We’ve put together an example to hopefully trigger some thoughts on the things you’ll want to consider.
There are many factors, but to keep it simple, below is a very basic scheduling cost comparison* between two popular scheduling methods used in real estate today:
- In House: The cost to the listing office to have showing agents call the office directly, with a receptionist/front desk staff doing the scheduling.
- Outsource: The cost to the listing office to have showing agents call an appointment center or call center service.
* An assumed average price was used for the comparison, based on a broad range of known pricing from multiple vendors. Keep in mind the purpose of the comparison isn’t to provide actual pricing, but simply to help your real estate office think about costs to factor into the decision. Any vendor would be glad to provide specific quotes, including ShowingTime.
In House
Consider a 10-agent office with 30 listings for the example. Below are some approximate costs – including an assumed hourly wage of $12/hr – to consider for scheduling showings using your own staff and a front-desk software product, such as ShowingTime Front Desk:
- Availability to take showing calls = 58 hrs/wk (8am – 6pm M-F, 9am – 1pm Sat & Sun)
- All company listings handled + other admin tasks during lulls in showing request calls
- Ballpark costs:
- Average software cost = $900/yr (prices will vary based on vendor, market, upgrades, promotions, etc.)
- Labor cost = 58 hrs/wk x $12/hr = $696/wk, $36,192/yr
- “All in” total annual cost = $36,192 + $900 = $37,092
- Approximate hourly cost = $12.30/hr
Outsource
For the same 10-agent office with 30 listings, below are some approximate costs to use a service such as the ShowingTime Appointment Center to schedule showings on your listings:
- Availability to take showing calls = 24/7/365
- All company listings handled (optional Lead Coordinator service available for handling prospect calls)
- Ballpark costs:
- Average service cost = $7 per listing/mo x 30 listings = $210/mo, $2,520/yr (prices will vary based on vendor, market, promotions, etc.)
- Labor cost = included
- “All in” total annual cost = $2,520
- Approximate hourly cost = $0.28/hr
How your office prefers to handle showing requests is a big part of the answer to “What It Costs To Schedule Showings.” An office might also decide NOT to factor in the labor costs of front desk staff – or only use a percentage of that cost.
The bottom line: it’s important to factor in all costs incurred with each method, so you’re comparing apples to apples to make the best decision for your company. If you have any questions about this example or have other feedback, please let us know.
Do you spend too much of your day scheduling and confirming showing appointments? Learn how the ShowingTime Appointment Center helps free up your time to focus on other tasks to grow your business.