Hiring the right assistant can mean everything for your business. Do it the right way and follow my taboo guidelines to picking the perfect person for your business.
How much should I pay?
The immediate answer is simple. Make it an unpaid internship for the first three months with the possibility of a salary offer. You need a trial period to make sure your assistant knows how to do all of your dirty work and does not sound like Lou Holtz on the phone. If you end up hiring them, offer them slightly above minimum wage and a percentage of each deal that you close. Explain to them that they will have a tremendous opportunity to make twice their salary after closings. They have no idea you only do two deals a year. Keep in the mind that the training and experience you are offering them is priceless!
Does their background matter?
No it does not. You do not need an Ivy League degree to sell a house. Having a solid resume is a plus, but it means absolutely nothing in the real estate industry. To be completely honest, it does not even really matter if they have a license. But do make sure they have their driver’s license so they can drive you to your inspections after kicking too many back during happy hour.
Should my assistant have a license?
This sounds like a dumb question. Why would you ever want to hire an assistant that does not have their license? I am telling you that there are pros and cons to both. Hiring an assistant with a license is good for legality purposes. However, you will have to worry about them wanting to get on deals with you and eventually become their own agent. This is why you must hire someone that is okay with being an assistant for a large portion of their career.
Do I hire a man or woman? (Because I am a guy. I will do it from a guy’s perspective.)
This is the most important decision you will make. Traditionally, a woman will be more loyal and better with customer service. However, their emotions can be a wild-card when dealing with difficult clients and time constraints. Guys can also make great assistants, but they usually use this position as a stepping stone for the next move in their career.
If you decide to hire a female assistant, you must take into consideration their level of attractiveness. Of course you want a hot assistant, but you have to decide if her cleavage will distract you from your daily tasks of doing absolutely nothing. You do not want to be fantasizing about the girl sitting in the same room as you when you should be following up with the three people that came your open. If you decide to hire a female, hire someone in the 6-7.5 range, not someone you would be afraid to wear gym shorts around. Also, accents are always a plus. So, basically the ideal assistant is a British 7 with phenomenal conversation skills and slightly revealing clothing.
If you decide to hire a guy, make sure that his ambitions do not outshine his duties. You want to hire a guy that is cool, but not that cool. If he actually has a social life and parties you should not hire him because he will be out of commission on the weekends. You should hire someone that is slightly a nerd and that is not quite smart enough to realize that you are underpaying him for doing your entire job.
