How To Grow Your Business Using an Online Booking System

In this digital, always-online world, online booking can help businesses accomplish many different things.

06:10 04 October 2021

In this digital, always-online world, online booking can help businesses accomplish many different things.

 

Service-based businesses that rely on client appointments, for example, can certainly benefit from a streamlined reservation process to help grow their booking rate. However, even traditional businesses can use the system for various purposes like scheduling recruitment interviews, among others. 

  

Most customers nowadays will try to book your services online, and an online booking system will help you facilitate, organize, and manage the appointment scheduling with ease. In turn, this can help your business provide a better customer experience and grow your customer base. 

  

Below, we will discuss some ways you can use the online booking system to grow your business. 

 

1. Streamlined, more accurate appointment scheduling

In the past, before online booking was a thing, booking reservations via phone calls were the most common way we used to book a service, and it used to be a major hassle. 

  

To make a phone reservation, the client must pick up the phone and the service provider will inform the available time slots. Now, there are cases where the client won’t make the reservation right away but must confirm with their family members or friends before they can finally make a reservation, which often results in back-and-forth phone calls. 

 

On the service provider’s side, it’s no less complicated. The receptionist or whoever on the phone must manually jot down the client’s information (resulting in waste of paper), and the norm is to make another phone call before the reservation’s date to confirm the appointment and remind the client. 

  

As you can see, not only the whole process is a major hassle, but it is also error-prone. 

 

With an online booking system, you’ll have a much more streamlined and accurate booking process that is also more cost-effective. Advanced online booking software will also provide the ability to automatically add appointments to your and your client’s calendar, effectively eliminating double bookings, no-shows, and other issues.

 

 2. More integrated marketing and customer loyalty campaigns

You can use your online booking system to automatically grow your customer database simply by requiring your customers to provide their email address (and name) as a part of a booking process. 

 

Don’t underestimate the power of an email database. Even with all the newer technologies and marketing platforms out there, email marketing remains one of the best marketing channels available with one of the highest ROIs. 

 

You can use your email list together with the online booking system to engage with existing customers, nurturing them for repeat purchases to win their loyalty. For instance, you can send an email to those who haven’t returned to your service for quite some time, which could prompt them to make a new reservation. 

 

3. Take bookings 24/7

We know how expensive and difficult it will be to run a 24/7 customer support and reservation system. You’ll need to have at least a few employees, running in shifts, which can be very expensive in the long run, and not to mention, error-prone. 

  

With an online booking system in place, however, you can quite easily take 24/7 reservations. 

 

This is actually important since, according to various studies, many clients now prefer scheduling their appointments outside business hours, and 40% of online bookings actually happen outside the traditional business hours. 

 

Meaning, if you don’t offer 24/7 appointment scheduling, you’ll potentially miss out on a lot of potential clients that will simply move on to your competitors. 

 

4. Eliminate no-shows and double bookings

No-shows are a major issue for any service business. Not only they are inconvenient, but even a single no-show could translate into a significant loss of revenue and opportunities. 

Double bookings are also a common issue that could translate into a disaster for any service-based business. When your receptionist accidentally booked two different clients at the same time slot, and both show up on time, what would you do? 

 

If you are a service-based business facing these issues, then you may benefit from an online booking system that can integrate with calendars and also send automatic notifications and reminders. 

 

Don’t underestimate the benefit of reminders, less than 5% of scheduled appointments are canceled after the client received a text reminder. An online booking solution can significantly help in reducing both no-shows and double bookings. 

 

5. Better insights and more data

One of the most important things in growing your business is to collect as many insights as you can into your business’s effectiveness so you can make the necessary adjustments to your strategy. 

  

With an online booking system in place, you’ll have a system that will also automatically collect useful data for you like your most popular service, the busiest days of your business, your peak hours, and so on. 

 

By knowing your busiest days and peak hours, for instance, you can schedule your shifts more efficiently. You can also offer happy hour promotions and other marketing campaigns on your weaker days and times, as well as other marketing strategies.

 

6. Multi-channel booking system

Most consumers today don’t stick with just a single device and a single way when researching and purchasing things, including booking your services. 

 

For example, a potential client may check your website on their mobile devices when they passed your storefront and will make their reservations on their laptop when they reach the office. 

 

It’s crucial to choose an online booking system that is available anywhere and anytime from any device, so you can ensure you are always there for potential clients whenever they remember your brand. 

 

Conclusion 

Especially if you are a service-based business that relies on client appointments, having a reliable online booking system in place can be crucial in helping your business grow. Not to mention, most online booking systems nowadays are fairly cost-effective, especially when compared to how the system can help you save more money and time and generate more revenue. 

 

If you still take your bookings manually, it’s definitely time to make the switch.