What Is the Difference Between Bookings, Viewings, Tours, and Showings?

Propel uses the term "booking" to refer to any scheduled appointment, whether it's a rental tour, a real estate showing, or a short-term rental reservation. Understanding this terminology helps you navigate Propel's features and understand how bookings work across different use cases.

What Is a Booking?

In Propel, a booking is a scheduled appointment between you and a prospect. A booking represents a confirmed or pending time slot when you'll meet with a prospect to show them a property or discuss a property opportunity.

Key characteristics of bookings:

• Scheduled time - Specific date and time for the appointment
• Property linked - Associated with one or more property listings
• Contact linked - Connected to the prospect who requested the appointment
• Calendar event - Creates an event in your connected calendar
• Status tracking - Can be confirmed, pending, cancelled, or completed

Terminology Across Use Cases

While Propel uses "booking" as the technical term, different industries and use cases use different terminology. All of these refer to the same underlying concept in Propel:

Property Management: Tours and Viewings

Property managers typically use:

• Tour - A scheduled visit to view a rental property
• Viewing - Another term for a property tour
• Showing - Less common in property management, but sometimes used

In Propel: These are all bookings. When a rental prospect requests to see a property, Propel creates a booking for the tour.

Example:

• Prospect: "Can I schedule a tour of the apartment at 123 Main St?"
• Propel creates: A booking for a rental property tour

Real Estate: Showings

Real estate agents typically use:

• Showing - A scheduled visit to view a property for sale
• Property showing - More specific term for buyer showings
• Open house - A scheduled time when multiple buyers can view a property

In Propel: These are all bookings. When a buyer requests to see a property for sale, Propel creates a booking for the showing.

Example:

• Buyer: "I'd like to schedule a showing of 456 Oak Avenue"
• Propel creates: A booking for a real estate showing

Short-Term Rentals: Reservations

Short-term rental hosts typically use:

• Reservation - A confirmed booking for a guest stay
• Booking - The actual reservation itself
• Stay - The period when guests occupy the property

In Propel: Reservations are bookings. When a guest confirms a stay, Propel creates a booking for the reservation period.

Example:

• Guest: "I'd like to book the property for March 15-20"
• Propel creates: A booking for the reservation period

Commercial Real Estate: Viewings and Tours

Commercial real estate teams may use:

• Property tour - Scheduled visit to commercial property
• Site visit - More formal term for commercial viewings
• Showing - Similar to residential, but for commercial properties

In Propel: All of these are bookings. Commercial property viewings are managed the same way as residential bookings.

How Bookings Work in Propel

Regardless of the terminology you use, bookings in Propel work the same way:

Booking Creation

1. Prospect requests appointment - Prospect emails asking to see a property
2. Propel processes request - System identifies the booking request
3. Availability checked - Propel checks your calendar for available times
4. Times offered - Propel suggests available time slots
5. Booking confirmed - When prospect selects a time, booking is created
6. Calendar event created - Event appears in your calendar and Propel

Booking Status

All bookings have the same status options, regardless of use case:

• Pending - Request received, waiting for time confirmation
• Confirmed - Time selected and confirmed, calendar event created
• Cancelled - Booking was cancelled by prospect or you
• Completed - Appointment has passed

Booking Details

All bookings include the same information:

• Property information - Address, unit number, property details
• Contact information - Prospect name, email, phone
• Time information - Start time, end time, duration, time zone
• Agent information - Assigned agent, contact details
• Status - Current booking status
• Engagement link - Connection to the conversation thread

Viewing Your Bookings

In Propel's interface, you'll see bookings referred to as:

• Viewings - The navigation item in the sidebar (for property management context)
• Bookings - Alternative navigation term (for general use)
• Scheduled Appointments - Descriptive term in some contexts

All of these show the same data - your scheduled appointments, regardless of whether they're tours, showings, or reservations.

Where to Find Bookings

1. Viewings/Bookings page - Dedicated calendar view of all bookings
2. Engagements - Bookings are linked to their conversation threads
3. Contacts - View all bookings for a specific contact
4. Dashboard - See upcoming bookings in activity widgets
5. Calendar app - All bookings appear in your connected calendar

Use Case Examples

Property Management Example

Scenario: A prospect emails asking to tour a rental apartment.

What happens:

1. Prospect: "Hi, I'm interested in touring the 2-bedroom at 123 Main St"
2. Propel: Responds with available tour times
3. Prospect: "Tuesday at 2pm works for me"
4. Propel: Creates a booking (tour) for Tuesday at 2pm
5. Result: Booking appears in Viewings page, calendar, and engagement

Terminology used: Tour, viewing, showing (all refer to the same booking)

Real Estate Example

Scenario: A buyer wants to see a property for sale.

What happens:

1. Buyer: "Can I schedule a showing of 456 Oak Avenue?"
2. Propel: Responds with available showing times
3. Buyer: "Saturday at 10am works"
4. Propel: Creates a booking (showing) for Saturday at 10am
5. Result: Booking appears in Viewings page, calendar, and engagement

Terminology used: Showing, property showing (both refer to the same booking)

Short-Term Rental Example

Scenario: A guest wants to book a property for specific dates.

What happens:

1. Guest: "I'd like to book your property for March 15-20"
2. Propel: Confirms availability and pricing
3. Guest: "Yes, I'll take it"
4. Propel: Creates a booking (reservation) for March 15-20
5. Result: Booking appears in Viewings page, calendar, and engagement

Terminology used: Reservation, booking (both refer to the same booking)

Why This Terminology Matters

Understanding that all these terms refer to the same underlying concept helps you:

Navigate Propel's Interface

• Know that "Viewings" and "Bookings" show the same data
• Understand that tours, showings, and reservations are all managed the same way
• Realize that booking features work for all use cases

Communicate Effectively

• Use terminology that matches your industry (tours for PM, showings for real estate)
• Understand that Propel uses "booking" internally but supports all terminology
• Know that prospects can use any terminology and Propel will understand

Use Features Consistently

• Booking features work the same regardless of terminology
• Calendar integration works for all booking types
• Follow-up and management features apply to all bookings

Booking Workflow

The booking workflow is the same regardless of terminology:

1. Request received - Prospect requests to see a property (using any terminology)
2. Availability checked - Propel checks your calendar
3. Times offered - Propel suggests available slots
4. Time selected - Prospect chooses a time
5. Booking created - Propel creates the booking (tour/showing/reservation)
6. Calendar synced - Event appears in your calendar
7. Confirmations sent - Both parties receive confirmation
8. Reminders sent - Automatic reminders before the appointment
9. Follow-up scheduled - Propel can follow up after the appointment

Managing Different Booking Types

While all bookings work the same way in Propel, you can manage them differently based on your needs:

Filtering by Property Type

• Filter bookings by listing type (rental vs for sale)
• View only rental tours or only real estate showings
• Organize by property characteristics

Customizing Booking Details

• Add custom notes for different booking types
• Use different agent assignments for different property types
• Set different durations for tours vs showings vs reservations

Use Case-Specific Workflows

• Property management: Focus on tour-to-application conversion
• Real estate: Track showing-to-offer pipeline
• Short-term rentals: Manage reservation-to-check-in workflow

Related Concepts

Engagements

Bookings are always linked to engagements (conversations). The engagement contains the full conversation history, and the booking is the scheduled appointment that resulted from that conversation.

See Understanding Engagements for more details.

Contacts

Bookings are associated with contacts (prospects). You can view all bookings for a specific contact to see their viewing history.

See Managing Contacts for more details.

Listings

Bookings are linked to property listings. The booking shows which property (or properties) will be viewed during the appointment.

See Managing Listings for more details.

Best Practices

Use Consistent Terminology

• Use terminology that matches your industry when communicating with prospects
• Understand that Propel supports all terminology
• Don't worry about terminology differences - Propel handles them automatically

Organize by Use Case

• Use listing types to distinguish rental tours from real estate showings
• Create separate mailboxes for different use cases if needed
• Use property tags or custom fields to categorize bookings

Track Booking Performance

• Monitor booking conversion rates by type (tour-to-application, showing-to-offer)
• Track which properties get the most booking requests
• Analyze booking patterns to optimize scheduling

Troubleshooting

Confusion About Terminology

If you're confused about terminology:

1. Remember: All terms (tour, showing, viewing, reservation) refer to the same thing in Propel
2. Check the Viewings page - This shows all your bookings regardless of terminology
3. Look at booking details - The details show what type of property is being viewed
4. Use filters - Filter by listing type to see only rental tours or only real estate showings

Bookings Not Appearing

If bookings aren't showing up:

1. Check booking status - Only confirmed bookings appear in calendar views
2. Verify calendar integration - Bookings require calendar connection
3. Check date range - Ensure you're viewing the correct date range
4. Review engagement - Bookings are linked to engagements, check the conversation

Next Steps

Now that you understand bookings:

• Learn how automatic booking works to see how Propel schedules appointments
• Set up calendar integration to enable automatic booking
• Configure mailbox settings to control booking behavior
• Understand engagements to see how bookings relate to conversations

Related Articles

• Booking Tours and Viewings - Learn how automatic booking works
• Understanding Engagements - See how bookings relate to conversations
• Managing Contacts - View booking history for specific contacts
• Calendar Integration - Set up calendar connection for bookings
• Configuring Mailbox Settings - Control booking capabilities