Rightmove has announced that its new appointment booking tool is now ready for any agent to sign up and start using it.

‘Viewings Manager’, which is included as part of an agent’s Rightmove membership, has been through extensive testing, with a small group of agents signed up since last year to help trial and develop the tool.

The appointment booking facility is designed to help agents more easily schedule viewing appointments, reduce tenant no-shows, pre-qualify tenants and receive feedback on properties.

There are now over 200 agents signed up and using the tool, including Jon Myers of Quick & Clarke in Yorkshire.

He says that he has been using the tool for several months and that it has successfully almost halved the number of tenant no-shows, as he says tenants are more likely to cancel if they can just click a button rather than having to call them, saving his firm time, and in some cases, improving the quality of tenant leads they receive.

The ‘Request Details’ button on an agent’s properties is replaced by a ‘Book a viewing’ button, and works by asking an applicant to fill in a simple affordability question on the lead form to help pre-qualify them and suggest two hour time slots for a viewing over the next five days.

An agent can confirm the time slots with the tenant directly through the tool, while Rightmove automatically reminds tenants of the viewing via email and text message to help cut down on no-shows.

Following the viewing, the tool automatically prompts an applicant to ask if they want to make an offer and provide feedback so agents do not have to chase.

Viewings Manager is also now fully integrated with Van Mildert’s referencing service if an agent wants to request a reference directly within the tool.

The next enhancement of the tool is coming next year, which will include the ability to integrate with an agent’s calendar or diary.

Rightmove says that any agent interested in signing up to start using Viewings Manager should speak to their Account Manager about setting it up.