Leverage the Power of Virtual Assistants with Renee Ube

This week on the Team Lally Real Estate Radio Show, we interview Renee Ube, CEO of YourVAMatch. Renee dives into how virtual assistants create leverage for business owners and real estate professionals, from supporting open houses to strengthening daily operations. She also shares what makes YourVAMatch unique and why the right VA match can take your business further.

Mari Eagar of Hawaii Pacific Property Management explains how leaks are managed and prevented, while Danny Langerman of DHA Financial provides a timely mortgage update, rate predictions, and refinancing insights.

Joining us also is Dean Otto of Cohana Homes who calls in to share co-ownership opportunities and details on their upcoming webinar.

Watch or Listen to the full episode

Interview Transcription

ADRIENNE: 
Well, welcome back, and thanks for listening to the team Lally real estate show, home of the guaranteed sold program, or we’ll buy it. I’m Adrienne and I’m still Attilio, and if you have any questions, just give us a call at 7999596, or check us out online at Team lally.com

ATTILIO: 
Our guest today is the CEO of YourVAMatch.com a company dedicated to helping real estate professionals and business owners connect with highly skilled virtual assistants. With more than 16 years of experience in virtual operations and real estate support, she has a deep understanding of how the right support can transform a business

ADRIENNE: 
guided by Val by values of empowerment, integrity, excellence and growth. She leads with clarity and care, ensuring both clients and VA succeed. Please welcome our guest, Renee Ube, hello,

RENEE: 
Renee. Hi Adrienne, hi, Attilio, thank you so much for inviting me. Yeah.

ATTILIO: 
Have you ever you know, if this doesn’t work out, you can open up a Ube factory, but instead, but instead of a UBE, that’s like a big thing that is with the desserts and everything, it’s everywhere, going everywhere. But, you know what? You put the Ube in vas, that’s right, you know? And you popularize them and make them some, something that people want to participate in and have an experience of so let’s talk about that, but let’s take it back to the beginning for you, Renee,

ADRIENNE: 
let’s go over your background. What made you decide to be a virtual assistant and be working virtually?

ATTILIO: 
Yeah, whoa. What is a virtual assistant? And then tell us, take us to the beginning of where you started with that.

RENEE: 
Okay, so first, a virtual assistant is a remote professional who handles the tasks that often weigh business owners down, like scheduling, email management here on CRM, updates, marketing, social media, transaction, support, data entry and more, and they can even manage personal appointments that train your schedule. Because, let’s be honest, being stuck on hold with a dentist while a 30,000 seller lead doesn’t answer that where you want to be, yeah, and that’s what we do,

ATTILIO: 
yeah, because Renee, I will tell you right now, if or and you know this, because you’ve been with us for for so long, is that literally, literally, by not hiring a VA to help you get that stuff off your plate, you are like, because if I’m a client, Renee, what do you know? You’ve been in business with us for a long time, in the real estate, if I’m a seller, I have a $4 million home, and I call team Lally, and even with our reputation, our endorsements, our marketing, our Barbara Corcoran commercials, if we don’t answer, are they, are they moving on to the next agent?

RENEE: 
Definitely, yeah, somebody else. They’ll

ATTILIO: 
call somebody else because there’s 10 numbers they can call. And unfortunately, lot of times, clients go with the first person that answers the phone, and not necessarily the best agent. The V the virtual assistant, allows you to be have a sense of urgency with answering the phone and give them the best

ADRIENNE: 
agent and doing the dollar productive activities where your your virtual assistant is helping with more like administrative things.

ATTILIO:
If you’re a good agent, you’re a busy agent, and you cannot answer your phone all of the time but a V Renee. What is the VA doing? Are they running around, doing their laundry, picking up kids from soccer? Or what are they doing?

RENEE: 
What they do is obviously for eight hours during the during business hours for for for a team, they’re always on their computer. Yes, they handle scheduling. Their handle documents, paperwork for real estate, for our Elsa team, they manage lead, you know, they respond to clients. So we have dedicated VA. So also respond immediately to to increase, and we make sure that our agents, you know, follow up with those clients. Yeah, five minutes,

ATTILIO: 
I will tell you Renee minute, you know what the VA does, and I’ll tell it to you in one word. You ready? Adrienne, you know what word I’m gonna say, No, I don’t know. It’s not the word no. It’s not the word I don’t know what word you’re gonna word it. This is what a VA does for your business people. Business people too. This is not

ADRIENNE:
just for realtors, any business owners. This is applicable to all of you.

ATTILIO: 
Are you guys ready? Right? This down. It’s a lot of words. It’s a very highly complicated, detailed thing I’ve learned over 20 years. This is what they do for your business. Hello, that’s it. They answer the phone. Okay, that’s one of the things. That’s one of the but if, if they’re going, that’s one of the things, that’s the main thing, yeah, because if you don’t answer your phone, they’re going on to the next plumber, the next electrician, the next agent, and literally a VA saying hello is better than

ADRIENNE: 
I wanna I also want to address too, because I know that AI is kind of a big hot topic right now. And we tested out some AI, you know, bots, and I just want to like, I mean, I think that, as a consumer, the like, what we found is that they prefer to speak with like a person versus the AI

ATTILIO: 
and where and Renee, where AI is today. Do people? Do They Know It’s AI, even if it’s not announced,

RENEE: 
just now, sometimes, sometimes.

ATTILIO: 
But can they tell after a while that it’s AI? Is my point? Yeah, and, but if I but Renee, if I’m talking to you, like if, and I say, Are you a real human being? And I think the protocols for AI is they have to say, No, I’m not a real human being. But if I’m calling a virtual assistant. The consumers now want to speak to real human beings because AIs are getting really good, but there isn’t an AI on the planet ethically that if asked the question, Are you a real human being? That is going to say yes, but 100% of virtual assistants, because that’s what it is as a human being, and you’re going to say yes, I’m a real I’ve heard recorded calls with our isa Robert, are you a real human being?

ADRIENNE: 
But I also want to, like, you know, say that, yeah, our virtual assistants, and the virtual assistants that Renee sources are, you know, they’re, they’re smart, college educated people

ATTILIO: 
who speak English and can do anything on a computer or phone, and

ADRIENNE: 
they embrace technology, including AI, and they leverage the AI so that they can be even more efficient and effective for, you know, the the company that they’re a part

ATTILIO:
of. But yeah, we have the original AI, the OG AI, you know what it is, Adrienne and Renee, the original AI. It’s called Pinoy power and and let the people know physically, like you’re on the phone with us right now. You sound you’re very articulate, very intelligent. The communication is clear physically in the world. Where are you?

RENEE: 
We’re in I’m in the Philippines. You are in the Philippines. Are in the Philippines too.

ATTILIO: 
Yeah. So and our VAs are in the Philippines. And we source from the Philippines because we 100% believe in the Pinoy power. So they’re not coming from Pakistan or India or Thailand or Malaysia or Vietnam. It’s in the Philippines.

ADRIENNE: 
Well, let’s get back to the your VA match. And let’s I know that you know me as a business owner, I’m constantly getting like, messages on Facebook and Instagram and emails about, you know, different virtual assistant companies are always like, trying to, you know, get me to use them, right? So with the your VA match like, what is so different about your VA match from all these other companies that are out there?

RENEE:
Renee, here’s what your VA match, what makes your VA match unique? We don’t just throw resumes at you and wish you luck. Yeah, we take the time to really understand the business, your pain points, your long term goals, and then we carefully bet and match you with a VA who fits not just your job description, but also your values and your your and your work style. But honestly, the real difference comes after the match. Yeah, most placement companies stop once they make the introduction. That’s not us. Yeah, with your VA match, both the VA and the business owner receive ongoing support well beyond the initial onboarding. We built this VA community that meets every single day for under 30 minutes, and during those sessions, we do coaching, we discuss technology updates. We read books together, we work on mindset and we share best practices. We’re also very generous in providing resources like checklist, templates and systems. Yes, because we want to make sure that the transition to be, you know, we want to make it smooth for both sides. Yeah, and our goal isn’t just to help you hire VA, it’s to set up a long term partnership that actually works and lasts. We want it to be we want the experience. We want them to experience what we had with Team. Lally, yeah, our VAs have been with us for four. 18, eight, five years, and we want the same for the other business owners.

ATTILIO: 
Yeah, it’s a long term relationship. And I think, and we can speak to the old business owner standpoint, Adrienne, what does it mean? What does it meant to have VAs virtual assistants in our business?

ADRIENNE:
Oh, we just, you know, we’re able to really be a lot more effective and efficient and and leverage, give

ATTILIO:
them some solid, tactical things. I’ll get, I’ll

ADRIENNE:
start, okay, no, I will go. Because I self admitted I am not an organized person at all. Like, I’ve never been organized. I’ve got a you’re not an organized person. ADHD, and like, my stuff is just so disorganized. And I don’t know, like, without, are you serious? Renee keeps me organized, or she’s the organ I’m like, really, like, what’s password? Or any, like, I need you to send this to, you know, for this refinance or this tax like, she just has, she keeps me organized. I guess I would just be like,

ATTILIO: 
lost. One of the tactical, tactical tips that I have for business owners is that you cannot be an expert at everything so higher to your weaknesses. Yes, higher to your weaknesses. And I will tell you someone sitting in front of a computer, stationary, working remotely, not getting interrupted with this got a minute inter office talk story is going to be 10 times more effective than someone sitting in your office ready to do stuff and the other thing. So I’ll give you another tactical thing. If you’re a business owner, take a look at your PNL. If you’re like, what’s a PNL? Well, figure that one out. First your profit and loss statement, and go to the number one expense for your business and a guarantee that it’s labor. And with the VAs we’re not going to talk about pay structures, or I tell you that they’re not inside the US, and it doesn’t follow the US labor laws, and so the pay structure for them is a lot different and more efficient for you as a business owner. Now, am I telling you offshore everything in your company, and don’t hire people locally? No, we have

ADRIENNE:
get an assistant for your assistant.

ATTILIO: 
Get an A V, the best, the best Christmas gift you can put under the tree for your us. Admin is a VA the luck, because this is how it works. Renee, talk about the 8020 rule as far as activities, DPA, 8020 rule and DPA, and we’ll help you with that too. But what is the 8020 rule?

RENEE: 
So 80 the 8020 rule is that 80% of your results are from the 20% of the activities, or dollar producing activities, that, yes, yield more

ATTILIO: 
making more money and make you more money. Yeah, yeah. So 20% of our activities generate 80% of our roads keep going, keep going.

RENEE: 
Yeah, and, and for you to be able to do that, 20% you need leverage, yes. And your leverage is your virtual assistant.

ATTILIO:
Yeah, because let’s talk about it. Let’s talk about our industry. And by the way, what we’re talking about can be applicable to 80 to 90% of the industry, to all businesses, because 80 to 90% of what successful businesses is the same. Whether you’re selling lawn mowers or real estate or pencils or or or running a band or entertainment, it’s all the same. You have a product or service and you’re providing the best version of it to consumers, and they vote for you with their dollars. So in real estate, dollar protect activity would be what Adrienne One example

ADRIENNE:
would be any kind of face to face, kind of kind of interaction with the client. Yeah, you know buyer or seller,

ATTILIO: 
I’ll give you another one writing an offer. What’s another one? Adrienne, showing homes, showing home. I’ll give you another one seeing an open house. What’s another one making outbound calls now? Renee, take open houses. Explain to the explain to the listeners. They’re getting excited. They’re like, want to know more for an open house. What does our VA team do? And what does the agent do? Because, you know, your front will see it on all of that, yes.

RENEE: 
So from the time that we confirmed that we’re scheduling an open house, yeah, our VAs prepare all the materials for marketing, yeah, and they prepare all, they market the open house to all the marketing website. And they, they, they prepare the, of course, it’s standard occupied. They do the communication with it, with the tenant, yes. And we make sure that all the materials that the agent will need on site during the open house is ready and printed, so that you know when they get there they’re prepared. Yeah, and even after the open house and the VA support will make sure that all those guests are on. Into our uploaded on our on our database, on our CRM, and then we do the, you know, the follow ups,

ATTILIO: 
you know what I what I would describe you guys, Renee, you guys are Lady Gagas entourage. Lady Lady Gaga shows up. The is she like making the costumes, making the stage, doing the explosions, doing all the special effects, the sound check, doing the music, training, the backup dancers. No, the agent just shows up like Lady Gaga at the open house.

RENEE: 
We make everyone in our team look good, yeah, that’s our goal.

ATTILIO: 
You make everybody look like Lady Gaga or Beyonce or Taylor.

ADRIENNE: 
So Renee, I want to go a little bit deeper, because I know that there’s different, you know, models for these VA companies, and I know that when we first met you, it was a different model, and we didn’t like that model well. So with the your VA match, how exactly is the relationship between the VA that you match them with the business owner? How does that work?

ATTILIO:
Specifically, Renee, I want to talk to you about VAs that you use through a VA Center, versus your you pay for and hire directly just those two models, because that’s pretty much it. Go ahead.

RENEE: 
Go ahead. Renee, so for the other VA companies, I’ve been into that situation. So they hire a VA, they train them for two weeks, and then they assign them to agents, and that’s it after that. But with our VAs once, once we hire our VA for the agents for the business owner, we make sure that they go through a tedious hiring process just to make sure that we’re hiring the best talent for the business owners. And we, we, after the and then, after all, the process of hiring, and they get endorsed, to the agent, to the business owner. We, we, we are very clear that the business owner and the VA has direct they have the direct contract.

ATTILIO: 
They become a part of their team, direct contact. Yeah, they’re not working in some big call center because, here’s because Renee and

RENEE: 
Renee, they get the pay full, yeah, and they get the

ATTILIO: 
full pay. Here’s the key. Here’s the key. You might be paying that VA X amount of dollars per hour, and there’s nothing wrong with it, but the company’s got a different model. They’re cut and so the VA doesn’t get all of the pay in this model. Your VA match. The VA gets all of the pay and their bonuses and their bonuses, and everything goes because you’re the one that are paying them. Number two, this is huge, folks. You know how our traffic is here in Hawaii. You think our traffic is bad. It is nothing our traffic, our traffic is like no traffic in Philippines,

ADRIENNE: 
in the park. Yeah,

ATTILIO: 
Philippines was like our traffic in the morning, in the afternoon.

ADRIENNE: 
It’s so much in Manila, if, if you’re

ATTILIO:
doing the same corridor on Oahu in the Philippines, it’s like two, three hours. So when you’re a VA, and you work in those call centers and you and you’re hiring the VA Center, who has the VA assigned to you? That VA has to sit in traffic for a long time. Hey, Renee, what’s the traffic for you from when you get up to go to work before?

RENEE: 
It takes me two hours before, literally no no

ADRIENNE: 
before, being a VA

ATTILIO: 
before, but no no. Fast forward today in our business model, what does the traffic look like for you to get up and go to your office today? A minute, yeah, because you wake up, brush your teeth and you go downstairs to your office. So that does that make you happy? Or you’re like, This is terrible. I’d rather sit in traffic to go to a big VA center.

RENEE: 
Definitely happy. Yeah, you know that all of our VAs that we partner with, our our business partners, and even our own vas. Everyone’s got, everyone our college graduates, many hold double majors, and several even have graduated with honors. They’re highly scaled and motivated and eager to build long term partners, partnerships. It’s just that they, instead of them going through that traffic, they just prefer working at home. They work from home. Save that money,

ATTILIO: 
and I will tell you, folks, here’s the stats on working from home. My son just got a job with Raytheon in the US, and he can work from wherever. In fact, this summer, he’s going to come and hang out for me for a couple months, because they. I can work remotely is that, prior to the pandemic, 10% of the US workforce was working remotely. During the pandemic, it jumped all the way up to 40% and then after the pandemic, you know, with President Trump, you come back to office or you’re fired, it dropped back down to 20% but I will tell you, the number one complaint that people have nowadays is that they don’t have the flexibility to work from home and do the work just the same and not have a deep drop in quality of life by sitting in traffic. There’s no reason to do it with 90% of what’s done in our

ADRIENNE: 
world. So So Renee, we’ve got about three minutes left, and I just want to make sure that we get to the most important things that you want our listeners to hear. So is there anything else, as far as like, a call to action to the listeners dancing

ATTILIO: 
around? What’s the call to action?

RENEE: 
If you’re a business owner listening right now and you’ve been feeling overwhelmed or stuck, maybe you’re drowning in emails, or you don’t, you can’t keep up with your marketing, or you’re losing opportunities because you’re spread too thin. That’s your side. You don’t need to keep struggling. Reach out to me at your VA match.com and let’s discuss your business and your goals, and I’ll help match you with the right VA to give you the leverage that you need. Yeah, it’s more than bringing on support. It’s about building a partnership, and I’d be happy to guide you in finding the right match.

ATTILIO: 
Yeah. Now here’s the deal, folks, Adrienne and I are business owners just like you. This is not a panacea. This is not something that’s a quick fix that’s going to turn your business around, because you get out of these VAs what you put into them. So you need to be committed to training them. But it’s going to be worth it on the back end, because I will tell you, if you hire VAs and have them in your business and you don’t have any of them, you will get your life back. And it sounds like a MasterCard commercial, because that’s priceless. So get your life back, if anything, just book a time with Renee. Book a time with Renee at YourVAMatch.com, the only regret you’ll have that you didn’t do it long time ago. All right, thanks, Renee.

RENEE: 
Thank you so much. Thank you, Renee. All right, thanks. Attilio, bye.

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