Online appointment scheduling is the best way for companies to set up their business! Clients enjoy the convenience of booking their appointments anytime of the day from their phone or computer. This means that businesses are operating more efficiently and eliminating any middle men in the process. As a result, this leaves more time to focus on other aspects of the business!
Did you know?
- 40% of online bookings are done after hours (Finaces Online, 2020)
- 39% of Gen Z individuals prefer receiving customer service by phone, making online appointment scheduling vital to retaining a younger client base (Finaces Online, 2020)
- 45 hours is the average lead time between booking and service fulfillment (LSA Insider, 2016)
Online scheduling can be a big money and time saver, which is why many companies are encouraging clients to self book their appointments through your booking portal. How exactly can you do that?
Follow the tips and examples below, and you’ll be well on your way to more online bookings.
1. Ensure your booking buttons are always visible on your website
Placing a "Schedule Now" or "Book Now" button on your first page of your website is one of the easiest and most effective way to get clients to book their appointments online. Ensure that the button is clearly visible and everywhere from your "Services" to "Contact us" pages. A helpful tip would to be have the button a different colour to catch the client's eye.
The more visible the "Schedule Now" or "Book Now" button is, the more likely a client is to schedule an appointment.
For example, take a look at Aquamobile's website. They have a large "Book Now" button in bright red colour that provides customers with a clear indication on how to book.
2. Tell clients to book appointments online with an automated email response
When clients inquire through your website, set up an automated email response to notify clients that they have an option to schedule an appointment online. This will prompt the client to go through your booking portal where they can look through the services, providers, and pricing available.
If you're already emailing customers with announcements or newsletters, consider promoting your online booking option as well!
3. Inform clients to book their appointment online on your Voicemail
When clients inquire and call in, sometimes a representative may not always be available to answer the phone call right away. By setting up a voicemail, they will notify the customer that there is an option to self book online. Instead of waiting for the representative, the customer can go through your booking portal and find all the booking information that they need!
4. Promote your business on social media channels
Take advantage of your social media channels to increase online bookings.
On Facebook, you can add a "Book Now" button on top of your company's profile where customer's can quickly find and book!
For example, take a look at Aquamobile's Instagram which has a direct link for customers to book their appointment straight from Instagram.
In Conclusion
Getting your customers to adjust to booking online can take a bit of time if they're use to calling or emailing your business. However, this only takes a few weeks for the switch to occur if you start right away.
By making sure your online booking is a positive experience, any customer - old or new - will prefer to do so! With MarketBox, our scheduling system easily allows businesses to scale across multiple neighbourhoods, cities, or even countries!
Learn how MarketBox can help your business grow by booking a demo.
