The ability for prospects and clients to easily and conveniently book appointments with your business is paramount. This type of on-demand appointment scheduling is becoming the expectation for good customer service, and if your businesses can’t deliver it, you risk your clients going somewhere else. Even using free scheduling applications can end up costing businesses more in time, frustration, and lost opportunities in the long run.
The importance of appointments in business is related to how well your customers feel they can connect with you and how effectively you can help them solve their problems. If customers don’t have an easy way to meet with the right employee for their needs, they won’t fully benefit from services. And your company won’t be getting as many loyal, happy customers purchasing the full suite of your offerings.
What Are the Benefits of an Appointment System?
A customer’s ability to book an appointment with a business they already use, or one they are considering using, is good for both the customer and the business.
Let’s consider the example of a customer who is interested in learning more about the mortgage loan options from their bank. Without an appointment system in place, this customer might come to the bank in person and wait, frustrated, for the right person to help them. But what if the mortgage broker is off sick that day, or at lunch? This customer may end up waiting a long time or have to come back a different day altogether to get what they need. The customer isn’t happy and may choose to look elsewhere for their mortgage. The bank isn’t happy because they could miss out on business opportunities and possibly get a reputation for bad customer service.
The purpose of an appointment scheduling system is to avoid all that. When your clients experience simple, straightforward, and easy scheduling options for your services, it provides them with high-quality customer experience. With the ability to schedule an appointment at any time, they’ll appreciate the fact that they don’t need to wait until normal business hours to set up a meeting. In fact, research shows that many customers prefer to book appointments using online scheduling tools like Engageware.
What Are the Advantages of an Online Appointment System?
A current or potential client being able to book an appointment with your business means a happier customer and a more successful business, which is one of the main objectives of the appointment system. But not all appointment booking systems are created equal. A good online system has many benefits over other types of appointment system, like playing phone-tag to try and settle on a day and time that works. Or using a basic scheduler software that doesn’t have all the necessary functionality.
Let’s consider some of the biggest advantages a top quality digital appointment system will bring.
- Easy to Use – You want a way to book appointments that’s easy for potential customers to use. Equally important is that it’s efficient for your staff to use when preparing for meetings.
- 24/7 Access – If someone finds their dream house online at 10 pm and wants to talk about mortgage options right away, ideally there’s a way for them to book that appointment with you right then, at the peak of their interest. Systems that rely on calling a business or that can only be used during standard business hours just won’t cut it if you want to reach everyone. Omnichannel access is another huge plus, so people can book a meeting wherever they find you, be it social media, a newsletter, or your website.
- Fewer No-shows – It’s a waste of your staff’s time and business resources when clients miss appointments. We all know things happen and occasionally we all miss something, but a good scheduling system will allow customers to book when it’s most convenient for them and send them reminders so they don’t accidentally miss the meeting.
- Reducing Errors – A quality scheduling system will cut down on the inevitable mistakes that happen with less efficient booking systems. There’s no need to manually check employee availability, less danger of double-booking, and more opportunity for staff to be fully prepared for meetings.
- Better Business Insights – You can use the data from your booking system to easily see what days and times typically have the most booked appointments. Clear insights about customer preferences mean it’s easier to know the right amount of staff at a given time to meet demand and keep the business running smoothly.
Engageware: Helping You Help Customers
At Engageware, we know the importance of an appointment system for you and your customer. We are trusted by more than 500 organizations to help them manage appointment bookings and grow their number of happy, engaged customers. We offer fully customizable solutions so your business can make appointment booking easy. See what we can do for you by scheduling a meeting with us today!