Here are some top benefits for personal service providers:

• Expanded hours for scheduling appointments. Most salons are open five days a week; three to four weekdays and one to two weekend days. Clients who call on a closed day to schedule an appointment will need to call back on a day when the business is open. Loyal customers will. New customers may just call another salon. With appointment scheduling software, clients can go online whenever convenient for them, and book their appointments.
• Fewer missed appointments. When clients miss appointments, businesses lose revenue. With scheduling software, the beauty salon can automatically set up appointment reminder emails.
• Greater efficiency = more clients serviced. Some personal services require a set block of time. For example, a massage is usually 60 or 90 minutes. Other services, such as hair coloring, can vary in time based on the client’s requirements, individual practitioner and number of concurrent appointments. With a scheduling software solution in place, the salon owner can get information on average times for appointments by various factors (day, stylist, etc.) and use that information to maximize the number of appointments per day.

Kelley Kassa
TimeTrade Blogging Team

Image Credit: InMagine FAN2034838

Here are seven signs that it’s time to get the next generation of appointment schedulers:

1. You’re finding that Outlook is just not cutting it anymore

Some might believe that Outlook (or another personal information manager) can do it all, but unfortunately, it is not specifically designed as an appointment scheduler.  If you find yourself wishing that Outlook could do more with appointments for your team, it’s time to migrate to powerful, dedicated scheduling software.

2. You and your staff are strapped to using it on a single computer

It can be a poor use of resources to have one person function as the go-to for group scheduling, not to mention frustrating if one must wait for that person to do his or her job in order for you to do yours.  Modern appointment software is web or server-based, allowing multiple points of access over a network, which are updated real-time.

3.  You need support but whoever wrote the software is long gone

There are plenty of free appointment schedulers you can download, but if you ever run into a problem don’t expect support, especially if the software is older.  Many of these free programs are available because the company is dead or the programmer has moved on.  If you need support, you need a live company that can provide customer service for help with your software.

4.  You have to page through the calendar for an open appointment time

The days of flipping through paper-based appointment books are supposed to be gone. However, if your scheduler doesn’t allow for a variety of search tools you may be forced relive the experience, paging through obsolete data to find what you are looking for.

5.  You upgrade your operating system and the software won’t work

New operating systems or upgrades are standard in computer use, but they are supposed to make your computer work better, not break it.  Many outdated programs will simply cease working after an upgrade, and if you run into compatibility problems with your scheduler, it’s definitely time to consider online scheduling software that is independent of the operating system used.

6.  You spend lots of time answering basic questions from customers

When making an appointment, customer inquiries are usually welcomed as they reflect genuine interest in your business.  However, you shouldn’t have to spend 10+ minutes explaining the basics of your business over the phone.  If you switch to a web-based appointment scheduler, many FAQ’s can be easily answered while customers make their appointments.

7.  You know nothing about the customer when they walk in the door for their appointment

New customers have often done a little preliminary research before making an appointment with your company. In kind, it can go a long way towards customer retention to have some basic details about your customer in-hand when meeting with them.  If customers are requested to answer a few simple questions online during the appointment scheduling process, you may have the vital information your business needs to create a return customer before they even walk in the door.

David Hill
TimeTrade Blogging Team

Image credit: InMagine TT1400064

• 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