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4 Ways to Send Appointment Reminders Without Annoying Customers

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Ways to Send Appointment Reminders Without Annoying Customers

A robust reminder system is an essential part of running an appointment-based business. Reminders help cut down on no-shows as well as promote on-time arrivals. When customers are present and punctual, you’re able to run a much smoother and more successful operation.

As vital as appointment reminders are, it’s important to keep in mind that not all customers are as gung ho about them as you might be. You need to be able to send effective reminders without annoying your customers. Even with the best intentions, your reminder messages can drive customers away.

Fret not, for there are ways to send appointment reminders that work without annoying your customer base. Here are a few tips to help you achieve just that:

1. Give Them an Appointment Card on Their Way Out

You should always give customers some kind of reminder about their upcoming appointment well in advance. Something as simple as an appointment card is an easy way to confirm future appointments and leave customers with a constant reminder.

An appointment card is a visual nudge to your customer that they have an upcoming appointment. This can be kept in a wallet, phone case, or even on the fridge. Your clients will have the opportunity to see that reminder every single day up until the day of their next appointment.

Appointment cards are most useful for reminding customers about return appointments. If a customer books their appointment online or over the phone, it won’t be feasible to mail them a card as a reminder. Instead, offer an appointment card as customers are leaving from an appointment and booking their next return visit.

2. Allow Them to Opt In for Automatic Reminders

If you don’t want to waste a bunch of cardstock by handing out dozens of appointment cards every day, go the digital route. Even if you do like physical appointment cards, allowing customers to opt in for automatic digital reminders is a great idea. This allows your patrons to get notified on their preferred device, wherever they are, without any extra effort on their part.

There are more options you should extend beyond just the ability to turn automated reminders on and off. Make sure you also give customers the choice to receive their appointment reminders via email, text, or even through an automated voice message. Getting reminders exactly how they want them is the best way to avoid annoying your customers.

Make it just as easy to opt out of appointment reminders as it is to opt in. Difficulties with adjusting reminder settings can be as infuriating as reminder spam can be.

3. Send Reminders at the Right Time

The best time to send a reminder is a day or two in advance of the appointment date. Sending a reminder a week in advance might seem like a good idea, but customers can easily forget about an appointment over the course of seven days. This bonus reminder then becomes more of a nuisance than a helpful notification.

Of course, you can allow customers to request more appointment reminders according to their preference, but sending a single reminder the day before an appointment date is a useful rule of thumb. This one reminder will do its job and be a helpful addition to the appointment process without bothering the customer in the slightest.

It’s also a good idea to send your appointment reminders within normal business hours or at other reasonable times of day. If a customer wakes up to an appointment reminder that was sent at midnight, they’re bound to be irritated. Unless a customer states otherwise, keep reminders to waking hours only.

4. Watch Your Wording

Take a moment to read your appointment reminder template. How does it come across? How your reminders are worded is just as important as sending them in the first place. Use the wrong tone or language, and your reminders might end up rubbing your customers the wrong way.

For example, reminders should be clear and concise. Put the focus on the appointment information, perhaps by putting it in bold lettering or a font that stands out from the rest of the message. That’s what the reminder is for anyway, so don’t waste your effort typing up a long notification that customers have to dig through.

Next, take a look at any wording that’s included besides the appointment information. Is there a way to personalize the message? Is there a call to action? Should you lighten the tone a little bit? You want to sound helpful, not hectoring. Ask these sorts of questions and put yourself in your customers’ shoes as you make adjustments to your reminder messages.

Happy customers will keep coming back, giving you a constant revenue stream upon which to grow your business. Appointment reminders will help you serve every customer with precision as long as you continue to use them wisely and effectively.

How to Encourage Appointment Scheduling in the Winter When No One Wants to Get Out

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How to Encourage Appointment Scheduling in the Winter When No One Wants to Get Out

Seasonal depression is nothing to scoff at. The freezing temperatures and lack of sunlight are enough to make anyone want to curl up at home in front of the fireplace. Unfortunately, this might mean that you’re filling fewer time slots in the wintertime as customers opt to stay indoors and schedule their appointments in the spring.

Encouraging appointment scheduling in the winter won’t be easy, but it’s a challenge worth facing head-on. Not only is getting your customers out of the house good for their mental and physical health, but it’s also good for your business. Here are some ideas to help you fill up your schedule even when the snow is falling:

Offer Incentives for Scheduling Appointments

People might not want to leave the comfort of their home for regular old appointments. Unless they absolutely have to, many customers are content with postponing them until temperatures start to rise again. To offset their desire to hibernate rather than book your services, you need to extend an offer that customers simply can’t refuse.

Incentives add an extra layer to appointments, making them more favorable even when weather conditions aren’t. For example, a customer might not normally book a winter appointment but be drawn toward your business by seasonal discounts and amped-up loyalty rewards.

Create Ambiance

The waiting room is an underrated aspect of appointment-based businesses. Even if you have the most streamlined booking system on planet Earth, every single one of your customers is going to spend some time in the lobby before or after an appointment. If you create an ambiance that’s comfortable and inviting, more customers will be willing to brave the cold and trek to your office.

How do you make your waiting room awesome? Look at aspects of your lobby that might go overlooked in normal circumstances. Warm lighting as opposed to blinding fluorescents can create a more inviting environment.

The music you play can also be quite influential. Replacing boring elevator music with modern, upbeat tunes or classic soul will make for a more pleasant waiting room experience. Even just keeping the common areas warm and cozy can bring out your chilly customers.

The exterior of your business shouldn’t be overlooked either. Clear sidewalks and parking lots will be a lot more welcoming to customers than icy pavement and snowy curbs.

Offer Online Check-In for Appointments

If customers have an option to wait in their warm cars until their appointment, they might feel more inclined to venture out for it. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be taking care of your waiting room. Rather, offering online check-in will provide another option for customers to consider. More options for customers means the business will have a better sales funnel.

Checking in online can easily be enabled through a mobile app or online software. All a customer needs to do is confirm that they have arrived at the office on time. A phone call, email, or text message will let the customer know when their appointment is about to start so they can quickly run from their car to the building, staying as warm as possible from start to finish.

Stretch Out Your Schedule

One reason why customers are hesitant to book appointments in the winter is because of perilous road conditions. Driving in the snow and ice is not a fun experience no matter how accustomed to it they are. This means drivers have to travel extra slowly, which might put them at risk of missing their appointment.

You can eliminate this fear by stretching out your schedule. Add some extra buffer time in between appointments just in case someone is running late due to poor weather conditions. You can also add more availability for walk-in customers if business is slow enough to accommodate them. This will give customers more flexibility and peace of mind.

Reach Out

If you’re using online scheduling software, you should easily be able to see when a customer made their last booking. Using this information, you can contact your regular visitors whom you haven’t seen in some time. Sometimes just reaching out to a customer is enough to bring them back for a winter appointment.

When getting in touch with customers, try to make your messages as personal as possible. Phone calls are easy to make personable but are more time-consuming. If you use some sort of messaging system, just be sure to draft up a message that doesn’t sound copy-and-pasted to your entire email list. When customers can tell that you sincerely care about them and want to serve them, you’ll have more success with winter appointment-setting.

Winter only takes up a short portion of the year, but it can feel like an eternity sometimes. Taking measures to fill up your appointment slots and stay busy will pass the time much more quickly and help your business start the next calendar year off on the right foot.

How to Decide the Minimum Amount of Appointment Cancellation Notice to Require

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How to Decide the Minimum Amount of Appointment Cancellation Notice to Require

In a perfect world, every appointment your customers make with you would take place. But in a perfect world, ice cream would be a superfood and a staple of every diet. Alas, that just isn’t the case. Unfortunately, cancellations are a fact of life. Lots of things can happen that result in canceled customer appointments. 

How your business deals with appointment cancellations will play a big part in its ultimate success. Some organizations require a fee to be paid if an appointment is canceled or issue a no-refund policy for every booking. That allows them to recoup some of the money lost when an appointment slot goes unfilled. However, a certain amount of lenience can provide a much stronger relationship with your customers. Working with a customer’s changing schedules and accommodating their needs as a business can create loyalty that is more beneficial long-term.  

For that reason, many companies implement a grace period before charging fees. This is part of an appointment-cancellation policy that customers are expected to follow. 

The biggest question with any cancellation policy is how much notice is required. How far in advance will you require your customers to cancel before they incur a penalty? The following variables can help you craft the perfect appointment-cancellation policy for your business and its customers:

1. Hours of Operation

The first thing you should consider when formulating an appointment-cancellation policy is your hours of operation. Businesses that are open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. may want to specify that their cancellation deadline hits when business doors open for the day (or even by close of business the previous day). This can be done to make it easier for business owners to plan their daily schedules and not have to roll with the punches of multiple cancellations, no-shows, and late arrivals throughout the day. 

Businesses with longer hours of operation might have to attempt more of a balancing act. For example, a salon owner who books time slots until 9 p.m might allow patrons to cancel appointments up until noon. The extra hours they have at their disposal could allow them to fill those coveted after-work appointments with people on their waitlist, minimizing disruption and revenue loss.

2. Staff Availability

Appointment cancellations directly impact your staff. If you’re gearing up for a full day of appointments, you may plan to have your entire staff on hand to absorb the anticipated traffic. When last-minute cancellations occur, a busy day can get completely off-balance. All those employees you asked to come in that day may not have enough appointments to keep them busy anymore.

If the number of appointments you have on a given day directly impacts your staffing decisions, you might want to opt for a cancellation policy that requires advance notice. For example, 48 hours’ notice allows employee schedules to be adjusted without a last-minute scramble. This will be especially helpful for any on-call workers you might employ who have more flexible schedules but appreciate at least some certainty. 

3. Appointment Demand

How in demand are your appointment slots? This might fluctuate depending on the time of year, but it’s an important component of your cancellation policy. If you have a long waitlist for daily appointments, short cancellation notices might not affect your business at all. As soon as an appointment slot opens up, it can be filled instantly, and your schedule will be none the wiser. 

For example, a tax accounting service may be incredibly busy in the first four months of the year, but business may slow in the summer. During slower months, you might appreciate having a little more notice for appointment cancellations when fewer people are waiting in line for open slots. You might even consider changing your cancellation policy during this time to accommodate changing needs for your business. If that’s what you decide to do, just be sure to make the changes clear to your customers so there’s no unnecessary frustration. 

4. Reminder Practices

Appointment reminders are one of the greatest tools your business can implement. By running all your appointments through online appointment software, the system can automatically send reminder messages that keep no-shows and late arrivals to a minimum. They can also help you when it comes to cancellations.

Most businesses will send reminders 24 hours in advance so that appointment reminders are fresh in customers’ minds. However, this is too late to include a reminder about your cancellation policy. Try sending your appointment reminder messages 48 hours in advance if you want to implement a 24-hour cancellation policy. Include a link for canceling or rescheduling appointments in the reminders you send, and changes should be made smoothly.

Your goal will always be to keep appointment cancellations to a minimum, but you should also be prepared for when cancellations inevitably occur. Draft an initial cancellation policy and weigh it against the four variables mentioned in this article. Once you come up with a good balance, share it with customers and observe how it affects appointment bookings over the next few months. 

Why Syncing Your Work and Personal Calendars Simplifies Appointment Scheduling

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Why Syncing Your Work and Personal Calendars Simplifies Appointment Scheduling

If you’re a busy individual, you probably have a separate calendar for work and for your personal life. This helps you divide up your different commitments so that a single calendar doesn’t get overcrowded. However, managing two separate calendars comes with different challenges you need to take into account. 

No matter what kind of error you want to avoid when juggling dual calendars, syncing will be your best solution. This will make your appointment-scheduling process so much easier whether you’re planning activities with your family and friends or organizing a new entrepreneurial venture. Here’s how calendar syncing is going to help you:

Improves Planning

When your work and personal calendars are intertwined, both calendars can be reviewed simultaneously. This allows your online appointment scheduling software to show you all available time slots that work for you. Otherwise, you might book a meeting that fits into your work calendar while overlooking a family commitment you had made for the same time. You don’t want to miss your daughter’s soccer game because you arranged a simultaneous client coffee date. 

With both calendars linked together, you’ll have a better idea of what you have to plan for in the upcoming days. Improved planning leads to increased efficiency, fewer mixups, and ultimately better results as your schedule falls into place.

Helps Manage Your Life Balance

With both calendars synced up, you can also improve that much-needed work-life balance. If you’re noticing that your work calendar far outweighs your personal calendar, maybe it’s time to schedule some more activities with your family. This can also be done in reverse. You might realize you’ve been taking a lot of time off recently and recognize the need to get back to the old grindstone, refilling that work calendar once again. 

Syncing your work and personal calendars will also help you learn the difficult art of saying no. Some appointments you’re just going to have to decline in the name of life balance. Turning down a single work appointment won’t be the end of the world for your career, especially if it contributes to a better family life. 

Stops You From Overbooking

Appointment software will not allow you to schedule over other events, even if you try. You’ll get a nice, big alert warning you that the time slot you’ve selected has already been filled. This will help with tricky situations like the one mentioned previously, where you create a work event without realizing there’s been a personal event scheduled there already. 

This will also prevent others from trying to overbook your time. Many managers use appointment software to make their time available to employees needing to ask questions or report on a project in progress. You don’t have to list out any specifics, but having both of your calendars covered in your available time slots will stop an employee from trying to bother you while you’re at a family gathering. Emergencies are always an exception, of course. 

Automates Schedule Additions and Changes in Both Places

After any appointment is scheduled, it’s automatically added to both of your calendars. This is one less thing you have to do, saving you a little bit of time and hassle when scheduling. Manual syncing is tedious, and also leaves more room for human error than any of us would like. You could accidentally input the wrong time in one calendar or simply forget to include the commitment when taking your other calendar into consideration. 

Automatic syncing will also come in handy when you share your calendars with other people. For example, you might share a personal calendar with your significant other. If they plan an event in your shared calendar, you’ll want that to pop up automatically. This will enable greater communication between you two and prevent conflicts from arising because of a lack thereof. 

The syncing of calendars with appointment software is great if you use these tools to better coordinate with your team as well. Sending an appointment invitation for an upcoming meeting will give employees the time to arrange their personal schedules accordingly. 

Enables Easier Transitioning

It can be difficult to shift your thought process from your work life to your personal life. By syncing their two respective calendars together, you’ll be able to make easier transitions throughout the day. 

For example, a major perk of using appointment software is to send and receive reminders and notifications. This can help cut down on tardiness and no-shows. However, you can find yourself feeling flustered if your notifications seem to be competing instead of coming in a linear fashion. Synchronized calendars will reduce this effect. 

There’s no time like the present to begin syncing up your work and personal calendars. It will make your appointment scheduling so much easier and improve your time management as you head into 2022.

7 Ways Online Appointment Software Can Benefit Small Businesses This Year

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7 Ways Online Appointment Software Can Benefit Small Businesses This Year

Appointment-based businesses working on a smaller scale might not see the benefits of online appointment setting right away. After all, a single hairstylist doesn’t see as many clients each day as a fully staffed hair salon. Yet the truth is that a small business can get just as much value out of online appointment software as its larger competitors, if not more so. 

This article will outline seven of the most tangible and immediate benefits of online appointment software for small businesses. Each one can specifically help your startup to grow and flourish in 2021 and beyond:

1. It Snags More Customers

The biggest thing small businesses require is new customers! Startups need all the support they can get, especially as they work to make the kind of name for themselves that will keep retention rates high. Online appointment software will not only bring in new customers, but encourage them to stick around for the long haul. 

Online appointment booking is so easy for new customers to use — they don’t have to get on the phone and talk to a stranger. Such a simple and efficient booking method is sure to pique the interest of numerous prospects. Win them over with a stellar appointment experience, and they’ll be booking a return appointment the minute they walk out the door. 

2. It Speeds Up the Appointment Process

There are a number of variables that can slow the appointment process down. Long wait times can be especially bothersome for both customers and your employees trying to keep a consistent schedule. By enabling online appointment booking, much of the process is sped up, keeping everybody happy. 

For example, employees are no longer distracted by as many phone calls that can pull them away from in-house customers. Online appointment software also eliminates a lot of manual work, such as inputting customer information or selecting appointment slots manually.

3. It Enables Quicker Payments

Few things are as worrisome for small businesses as outstanding payments. While most transactions will be conducted in person, some organizations — such as a doctor’s office — will rely on invoices sent after calculating insurance coverage.

Where third parties aren’t an issue, though, online appointment software can facilitate the payment process. When customers book their appointments online, they can also make advance payments simultaneously. Even if they settle up after service is rendered, online payment methods such as PayPal will encourage timelier payment. And that means small businesses can balance their checkbooks more quickly. 

4. It Reduces Booking Mistakes

Booking errors are inconvenient at best and can lose you customers at worst. Incorrectly inputting appointment times, overbooking appointments, or even forgetting an appointment entirely is a bad look for your organization. Using online appointment software helps to reduce human error that leads to these mistakes. 

Since online software will track appointments for you, overbooking is nonexistent, and accuracy is practically ensured. After all, clients are signing up for your available slots themselves. All you need to do is briefly review your upcoming schedule, and you’re good to go. 

5. It Lowers No-Show Rates

No-shows are an appointment-based business’s worst nightmare. The healthcare industry alone loses billions of dollars annually due to no-shows. These inconveniences take away valuable time slots from other patrons who would be happy to show up, and they waste a good portion of your day. The only party who loses money from a no-show is the business, unless there are well-advertised no-show fees involved.

Using online appointment software, you can slash your no-show rate by sending direct and effective notifications prior to the appointment. Consumers aren’t as likely to answer reminder phone calls, but they are typically quick to check a notification on their smartphone. A good notification system will at least remind them to reschedule an appointment they can no longer make. 

6. It Provides Quality Data

As a small business owner, you should never underestimate the power of data. Any information you can collect will prove to be invaluable to your business when implemented into your strategy. Since online appointment software tracks everything about your customer’s interaction with your business, you can start gathering and analyzing data immediately. 

Data will offer you lots of valuable insights you can use to grow your business. You’ll be able to spot common demographics to target with marketing campaigns as well as which appointment slots are most popular. This concrete information will allow you to make informed decisions to improve your business for present and future customers.

7. It Increases Availability

When booking appointments the old-fashioned way, prospective customers have to call in to their business of choice and inquire about availability. This process can take a long time, especially if they’re put on hold. Other customers simply want to minimize interaction as much as possible and will avoid making such phone calls.

By enabling online booking, customers no longer have to call in to check availability and book an appointment. Online servers are also open 24/7, meaning appointments can be booked long after your business has closed its doors for the day. This allows customers to make appointments anytime, helping you to fill your schedule even more and increase your revenue. 

Loving what you’re reading? You need to see it for yourself. Get started on implementing online appointment software now, and you can expect great things for your small business. 

How to Use Appointment Software to Get More Customers This Fall

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How to Use Appointment Software to Get More Customers This Fall

The lazy days of summer may have come to an end, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve seen the wave of new customers you expected. If your fall has been less busy than you’d hoped, rest assured that you can put together numerous customer acquisition programs with great success.

All it takes is a little fall flair to get those new customer numbers high even as temperatures drop. This article offers solutions you can implement to keep your business growing through the changing season.

Spruce Up Your Platform for the Season

Start by giving your online appointment system a seasonal makeover. Add some fall colors and designs to your website and online appointment portal. Colorful leaves, pumpkins, and hot chocolate mugs are always appealing visuals.

In addition to adding a festive theme, this is a great time to make sure your appointment software is running smoothly. You can put together the best customer acquisition program and still put off newcomers with a poor user experience. Ensure your site loading times and mobile interface aren’t discouraging would-be visitors from patronizing your business.  

Hold Some Holiday Events

A lot of seasonal buzz will be focused on the two major holidays coming up this fall. Use these days to your advantage. Businesses have historically found a lot of success gaining and retaining customers by putting their own twist on annual holiday traditions. 

You can have a lot of fun with Halloween. Your business can put on a trunk-or-treat event where families in costume can get a discount on their next appointment. If you’re open during business hours on Halloween, you can provide a free service upgrade to anyone who shows up in costume. These festive events can attract new customers to your business who are excited about the season. 

Thanksgiving is up next, but most businesses will be gearing up for Black Friday. While the day after Thanksgiving is usually a monstrous day for retailers and e-commerce, you can take advantage of all the busy customers by putting on an event of your own. Perhaps first-time customers can get 50% off of their Black Friday appointments.

Set Up Fall Promotions for Appointment-Setters

Not every single event you hold during the fall has to be oriented around a holiday. There are plenty of other autumnal promotions you can put on for appointment-setters.

Leveraging your social media is always a great way to bring in new customers. For example, you can put together a fall-themed hashtag to share. Anyone who creates a post with the hashtag can receive a coupon code that can be used with your online appointment software. 

Another promotion that fits the fall theme is a food drive. Have customers bring in canned food that can be donated just in time for the holidays in exchange for appointment deals. 

Fire Up Social Media

Speaking of social media, maintaining a few pages of content helps your business be more discoverable. There are plenty of fun fall ideas you can use to create new posts for the season to capture the attention of new customers. 

A nail salon can use Instagram to post pictures of its new designs. Clever hashtags and audience targeting can get new people in the area interested in checking out your services. Include a link to your online appointment software in the post — or at the very least in your account bio — so prospective customers know where to find you. 

Jump on the Local Bandwagon

In many cities and towns, fall is a time for sports. There are communities that will go all-in on their support for local high school or college football teams. These are large bandwagons your business can jump on as you seek fall success.

Let’s say you operate a hair salon, one of the most popular businesses that rely on appointments to thrive. You could offer the local team discount haircuts as a way to show your support. Place a banner in your shop window, and you’ll have plenty of parents and fans flocking to your doors to reward your support for their team.

To go the extra mile, you could also put together a program that donates a portion of profits to the team you’re sponsoring. Your business will transform into a community pillar that supports one of your town’s most treasured fall pastimes. 

Update Your Blog

Written content is a great way to draw in new customers. Quality blog posts will boost your ranking in search engines such as the almighty Google. When consumers make searches regarding your industry, they’ll have an easier time finding you and being lured into making an appointment.

There are plenty of fall themes you can use to update your blog with some new posts. A dentist’s office can write about the most tooth-friendly Halloween candy and how to keep your teeth clean while still enjoying your treats. A nail salon could tout new polishes in autumn leaf hues.

With every blog post, add a link that will direct readers to your online appointment software. Add it to a call to action for the best results. You can also track your blog metrics to see which posts are successfully bringing in new customers so you can replicate that success in future articles. 

Autumn is a beautiful season, and it will be even more enjoyable when your waiting room is full of new customers to serve. Put together the right combination of these tips, and you’ll be raking in new customers like leaves. 

How to Handle the Post-Pandemic Appointment Onslaught

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How to Handle the Post-Pandemic Appointment Onslaught

Life is finally getting closer to normal. Even though there have been some Covid-related twists and turns, businesses are beginning to reopen, and customers are once again clamoring for services. If your city is approaching a full reopening, you can expect customers to be rushing to your doors and booking appointments in the near future.

While the sudden influx in business is positive, it brings along a host of challenges. How do you fit in every single appointment without turning anyone away? How do you keep up with the demand? How do you prepare your employees for potential chaos?

You may run a dentist’s office or a hair salon. No matter your business, there are some basic business principles that will help you handle the post-pandemic onslaught with ease. Start by implementing the following:

Review Your Walk-In Policy

Your clientele may have lost a bit of their sense of protocol after a long hiatus during the pandemic. You might find many customers trying to fit into an appointment on very short notice. Some may even walk in requesting to be added to the queue. This behavior is difficult to plan around and can cause a lot of logistical bottlenecks if not handled correctly. 

This is a good time to review and potentially revise your walk-in policy. Consider placing a cap on walk-ins and announcing the restrictions to your customers. This will hopefully alert as many people as possible that the best way to get an appointment is through booking in advance. It can eliminate the wave of those who show up unannounced. 

A walk-in policy can consist of a maximum of two walk-ins per hour or a set number for the entire day. Your business might be able to fit in a few walk-ins, especially on a slower day. Having a set cap ensures you don’t get overwhelmed. 

Automate What You Can

Any office task that you can take out of the hands of your employees will help ease the post-pandemic appointment rush. Your workers will be able to assist more customers when they’re not continuously getting caught up in administrative duties. 

Implementing online appointment software should be your top priority if you haven’t set one up already. Making it possible or even required to book an appointment online will keep the phone lines quiet, reducing in-house interruptions. With online appointment software, you can keep track of customer or patient information automatically and even receive payment in advance. 

Appointment reminders are another type of automation that will benefit your business. Your system can automatically send out reminders at various intervals to reduce no-show rates and boost punctuality. 

Consider Expanding Your Workforce

Post-Covid unemployment levels are still higher than before the virus struck our shores. Although they’re steadily improving, there are still over 9 million people without work. If you’re considering expanding your workforce, now is the time to do it.

Think about the sort of entry-level positions you could open up and how they would be beneficial to your business. For example, seasonal jobs can add an extra set of hands to your payroll. This helps you avoid a long-term commitment that you don’t want to keep once the rush dies down. 

You can also look into hiring some full-time personnel to pick up the slack. Out of the 9 million people without a job, there must be someone out there looking for an opportunity that you can provide. 

Prepare in Advance

How much preparation does your business need before the doors open each day? If you’re experiencing higher appointment numbers than normal lately, you might need to start those preparations a little earlier than usual. 

Let’s say you run a salon that requires guests to have appointments. You may have a huge amount of appointments queued up as customers are ready to get fresh haircuts or pedicures. Offer some overtime pay to have a few people prepare supplies and service areas in advance. This will enable you to serve customers in a timely fashion.  

Even making sure that your workforce clocks in well before doors open will help prepares you for the busiest of days. Incorporate timeliness into your training and scheduling so that you’re never caught short-staffed during a time like this. 

Leave Room for Error

When handling so many appointments, there are bound to be some bumps in the road. Customers will show up late, appointments will run long, and systems won’t work as designed. Be prepared to right the ship so you can continue to move forward instead of crashing into the rocks.

For starters, make sure you have proper buffer time in between appointments. This gives you some leeway if a customer shows up late or if an appointment runs long. Without buffer time, such situations would cause overlap with other appointments and create messy scheduling conflicts. 

Some businesses designate one employee as a “floater” to help handle scenarios like this. The floater’s job is to run between rooms or workstations and assist as needed. They can help answer phones when there are too many calls to process. They can also check in guests to move them into their appointments quickly. They can be a lifesaver in numerous situations. 

Remember that having too many paying customers is better than not having enough. As your business pivots to a post-pandemic world, you can streamline how you deal with appointments to help smooth the way.  

How to Use Appointment Planning to Secure Required Resources

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How to Use Appointment Planning to Secure Required Resources

When planning an appointment, setting the date and time is the easy part. The more difficult logistical challenge is making a list of everything else you need and checking it twice. Having the materials you need — or not — can make or break a meeting really quickly.

Once you’ve sent out appointment invitations to all of your guests, it’s time to iron out the nitty-gritty details. Different people will have intertwined responsibilities to keep track of. Room reservations, technology needs, even refreshments all need to be planned, prepared for, and executed. 

Sounds like a handful, doesn’t it? Now you can see why party planners get paid so handsomely! Fear not, using online appointment software can make sure you secure all the resources you need without breaking a sweat.

Set Deadlines for Confirmation

You often expect a guest to RSVP if they plan on attending an event. You should do that and more for attendees who also need to arrive to a work event with the required resources. They should have a deadline set before the gathering in question to report to you, or whoever is leading the event, that they are set to bring whatever they are responsible for.

Let’s say you’re planning a work conference that relies on Steven from accounting bringing a projector from home. Not only should he have an appointment reminder for the training itself, but he should have an additional one confirming that he will or already has brought the projector to work. This way you won’t have to stress until the moment it arrives, hoping that he and the projector show up on the same day. 

Secure Your Venue

Certain meetings and events require a venue that isn’t in your possession. In fact, you might not have even picked a site yet. You’ll need to set up some appointments to tour a couple of venues before you come to a decision. 

Once you’ve visited your locations of choice, you’ll only have so long to book them before someone else claims the dates you’re aiming for. Use your online appointment software to make sure you don’t miss the cut. Appointment reminders will help you stay on top of things.

Even if you own the venue in question, you might need to coordinate times with other parties who might want to use the space. A shared appointment schedule will ensure there are no double bookings when claiming conference rooms for meetings and more. 

Plan a Practice Run

Sometimes you won’t realize what you need until it’s already too late. This is a presenter’s and event planner’s worst nightmare. To prevent such an omission from spoiling your event, plan a practice run at least a day before the set date.

You can send a few attendees appointment reminders to attend your practice run so they can give you their perspective on how things went. This can include how well the chosen technology performed its function or whether the seating arrangement could use some rethinking. 

A simple meeting will likely only need a test run of the technology needed to direct the agenda. Larger events such as full-blown conferences might require more run-through, as there will doubtless be more moving parts. Be sure to take these varying time commitments into consideration when setting these appointments. 

Get Your Supplies Delivered

Running out of notepads for employees to take notes during a training session or copy paper to print out new manuals? You’ll need to schedule an order from your office supply vendor. You can use appointment planning to make sure you’re always stocked up no matter what’s on your calendar.

Most, if not all, retail businesses offer some sort of pick-up or delivery system. Using appointment planning, you can set recurring dates for supplies to be shipped. A monthly delivery can be easily planned and organized. And, you’ll never have to worry about being short of materials again. 

Tune Up Your Systems

Not all of your required resources are tangible, so to speak. Take Wi-Fi, for example. Your entire business likely relies on a stable internet connection to function. So, too, will many of your meetings. You’ll want to be assured that your Wi-Fi and other necessary resources are working when your event rolls around.

If your infrastructure operations are ever in doubt, set an appointment with a professional who can give your system a check-up. You won’t always need someone to come in and check your Wi-Fi connection before a big meeting, but if you’ve been experiencing problems recently, it certainly wouldn’t hurt. 

Organize Your Staffing

Last but certainly not least is your staffing. For many events, you’ll need some bodies to help set everything up. Whether this is to help unload a trailer full of folding chairs or to clean up a venue after the meeting has adjourned, you need to get everyone’s watches synchronized.

Use online appointment software to coordinate your manpower. You can dictate when and where you want everyone to be with a simple shared schedule. With confirmation, you won’t have to worry about putting together your set-up and clean-up crews while you’re elbows deep in the event at hand.

Take a deep breath and get ready to nail down all the resources you need for your next meeting or event. Seeing it show up on your schedule will no longer bring a sense of dread now that you’ve used appointment planning to ensure there’s nothing left but smooth sailing. 

‘Where Did We Lose You?’ Detecting Breaks in the Appointment-Making Chain

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‘Where Did We Lose You?’ Detecting Breaks in the Appointment-Making Chain

As great as it is in every way, online appointment software isn’t a cure-all for all of your customer experience issues. If you fail to look beyond the software, you’ll overlook the unseen frustration customers experience, which eventually will force them away.

Check out these tips for detecting and fixing some of the invisible breaks in the customer experience your clients may be having. Catching and resolving them in the early stages will keep your retention rates high and make sure every review your company gets is a positive one.

Waiting on Hold

This one is for all the businesses that still aren’t using appointment-scheduling software. Phone conversations can be some of the most important interactions your business has with customers — and the most likely to get messed up. 

Hold times are typically the first offender, with customers getting frustrated by being put on the back burner. In fact, 40% of consumers in a customer service survey stated that waiting on hold for more than five minutes irritated them more than anything else. 

In addition to long hold times, few things are more frustrating than getting routed from agent to agent trying to find the right person to help you. Nearly all of this can be avoided by using online appointment software. Many questions can be answered instantly, and a smooth booking process is practically guaranteed. This eliminates the need to even contact a customer service agent. 

Long Page Loading Times

Another test of customer patience is your website. Online appointment software won’t do you much good if your website takes forever to load each page. If a customer is stuck on a loading screen for too long, they’ll ditch your company entirely.

A key point to look at is mobile optimization. Your appointment system might run flawlessly on a desktop computer but not scale down to mobile use as well. A growing number of consumers will book appointments on their smartphones, so you need to make sure that loading speeds (and the resulting displays) are viable for them.

Spammy Marketing Tactics

It’s perfectly understandable to get antsy waiting for customers to book appointments. This is no excuse to let your marketing tactics get out of hand. If your marketing and messaging seem spammy and annoying, you’ll push customers away rather than draw them in. 

The thing is, sending messages to clients is important, so you need to find a balance. The best-case scenario is that customers opt into messaging, but many will miss the fine print. Try to limit yourself to one message per week max if it doesn’t pertain to an active appointment booking. 

You have a little more leeway with messages sent as appointment reminders. Your customers will appreciate a few nudges leading up to their appointment so that it doesn’t slip their minds. Daily reminders, however, would likely be a bit much. 

Restrictive Communication

Let’s say you’ve got your online appointment system up and running. While this should do most of the heavy lifting for you, it can’t be your only method of communication with customers. Restricting communication in this way will potentially alienate them from your company and prompt them to move on to others.

Keep multiple lines of communication open, each with a specific purpose. Phone lines will still be useful for customer problems or to discuss small details that might get missed by a program. Sometimes it’s nice to speak with another human being about the questions and concerns you might have. Social media can be used to answer quick, informal questions about your service. 

The best part about online appointment software is that it’s open 24/7 for customers to use. You can expand on that by including a chatbot on your website that answers simple questions for customers booking appointments outside of business hours. While this doesn’t provide the human touch, it helps you communicate with customers at all hours of the day. 

Hidden Appointment Fees

The second a hidden fee shows up in a bill, the customer receiving it will be gone. Transparency is crucial for businesses in 2021, where a host of global and societal issues have made consumers ever vigilant. Don’t be the company that tries to sneak in hidden fees to take advantage of unsuspecting customers.

If you do need to attach a fee to something, just be open about it. Explaining why credit card processing fees exist is much better than sneakily adding them to a bill. This goes for any fee that is involved in your appointment booking process or the services you provide.

Lack of Accessibility for Appointments

Online appointment software is incredibly easy to use. However, there are people who will need some extra assistance to work through the booking process. In fact, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 states that it’s your duty as a business to make sure your services are available to all.

So look for ways to make your website and booking process accessible to everyone. Text-to-speech, voice commands, and different visual settings are just a few things you can do to make your online system accessible to people of all abilities. 

It’s easier to move obstacles than to coach your customers over them. Identify the snags in your own system so that every customer feels comfortable and cared for. That way, they won’t take their business elsewhere, and both sides can stay happy. 

Appointment-Making in the New World of Remote Work

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Appointment-Making in the New World of Remote Work

Businesses navigating through the treacherous waters of 2020 all learned a similar lesson. It can be difficult to maintain meaningful engagement with employees because of remote work. 

Don’t get the wrong idea: remote workers can be just as productive as their office-dwelling counterparts, if not more so. The problem lies in connecting with remote work employees while keeping operations fluid. Engaged employees tend to be happier.

Whether your entire team is back in the office or not, using your scheduling software to increase engagement and deepen your connection with employees is a huge win. Here’s how you can begin to make that happen.

Use Video Technology

Whenever possible, use video technology to your advantage. Video is a powerful tool for connecting and engaging with remote work employees, especially when an in-person meeting is not an option. Video is more personable than a regular phone call, which eliminates the ability to do things like read body language.

Always include a link to a videoconferencing platform in your scheduling software. You might have hired a remote worker whom you have yet to meet in person. A video call will help you put a name to the face and enable you to connect with them better as a leader. 

Check In Regularly 

The past year was difficult for everybody. That should be a reason enough to commit to checking in on your employees more regularly. Whether they’re in the office or back at home, schedule one-on-one time with each employee to show that you’re there for them. 

Be wary, though, of becoming that boss who feels like a helicopter parent. Employee check-ins only need to be frequent enough to check progress and touch base with remote workers you don’t see often. They don’t need to be a weekly — and certainly not a daily — occurrence. Consult with each employee and come up with a routine that fits their schedule best. 

Remember that a check-in appointment doesn’t have to be a performance review. Ask employees about their family and hobbies or solicit suggestions on what you can do to make remote work easier. Each check-in should have the goal of incorporating the employee further into the company so that they feel more comfortable with their place in it. 

Make Hybrid Arrangements Work

If you do have a balance of remote workers and in-house staff, look for ways to formulate hybrid solutions that work for everyone. Your remote workers will be much more engaged when they feel like they’re a part of the entire team and not just a forgotten cog in the wheel.

Take staff meetings, for example. Would remote workers benefit from attending these meetings? If so, include them in your scheduling software invite list. Then put your tech skills to use to create a hybrid meeting that incorporates every attendee.

Planning a hybrid meeting isn’t as difficult as it might sound. All you need to do is set up a videoconference call with your remote work team and position it in a way that they can participate. A simple USB microphone and speaker will help with any audio troubles, and your remote workers will feel included. 

Broadcast Your Availability

With scheduling software, you can list availability for others to see. Your business can use this feature to book clients, or you can use it to show employees when you’re available for a visit. Broadcasting your availability will encourage employees to approach you with questions and comments they would otherwise keep to themselves.

Let’s say you have an open hour on Thursdays every week. Tweak your online scheduling software to reflect that. Soon, you might receive a call during that time slot from a remote work employee who has been dying to speak with you without seeming like an inconvenience. You’ll make a lot of progress with your employees when you welcome interaction like this with open arms. 

Include Some Fun 

Not every event you create with your appointment software needs to be so serious. A little bit of company fun never hurt anyone. In fact, it’s often promoted as a way to improve team bonding and reduce burnout. 

Be sure to plan some fun activities that even your employees that do remote work can participate in. While they may not be able to attend an office cookout, they can get together online to compete in a friendly game of Kahoot or Pictionary. This will provide an opportunity for the water cooler conversations that remote workers aren’t able to enjoy in an out-of-office setting. 

Coordinate Deadlines

Not every appointment has to be a personal meeting. Half the battle is coordinating the efforts of your remote work employees to make sure they’re up to speed with projects and are completing their tasks on time. Using appointment software to set deadlines should do the trick.

Perhaps all your employees who do remote work are writers creating content for social media and blog pages. Use appointment software to assign submission dates for each piece. The writers can work on their own schedule but have a calendar date that tells them specifically when tasks must be completed. 

An honest effort to engage your employees is all you need to start. Appointment software is just a means to this end. Look for ways to connect with both in-house and remote work employees, and you’ll see your team grow stronger together — and your business with it. 

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