Your small business can be successful if your clients are able to find your website easily on the internet and book their appointment effortlessly. Satisfied customers may well recommend your services to their contacts and friends. But how do you create happy customers? In this article, we provide eight effective online scheduling tips that you can implement using a quality solution such as 10to8.
Create a professional scheduling website
Most people use the internet to find businesses that offer the services they require. Therefore, you need to establish a prominent online presence to be successful. However, you don’t need to seek the help of a web designer for the job. Simply check out platforms such as Wix, WordPress, Squarespace, Weebly and others to create your own professional website easily.
A Yodle survey found that 40% of consumers make online bookings after working hours. In addition, 25% of millennials are not keen on booking appointments in advance if the business does not offer online booking. These stats make it imperative for small businesses to create an online booking page that informs prospective clients about their availability in real time, is optimized for mobile, and gets a high ranking in popular search engines.
You can achieve your goal by making effective use of SEO strategies. Make sure you get links to your site from other websites, get listed on industry directories, and participate in discussions on online forums to attract more visitors to your site.
For more information on key features of an online booking system check out our other article.
Provide flexible booking options
Your website should offer seamless booking options to clients. They should be easily able to book, cancel, or change their appointments anytime. At the same time, you need not lose control over the booking process. You can set limits, implement cancellation policies, and approve bookings manually.
Attracting repeat business from existing customers is more cost-effective than attracting new customers. Therefore, inform your existing clients about your full range of services so that they can choose what they want.
Offer discounts on social media
You can convert your social media presence into profits by providing discounts to your followers and fans. If business is slack, you can provide them last minute discounts. Your business is bound to boom if your social media followers like the discounts and throng to your establishment.
Send targeted messages
Create a list of previous customers and send them periodical emails about new offers and services. This will remind them of the good service they obtained at your facility. Be direct in these emails and make your existing clients feel special by offering them incentives and discounts to make them come back for more.
Prepare for slack times
During slack seasons, boost your business by implementing promotional campaigns at targeted segments of customers including those who have not availed your services for some time. This is a good time to experiment with your pricing and you can afford to give discounts to attract customers as all the revenue you get is a bonus during quiet seasons.
Convert your customers into evangelists
Word of mouth is invaluable for a business. You can find out what your clients think about your services by surveying them. Read their reviews and comments, and respond to both good as well as adverse feedback.
Use web reviews and referral quotations to publicize your company. Respond positively to criticism to make up to dissatisfied customers and convert them into happy ones. Plus, if clients act as evangelists and recommend your services to others, reward them for the good work.
Minimize no-shows with automatic text reminders
This is a recommended way to ensure most of your clients turn up for their appointments. Online scheduling solutions like 10to8 can do this task automatically for you and free up your time for important work. Automated appointment reminders are invaluable because they can improve your relationship with clients and also boost revenue.
Provide a personalized experience
If you are afraid that using online scheduling can rob you of the chance to speak personally with your customers, you need not worry. You can enable your customers to schedule a call to you at an appointed time so that they can convey their needs personally. This method can help you to avoid interruptions and build a closer relationship. Second, you can use 10to8 to send out personalized messages to your clients both before and after the appointment. This will make your customers feel special and tell them that you really care for them.
Features and Benefits of 10to8 for Small Businesses
Now that you know what strategies to use to boost your small business, let’s look at the key features of 10to8 and how they can benefit your establishment:
Effective communications
10to8 sends automated emails and SMS to enable clients to confirm and remember their appointment. In addition, you can know when clients receive and read your messages. Plus, you can market your brand by customizing and branding all client communications. Another advantage is you can allow your clients to request cancellations or changes as well as respond to reminders. You can also send personal text messages direct from the calendar.
Effortless online booking
Enable your clients to book their appointments online. However, you can maintain control by deciding the details of the bookings and also manually approve requests. In addition, you can accept payments with SagePay, Stripe, and PayPal. 10to8 does not charge any commission.
Coordinate effectively
Use rota management to coordinate multiple locations, staff, rooms, and calendars seamlessly. On top of that, you can track all payments, notes, changes, and history for appointments and customers. In addition, you can limit access to vital data based on staff role.
Sophisticated platform
10to8 offers instant, cloud-based updates. This means calendar updates from your staff and clients show up instantly on your device. Another advantage is the system is completely secure as the vendor utilizes encrypted bank-rate security and complies with the Data Protection regulation. The best part is you can access the system from any smartphone, tablet, or computer. If necessary, you can print your calendar.
Robust reporting
With the live dashboard, you can track your crucial metrics and business growth. Plus, you can get targeted advice. View requests and appointments that have the risk of no-show and minimize their impact. Finally, you can generate custom reports to view data by customer, service, or staff member.
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