Hiring an assistant can be like a double-edged sword. You need one or more to help you grow, but the more you have, the further away you get from hands-on customer service - the very reason your buyers and sellers hired you.

That assistants increase productivity is without question. What question remains is at what point does having an assistant get between you and the customer you serve.

Your assistant(s) replace you in the consumer's mind. Once you have one, the customer no longer is able to talk to you directly - they now have a gatekeeper to get through before you come to the phone. They have a problem, but you aren't available to solve it - you have your assistant give them the appropriate response.

Pretty soon, your customer relations are all in the hands of the assistant. What kind of a job is your assistant doing for the customer? Is it the same level of service you would provide? If not, your customer may wonder why they are paying you, when they talk to your assistant so much more frequently.

So you are faced with a dilemma. How do you keep the high-touch personalized service that REALTORS are known for and capture an increased share of the market simultaneously?

It is said that 20% of the agents secure 80% of the transactions. Many do so by multiplying their time through hiring assistants. Many of the nation's most well-known brokers such as Ralph Roberts of Ralph Roberts Realty and Eleanor Mowery-Sheets, the top producer with Coldwell Banker each have multiple assistants.

Roberts maintains the first thing he did as a rookie was to hire an assistant to take his place during "floor time" to free him to farm his territory.

Mowery-Sheets has the ultimate assistant - her husband, Nicky, who handles the technology and promotional aspects of her $77 million plus annual business. In addition, these top producers have teams of assistants who specialize in certain aspects of the real estate transaction from marketing, to open houses, to farming, to handling the details that occur daily in the office. Agents like Roberts and Mowery-Sheets represent the top 1% of the industry, a small number indeed. How do they make having assistants work as well for the customer as they do for their productivity?

Depending on your level of production you may have considered hiring or have already hired an assistant or two to handle the time-consuming details of your business. As they answer the phone, get fliers printed and mailouts done, take pictures of properties and put up yard signs, and more, you are able to address the parts of the business that rewards you with income - listing and selling. And depending on your level of income, you may be able to afford only a part-timer, or you may be at the point where you have a full-fledged real estate professional working for you who is not only proficient with productivity software training but has a real estate license to boot.

With a new assistant, what is the learning curve? Does he or she catch on quickly, or embarrass you with an unprofessional tone or manner? Do you find you are a good boss - one that can communicate your needs kindly and clearly, or is it difficult for you to delegate? Does your assistant understand the urgency of attending to some details over others?

How much do you trust your assistant? Do you find that your assistant is gradually taking over the running of your business? Be careful. That is exactly what can happen. At your side, your assistant will be able to shorten the learning curve in real estate and may one day launch his/her own business, taking a percentage of your customers with them.

One question that remains to be answered also is - do customers choose agents because of their volume of sales or because they want a working relationship with that particular agent? Have you ever lost a customer who didn't hire you because you were "too big?"

How much contact do you have with your customer once you have them signed on the dotted line? Do you keep track of your referrals? How many come from buyers and sellers who worked with you after you obtained an assistant?

Do you feel you are giving better customer service by having an assistant? Or is it better for your bottom line? Or both?

Write to our editor ( ) and let us know what you think.

Published: August 31, 1998

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