In business, we often think that the old ways of doing business are the best - and sometimes this is true. Shaking hands with partners, excellent customer service and making deals in person are all still essential tools for the modern-day business. But, this doesn’t mean that all older customs need to be brought forward into the future. 

Some tools need to be left in the past so that businesses can grow and improve. One of these tools is outdated, time-consuming booking systems - like over the phone or via email and the appointment diary book. Though these are still vital parts of any business, technology can make the booking process a whole lot easier.

Here’s how you can start to use an online booking system to attract more customers to your business and save you time in the long-run. 

24/7, Flexible Booking For Customers

Without an online booking system, your customers will be relying on over the phone bookings, email bookings or booking in, in-person. These processes are all very time consuming and are limited by the amount of time you or your staff are in the office to respond.

By using an online booking system your customers can book an appointment whenever they like, at any time of day and most importantly, when it suits them. It also means that multiple customers can book in with you at the same time (and not be left on-hold) and can do it from their desktop, mobile phone or laptop. It’s incredibly flexible and provides a huge boost to your customer service and revenue. 

Just by having an online booking system you’ll be able to attract significantly more customers to your shop because more people can book at once and your time isn’t taken up answering calls. For the younger crowd, online booking is a must. 

Staff Workload Is Reduced 

Booking over the phone and checking emails requires a lot of maintenance to keep bookings accurate and up to date. This means more staff time is put into managing the phones and checking emails. 

You need your team to manage phone lines, update and maintain your booking calendar, take payments from clients, check for any mistakes and send reminders to customers who have already booked in. 

These are all time-consuming tasks that could end up costing your company a fortune in wages or overtime. There is also more likely to be a slip up with a manual booking system then if you had an online system. 

By having an online booking system added onto your website, you’ll be making the entire process a whole lot easier and cutting down on costs for your business. 

Here are some of the ways online booking systems will make your time more manageable:

• Customers will only be able to book the dates that are available on the calendar in front of them 
• Customers will have to make upfront payments for their bookings
• Customers will receive automatic booking reminders near the time of their appointment 

Online booking systems are a simple way for customers to book appointments. It’s fast and allows you and your staff to focus on other tasks for the business. 

By freeing up your team members’ time, they can focus more on upselling or attracting even more new customers through the door. 

Self Promotion Made Easy

Social media isn’t just for connecting with friends and family, it can also be used for companies to sell products and promote services. 

A lot of people will find new businesses every day through social media - in our industry, Instagram and Facebook are incredibly popular. Whether it’s through a simple search, seeing one of your ads or a retweet on twitter, social media has the potential to expose your company to thousands of new customers. 

How do online bookings come into this? By being able to take bookings on your website, you’ll have a page to send potential clients to, rather than instructing them to call you or email you to place a booking. 

When the customer is sent to your booking calendar online you can include some compelling offer next to the form to encourage them to make that booking. This will help increase the bookings your shop receives, as well as increase the number of new customers you get coming into your shop overall. 

Some booking systems are even able to integrate with Facebook which gives you even more benefits for using the online booking systems. These benefits include:

• Customers can book directly from their Facebook page and be taken to a live calendar showing your availability, as well as a detailed product or service description.
• You can add special promotional Facebook booking codes to encourage people to make a booking with you. 
• Customers can like and share your booking information on their own Facebook profile which will enhance the visibility of your company.
• Customers who book through Facebook can be encouraged to leave reviews on your Facebook profile - helping to boost your brand reputation online

If you’re interested in learning more about online booking systems and how they can help you save time and increase revenue, get in touch today.