Outsourcing Pre-Screening Calls to Virtual Assistant?

Question

Howdy all!

I'm trying to find a way to streamline the lead followup portion of our lead-to-lease pipeline. We use a property management software that syndicates our listings to 20+ marketing websites, and we get inundated with email inquiries. I've found that we get a VERY low response rate if we respond to the leads by email. In contrast, we get very good results from calling, leaving a message, and then emailing saying that we called and left a message and asking when a good time to call back is. Phone conversation lead to showings roughly 50% of the time.

I'd like to find a cost-effective way to hand this process over to someone else. I've done a little research on virtual assistants, but am wondering whether anyone has had experience with this that they could share, or if there are any platforms that anyone would particularly recommend.

Thanks for your help!

--Chris F

Christopher Freeman · Answer

@Nathan G., great recommendation! I checked out their site and can definitely see myself utilizing their services in the not too distant future.

@Taylor Roeling, we currently use RentecDirect. It serves our purposes for the most part, but Buildium keeps drawing our eye, so we may convert in the next year or two.

Eddie T. · Answer

@Christopher Freeman Did you end up hiring a virtual assistant for pre screening?

Taylor Roeling · Answer

@Christopher Freeman I'm wondering which property management service you currently are using. It is true that voice contact or in-person contact generally lead to showings more often than just online correspondence, basically because people will trust you more. If the software you are using is already free, then investing in someone to take over handling calls and that part of the process would probably be a good idea. Best of luck!

Nathan Gesner · Answer

Check out ShowMojo! It does a better job of syndicating your listings and allowing applicants to schedule showings. They also have a live call center that can handle the inquiries with a live person.