Self-guided tours are an incredibly hot topic in multifamily right now.  They were already gaining steam, but with COVID, the trend has accelerated significantly.  What I hadn't fully thought through is how the self-guided concept would impact other industries, and it's interesting to hear their stories.  Here is a comment I saw from someone in car sales which I thought you all might find worthwhile:

I sell cars

Pre-covid19 we always felt that going with a customer on a test drive is critical. We have to protect our asset, we need a trained professional to highlight the vehicle good points, deal with objections blah blah.

Due to COVID19 we introduced solo test drives as a more common option and the thing that we have discovered is not being there on the test drive appears to result in better results then being there.

The test drives do tend to last longer, which is fine. However the customers are selling themselves the car without even knowing it. Like for example I sent a customer out on a test drive on an Explorer and he came back going "Did you know you can press a button and the mirrors fold in?" I go "yes" he goes "That's so cool" and he bought...I'd have never brought that up because it wasn't identified as a feature he cared about.

But we find by removing the sales person, and giving the customer as much time as they want they sell themselves the car.

Does that sound familiar to any of you all who have implemented self-guided tours?  Here is one other unintended benefit many people may not have considered:

Also another side benefit, the sales person isn't stuck in a car with the customer. They can be doing another things. I've set appts, done follow up, etc all when a customer is test driving a car. I can't do that when I'm with my customer on a test drive.

I hope you found this alternative perspective interesting!