Updated August 29, 2022
RentVision has a optional feature on our community websites that allows prospective residents to request an appointment for a leasing tour. By using this tool, prospects can propose a specific time they wish to tour the property, which makes it easier for the leasing team to manage non-phone leads that come in from the community website.
Note: This tool does not integrate with a calendar—it simply sends an email with the following information:
- Name
- Phone Number
- Move-In Date (not required)
- Selected Floorplan (not required)
- First Appointment Choice Time
- Second Appointment Choice Time
- Message (not required)
How does the tool work?
This is what it looks like on the website when a prospect asks to schedule an appointment:
When the user clicks the appropriate button on the website, a pop-up form will appear. This form allows the prospect to select their preferred appointment time as well as an alternate appointment time. We included the 12-hour buffer in order to help leasing teams. This saves leasing teams from getting last-minute requests that force them to either reshuffle their schedule or to have to cancel a showing if they cannot make it work.
Also, the form limits the choices to dates and times within the community's hours of operation.
Once a visitor submits the form and an email is sent to the leasing office, the community’s leasing team will need to communicate with that person in order to finalize the appointment, whether the tour is given at one of the requested times or a different time.
(Updated 2021) You now have the ability to use this tool for scheduling virtual appointments. If you're only doing virtual meetings, you can request to have the 'Request an Appointment' button changed to 'Schedule Virtual Showing'. Or if you conducting both in-person and virtual appointments, a new dropdown menu will appear for visitors to select their preference. To have these features added to your community's website, contact your Marketing Advisor.
(Updated 2021) For corporate websites, we've added the option to replace the Email button to Request An Appointment on community cards. In order to do this, the Request An Appointment feature must be turned on at that community, and any settings from the community level (custom hours, time buffers, virtual showings, etc.) will be matched on the corporate site. Again, contact your Marketing Advisor to set this up on your corporate website.
How do you set up the “Request an Appointment” tool?
If it’s turned on, the “Request an Appointment” button will show on the Amenities page and each floorplan page as in the example below:
It is important to note that each page is limited to three buttons on the main information bar.
RentVision websites offer several different buttons that can be used in this information bar:
- Email Community
- Check Availability
- See Special
- Request an Appointment
The “Email Community” button is enabled by default so that prospects can easily email the community from the website.
If both the “Check Availability” button and “See Special” button are also enabled, the “Request an Appointment” button won’t be added unless the community requests to eliminate the “Email Community” button.
Are there other ways to use the “Request an Appointment” tool?
This tool will also generate a unique URL on your website. Using this URL, you can include the option to schedule an appointment on your Google Business Profile listing on the Google search result page.
Notifications with the "Request an Appointment" Tool
If someone submits a request to schedule an appointment, your leasing team will receive an email that looks like this:
The prospect will also receive an email. Their email, however, will have your community’s colors and branding on it rather than the RentVision colors and branding. This makes it easier for the prospect to recognize the email and also helps with building your community’s brand with a prospective resident.
How can I track leads that come in with the “Request an Appointment” tool?
Submissions through this form are tracked as leads inside the RentVision Platform. The community will then need to contact the prospect to confirm their appointment.
Here’s what the request will look like inside the RentVision Platform:
Conclusion
If you are trying to make renting apartments easy, one obvious thing to do is make scheduling a leasing tour easy. Our hope is that this tool will help make it easier for your community to schedule tours with prospective residents. If you have any additional questions about how to implement the tool on your website or how it works, please reach out to your marketing advisor. They will be happy to help you with whatever you need.