Online Booking Guide

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The Essential Guide to Online Booking $

Transcript of Online Booking Guide

The Essential Guide to Online Booking

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Contents

04 // OVERVIEW

05 // HOW CONSUMERS BOOK APPOINTMENTS

06 // BENEFITS OF ONLINE SCHEDULING

1 1 // SELECTING THE RIGHT SCHEDULING SOFTWARE

12 // PREPARING FOR IMPLEMENTATION

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Many appointment-based businesses face the same problem. How do you, as a business owner, effectively reach the consumers who increasingly do everything online, and how do you best take advantage of online booking technologies to improve operations?

The Essential Guide to Online Booking

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04

Traditional appointment scheduling by phone incurs

excessive costs, unavoidable missed calls, and potential

customer dissatisfaction. As a business owner, you’ve

probably had your fair share of headaches with

appointment scheduling:

• You spend too much time on the phone, or you’ve had

to hire someone to manage appointments.

• Clients sometimes complain about not being to view

your availability or book appointments without calling

in.

• Changes make a mess in your appointment book and

confuse your staff.

• No-shows hurt your revenue.

Online booking software has been developed to satisfy

your client-facing and operational needs. By optimizing

your online presence and providing easy self-scheduling

for your clients, online booking software brings you more

happy clients and helps you run your business cost-

effectively. After reading this guide, you’ll learn:

• How consumers have changed their approach to making

an appointment

• Marketing and operational benefits of online booking

for you and your staff

• How to select online booking software for your business

• What to expect when you implement online booking

Overview

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Book you online

Google your business

Google your business

Go to appointment

Communicate back and forth about services, prices, and

availabilities

Book an appointment

Get a reminder phone call from you

Call you during business hours

How Consumers Book Appointments

WITH ONLINE BOOKING WITHOUT ONLINE BOOKING

The Essential Guide to Online Booking

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06

Benefits of Online Scheduling

Online booking software seeks to solve many of the problems associated with the

traditional booking method. It streamlines the scheduling process and ultimately helps

you grow your business. In this section, we will explain how online booking software

enhances the way you attract and engage customers in this new digital age.

1. Reduce the time you spend on scheduling appointments

2. Enable your clients to self-schedule appointments whenever they want

3. Streamline your staffing process and make the best use of your employees’ time

4. Send your clients automatic reminders

5. Protect you from no-show losses

6. Encourage your clients to take action

7. Build and retain a sustainable client base

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REDUCE THE TIME YOU SPEND ON SCHEDULING APPOINTMENTSYou just spent another half day scheduling appointments.

Sounds like a good thing – you have a lot of business. But

think about what you had to give up in order to do that. You

are missing out on more productive tasks such as seeing

clients, marketing to new customers and planning the future

of your business. Even if you hire a receptionist to manage

appointments, it’s still going to take just as long to book

these appointments by phone - and it can cost you a fortune.

For a service-providing small business, labor is typically the

largest single expense.

With online booking software, your clients can schedule

their own appointments without distracting you and your

staff from other tasks. Don’t worry about making customers

unhappy with scheduling themselves – a study found 56%

of consumers prefer the self-service approach, and 25% of

millennials will only book appointments online. Consumers

now want more control in their purchasing process. If some

of your clients don’t like booking appointments on their own,

they can always call you, and they’ll have a better chance of

getting through.

ENABLE YOUR CLIENTS TO BOOK APPOINTMENTS WHENEVER THEY WANTAs you saw in the chart at the beginning of the guide, many

consumers could’ve been your clients, but you missed them

without even realizing. The worst is when potential clients found

you and chose you but failed to book you. Maybe you missed their

calls because you were on the phone with another client or serving

clients in the store. Or they might need to book appointments

after business hours because it’s inconvenient for them to call you

from work. These ultimately represent missed opportunities for

you to grow your client base and increase revenue.

How much you ask? Based on MyTime data, 42% of online

bookings happened outside of normal business hours. Businesses

that don’t offer the option of online booking may find that clients

have gone to a competitor. In this age of instant gratification with

services like OpenTable and Uber, your clients want an immediate

booking, and if you don’t offer it, they may go somewhere else

that does.

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STREAMLINE YOUR STAFFING PROCESS AND MAKE THE BEST USE OF YOUR EMPLOYEES’ TIMEMaybe you’ve perfected your appointment book, or maybe

you’re ready to throw it in the trash. Even if you use a basic

scheduling program like Google Calendar, it can be difficult

to communicate with your staff about their appointments.

Ultimately, your appointment book is supposed to collect

staff availability and client appointment information, but

you still have to do all the work, relaying the information

back and forth.

Scheduling errors, such as double-booking and over-

booking, can also happen due to the limitations of a

paper appointment book. When there are changes in staff

members’ availability, or when clients reschedule their

appointments, you can’t update everyone immediately,

and this delay can cause errors that affect your clients’

experience as well as staff morale.

Online booking software, on the other hand, will make

all the updates and inform the right staff members

automatically and instantly about appointment changes

and upcoming appointments. You can give your staff

access to the online calendar so they can input their

available time slots and receive immediate notifications

when clients book or reschedule appointments with them.

If you allow your clients to choose specific staff members

for their appointments, then you don’t even have to spend

time scheduling your employees. Since online booking

software keeps staff availability and client appointments in

sync, errors like double booking will never happen.

“We were looking for a scheduling program that would help us manage our photography business. Creating a system to help us schedule and communicate the schedule to our team was vital. MyTime was the answer! Our ability to share it with the team and create individual calendars made this the perfect tool for us.”

SCOTT LASKE,

Laske Images Photography

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Numerous studies have proven that reminders can reduce

no-show rate but making sure the reminders reach your

clients can take significant time. Calling clients on the phone

is a common method for appointment reminders. It can add

a personal touch, which makes the clients feel accountable

for their upcoming appointments. However, those calls can

also be ineffective because you might not be able to reach

your clients before their appointment, especially in this day

and age when a growing number of people simply don’t

pick up their phones anymore. As a result, you’ve probably

had to make multiple attempts before your client answers,

or you’ve had to leave a voicemail without knowing if it

would be checked. Ineffective reminder methods can lead

to no-shows, direct loss in revenue, and worse still, unhappy

clients who might not come back.

An online booking system will send automated reminder

texts and emails that reduce no-shows and last-minute

cancellations without the time and hassle of making

reminder phone calls. The software automatically sends out

reminders 24 hours before the appointments, even providing

an easy way for your customer to confirm the appointment.

Texts will reach your clients surely and quickly, with 95% of

texts read within 3 minutes of being sent. Emails are also

becoming consumers’ favorite method of communication

with companies, with 72% of consumers indicating that

they preferred businesses to contact them by email. Online

booking software will automatically send both texts and

emails to make sure your clients receive the reminders on

time, reducing your no-shows by as much as 50%.

REDUCE NO-SHOWS WITH AUTOMATED APPOINTMENT REMINDERS`

“My cancellations have gone down since people have to leave their credit card

information.”

CHRISTIAN WASINGER,

Christian Wasinger, Clinical Hypnotherapist

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PROTECT YOUR BUSINESS FROM CANCELLATION LOSSES

Sometimes you do everything you can, but clients still fail to show up.

No matter the reason, no-show means no revenue. On top of losing

the revenue from that appointment slot, you also have to spend extra

time on rescheduling. Other than banning habitual no-shows, it can be

difficult to protect yourself and your staff.

Online booking software can protect you from these losses. It enables

you to establish and enforce your custom cancellation policy on your

booking page. It will ask to collect payment information from your

clients during the booking process and automatically collect a fee

from your client’s card if they no-show or cancel last minute. Given

the warning of a cancellation fee, clients tend to make more careful

choices when booking and better understand the impact that a no-

show has on a service business like yours.

Also, because online booking software reflects your calendar in real

time, clients are able to see the new availability and book that time

slot immediately. Better still, with some online booking software, you

can proactively set up last-minute sales to help you fill that open slot.

ENCOURAGE YOUR CLIENTS TO TAKE ACTION Online booking software makes it convenient for your prospective clients to

take action and effectively converts interest into transactions. Your clients

are increasingly accustomed to finding business information online—42% of

consumers rely on search engines as their primary method for looking up

local businesses. Online booking software shares complete and consistent

information about your services across the web so that your prospective clients

can conveniently find everything they need to know about you without calling in.

Some booking software also enables direct booking on search engines and social

media so clients who find you there can book you without leaving these sites.

According to MyTime data, these integrations can bring you an additional 15% of

online bookings.

BUILD AND RETAIN A SUSTAINABLE CLIENTELE

For small businesses like yours, one of the biggest challenges is building and

retaining clientele. When you manage all your appointments through a single

online booking software, it becomes very easy to set up client profiles and keep

track of appointment and purchase history. Online booking also ensures that

you have accurate contact information for your clients. With this information,

you can foster a lasting relationship with your customers through personalized

email campaigns like rebooking reminders, birthday thank-you’s, or even a staff

newsletter. Some online booking software also allows you to set customized prices

and services for each client, providing your clients with personalized booking

experiences without giving you a headache.

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Selecting the Right Scheduling Software

Now that you know the benefits of online booking software for you, your staff, and your clients, which one should you use? Choosing the software that satisfies your specific needs is crucial. After all, you will be interacting with it every day, and a major part of your business depends on it. Here is a checklist to help you select the best online booking software for your business.

FUNCTIONALITY REQUIREMENTS

Is it easy for me, my clients, and my staff to navigate the software?

Will it manage all my online listings to make sure my business information is complete and updated?

Does it enable direct booking across the web, including my website, consumer destination websites, social media, and search engines? Is my booking page mobile-optimized?

Is the booking function designed to handle all types of services and levels of complexity, such as recurring appointments, custom prices for specific clients, and off-peak sales?

Does the software send out automatic confirmations and reminders?

Are appointment changes easily made and instantly updated for everyone?

Will I have access control? Can I limit staff access to the calendar?

Does it help enforce my customized cancellation policy?

Can I access the software whenever I need it, at any location, on any operating system, and from any device?

Is it an all-in-one solution that helps me consolidate everything related to online booking?

INTEGRATION REQUIREMENTS

Is the software compatible with other business software I’m using?

If I’m migrating from another booking software, is assistance provided to import all the appointment history and client information?

Does the calendar synchronize with my personal calendar?

Will I be able to integrate my website and email services with the software?

Can the software adapt to my future needs, such as integrated online payment processing, multi-location businesses, and analytical reports?

TRAINING & SUPPORT REQUIREMENTS

How much employee training will be provided?

What on-going services should I expect from the support team?

What is the availability of after-hours support?

Is the software easy to maintain?

What are the standard security, data storage, and backup procedures?

The Essential Guide to Online Booking

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Preparing for ImplementationAfter you choose the best solution for your business,

switching to the new online booking software may seem

daunting. But you will not be alone in the process. Software

companies are aware of the challenges that can arise when

adopting a new online booking system, so they connect

you with specialists to help you set up and get familiarized

with their software. Each company has a different process,

but generally, they will integrate the software into your

website and customize the settings based on your

preferences. A specialist will help you build your profile and

understand all the features and benefits of the software.

The specialist will give you and your staff training on the

features and make sure everyone is comfortable with the

software. If you are migrating from another online booking

software, they might also help you import your history.

You should expect to be up and running in 1-2 weeks,

depending on your and the specialist’s availability, and you

should expect 4-6 weeks to fully train your staff and get

acquainted with the full functionality of the software.

ConclusionOnline booking software will enable you to take full advantage of consumers’ increasing tendency

to do everything online and help you optimize your daily operations by making the best use of your

staff’s time. You can share complete and updated business information with a huge online client

base and capture more opportunities to get appointments. You will also have more time to spend on

improving your business. Online booking software not only helps run your business better today but

also empowers you to grow your business tomorrow. Find the right software for your business, and

start enjoying the marketing, operational and financial benefits of online booking.

MyTime powers local businesses. MyTime is an all-in-one scheduling, marketing,

and point of sale solution that helps service-based small businesses like salons,

massage therapists, and pet groomers attract, engage, retain, and check out their

clients better. Click here to learn more about MyTime Scheduler, a state-of-the-art

online appointment calendar, client relationship manager and instant messenger.

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