No Lines, No Waiting
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Category Archives: appointment scheduling
2009
Enhancing Customer Experience with Online Scheduling
Sometimes it seems customer care improvement is at odds with streamlining operations. Financial Services Technology made the point beautifully with a script for an imaginary TV commercial about a surgeon who calls a helpline and gets put on hold: one humorous example of how some technologies make businesses choose between customer care and efficiency. Voice mail is another example of this; how many customers like reaching a voice mail tree?
But there are other technologies that deliver both improved customer care and operational efficiencies. Appointment scheduling software is one great example. Hard ROI numbers aside (and there are plenty of them), appointment scheduling software gives businesses the flexibility to work with customers when most convenient for the customer.
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Filed under: appointment scheduling, appointment scheduling software, customer service
Tagged: appointment scheduler improve customer service, appointment scheduling, appointment scheduling software, customer care, customer experience, customer satisfaction, customer service, efficiency, improve customer service, interactive features, online scheduling
2009
Appointment Scheduling Software + Personal Courtesy = Customer Satisfaction
Appointment scheduling software helps maintain customer loyalty through automation, so employees can focus on the personal courtesy side of good service.
An appointment is a reservation for service, both the service performed by the business and the personal attention received from employees. A satisfied customer needs to feel both aspects of customer care are handled well.
A Beagle Research White Paper, Improving Service Businesses with Appointment Scheduling, illustrates this. The CRM analyst firm found that “significant numbers of people believe that appointments should start exactly when or very near when they are scheduled — with virtually no waiting at all.”
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2009
Five Growing Markets For Appointment Scheduling Software
I like having an appointment, and I hate waiting. Both my doctor’s office and day spa get this and thus have appointment scheduling software to serve and satisfy customers like me.
However, such software is also being used in other markets on an increasing scale. Here’s a look at five vertical markets that are rapidly adopting appointment scheduling, and why appointment scheduling software makes sense for them:
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2009
Help!!! Our Customer Care Needs a Makeover
If you’re in a service industry such as a salon or spa that is heavily dependent on customer appointments, it may be time to seriously consider investing in appointment software that can provide customer reminders as part of customer care improvement.
The recent recession has hit the beauty industry hard, although recent signs indicate that the industry as a whole is improving: the Professional Beauty Association said in August that its new Salon/Spa Performance Index rose in the latest quarter. While things may be looking up, customers are more scrutinizing than ever and stretched thinner for time as they try to juggle all the demands in their lives.
Appointment reminders help customers be prompt, which contributes to their satisfaction with services as well as providing a calmer and more organized environment for everyone. In addition, it can help reduce the amount of cancellations and no-shows. A business that reaches out to help customers where they are shows them that you care about more than profits.
David Hill
TimeTrade Blogging Team
Image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jakecaptive/ / CC BY 2.0
2009
The Risks of A Paper-Based Appointment Scheduler
For all its nostalgia, a paper-based appointment scheduler can also give an unprofessional appearance, and it carries risks:
- It can jeopardize customer privacy
- It may cause confusion if penmanship is obscure
- There is a chance, as some unfortunate people have learned, that it will be
- lost
- stolen
- used to scope out the business for a crime.
For some businesses, an appointment scheduler is vital to properly serve their customers, but a paper-based appointment book may involve too much risk to continue being used.
David Hill
TimeTrade Blogging Team
Image Credit: InMagine PDEP006052
2009
Going High-Tech Improves Customer Care: Don’t Be Left Behind
For businesses faced with mandatory cost reduction, the challenge is looking for ways to realize savings without compromising customer satisfaction.
Take a look at “Customer Service Champs”. This Business Week ranking of winning companies highlights companies working smarter in tough times. They’ve been successful in finding innovative ways to reduce costs while having minimal impact on customer service.
How are they doing it? Business Week devoted an entire issue to this topic, “Extreme Customer Service,” earlier this year.
- Maintain Customer Satisfaction. Balance employee cutbacks with the convenience of instant or self-service options for customers.
- Keep the Front Lines Strong. Forrester Research (FORR) reports about half of 90 large companies it surveyed are trying to avoid cuts to their customer service budgets.
- Push for Innovative Ideas. Forrester also recommends creative ideas that serve the customer. For example, try “proactive chat” software that engages buyers online. Another idea – Web communities where customers can help each other solve customer problems.
By implementing advanced customer service technology solutions now, businesses can position themselves ahead of the curve and do better than merely survive the recession.
Pamela Taylor & Lisa Letchworth
TimeTrade Blogging Team
Image credit: InMagine BCN54188
2009
How Online Software Saves Big Money
The challenge: Identifying the proper tools to reduce costs without sacrificing critical customer care.
One company reporting success in this effort is Bosley, the Beverly Hills-based men’s hair restoration subsidiary of the $850 million Aderans Holding Co.. A Computerworld article reports that Bosley’s IT Director, Mark Davenport says the company’s previous Siebel system had “gaping holes” that created double bookings, angering customers and forcing the company to revert to a semi-manual process. When Bosley adopted the SaaS tool, TimeTrade, Bosley’s consultants and medical personnel could input their available times at all 19 surgical offices. Customers were able to view available slots and set appointments convenient to their schedules — and no overlap occurred. Bosley chose a logical cost reduction tool — something effective, inexpensive, and simple.
Other ways online software saves money:
• Increases operational efficiencies
• Slims down staff overhead
• Reduces staff training expenses
• Offers quick implementation & fast application
• Frees you up from capital spent on computer & office equipment
Before you consider cutting back on necessary enterprise building tools like advertising and good customer service, consider eliminating items that are not required for you to stay in business. The idea is to cut any unnecessary expenses, not sacrifice efficiency or professionalism. Using a proven SaaS tool can help.
Pamela Taylor & Lisa Letchworth
TimeTrade Blogging Team
Image Credit: InMagine EV204040
2009
Running a Virtual Business with a Client Base? Don’t Forget Online Scheduling Software
In many cases, operating a virtual business means you’re the sole manager of client appointments. This can be a nightmare if you’re not taking advantage of a simple, affordable tool: online scheduling software.
Many small business owners manage their client base using tools and methods that don’t scale, such as scheduling by phone or appointment books. These are costly in time and convenience, and they limit on how much a virtual business can juggle at once. Online scheduling software solves it.
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2009
Appointment Software Can Help Small Businesses Make It Through the Downturn
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The reality of a tough economy has already come for many small businesses, as indicated by the over 10% quarter-by-quarter increase in the number of business bankruptcy filings over the last few quarters. Downsizing, smaller budgets, and more fickle customers mean that small business owners need ways to get their employees to work better as a unit to improve customer care. One tool that can assist in this effort is appointment software. Appointment software can unify your team’s schedules and provide real time information about employee-customer relations.
2009
Customer Service in healthcare: Patience Stretched in Waiting Rooms
Thanks to Twitter friend @SeerGenius, a passionate advocate for the patient perspective, for this piece, which showed up in Dear Abby of all places.
A physician writes about Abby’s ongoing discussion with patients about their frustration with endless waiting. He explains what life is like in a doctor’s office and concludes:
It does help to focus on good manners and empathy, and to alert patients at the time of check-in if there’s a problem, which allows them to return or reschedule. Of course, the physician conveying personally to his patients that their time is as important as his also goes a long way. — MARC SCHNEIDERMAN, M.D., PENNSYLVANIA
This resonates with my recent post about an x-ray appointment. To my great pleasure, that clinic contacted me and let me know about some changes they’d already made in response to my post.
How great is it that people are waking up to customer service – and the customer’s experience – in healthcare?
More on the clinic’s response later this week. It was exemplary.
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