How many people work on your team? How often do you have online or offline meetings? How many clients do you have? If you have several meetings and calls every day, it is very easy to get confused. So problems can arise such as canceling and rescheduling meetings, losing important client information, and planning several events at the same time. Consequently, there is a lot of stress and sometimes even loss of clients and partners.
To avoid all these problems, you need good organizational skills. For help, you can use a scheduling tool. What an appointment booking application is, and what functions it may have, you can read in this article.
What is an Online Appointment Booking App?
An appointment scheduling app is a web application with a calendar interface that is usually integrated with other applications, such as email or video conferencing. When you make an appointment with your client using appointment scheduling software, the information about this appointment is saved in your calendar and your customer’s calendar. You also receive a notification about the scheduled event on the planned day. In this way, you cannot book two events for the same day, and forget about planned appointments.
Besides scheduling features, such applications can also have some advanced features. For example, you can store client information or receive payments using the appointment booking app.
Scheduling software can also be used to organize the interaction of employees within the company and with business partners. The planner will be handy for marketers, sales managers, and business owners.
Essential Features of Every Online Booking Software
There are so many different scheduling software applications out there. They all have different functions, purposes, and pricing plans. It’s so easy to get lost in the variety. But before you start exploring the various applications and choosing the most appropriate one, pay attention to the necessary features that a good scheduling application should have.
1) Data security
Scheduling apps often contain sensitive customer information and payment details. Therefore, it is vital to consider data security when choosing an app. You can check such options as data encryption and storage of information on secure servers.
2) User experience
The application should be user-friendly and intuitive. When choosing an app, think of your customers: how easily and quickly can they make an appointment with you on your booking page? If it takes a lot of effort and time, your potential customers might lose patience and leave for your competitors.
3) Compatibility
You, your customers, and your teams may use different devices and operating systems. Therefore, the scheduling app must compatible with most systems. After all, it would be frustrating if your customer could not schedule an appointment with you because the app is incompatible with the android system on their smartphone. It would also be inconvenient to change the scheduling app every time you or someone on your team changes their operating device.
4) Technical support
Even the most flawless application can have operational issues. To solve these problems, tech support specialists help. In addition, a tech support specialist can help users understand some of the software operation specifics. So, when choosing a scheduling application, pay attention to how easy it is to contact tech support, how quickly the company employees respond, as well as what reviews about tech support other users have left.
Things to Consider by Choosing an Appointment Scheduling App
What could be easier than choosing a scheduler? At first glance, it is a very simple application. But it has a lot of different functions. Some of these functions will be utterly useless to you. And some will be very beneficial for your business. Therefore, by choosing the right appointment scheduling tools, you need to consider the individual needs of your business. Below, you can read what differences as well as additional features different booking software may have.
Online Booking Options
Your potential customers can find you in different places, such as social networks, Google searches, and your company’s website. They should have the opportunity to book an appointment quickly and easily. Let’s look at what reservation options online booking software can have.
Google Bookings
To attract as many clients as possible, you need to have Google My Business Profile. Your potential customers will be able to find information about you through Google search, Google Maps, and Google Assistant. They can see the Book Now button in the Reserve with Google (RwG) list. So when choosing a book scheduler, make sure it has Google integration.
Your Website
Your website is where your potential customers can find out more about your company. But if they are interested in your services or products, they should be able to order them quickly. Integrating your website with a scheduler will allow them to promptly leave a request without going to another application.
Social Media
A social media profile is an effective way to communicate with your customers in real time. Customers can find out about your company’s latest news, read reviews, and ask questions.
You can also integrate a Book Now button here. So the client, if they are interested in your services, can immediately make an appointment with you. Pay attention to the fact that such a button should be easy to find. When you click should open a form that you can quickly fill out.
Booking Page
In addition to your business website, you also need to have a booking page. Such a page should represent your brand. It should have a company logo and images indicating your company’s affiliation.
Quick Booking Link
Not all platforms can have a booking button. For example, in an email or SMS newsletter, in some social networks, and so on, you can insert a quick link that allows the customer to go to your booking page.
Collecting Information About your Potential Customers
Detailed information about your existing and potential customers will help you make more informed decisions. You won’t need to spend time and money developing platforms that aren’t bringing you customers. You also don’t have to pay for advertising for audiences not interested in your products or services.
A scheduling app can help you get the following information:
- Lead source. You can get information about which channels your customers will most likely to come to you from. For example, it might be a Google search, an app, a social network, or your website. This way, you can understand which channel you should spend the most resources on.
- Demographic information. You can find out what age, occupation, and education people are most likely to reach you. You can target your next advertising to this group of people.
- Returned customers. You can track how often your clients come back to you and through which channels you can remind your old customers about yourself.
- Appointment no-shows. You can get information on how often the customer cancels appointments, and which clients are most likely to cancel or not show up for appointments. This way, you’ll know which group of your clients you should pay more attention to.
Scalability
With the right scheduling app, you can make it easier for your customers to connect with you. As a consequence, you may have more customers over time. As a result, your business will grow. If you want to use your scheduling software for a long time and avoid the inconvenience of switching to another app, consider easily scalable apps. When choosing a scheduler, consider how many users can be added to it and how much data it can manage. You can extend its functionality simply by switching to a different pricing plan in many applications.
Pricing Factor
Choosing a booking application can depend on factors such as your budget and the set of scheduler features you need. If you don’t want to spend a lot of money, you can find a free online booking application. Usually, such applications don’t have a lot of advanced features. But their functionality could be enough for some tasks. You can also consider paid planners with different pricing plans if you’re looking for a specific set of features. These are very handy. As your business grows, you’ll need new tools. You can find the features you need in a more advanced version of your app.
These are the main aspects you should pay attention to when choosing a scheduler. But there are many more functions and features. After a little searching and comparing, you can definitely find something for yourself.
Conclusion
The number of daily tasks and contacts grows if your business grows. You have new clients. New employees come into your company. This means that every day you need to contact more and more people. A properly selected planner will help you organize all the information, remember everything and not confuse it.