to your team.
With a VA that serves your company (beyond your personal needs as the business owner), more people win!
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Your team has help to handle routine tasks that bog them down and keep them from serving clients.
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Your clients (and renters) experience the next level of excellent care that keeps them with you (and not a competitor).
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Your business has room to grow and serve more doors.
A virtual assistant doesn't pick up lunch for the team or run errands for you while you work. However, they can take on critical tasks that contribute more to your company's success than what a personal assistant can do.
So, What Can They Do?
Think about your biggest pain points and picture an extra set of well-trained hands to help those challenges become a thing of the past. While you might never work in the same room as your virtual contractor, the right person can handle a full-time workload that improves your business efficiency and customer service.
When you choose a property management virtual assistant from the right workforce outsourcing solution, they can:
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Reduce the workload for property managers and other staff
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Coordinate tenant and prospective tenants' requests
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Manages workflows
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Handle repetitive property management services and tasks, like renewal reminders, property listings, and scheduling showings or maintenance requests
Offloading these tasks (and many more) for a virtual property management assistant to handle means your other team members have room to breathe! They can focus more time and attention on serving clients and renters while helping grow your business.
With more "productive" time in their day, a property manager has room to add more doors and grow your business.
VAs Deliver Quality, Skilled Work (With Fewer Costs to You)
If all of this sounds like you're hiring another full-time employee — but you don't have the budget for another in-house staff member — the "virtual" aspect of this type of assistant makes them budget-friendly!
A property management VA is a lower payroll expense because companies don't have to cover the costs of paid time off, health insurance, retirement plans, employer taxes, and other benefits. You only pay for the work that they do!
Additionally, since VAs are independent contractors, they handle their insurance, retirement, and other benefits on their own without impacting your company's payroll.
When business owners build a team of property management virtual assistants, they experience higher productivity that benefits their business, team, property owners, and tenants.
The Right Virtual Assistants Have Industry Experience
Can you find someone working in another country that understands the U.S. property management industry?
If you look in the right place — yes!
Not virtual assistants have property management experience. While they can be quality assets for your team, they might not be the best resources.
Instead, choose virtual contractors from an outsourcing solution that provides remote talent specifically for the property management and real estate industries. When you work through the VPM Solutions platform, you have access to thousands of VAs with industry training and experience.
We provide an educational resource called the VPM Academy. It's a free in-platform learning center with courses and certifications for virtual assistants. That means property managers can not only choose from experienced VAs, but their remote teams also have access to ongoing training (always free) to build their knowledge and skills to become long-term valuable resources for your company.
You Need a Virtual Assistant for Property Management
While a personal assistant can help a CEO (or property management company owner) get through their days, they aren't the best team member to help grow your business. When choosing the best addition to your team for maximum impact on your services, clients, renters, and team, choose a property management virtual assistant!
VPM Solutions helps connect property managers with the best virtual property management talent. With free access to our workforce outsourcing platform, property managers can find the ideal matches for the roles they need to fill. Our virtual assistants understand the property management industry and have access to training to help enhance their skills and keep them relevant within the industry.
Get started with a Free Company Profile! You can also click below to request a free copy of our guide for building remote teams.
