What Is an Online Appointment Booking System?

Online appointment booking systems allow customers and prospects to book appointments with your business across their preferred channels at the peak of their interest. It’s appointment scheduling made easy, eliminating the tedious, manual labor of traditional calling and calendaring. When you give people the option to click “Book Now!” or “Schedule Here!” any time of day—especially outside of business hours—you’ll find yourself making more connections that can lead to loyal customers.

A top-tier online booking system for business appointments can go even further than basic scheduling. Curious about the advantages of an online appointment system and how it can enhance your business operations and client loyalty? Keep reading for all the ins and outs you need to know.

Why Do We Need an Appointment Booking System?

For any growing business that makes appointments, an online booking system is a necessity for efficiency, profitability, and happier customers. These systems offer plenty of advantages (more on that in the next section), but let’s start with the basics—simply making an appointment.

One prospect scenario is an investment client interested in your business. They’ve decided to get serious about their wealth management and search for local financial advisors. The first advising agency doesn’t have an online booking system, so they call for more information. Yet after enduring an extremely long phone menu and more than a few minutes on hold, they are informed that someone will have to call back or email to confirm the appointment.

The prospect waits for the call-back and ends up playing phone tag, receiving and leaving additional messages and emails. So they give up on that route, a bit disappointed in their customer experience. The next agency on their list does offer an online appointment system. They end up booking a virtual appointment for the following day that fits into their schedule. The result? The lead financial advisor is prepared and waiting for the meeting, providing a “we’ve been expecting you” service guarantee. The prospect is impressed and quickly becomes their client.

As time passes, people will ask this client for references on wealth management. The client will likely speak highly about their experience with the second agency and pass on their information. In these conversations, the client may also tell people to avoid the first place they called (they still haven’t called back). Little does that company know how much their reputation has been harmed simply by failing to effectively schedule an appointment.

This example is the prime reason to invest in online appointment scheduling software. It allows prospects and current clients to book an appointment right when their interest or need is at its highest. Plus, with so many businesses offering online booking options, you have to have your own in order to stay competitive.

What Is the Benefit of Having an Appointment System?

Allowing prospects and customers to book an appointment at the peak of interest is only the tip of the iceberg. As your business continues to grow, you can benefit from other advantages of an online appointment system, like:

1. Reduced No-Shows – We’ve all missed appointments. Life happens, or sometimes we simply forget! Automated email and text reminders can ensure your customers and prospects remember when and where their appointment is. If they find they can’t make it, they can simply rebook right from the reminder. With Engageware, you can even customize your reminders to include any relevant information, like documents a client might need to bring to the appointment.
2. Valuable Insights from Data Analytics – If you go with a system that offers reporting and analytics, you’ll be shocked at the amount of valuable insights you can gain from scheduling data. For example, you might find that your top channel for booking appointments is via social media, and by investing more promotional spending in social media, you see an increase in conversions.
3. 24/7 Coverage – If you’re only scheduling appointments during your open business hours, you’re missing out. When a customer needs to schedule an appointment, but you force them to wait until you’re open, they might forget or schedule with someone else who offers 24/7 booking options.
4. Increased Revenue – Large and enterprise-level businesses rely on appointment scheduling to attract prospects and engage current customers. One study even found that local businesses were able to increase their revenue by 120% after implementing an online booking system. Simply put, the more appointments you can effectively schedule, the more revenue you’ll likely see.
5. Optimized Employee Productivity – With an online booking appointment app like Engageware, you can match prospects and customers with the right person on your team. Engageware’s smart matching technology instantly compiles locations, skills, availability and prioritization while presenting these details instantly and at scale in one easy to read calendar. Your team can then answer questions and address issues within their realm of expertise quickly and efficiently—increasing prospect, customer, and employee satisfaction.

How Do I Set Up an Appointment Booking System?

Setting up an online appointment booking system with Engageware is an easy and streamlined process. You’ll have our Scheduler for Enterprise services team on your side, guiding you through discovery, implementation, and deployment, ensuring all best practices are covered.

Engageware has scheduled the most online appointments in the industry, with over one billion created and counting. We offer even more benefits than the ones above, like—

• Team Availability Customization
• Omnichannel Scheduling
• Configurable Rules
• Personal Calendar Sync
• CRM Connectors
• Pooled Resource Management

—and so much more.

Ready to see happier clients, faster profit growth, and increased business efficiency? Get started today by scheduling an appointment with us!