Viewings, Availabilities & Leads: how-to

Step-by-step instructions, roughly in the order they happen. For what each option means, see Viewings, Availabilities & Leads. For problems, see Viewings, Availabilities & Leads: troubleshooting.

Find your task

If you’re here because…	Go to
You’re setting up before your first viewing	Set up viewing hours and alerts, then Create a pre-qualification form
A room is coming free	Mark a room as available
You want it on Rightmove, Zoopla or OnTheMarket	Connect a portal and list a room
You want enquiries from your own website	Create an enquiry form
Someone phoned, emailed or messaged you	Add a lead
A new-lead Action has appeared	Work through new leads
You want to arrange a viewing	Invite someone to a viewing
An applicant has answered their questionnaire	Review a pre-qualification questionnaire
A viewing needs a date, or a new one	Propose, accept or change a viewing date
Several viewings need the same change	Update several viewings at once
A viewing has happened	Give feedback after a viewing
You want to offer the room	Onboard an applicant from a viewing
A viewing isn’t going ahead	Cancel or archive a viewing
The room has been let	Mark a room as unavailable
Two leads are the same person	Merge duplicate leads

Set up viewing hours and alerts

Do this when you start using viewings, so applicants can only propose times that suit you.

Before you start: you need edit permission for Viewings.

1. From your dashboard, click Menu > Viewings, then the settings cog.
2. Open Viewing Hours and click Set up viewing hours (or Modify viewing hours).
3. Set the Default viewing duration, Minimum days before and Maximum days in advance.
4. For each day, set the times, or tick Unavailable. Use Add slot for a split day.
5. Click Save.
6. Open Viewing automatic alerts, click Set up viewing alerts, choose No alert, Alert room only or Alert whole property, and save.

What happens next: applicants can only propose dates and times inside your hours. You can still book any time yourself. If you chose an alert, current tenants get an email and app notification 24 hours before each agreed viewing.

Caution

Maximum days in advance must be at least as big as Minimum days before, or applicants can’t pick any date. For example: minimum 2, maximum 14.

Create a pre-qualification form

1. Open Viewings Settings (the settings cog on the organisation Viewings panel) > Pre-qualification forms.
2. Click Add form and give it a name.
3. Tick the questions you want, and add your own under additional questions.
4. Save.
5. To use it automatically, open the form and use Use as default: for the whole organisation, or tick the properties it’s the default for.

What happens next: the default form is pre-selected when you invite someone, and shown to anyone who requests a viewing on Find a Home.

Tip

A form set for one property isn’t offered for others. If a form seems to be missing when you invite someone, check which properties it’s set for.

Mark a room as available

Do this when a room is free, or you know when it will be.

Before you start: you need edit permission for Properties. Fill in Property Marketing, Property Details and Room Details, as listings use them.

1. Open the room, and go to its Availabilities panel.
2. Click Change availability.
3. Choose Available and set Available from.
4. Click Save.

What happens next: the room shows under Available (Now or Soon) on the Availabilities panel, is listed on COHO’s Find a Home, and can be chosen when you invite someone to a viewing. Portal listings aren’t created automatically; see below.

Mark a room as unavailable

Do this as soon as a room is taken, for example when an applicant pays a holding deposit or a tenancy is agreed.

1. Open the room’s Availabilities panel and click Change availability.
2. Choose Unavailable, pick an Unavailability reason, and add Notes if useful.
3. Click Save.

What happens next: the room comes off Find a Home. Rightmove and OnTheMarket listings are removed automatically, usually within an hour. A Zoopla listing stays until you remove it (see Connect a portal and list a room).

Note

Starting an onboarding only takes the room off the market if you tick Set room as unavailable, which isn’t ticked by default. Confirming a holding deposit or a contract yourself does it by default. If the holding deposit was confirmed automatically, change the availability yourself.

Connect a portal and list a room

Do this if you have your own Rightmove, Zoopla or OnTheMarket account.

Before you start: get your branch or feed ID from the portal. You need “Advertise rooms and publish to portals” to create listings.

1. From your dashboard, click Menu > Availabilities, then the settings cog.
2. Open Rightmove credentials, OnTheMarket credentials or Zoopla credentials, click Add new (or Add branch for Zoopla) and enter the details.
3. Save.
4. On the Availabilities panel, click Available, then View on the room.
5. Open Listing portals, choose Room listing or Property listing, and click Create Rightmove listing (or the OnTheMarket or Zoopla option).
6. Check the details and confirm.

What happens next: the listing goes to the portal. Enquiries from that portal come into your Leads panel every hour. To update or take down a listing, use Manage … listing, then Remove.

Create an enquiry form

Use this to collect enquiries from your website, a SpareRoom reply, a poster or a QR code.

Before you start: you need permission to view leads.

1. From your dashboard, click Menu > Leads, then the settings cog.
2. Open Enquiry forms and click New enquiry form.
3. Enter a Name. Optionally choose a Property and Room, and a Pre-qualification form.
4. Under On submission, choose Create a lead or Create a lead and a viewing (needs a property).
5. Tick Ask the enquirer for an optional message if you want one.
6. Save. Then click Share and copy the link, an embed snippet or the QR code.

What happens next: each submission creates a lead (or adds to the existing one with the same email or phone), and a viewing if you chose that. You get a new-lead Action.

Add a lead

1. Open the Leads panel and click + Lead.
2. Enter an Email or Telephone (at least one), and optionally Forename, Surname, Source and Notes.
3. Click Add.

Note

If the person has no email address, leave Email blank and enter a phone number. COHO doesn’t accept made-up addresses such as noemail@noemail.com or none@none.com.

What happens next: the lead appears in Inbox. Leads you add yourself don’t create a new-lead Action. Adding from a property or room panel links the lead to it; click Unlink to stop that.

Work through new leads

1. Open the Leads panel and click Inbox.
2. Click View on a lead. Read the Messages and Notes, and set the move-in period, budget and search location if you know them.
3. Decide:
   • suitable: click Invite to viewing (see below);
   • not yet: set the status to In progress;
   • not suitable: set Rejected or Missed opportunity, or click Archive.

What happens next: archiving a lead clears its new-lead Action. Leads you don’t update for 14 days move to Stale.

Invite someone to a viewing

Do this when you want an applicant to view a room, with or without a date.

Before you start: you need “Arrange and cancel viewings”. The lead needs a real email address (not a made-up one such as noemail@noemail.com) and a forename.

1. Click Invite to viewing on the Viewings panel, or on a lead.
2. Choose the Property and, optionally, the Room. Untick Available only to see rooms that aren’t available.
3. Under Applicant, use Search existing lead, or fill in the new applicant’s Forename, Email address, and optionally Surname, Mobile number and Source. Click Save or Continue.
4. Propose a date? Choose Yes and set the Proposed date and Viewing duration, or Leave it for later. Tick Date already agreed upon if you’ve agreed it, and Send notice to active tenants now if you want tenants told straight away. Untick Meet at the property to give a Meeting point.
5. Choose whether to send a pre-qualification form (or keep the default).
6. Choose the Assignee. Their name also goes on the conversation.
7. Write a Message, or pick a template. If your subscription has WhatsApp, choose whether it’s the lead’s main channel.
8. Click Send.

What happens next: the applicant gets an email, and WhatsApp or SMS if they have a mobile number, with a link to their viewing. The viewing appears under Pre-Qualification (if you sent a form), Arranging or Scheduled.

Note

Choosing more than one room or property creates a separate viewing for each, without a date. Propose a date on each one afterwards.

Review a pre-qualification questionnaire

1. On the Viewings panel, click Pre-Qualification > Answered, and View the viewing.
2. Click Review questionnaire and read the answers.
3. Under How would you like to proceed?, choose Accept, or Request More Info and write a Message to applicant.

What happens next: once accepted, the viewing moves to Arranging. To move on without answers, click Skip questionnaire; to fill it in yourself, click Complete for applicant.

Propose, accept or change a viewing date

1. Open the viewing (View).
2. Use the card that fits:
   • Propose date or Propose new date: set the date, time and duration, then Send;
   • Accept date & time or Reject date: on the applicant’s behalf;
   • Modify viewing: change the date, meeting point or duration before the viewing.
3. Tick Date already agreed upon if the applicant has agreed already.

What happens next: the applicant is told and asked to accept, unless the date is already agreed. Once agreed, COHO asks them to confirm about 24 hours and 2 hours before.

Tip

If COHO says your date is outside your viewing hours, click Ignore viewing date validation errors to book it anyway.

Update several viewings at once

1. On the Viewings panel, click Multi-select and tick up to 50 viewings.
2. Click Propose date, Message, Cancel or Archive.
3. Fill in the form and send.

What happens next: each viewing is updated as if you’d done it one by one. Propose date needs a mobile number on every lead; Archive only works for viewings whose date has passed.

Give feedback after a viewing

1. On the Viewings panel, click Post-viewing > Awaiting feedback (or Approval required), and View the viewing.
2. Click Provide feedback.
3. Answer Do you want to move forward with the viewing?: Yes, No or No show. For a no show you can propose another date. Tick Skip applicant feedback if you don’t need the applicant’s answer.
4. Click Send feedback.

What happens next: the applicant is told. Yes moves the viewing to Successful and highlights Onboard.

Onboard an applicant from a viewing

Do this when you’ve chosen the applicant.

Before you start: you need edit permission for Onboarding. If you want the room off the market now, plan to tick Set room as unavailable.

1. Open the viewing and click Onboard.
2. Check the Property and Room; change them if the applicant wants a different one.
3. Complete the Onboard New Applicant form. See Onboarding.
4. Click Submit.

What happens next: the onboarding starts and the applicant is invited. The viewing is archived (or cancelled, if its date hasn’t come yet), along with the applicant’s other open viewings with you. Their viewing conversation is archived when no open viewings are left; find it in the Message Centre.

Cancel or archive a viewing

To cancel:

1. Open the viewing and click Cancel.
2. Under Re-schedule?, choose Yes (pick a new date now), Leave it for later (reset the date but keep the viewing) or No (cancel for good).
3. Choose a Cancelling reason and click Send.

To archive (only once the viewing date has passed): click Archive on the viewing or the row, and confirm.

What happens next: the applicant is told the viewing is cancelled. Archived viewings are hidden unless you switch on Show archived only; click Restore to bring one back.

Merge duplicate leads

1. Open one of the leads. If COHO has found a possible duplicate, Duplicate detection shows it.
2. Click Mark as duplicate, choose Keep this lead or Keep proposed lead, and click Merge leads.

What happens next: the kept lead takes the details, and the duplicate is archived. Archived leads, or two leads that both have a questionnaire or a conversation, can’t be merged.