Four Things You Need From A Real Estate Appointment Center Service

Back in January, we wrote about the costs of scheduling showings yourself vs. using an appointment center to manage the work. An agent responded with his thoughts, which includes his take on the four things you must have.

What Would You Do With An Extra 23 Hours Every Week?

Most of us are fighting to squeeze everything we can into a day. We sometimes cheat ourselves out of sleep to get more done, or take work home instead of spending time with family. Even so, we often get to the end of a day and say, 'where did the time go?'

For real estate offices and agents, there actually is a way you can gain another 23 hours each week. Let us explain.

Schedule Showings Online Or Call The Listing Office?

Real estate offices like using ShowingDesk, the front desk software that enables them to effectively handle calls from agents, schedule and manage showings, generate feedback and create reports. Sometimes, though, they are confused about how ShowingDesk works with ShowingTime's online scheduling product available in more than 60 MLSs. Here are some answers to frequently asked questions.

How Residential Real Estate Agents Can Get More Listings

Residential real estate listing agents are always looking for ways to get more listings. Do a Google search and you'll find plenty of links to help you figure out what to do. That, along with browsing through real esate newsletters - RISMedia Daily e-News, RE Technology, Inman News, Cracker Jack/Agent and more - can be valuable resources. So, here are a few more links to help:

Setting Listings To 'Courtesy Call' Can Mean More Showings

When Realtors use an appointment center service to help them manage appointments on their listings, they can choose among several options for the 'appointment type'. One of the fastest options is called 'Courtesy Call'. Here's how it works.

How To Confirm Showings In Six Seconds Or Less

1. Get a showing request on your mobile device.
2. Type 'Y' to confirm the showing.
3. Carry on with what you were doing.

No calls, no phone tag, no delays. That's how quickly the 'blocking and tackling', a.k.a. the busywork, 'the administrative part' of showings can be completed in some real estate markets. That is, if you use an appointment center service or your Multiple Listing Service has an online scheduling system in place.

"I'm Tired Of Playing Phone Tag With Agents & Homeowners"

The owner of a real estate company in Texas recently expressed his frustration to us on the often time-consuming process of scheduling showings. He's got a dozen agents, 50-60 company listings, and a very nice web site - yet the office is bogged down. Can you relate?

Top 10: Why Realtors Love Online Appointment Scheduling

From time to time, Realtors belonging to MLSs using ShowingTime's online appointment scheduling system like to comment on their experiences ("Easy to use and I love it!" ... "LOVE IT!!!!" ... "I love, love, love the new ShowingAssist program. It makes life so much easier!!"). If you're a Realtor and you wonder if online scheduling - while securely logged into your MLS - would be a helpful feature, consider these Top 10 comments from your fellow real estate professionals:

Another 9,000+ Agents Scheduling Showings Online

“Our members are looking forward to online scheduling with ShowingTime,” said Jim Abele, Manager of the MLS of Greater Cincinnati. “Streamlining the appointment request process with 24/7 availability, reducing phone calls, and saving our subscribers time has great value.” But how?

Could You Be Missing 1/3 Of Your Showing Appointment Requests?

Selling listings doesn't happen without getting showings. Listing agents put a lot of effort into getting the listing priced properly and having it look great, and then marketing it for maximum visibility.

But the benefits from doing all that work could be greatly diminished if nobody is around to answer showing calls. So what do you do?

How Can You Get More Feedback?

Real estate agents are always anxious to get feedback on showings, yet often the process is tedious and time consuming, requiring individual emails and/or phone calls. If you have a listing that's had 20-30 showings, multiplied by 3-4 listings, that's a lot of work. In fact, that means contacting about 80 agents individually. How would you tackle this?

"I Would Never Use A Showing Appointment Service ..."

One of the great things about residential real estate is that agents can decide how to run their businesses. You can plan your schedule based on other commitments, which is harder to do in a traditional 9-5 job; you can decide how to market your listings; you can choose how many calls to make; you can take a sales course to improve your skills; you can leave one brokerage and join another.

And, when it comes to scheduling showings, it's literally 'your call' ...

10 Questions To Ask An Appointment Center Vendor

Figuring out all the ins and outs of hiring an Appointment Center service - to handle your very important listings - can be a challenge. As you prepare to talk to vendors and see a demo, consider putting together a list of questions. These 10 can help get you started:

Amarillo, Northern Kentucky MLS Select ShowingTime

We're pleased to announce that two more Associations/MLSs selected ShowingTime to provide showing management services to members.

3 Reasons Text Messaging Works For Real Estate

Did you know that every day, six billion text messages are sent in the U.S.? And that the first one - it said, 'Merry Christmas' - was sent more than 20 years ago?

But is it compatible with residential real estate? How?

Real Estate Showing Requests Occurring Online More And More

Imagine if 1,000 online showing requests occurred every month from interested buyers in your residential real estate market. That's exactly what's happening in some areas through an online process that connects interested buyers with listing agents/offices at just the right time.

The Inside Scoop on 'Life Of The Listing' Plans

Let's say you're a residential real estate professional with 7 listings and are extremely busy. So, you're considering outsourcing the showing scheduling process so you can focus on all the things you want to do to market your listings.

With all that on your plate, you may feel like you don't have time even to research the various appointment center services available and who offers what, so you may go with what someone else in your office uses. That can be a winning strategy ...

5 Reasons Your Sellers Will Love You For Using An Appointment Center

Residential real rstate agents sometimes say they prefer handling the showing appointment scheduling process themselves. That they prefer a personal touch vs. outsourcing the work to an Appointment Center or Call Center that specializes in scheduling showings. Here's a question worth asking yourself: What do your sellers say?

How Do I Get Real Estate Agents To Give Me Showing Feedback?

Sometimes, getting feedback after a showing appointment is the most difficult task residential real estate listing agents face. What can you do?

What Service Level Should You Expect From Your Real Estate Appointment Center?

Like thousands of real estate listing agents and offices, if you use a service to manage showing appointment requests or to generate showing feedback on your behalf, you should demand excellent service. You are paying that showing and feedback service provider to represent you, so you should expect professionalism, expertise and speed.

If you get that, and are delighted with the level of service you're receiving, you might write something like this:

Which Is Better: ShowingTime, ABC Co., or XYZ Co.?

If you're a real estate listing agent or listing office, you may go to Google in search of showing software or an appointment setting service and type something like, 'Which is better, ShowingTime, ABC Co., or XYZ Co.' or 'Why use ShowingTime' or 'Agent reviews of ShowingTime vs. ABC Co. vs. XYZ Co.'.

Searches for products and services often begin at Google. Listing agents and offices seeking help to get showings scheduled on their listings have to start somewhere. What do you do?

What Traits Do Buyers (And Sellers) Desire In Their Agents

This article caught my eye, "6 Traits Buyers Desire in Their Agents", as my family is preparing to sell a condo owned by my parents in Roswell, GA. So, I thought it might be helpful to think about what sellers desire, too. And, having not been on the selling side for several years now, I thought, "What do I want right now from our listing agent?" Here's my quick hit list:

What It Costs To Schedule Showings

Have you ever thought about this: how much does it cost your residential real estate office to schedule a showing?

We've put together an example to hopefully trigger some thoughts on the things you'll want to consider.

Calculating Showing Management Costs

MLSs, Associations, real estate offices, brokers and agents are all involved in showings in some way. And, interestingly, each market might handle the scheduling process differently:

Showing Calls On New Years Day?

It stands to reason in this 24/7 world that residential real estate agents almost never completely forget about their listings, or about doing the best job possible for their sellers.

It is noteworthy, too, that ShowingTime shares your commitment. Our Appointment Center was open on New Year's Day ...

Happy New Year, Of Course

Welcome to the start of a new year, which comes with great promise for all of us! Hopefully you're feeling refreshed from a brief holiday break, are looking forward to new and exciting things, are planning to make positive changes and are optimistic about what's in store for 2013.

At ShowingTime, we're committed to doing the things that make showing appointment scheduling a second thought.