To recover from the effects of lockdown and expand your business, you will need smart resources to assist you in efficiently managing your day-to-day operations, scheduling, and communication with both your clients and employees.
In the past, it was merely a convenient method of managing business tasks, but currently, it is crucial to observe social distancing regulations and prioritize health and safety measures. Therefore, if ensuring that your store, workplace, or medical facility doesn’t become excessively crowded seems perplexing to you, you have landed in the appropriate place.
In order to swiftly recover from lockdown while ensuring safety, an online booking system (also known as an online booking calendar) is necessary.
In our comprehensive guide consisting of seven simple steps, we have compiled all the necessary information and best practices we have accumulated over the years to assist you in locating and implementing an online booking system that will effectively serve your business’s needs and facilitate its expansion.
What is an online booking system?
An online booking system or calendar allows customers to schedule appointments for the services that you provide through an interface.
Through the use of an online scheduling platform, businesses and individuals can manage their own schedules and provide their clients with the freedom to schedule appointments at their convenience while automating administrative tasks. Additionally, numerous platforms offer the option to allocate buffer periods between appointments for workspace maintenance and to easily set up recurring appointments.
By utilizing advanced booking software, you can establish a personalized and branded page for bookings and automatically send out reminders via email and SMS. This not only enhances your online presence and improves customer communication but also gives you the capacity to relay your latest health and safety information.
How to create an online booking system?
After identifying the preferred online booking system, it is necessary to configure and customize it according to your business requirements.
1. Feed in your business details
Including as much of your business information as possible will increase credibility. In addition to the business name, provide a description, contact information, and social media accounts for greater online visibility and customer engagement.
Ensure that the information you provide is accurate. For instance, if your business offers services at a physical site, it should be easily locatable by its address to prevent tardiness.
2. Set up availability and services
Establish your designated work hours and mark off times for planned pauses, like taking your lunch break or performing cleaning tasks. Certain software options will enable you to set aside certain time periods that are exclusively for your colleagues to schedule appointments, while also offering publicly accessible time slots for clients.
Make sure to describe the services you provide, including their duration and price (if applicable), and indicate which staff members are qualified to offer them. Additionally, it’s important to clarify whether these services are available publicly or exclusively through initiation.
In case you require to disinfect your workplace between appointments or if your services go beyond the scheduled time, you may opt to include additional time intervals in your services.
3. Create reminders
Setting up automated reminders for appointments can decrease the chances of no-shows by as much as 90%. It’s wise to invest 10 minutes to establish and verify their functionality, rather than running the risk of an upsurge in expensive absentee appointments.
Sending out text messages in addition to email notifications is important, as SMS reminders are more likely to be opened.
To achieve maximum effectiveness, it’s important to tailor your message content to each individual service, and in some cases, send a series of reminders prior to the appointment. Make sure to create time and service-specific reminders.
4. Customize your booking page
Having an online presence is absolutely necessary in today’s world. Your booking page not only serves as your online store or digital entrance, but it also distinguishes your brand from competitors who are too lazy to create an inviting booking page to impress their customers.
Ensure that your booking page features your logo and, if possible, include a cover photo or other imagery. It is important to exclusively use high-quality images as low-quality ones can convey a sense of shadiness, doubt, and unreliability on your booking page.
In order to eliminate the branding of other companies from your booking page, you typically need to upgrade your free online booking system to a paid plan.
5. Set up calendar sync and app integrations
Having multiple calendars from multiple sources such as Google, iCal, Outlook.com, Office 365, or Exchange can be overwhelming. However, by establishing a 2-way calendar sync, you can have all your appointments in one place and avoid scheduling conflicts.
An online booking system is probably not the only app in your tech stack, and luckily, it can be integrated with all the everyday apps that you use for email marketing, accounting, social media, and of course, video meetings.
Remember that direct or native integrations offer a smoother process and require minimal upkeep. It is crucial to verify whether your preferred online booking calendar solely provides Zapier integrations with your preferred tools or if they have also developed native versions.
6. Test
Ensure that your brand new and sophisticated booking page is functioning correctly and delivering exceptional user experience before sharing it.
I have an additional checklist for you:
- Go to your online booking page and place a booking.
- Check-in your calendar system whether the appointment came through. If you have calendar sync set up, also check the appointment there.
- See if all the reminders came through correctly.
- Manage the booking: try to reschedule or cancel the appointment.
- If you are taking virtual appointments, check if the video meeting link is present.
7. Share your online booking system
One way to enhance online exposure is to promote the online booking feature to current and prospective clients. This can be accomplished by means of your website, email promotions, social media, or by incorporating it into your business card or email signature.
Advantage of Online booking Systems
Tour and activity business owners can step up their game to match the technological advancements of the 21st century by utilizing online booking systems. Combining this technology with traditional customer service can give your business a competitive edge in marketing and activity bookings. However, it is important to weigh the pros and cons carefully to ensure that the software you choose is the best fit for your business needs before making a selection.
Advantages of Online Booking Systems
1. Your business is open around the clock.
When customers decide to book a tour or rental, they prefer not to wait until you are available at the office; they prefer to secure the activity according to their convenience. By adopting an online booking system, your business can operate round the clock, all days of the week.
2. You can maximize reservations.
Making reservations by themselves, customers are prone to attending, eliminating the occurrence of no-shows. In case a customer decides to cancel, the booked spot becomes available on the internet, providing an opportunity for someone else to make a reservation. By optimizing reservations, there won’t be any unused spots or rentals.
3. You get paid quicker.
With an online booking system, you can require customers to prepay for activities and rentals. This puts money into your pocket faster.
By utilizing an online reservation system, you can request that patrons make payments in advance for their rentals and activities. This speeds up the collection of revenue and ensures that come event day, you won’t need to concern yourself with processing transactions – giving both you and your attendees additional time to enjoy the experience.
4. You’re not tied to a phone.
If a customer is directed to voicemail when calling a tour or activity company, they may choose to call back at a later time or opt for another company. Having online booking available ensures that information and reservations are always accessible, which eliminates the frustrating cycle of missing each other’s calls. This also maximizes the potential for securing bookings.
5. You can effortlessly up-sell add-ons.
To expand your business, you have the option of incorporating more guides, activities or extending your operating hours, but all of these require effort. Introducing extra benefits to your clients can be a simple way to increase earnings for your business. You have the opportunity to offer fun add-ons like photo packages or souvenirs, which can be made available during the online booking checkout.
6. It’s easy to manage your calendar.
With online booking systems, you can conveniently monitor your reservations and availability on any mobile device while being located anywhere. Your business status is constantly accessible, and you can easily manage your schedule from a convenient spot.
7. You get valuable insight about your business.
By utilizing an online booking system’s comprehensive analytics dashboard, you can identify your top-selling items, preferred time slots, and popular add-ons. Such insights can help your business grow by enabling you to focus on meeting customers’ demands while reducing the costs associated with unprofitable offerings. Determine whether an Online Booking System is suitable for your needs.
Disadvantages of Online Booking Systems
1. You need Internet access.
Online booking may not be suitable for those who offer tours and activities in remote areas without internet access. This is because reliable internet access is necessary to manage reservations and process online bookings. Fortunately, Peek Pro users can take advantage of our mobile apps that function offline. This allows them to synchronize their bookings while connected to the internet and use the apps in areas with poor reception, without worrying about internet disruptions.
2. You need to be ready for an influx of new customers.
Having online booking software is an effective means of attracting potential customers, particularly those who opt for booking via their personal computers and mobile gadgets. Nonetheless, if you have limited personnel and insufficient resources to scale up your operations, expanding too fast could prove to be problematic.
3. Not all online booking systems are created equal.
Opting for an online solution could prove to be vexing if you select a provider with deficient customer service or limited features, particularly when you aim to expand your business. Therefore, it is critical to exercise due diligence in the beginning and opt for an online booking system that is devoted to aiding your business in the long run.
4. Avoid booking systems that don’t bring you new quality customers.
It is suggested that when making an investment in a new technology platform and providing training to the staff, it is advisable to select a booking system that caters to all the requirements of the business, particularly one that attracts a steady flow of superior customers. A few booking systems come with distribution channels; however, they may not be proficient enough to attract customers who can offer excellent reviews and reference your business to others. Therefore, it is crucial to conduct thorough research and find a booking system that guarantees a constant and consistent flow of top-quality customers.
