When business owners look to scale their property management portfolios, the Business Development Manager (BDM) role is often one of the first positions they try to hand off. Naturally, many wonder: Can I hire a remote virtual assistant (VA) to act as my BDM and close new doors? While it is technically possible, using a remote VA as your primary lead closer is generally not recommended.
When property owners are looking for someone to manage their personal assets or retirement portfolios, they typically want to build local trust. They prefer speaking with US-based personnel who know the local market inside and out. However, that doesn't mean your remote team can't revolutionize your sales department. Instead of forcing a VA to be a closer, the most successful companies use remote team members to supercharge their sales pipeline in two distinct ways: lead generation and executive support.
1. Top-of-Funnel Lead Generation
Your VA can be incredibly effective at hunting for opportunities and teeing up leads for your local team. High-impact lead generation tasks perfect for a remote assistant include:
- Realtor Outreach: Building lists of local real estate agents, running email campaigns, and setting up referral networks.
- Zillow Prospecting: Scouting platforms like Zillow or Redfin to identify stale, long-standing "For Rent By Owner" (FRBO) listings where landlords might be growing frustrated.
- Social Media Management: Monitoring and posting in local community groups, real estate investing forums, and neighborhood pages to capture inbound inquiries.
2. The Sales Assistant
(Managing the "Disorganized Closer")
Great salespeople are rarely great at data entry. They excel at building rapport and closing deals, but they often struggle with updating the CRM, following up on paperwork, and keeping details organized.
A highly effective strategy is pairing your local BDM or sales executive with a dedicated remote executive assistant. Your VA can act as the operational backbone of the sales process by:
- Note-taking & Data Entry: Sitting in on phone or Zoom meetings to document the conversation and immediately update the CRM.
- Pipeline Management: Tracking follow-up tasks and ensuring no hot lead slips through the cracks.
- Omnichannel Communication: Managing routine follow-up texts, emails, and calls to keep prospects warm.
- The Hand-off: Handling the administrative transition from the initial signed management agreement over to your onboarding and operations team.
Shift Your Strategy for Maximum Leverage
Don't search for a remote closer when you can hire a remote accelerator. By letting a virtual assistant handle the heavy lifting of lead generation and CRM management, your local sales team is freed up to do what they do best: get on the phone, meet owners in person, and close deals.
Ready to supercharge your sales pipeline with the top 1% of remote talent?
Book a strategy call or browse our live list of pre-qualified VA candidates today