Learning how to outsource underwriting and marketing tasks frees up your time, lifts some of your stress, and helps you focus on important matters.

Outsourcing Tasks Makes a World of Difference

Many CRE firms outsource tasks to specialized service providers due to various benefits, such as efficiency and cost savings. While some tasks should be handled in-house, companies often outsource marketing, for example, for reasons such as brand consistency, tailored strategies, and industry expertise.

Here are three reasons to outsource marketing efforts, according to Forbes’ Expert Panel:

1. Need for skilled specialists: Marketing today requires expertise in diverse fields like paid media and content creation. Having all specialists under one roof is ideal, but not always practical. A firm’s principal marketing officer can strategize and manage these specialized areas while outsourcing to providers. This approach enables firms to benefit from the skills of marketing experts while freeing up internal resources.
2. Scalability: Growing a company involves juggling various business aspects like sales, marketing, HR, and finance. Establishing a marketing presence and onboarding employees can slow down progress, especially for startups and small companies. A third-party provider can execute marketing actions immediately and efficiently, accelerating the company’s scalability.
3. Adaptability and leveraging resources: Business innovation helps companies survive crises and stay competitive. Marketing should align with any necessary changes. A third party offers flexibility in package rates and services and helps leverage resources, particularly if the company has limited capacity for marketing initiatives.

For brokers, a career in real estate requires an entrepreneurial spirit, and there’s only so much they can take on. Savvy real estate agents outsource certain tasks, roles, and responsibilities to bring balance to their professional and personal life. Thus, hiring a contractor or service provider to handle underwriting and create marketing materials can help ensure success in their business.

Delegating Tasks Is Beneficial to All

At a personal level, not delegating enough work to a contractor or team members may cause burnout, impacting the business’s overall growth in the process.

According to Dr. Susan Biali Haas, a doctor and executive coach specializing in burnout prevention, learning to delegate mundane tasks at work allows the responsible manager or team leader to focus on vision, strategy, long-term planning, and other important tasks. In other words, reallocating certain tasks can improve return on investment (ROI) and positively affect the mental well-being of everyone involved.

Additionally, outsourcing complex tasks like underwriting and marketing to experts in those fields can give CRE brokers confidence in their ability to deliver the productivity and professionalism expected of them.

Deciding Which Tasks To Outsource

So, how does an entrepreneur or CRE broker determine whether to outsource certain tasks? Here are some helpful tips:

1. Assess your skills: Identify your strengths and the areas you find challenging. If you’re skilled in financial analysis but struggle with the creative side of marketing, like crafting a broker’s opinion of value (BOV) or offering memoranda (OMs), consider outsourcing those tasks to a third-party contractor.
2. Identify bottlenecks: Determine which tasks frequently cause delays. Outsource these aspects to increase productivity, reduce the workload, and complete more work in less time.
3. Streamline resources: Look for overlaps in your departments, software, or tools. Identify whether using functional tools that can handle multiple services, such as role integration and compression, can simplify your workflow and overall operation.

Conclusion

In the fast-paced commercial real estate industry, time is invaluable, and professionals often find themselves stretched thin. While handling marketing and underwriting tasks internally might be preferred, it is undoubtedly time-consuming.

When your CRE marketing goals include expanding your reach and closing more deals, it’s wise to outsource routine tasks to a specialized company. Identifying and prioritizing higher-value activities brings you closer to achieving your goals and ensuring success for you and your team.