Administrative Assistants are a valuable asset to Commercial real estate firms. Assisting with marketing materials, property research and Prospecting are some of the important activities that occupy their time. Whether family members are recruited to assist sole practitioners, or as a small firm grows, administrative staff are added to free up some of a Brokers time, where should the focus be to maximize value to the agents they serve?

Technology has evolved to make all of these functions easier, but where is the greatest return on that investment? The answer is that there are some things that can be automated and some things that you simply cannot. Many firms spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars per month automating listing management on their website and listing flyer creation, when this has actually become very inexpensive to do. For example, RealtyZapp includes both of these tools for free when a broker or agent markets all of their listings to the public for as low as $45 a month. 

True value-add from an administrative assistant comes from research that drives deal velocity. For example, an assistant could load public record information how about a Target listing into RealtyZapp, and when the broker arrives at the listing appointment early enough to take some photos and convert the draft listing to live, the marketing materials as well as the prospect's listing showing on the Brokers website and social media will already be complete as they speak to the owner about how Proactive their firm is. 

Another administrative activity that could actually drive revenue is researching the prime prospects for particular listings based on target verticals that the broker and owner identify. We recently had a client who hired a college intern to catalog all businesses in their market and code them by industry so that through RealtyZapp's e-mail campaign builder, they can target them directly with relevant opportunities for growth or relocation rather than passively hoping someone sees their sign or relying on other brokers who may at that time be working with a prospect of that type. Proactive direct marketing helps win both sides of more deals.

With the advent of free online tools that could replace the more costly tools you may currently be using, you could shift that budget to create a retargeting campaign that would boost market share like you wouldn't believe. Top residential agents have already identified this as their number one lead generation investment and are leveraging it to increase their client base. Commercial agents however have been slow to adopt this strategy, which could prove much more lucrative. And again, this would be a much more productive use of an administrative assistant's time. 

Feel free to contact RealtyZapp on how to increase deal velocity through a number of free or dirt-cheap methods to help you market smarter.  support@realtyzapp.com

For more information on increasing efficiency and deal velocity, visit our YouTube channel:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcpBCpFngpQLs9tFBwxHmnQ

Or learn, share and network on our community site, TalkRealtyZapp.com: https://talk.realtyzapp.com/portal/en/home

For more tips on how to improve your firm’s marketing efforts, join our monthly CRE marketing call for insight from the industry’s most talented Commercial Real Estate Marketing Professionals.  https://www.meetup.com/CREMarketing-Call/