Get Started as a Showing Agent

While this article is written from the perspective of a new showing agent, it also serves as a great checklist for those showing agents who are just looking for a refresher, or who want to know they have ShowMojo configured to work the absolute best for their needs.

Automated Setup

You'll receive an email from ShowMojo. When you follow that link, ShowMojo takes you through a short automated setup process to:

  1. Register and create a password.
  2. Add your cell phone number as your Text Alert Number. This is how ShowMojo communicates important updates to you.
  3. Configure your calendar integration. Calendar integration pushes all your showing details and updates to any connected calendar. For Google and Outlook 360 calendars, be sure to consider the options to (i) block off busy times and (ii) add buffer time.

User Settings

Once you have completed the automated setup, follow these steps to continue set up of your user:

  1. When logged into ShowMojo, go to the Settings page.
  2. In the Cancelation Notification section, let ShowMojo know if you want a last-minute alert by text when showings are no longer scheduled at a given time.
  3. Customize your Showing Details Email and Follow Up Email templates, assuming these options are available to you (this is restricted on some accounts).
  4. In the Emails and Alerts section, choose what lead-related activities ShowMojo should and should not notify you about.

Keep in mind that you can always come back to these settings -- especially the Showing Details Email and Follow Up Email templates. There is no need to rush.

Listings

In order to receive leads and conduct showings, you'll need listings. Typically, you get listings associated with your ShowMojo user one of three ways:

  1. They are assigned to you by someone else in your company.
  2. They are automatically imported from a Listing Import Source and assigned to you.
  3. You enter the listing manually on the Listings page. 

You should already know how listings are assigned to you. If you do not, check with your company's ShowMojo administrator.

Calendars and Availability

First, we want to make sure that you should be updating your availability in ShowMojo. So check on these two items:

  1. Go to the Calendar page. Likely you will have no calendars. If you already have calendars, then first check with your company's ShowMojo administrator to see if your availability has already been configured for you (if so, you can skip this section).
  2. On the Calendar page, look for a New Calendar link on the left. If you see it, don't click it (we just want to confirm it is there). If you don't see a New Calendar link then your company's ShowMojo administrator and confirm whether the company intends to set up your calendars and availability for you.

Next, follow these steps to configure and tailor ShowMojo's scheduling capabilities to your specific needs. 

Warning: these next steps will likely take some time (even a lot of time). The goal is to tailor ShowMojo to automatically schedule showings based on the availability that most suits you. Everybody has their own approach to scheduling. We know one-size-fits-all just doesn't work. That's why it takes time. You need to understand ShowMojo's scheduling capabilities well enough to tell ShowMojo how it can work for you.

But the upside is huge. Imagine all your showings scheduled for you (without phone calls or emails) against a schedule that best fits your needs. Without all those phone calls -- both inbound and outbound -- imagine all the assertional time that is yours.

So here are the steps:

  1. Determine if you need to use zoned calendars. Does it take you more than 20 minutes to drive between any of the listings assigned to you? Even if it wouldn't take more than 20 minutes, do you have enough listings that it would make sense to divide and schedule them in specific geographic zones? If the answer to either of those questions is even a "maybe" then read up on how to Use a Zoned Calendar Strategy to Efficiently Schedule in Different Geographic Areas.
  2. For your first (and possibly only) calendar, determine if it will be a Standard or Regional Calendar. The fewer listings you have to show, the more likely one standard calendar will suffice. The more listings you have to show, the more likely you'll use multiple regional calendars (and a zoned calendar strategy). The following article can help you with the details: The Two Calendar Types Used for Scheduling.
  3. For each calendar you create, determine whether you will group or individual showings. Follow the appropriate link -- Group Showings or Individual Clustered Showings -- to learn more about how to best configure ShowMojo for each scenario.

Finally, please review this links if one of these edge cases applies to you:

There is a lot of steak in the Calendars and Availability section -- and we did try cutting off all the fat. Be prepared to start from the beginning and reread it a couple times. 

When New Listings Go on Market

No matter how listings get assigned to you (or are added by you) make sure you know your part in the on-market process. Many showing agents have one or more of the following responsibilities for on-market listings:

  1. Assign the listing to a calendar (either directly or via Listing Groups).
  2. Add current occupants for Showing Notification.
  3. Add owners or others to Listing Activity Reports.

These updates are made on the Listings page.

A Forward-Thinking Mindset

ShowMojo is not here to streamline your leasing process. Rather, ShowMojo is here to completely upend your approach to leasing -- then set you back down in a much better place.

Historically, leasing agents controlled the leasing process. They interacted with the prospect every step of the way -- screening, scheduling, proposing alternate listing options, assisting in the application process and more. ShowMojo takes the opposite approach.

In ShowMojo's approach, the prospect self-screens, self-schedules, self-explores and more. But the prospect is always bound within the constraints set by your company and by you, personally. The prospect can only schedule the listings for which he or she qualifies. The prospect can only schedule via the availability you set. The prospect must confirm the showing, per the company's guidelines. And so on.

For many newcomers, this can feel strange at first. It is completely different, and should be. But the benefits that ShowMojo provides:

  • The time savings for you -- so you can put your time into higher-value showings and more-impactful outreach.
  • The instant gratification for the prospective tenant -- who can immediately schedule for an available listing the moment they come upon it.
  • The constant, timely communication with third parties -- such as current tenants and owners.
  • The leasing funnel intelligence, to incremental and constantly improve portfolio performance.

Are all worth the initial upfront effort and willingness to accept a new paradigm.

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