A look at how virtual assistant company MyOutDesk’s love for service has helped scale real estate businesses
Back in 2006, real estate broker Daniel Ramsey wanted to find a way to focus on the more important aspects of the business and not worry so much about the minutia that still needed to be done on a day-to-day basis.
“I had a lot of paperwork, marketing coordination and even a lot of phone calls to answer, and it wasn’t the highest and best use of my time, so I hired my first virtual assistant because I had this big need,” says Ramsey.
A year later, Ramsey was on his honeymoon in Guatemala and found himself working at the resort bar at one in the morning while his bride was asleep.
“In that moment, I realized that I wanted to have a business that didn’t control me, and I decided to focus on building more systems and processes inside my business, which meant hiring more specialized people,” he says. “With U.S.-based people, it was very hard to find individuals who could specialize in one piece of the process, but virtual assistants were specialized in one area and wouldn’t break the bank.”
That led to his founding of MyOutDesk, a virtual assistant service that helps scale real estate businesses by matching companies with remote workers who can specialize in important tasks.
“In the last 13 years since inception, we’ve helped more than 6,000 clients figure out how to grow and scale their business with virtual professionals,” says Ramsey.
MyOutDesk has dramatically changed the industry by providing talented virtual professionals to assist REALTORS® in almost all aspects of the business at three times less than the cost of a local hire. REALTORS® are able to grow their businesses by focusing on dollar-generating activities while their virtual professionals run everything else in the background.
With more than 600 verified five-star business reviews, last year, the company saved its clients more than $55 million.
MyOutDesk’s philosophy is to provide the “Most Valuable Player” for every real estate team, which is accomplished through an extensive screening and onboarding process, including FBI-level background checks, to ensure a company gets the highest-quality staffing possible.
According to Ramsey, people are essential resources in a business, and talented ones are needed to proactively run it.
“Most of MyOutDesk’s virtual professionals are degree holders or college-educated individuals able to handle even the most complex tasks. Having one on your team will ensure maintenance of a well-oiled machine we call your business,” says Ramsey, citing the example where one virtual assistant stepped in and essentially ran the business he was working for when the broker/owner had a stroke.
Drilling down even further, many agents and brokers are seeing more than four times ROI by using MyOutDesk virtual assistants.
Knolly Williams, CEO and broker with Knolly Realty, has been a client of MyOutDesk for almost eight years.
But before becoming a client, Williams questioned if it could really help.
“I knew Daniel owned this company, and I knew what it did, but I didn’t see how it could benefit me, and I was skeptical about working with people who were overseas,” he says. “I didn’t know enough about it.”
While attending an industry convention, he saw a MyOutDesk booth, and struck up a conversation with Ramsey about how he was feeling overwhelmed by work. With a long-time employee nearing retirement, Williams was expecting things to get worse.
“He told me how he could help and set me up with three choices of virtual assistants to interview,” says Williams. “I loved the whole process and ultimately hired someone to replace the guy who was retiring.”
That first virtual assistant was Chris Capistrano from the Philippines. Today, he acts as operations manager for the Knolly Team. Williams was so impressed by how strong his work ethic was, that he’s since hired two other virtual assistants to help the company.
“Chris does all my tech reports,” says Williams, who also has virtual assistants that work in his real estate software company and coaching business. “I have a checklist of items that need to be done, and my virtual assistants handle at least half of those duties. Anything that doesn’t require a license, they help with. It’s been life-changing for me.”
Capistrano shares that working for MyOutDesk not only allowed him to earn a living, but also gave him the flexibility he needed to carry out the responsibilities as a single father to an 18-year-old daughter and caregiver to his elderly mom.
“Since I work remotely, I no longer have to wake up hours before my work schedule in order to endure long commutes and face the grueling traffic in Manila,” he says. “I am also able to save a significant amount of money by cutting down on transportation, food and corporate attire expenses. This entails less stress, and I can be more focused on my priorities, which include family and work.”
In his role, Capistrano is responsible for the operations, customer support, billing, product development and maintenance for Knolly’s IT business—www.moresolds.com. He also oversees and manages Knolly’s content marketing campaign.
Capistrano also enjoys that MyOutDesk cultivates a zestful working environment by hosting live events such as an annual conference and parties.
“Just because I work from home doesn’t mean I have to live in a small bubble,” he says. “Interaction amongst employees is very much encouraged as well.”
Ramsey notes that virtual assistants who work for MyOutDesk are part of the team, and the company treats them the same as if they were in the office, which aids in keeping everyone involved happy and feeling part of a winning team.
For more information, please visit myoutdesk.com/services.
Keith Loria is a contributing editor to RISMedia.
