Tom Ferry on Leveraging Virtual Assistants

The concept of “leverage” has the power to get you more time and freedom to focus on implementing strategies that drive business success. Despite these benefits, most business owners don’t utilize the power of leverage because they either lack the confidence to execute different techniques or they may be aware of the tools and resources but they fail to take advantage of them. Leveraging means using the tools, people, and resources around you to help your business scale and grow to your goals and expectations. At Virtudesk, we love to do it by leveraging virtual assistants.

In the finale of Leverage Mastermind Event presented by Virtudesk, Tom Ferry, the #1 ranked Real Estate Educator by Swanepoel Power 200 and the best-selling author of “Life! By Design” and “Mindset, Model and Marketing”, together with Tristan Ahumada, CEO of Lab Coat Agents, and Pavel Stepanov, CEO of Virtudesk, talk about the overarching value entrepreneurs can receive when they start leveraging the talent and virtual assistants around them. 

In this segment, they also discuss how to uniquely utilize resources to increase your yearly earnings and overall real estate game. Below, we go over the 5 major takeaways from the interview we had with Tom Ferry’s at Leverage Mastermind last February.

Develop Better Strategies to Leverage Virtual Assistants And A Business

Tom highlights that everyone has different skill sets and expertise across different niches. That’s why it’s important to capitalize on your skills and find the right people who have the best skills to do the work for you. This is the most fundamental concept that aspiring business owners should focus on. 

For a business to succeed, it needs a team working together in unison with a unified vision and inspired workforce.

Understand Your Business Goals 

Whether you’re starting your business out of the garage or want to scale up your growing company, it’s necessary to have a vision for your business. Where do you see your business in five years? What do you plan to do in the long term? What are your top priorities? Knowing the answers to these questions helps you decide on which path to take. 

Tom says, “Well, I guess fundamentally you have to decide, do you want to be bigger, small, right. So there are 32 million businesses in the US. 96% of them earned a million dollars a year in revenue… If you're gonna do something, like do it big.”

He also believes to make the best use of your time and find the best solutions to the tasks that need to be accomplished. Delegating your tasks by hiring a virtual assistant is an effective way to free up your time. “Everything else needs to be outsourced or insourced or a combination of the two. And I think the reason why most people don't is, they think they can do it better than anybody else, which is the Cardinal sin.”

Find Companies to Invest In 

Investing in the right company is also an integral part of scaling up a business. Tristan asks Tom how he decides which companies to invest in, Tom answers, “I try not to invest in anything that I think might not work.” Instead, he asks the following questions: Is it passive or more involved board work? Are the people right? When he wants to get more involved in the investment, likability is always a factor he considers. 

Aside from likability, he also checks the company’s product and its track record of execution. It all boils down to three aspects: the right people, the right execution, and the right product. 

Leveraging Virtual Assistants: What should you do first or who should you hire first? 

As your business grows, you need to spot opportunities in getting the right people. In the beginning, you need an assistant to help you out. Tom emphasizes that your first assistant should be the opposite of you. But how does he do this? Before hiring someone, he uses an app called Crystal Knows. The app tells everything about this person, especially their DISC profile. You will want to hire someone who has the opposite skill set as you. If you are a big picture thinking person, then hiring someone with extreme attention to detail would be a good example of someone to consider hiring. If you are really good at writing and expressing yourself, but aren’t technical, you may need to hire someone who can handle technical tasks, like managing a CRM, creating graphics, doing web development, and more.

Now that you have your assistant, you need to assess whether you need to focus on revenue growth or operational excellence. Tom highlights that it all boils down to your goals. Ask yourself: do you need more revenue? Do I want to scale my business to a bigger team? Once you’ve answered these questions, identify which roles you need filled up. 

If you're in the real estate business, you can check out different videos on the ideal personality profile for an assistant, a marketing director, and ISA. 

Use Techniques to Fully Utilize Your Database and Stand Out 

The difference between you and Zillow is you. The best way to stay on top of your competition is to communicate with your database. This builds and strengthens the relationship you have with them so whenever they need your services and expertise, they know they can trust you. But with your busy schedule how can you effectively do it? Tom suggests utilizing your virtual assistants to send personal emails to your contacts. 

You can also delegate tasks to your virtual assistants that will follow Tom’s biggest piece of advice, “Put your brand on steroids. Become the most recognizable agent in your town, in your church, in your sphere, whatever that looks like.” Find out what works for you and do it because that's how you're going to win –⁠ short-term and long-term. 

Bottomline 

Even the best and most successful people in the industry succeed because they have a dependable and efficient team to rely on. You need to acknowledge that you can’t do it all on your own. Learn to delegate tasks and ask a highly trained expert to help you do all the non-core competencies of your business. After all, you have to be on the phone, going to appointments, negotiating deals, showing houses, and solving problems.

In Tom’s words, “And so, the answer is leverage everything.” 

If you are interested in scaling up your business by working with a virtual assistant, or you want to learn how to hire and train a virtual assistant, Virtudesk has got your back. Simply fill out this form, and one of our Consultants will reach out to you. 

If you want to learn more from Tom Ferry and how he is leveraging virtual assistants, then we have another upcoming Leverage event that will feature him again! Happening on May 27th at 10 AM PST, you can join Tom Ferry and other real estate influencers for another mastermind event to learn how to leverage skill and talent. Called Leverage Summit, get another chance to learn from the best. You can register here.