8 Ways to Improve Customer Service for Babysitting Businesses

Here are eight easy ways to improve customer service that babysitting businesses can implement today.

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#1. Add contact information, pricing, and booking options to your website 

Adding key information like pricing, booking options, and contact information to your childcare business’s website is an easy way to improve customer service. This reduces the need for customers to contact you (and wait for an answer) but makes it easy to get in touch if needed. 

Additionally, babysitting businesses should consider creating an FAQ page and reviewing it regularly to ensure the information is current and covers the main topics a potential or existing customer might have. Topics to include are any qualifications or background checks your childcare providers have and the areas you service. 

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#2. Clearly state your refund/cancellation policy 

One of the worst customer service issues for customers to run into — aside from rude customer service agents — is finding out after they booked that their babysitting services are non-refundable or can’t be rescheduled. 

Clearly displaying your babysitting business’s refund and cancellation policies on your website, and getting customers to agree to them at the time of booking, ensures that customers know what they’re getting into before it’s too late. 

Make sure to include

• The minimum notice period for cancellations/rescheduling 
• Any fees a customer is liable for when canceling and if these can be avoided with enough notice 
• If you have an extenuating circumstance clause for cancellations 
• What happens if a childcare provider has to cancel, i.e., refunds issued, discounts offered, etc. 

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#3. Introduce a customer loyalty program

Another easy way to improve customer service in your childcare agency is to make your customers feel valued. Customer loyalty programs are a great way to do this and simultaneously encourage repeat business for your babysitting business. 

Tip: Introduce a customer referral scheme as part of your customer loyalty program to encourage customers to bring in new customers.

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#4. Optimize customer service channels

Reviewing and optimizing communication channels is essential for babysitting agencies looking to improve customer service. Don’t fall into the trap of offering too many communication channels in an effort to please everyone if you don’t have the resources to monitor them effectively. 

Customers shouldn’t wait more than an hour to get a response during business hours, and never more than 24 hours. If you can’t guarantee a fast response rate, consider condensing your communication channels down to just a few main ones, such as phone, email, and your most used social media platform. 

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#5. Use online booking to reduce wait times 

Introducing online booking is the most significant change a childcare agency can make to improve customer service. More than 70% of customers prefer to book and manage service appointments online. 

Online booking software gives customers a fast, convenient way to organize babysitting services, and gives them the flexibility to book at any time of day. Most online booking software has integrated online payments for a secure way to take payments.

Online booking helps childcare agencies reduce customer response times and remove scheduling delays that impact customers' perception of a business. Online booking software with integrated employee scheduling, like MarketBox, also makes organizing childcare providers easy and provides instant confirmations to customer requests. 

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#6. Hire quality babysitters and childcare providers 

For service-based businesses like babysitting companies, the quality of employees you hire significantly impacts customer service levels. It’s important to invest time into finding the right babysitters and providing ongoing training to maintain a consistent, high-quality service across your business. 

Related: 8 Hiring Mistakes to Avoid

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#7. Automate appointment reminders

Another easy way to improve customer service is to automate appointment reminders. Automated appointment reminders significantly reduce the admin tasks your team has to deal with and reduce no-shows by up to 85%. This ensures that customers receive their services in a timely manner and don’t have to reschedule appointments. 

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#8. Collect customer feedback and action on it quickly

The last way babysitting businesses can improve customer service is by listening to their customers. Collecting feedback, either formally through surveys and focus groups or second-hand through customer reviews, is an effective way to highlight areas to improve and take action to avoid negative customer experiences. 

If your childcare business uses online booking software like MarketBox, you can automate review requests and send customers follow-up messages after appointments to collect feedback quickly and easily.  

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To learn more about how MarketBox can help improve customer service for your childcare business and modernize your booking and scheduling processes, book a platform demo today.