If you haven’t already seen the post How Does Your Salary Compare to Other Real Estate Executive Assistants?, go take a look at it. Then come right back here to learn how you can ask for and receive a raise.
The advice I’m about to give you is something you should take me up on no matter whether you decide to ask for a raise or not. This is one of those “best practices” for any employee.
I learned about putting this package together at an executive assistant forum I attended, and I think the idea is outstanding.
Cover Letter – Quite simply, a letter you write to your agent about why you’ve put together this package. Something along the lines of, “I’ve been giving this a lot of thought. I’m excited about where the company is going. I’ve prepared this package so that you understand my contributions to the company and what I need to give 100% to my work.”
What follows is a fact-driven package of information that does all the talking for you.
Resume – This serves as a reminder of your background and what you brought to the table when you were hired.
Job Description You Were Hired For – If you don’t have the exact document, or you were never given an employment contract which contained this information, write your own job description based on what you remember or what you understood the job to entail when you started.
Job Description You Are Currently Doing – Just take the Job Description You Were Hired For and copy it into a new document. Add on what you are currently doing and make the new stuff stand out in bold or in a different color to highlight all the cool stuff you’ve added to your job.
List of Your Quantifiable Achievements – Type up a bulleted list such as “Solicited 100 Zillow reviews,” or “Created a consistent marketing program that includes 26 automatic touches a year.” What you want on this list are the measurable results you’ve achieved. “I put together four events this year which resulted in 37 referrals.” or “I found eight ways to save money this year which resulted in a net $2,460 monthly cost reduction.” For more ideas, go to 14 Ways an Executive Assistant Impacts a Real Estate Business.
Top 3-5 “Feel Good” Letters or Emails You’ve Received – These are essentially your testimonials. You want to prove that people love working with you and find you a valuable member of the team. These can be from clients, fellow team members or other admin you’ve helped.
Professional Development Plan – What training, forums, mastermind groups, events, or associations have you attended or belonged to? What books have you read? You want to show that you are learning-based and that you have a desire to continue that. This where you also show what your plan is for continued education. What additional training or events would you like your agent to send you to? What online course would you like to enroll in? What team would you like to shadow? What coaching program would rock your world?
Salary History – On a separate page, write out your salary history. You could go as far back as when you first began working, or you could simply start with the salary you were hired in at. It’s up to you, but if you came from a higher salary in another industry or with another team, and took a pay cut to work in your current position, it would be worth showing that. Don’t forget to include any bonuses, vacation time, health insurance, or other benefits you’ve received.
Salary Proposal – You want to show what your salary looks like in comparison with what others of similar experience and job duties are receiving. You can print out this blog post and include it in your package. You can also do more specialized research by going to sites like glassdoor.com, or payscale.com. These will show you salaries of people in your area and with your job title. On indeed.com you can look for jobs offerings similar to your own and see what salary amounts those companies are offering. You can print the information to include in your package. Be sure to ask for any additional vacation time, health benefits, bonus structure, or anything else you’d like receive as part of your compensation package. What sounds awesome to you? Working half days on Fridays? The company buys your lunch once a week? The company pays for a quarterly spa day? You work from home two days a week? The company buys you a new laptop every two years?
How you package the information is up to you. I suggest actually printing everything out and putting it all together in a three-ring binder or sending it to an office supply store to have it spiral bound. You want a very professional presentation if you want to be taken seriously.
If you believe a more creative approach would work with your agent, you can certainly create something in Canva, or even in video format. You know your agent best!
Fact its, the real estate agents who are truly running their real estate team like a business should have a budget for how much they can afford in salaries. And if the amount of money you feel is fair for your position isn’t within your agent’s budget, you can certainly find out what it would take to get the agent to a point where she could afford to increase your salary. Make a plan with your agent to invest your time and talent into her business with the understanding that she will invest back into you.
What do you think about all this? If you put this together, do you think you would get the raise you ask for? Leave a comment, or send me an email (egilbert@kw.com). I’m always happy to connect with you!
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