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Hiring Your First Assistant 67

Why We Hesitate

I think salespeople hesitate to hire assistants for three reasons: (1)
Salespeople are control freaks; we're afraid to let things go; (2) sales-
people believe that in the time it takes to show an assistant how to
do something, we could do it better ourselves; (3) salespeople who
do hire assistants often fail to delegate the whole job, so neither
the assistant nor the salesperson is satisfied with the outcome and
eventually the arrangement falls apart.

If you haven't hired any assistants, however, you are one. That
is, you're wasting your valuable selling time on all those backroom
details that a good assistant can and should handle. As a top sales-
person, I know I have to do certain things personally. I have to meet
with my clients, I have to list houses, and I have to sell houses. But
I do not have to put up lawn signs, file papers at the courthouse,
answer every phone call, schedule every showing, stuff every en-
velope, or send out every letter.

Start Small, Grow Large

I've always had assistants to help me, right from the start. In fact, I
helped pioneer the concept among Realtors. Even today, well over
50 percent of all Realtors in the nation do not have an assistant. The
superstars, on the other hand, usually have severaL

I hired my first assistant when I was just 18 years old. I would be
working the floor, as we say in real estate, taking my turn answering
phone calls that came into the office. The duty rotates in three- or
four-hour shifts. I hated the duty, hated taking calls for other agents.
If a buyer or seller called looking for a salesperson to work with, I
wanted to talk to them. However, if a caller just wanted to leave a
message for another agent, I'd tell them to call back later.

I'd get in big trouble with the other salespeople. I was the
youngest person in the office, and I guess they thought I wasn't
paying my dues. To step up to the challenge, I hired a high school