Are you still playing phone tag with agents and sellers when you want to schedule a showing?
“If you are,” says Texas REALTOR® Eloise Eriksson Martin, “you’re standing in the way of your own productivity and needlessly complicating your life.”
Eriksson, a consistent top producer with Dave Perry-Miller and Associates in Dallas, Texas, has been effectively managing her showings with Centralized Showing Service, Inc. (CSS) for nearly 20 years.
“I use CSS every day of my life,” says Eriksson. “With a single phone call to one of their fabulous service reps—or by using the CSS Mobile App or going to Showings.com—I can schedule, cancel or re-schedule showing appointments, track the showing activity on my own listings, or send changes and information to showing agents. It’s like having a personal assistant on hand to take care of the scheduling and information sharing, all while providing me with valuable feedback.”
According to Eriksson’s son James Martin—a sales associate with Dave Perry-Miller and Associates for the past eight years and a CSS member since the beginning of his career—the process increases the number of showings on a home because of the Showings.com exposure.
“In today’s fast-paced, competitive market, the CSS service helps me stay ahead of the pack,” Martin says. “Agents find it easy to schedule showings, and I get almost instant notification and feedback about every showing—and agents can choose to be notified of showing activity by phone, email, or text message.”
It’s also a valuable listing tool. Sellers appreciate the expanded exposure and the fact that it gives them a close connection and a means to review the showing activity on their home.
“They can accept or decline showing appointments by text message or email and track the showing activity whenever they like,” says Martin.
CSS was the first service to address the issue of home showing inefficiencies, according to CSS President Bob Faherty, who co-founded the company in 1996 with his brother, Kevin.
“We believed agents were spending too much time and energy on the mechanics of managing the showing process,” Faherty says. “Our intent was to offer workflow efficiencies that free them up to pursue more profitable activities such as meeting with clients or following up on referrals—or finding the time to improve their work-life balance.”
Faherty goes on to explain that CSS’ integrated service provides a state-of-the-art reporting and feedback system that takes the scheduling burden off the agents’ shoulders, assuring efficiency, appointment control, and comprehensive feedback whether they’re in the office, out in the field, on the golf course, or enjoying an afternoon with their families.
The company currently schedules more than 20 million showings a year for more than 170,000 agent members in over 70 U.S. real estate markets. There is one phone number for all showing agents in a city to call to schedule multiple appointments.
“I personally don’t know many agents who don’t use this service,” says Martin. “There are even videos online where you can find tips on getting the most from a quick visit to Showings.com.”
Listing agents have their own Showings.com page to review and monitor showing activity. Buyers agents can get showing instructions, such as how to enter or secure a home, or “take care not to let the dog out”—and sellers and their agents appreciate the prompt feedback.
At the same time, Eriksson appreciates the lengthy service hours and the cheerful efficiency of the company’s customer service representatives.
“They’re happy to handle not just the showing requests, but confirmations, call-backs, and changes,” Eriksson says. “They’re right there if I call in last minute to change showing hours or instructions, or to pull a listing from a showing tour.”
A newly updated greeting process identifies the caller and stands ready to assist with no need for the agent to state their name or ID number.
“We pay close attention to feedback from our customers,” says Faherty, “and our IT department is always working to enhance our services by phone or online at Showings.com.”
There’s also a Live Chat feature on Showings.com that allows agents to ask questions of the CSS Helpdesk service reps.
“If efficiency is key to productivity, and productivity is a precursor to success, then having a means to streamline your workflow is one sure way to achieve it,” adds Eriksson.
Martin wholeheartedly agrees. “CSS and Showings.com offer a smarter, quicker and more effective way to handle every aspect of showing activity in less time…and with far less effort.”
For more information, visit www.showings.com.
