Virtual Outsourcing: Opens Up a World of Resources

I will share a secret that is giving residential property managers, no matter how remote, economical access to world-class services.

Imagine a property manager rising one morning to embrace the challenges of her job. Maybe she commutes by subway to the Manhattan high-rise she manages, or maybe on foot, along a pristine beach to an oceanfront development.

At her office, she boots up her computer. Within an hour, her personal assistant presents the day’s schedule, her ad buyer confirms placement in a travel magazine and her lawyer submits lease revisions. Later, her accountant mails the 1099 forms for the last tax-year, she finalizes open house plans with her event planner and hones communications strategies with her writer.

Only at day’s end does she marvel at the global team she commands: an accountant in Denver, an ad buyer in Toronto, a writer in Minnesota and a personal assis­tant in Bangalore.

The “secret” is virtual outsourcing. It is letting property managers expand capabilities, despite limited resources locally, high prevailing wages or both. For example, from an isolated island in the middle of the Atlantic, our firm, Bermuda Realty, is meeting the demands of a clientele with expectations shaped by the global economy.

Large companies have long outsourced as a way to refocus on core competencies. It becomes virtual when the Internet allows delivery of outsourced ser­vices from great distances. It is also the virtual part that permits the seamless integration of services not traditionally outsourced.

While outsourcing accounting or marketing has become routine, our wired world now makes it practical to outsource less expected services such as tenant screening, scheduling and employee benefits management.

BIG BUSINESS BANG ON SMALL BUSINESS BUCKS
Once available only to large companies, the expanding information infrastructure now brings outsourcing’s benefits to operations of all sizes.

EFFICIENCY
Paying by the hour or project removes costs for downtime and the need to crunch payroll taxes.

FOCUS
Property managers are renowned for being Jacks (or Jills!) of all trades. Being able to cope with a double-entry ledger or html code, however, doesn’t make it cost-effective.

CONTROL
Engaging the right talent enhances control over a project. A designer with illustration skills may be overkill for a newsletter, for example, but key for a new logo.

ECONOMY
Three forces work together to boost bottom lines.

• Competitive fees compound savings from increased efficiency.
• Recouped opportunity costs accrue when you focus on core (and income producing) capabilities.
• Efficient allocation lets you deploy the right skill set and rate card. Does your project, for example, require an editor, a writer or a proof­reader?

INDEMNITY
Virtual outsourcing removes workers’ compensation and other liability issues.

SAFETY
Working with relative strangers presents a special concern for smaller operations. Fortunately, virtual outsourcing poses threats no greater than those handled by Net Nanny.

A GLOBAL ARMY AWAITS ITS ORDERS
Virtual Assistants (VAs) are the foot soldiers in the vir­tual outsourcing movement. Mobilized by the growing capabilities of electronic file transfer, password-protected websites and web-based software, they stand ready to deliver high-caliber services from anywhere to anywhere.

Hourly rates start at about $25 for word processing, data entry and other administrative duties. They can increase to $50 and up for more sophisticated services, such as event planning, web development, design and copywriting.

As Michael J. Russer (www.russer.com) stresses in The Obsolete Employee, reasonable fees are only part of the appeal, “When you hire a VA,” Russer writes, “you are hiring an independent contractor who is an expert.” “What you get,” he concludes, “are highly specialized ‘technicians’ who most likely love what they do.”

That level of specialization can help VAs bridge distance challenges. Our firm, for example, has been calling on writer Paul Samuel Schuster (pss-net.com) since 2005. With copy that evokes pink beaches and fresh seafood, it is easy to forget he is writing from frozen, land-locked Minnesota.

Finding talent is getting easier, too, thanks to the many online talent brokers and job boards. Besides Guru, eLance and REVA, the International Virtual Assistants Association (ivaa.org) offers a robust member directory. Search-savvy property managers can go directly to VA websites that often feature port­folios and testimonials.

All this information should get you thinking. For more details, expect future articles to address the reservations some may have to virtual outsourcing, share tactics for finding VAs and reveal tips for hiring, evaluating and compensating VAs. In the meantime, Michael Russer’s The Obsolete Employee offers an in-depth look at the topic.

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Residential Resources: May 2008, Volume 19, Number 5