Tuesday, January 22, 2013

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?

Personal experience
When I look for software or services that I'm interested in buying, instead of going to vendor web sites I prefer looking for customer reviews by Googling questions like the ones above. I feel like I'll get an impartial opinion. I eventually go to vendor sites, but I like to get input from customers, too.

Yelp, Amazon and the App Store(s)
I often visit Yelp before going to restaurants I've never been to, so I can see what kinds of experiences people have had. And if I'm on Amazon looking at book titles, I never leave without reading some reviews from people who bought the book. Same with downloading updates to apps I have on my phone - I like to browse a few of the customer reviews.

As an example, we've posted a 1-minute video ... take a look if you have time.

A thought about reviews
What I've often found, though, is that the reviews are usually mixed (for example, one reviewer might say, 'that book was just one of many self-help books I've read, and it said the same old thing' vs. 'that book changed my life, I highly recommend it.') I found this sort of thing recently when reading reviews on the book, '18 Minutes: Find Your Focus, Master Distraction, and Get the Right Things Done' by Peter Bregman.

Two people, same book, very different experiences.

For me reviews are a wonderful, necessary thing. Think of Angie's List, and how nice it is to know the car service shop you're about to call got great reviews from people like you, who want to feel like they're not being taken advantage of by dealer service shops.

Real estate professionals rely heavily on reviews, which lead to referrals, which lead to listings.

Likewise, companies like ShowingTime rely on getting positive feedback from customers, and sharing that so others trying to decide about our services might feel better informed.

I've concluded, as you probably have too, that in the end we have to decide for ourselves, regardless of the number of positive (or negative) reviews we read.

So then, why ShowingTime?
Yes, ShowingTime is open longer than other vendors and offers branded calls to market you. Pricing is competitive. Mobile access is included. And hopefully you will find some helpful, 'straight talk' reviews from customers who use ShowingTime. Good luck in your search!

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