Stay in business for yourself as a real estate professional long enough, and you will eventually find a number of ways to save time and make more money. Of all the time-saving and profit-aiding tools I have discovered over the years, outsourcing is one of the most valuable. Most of us agents feel as though we have to do everything ourselves in order for things to get done. I used to be like this, but no more. And believe me, when you learn to delegate and outsource, your business has the potential to explode. Here are five good reasons to think about outsourcing.
1. More Value Out of Your Time – When you’re in business for yourself, one of the most important things to remember is how much your time is really worth. Think about the monotonous, sometimes menial tasks you do all the time. Are they really worth your per-hour price tag? When you outsource, you’ll pay someone else a lot less than your time is worth to take care of those responsibilities, freeing up your time to tend to more important money-making projects.
Your time should be focused on marketing your business. Delegate or outsource everything else!
2. You Save Resources – Stop for a second and think about all that goes into tasks you probably could outsource. This might include writing blog posts, handling questions from clients, coordinating closings and home inspections, website maintenance or development, feature sheet preparations and more. When you outsource an activity, you are not only getting the task done without expending any of your time, but you also more than likely have the task done by someone who specializes in that task. More than likely, those who you outsource to will have a better grasp of the task than you do.
As an example, let’s say you hire someone on a freelance basis to edit an audio recording you created for a marketing campaign of yours. The person you hire for this job will already have audio editing software, which means you don’t have to buy it. You basically get free use of the software by outsourcing this project, and will save you money and learning time because someone who knows what they’re doing is doing it. Which brings me to the next benefit of outsourcing.
3. Go to the Experts – The tasks you are outsourcing might not be ones that you have no desire to learn , whether it’s writing sales copy for sales letters, creating a new website or something else. By handing the work over to an expert who enjoys and makes it their business to know these things, you’ll be able to take advantage of their knowledge in the area without having to learn it yourself. This in turn gives your clients more than you could possibly give them doing it yourself.
4. Expansion – As you outsource, you will realize you can get more involved with your business at a higher level. You will find time, finally, to work “on” your business instead of “in” your business, as my friend Michael Gerber teaches. This allows you time to market, time to recruit, time to follow up with prospects and clients. Outsourcing also frees up time to spend testing new systems in your business.
5. Accountability – When you outsource, your contract with the person or company will force you to stay on your own game, even ahead of the game, by planning better and making sure your important tasks are completed as well. When someone you have contracted to pay is depending on work that comes from you, it motivates you to do this. You’ll even find that tasks that are boring or repetitive to you can be handed off to someone who enjoys them. You will hold yourself accountable to get done what you need to get done to hand these things off.
These are five things that can help your business become even more profitable.
If you’re a slave to your real estate business, break those chains by outsourcing.