The Dos and Don'ts of Setting Up Your Online Booking System

As a business owner, you understand the importance of an online booking system. It saves time, streamlines the booking process, and helps reduce the risk of double bookings. However, setting up an online booking system can be tricky, especially if it's your first time. To help you out, we've compiled a list of dos and don'ts to follow when setting up your online booking system.

DO: Clearly Define Your Services and Availability

Before setting up your online booking system, make sure you have a clear understanding of the services you offer and your availability. This will help ensure that your clients are booking the right service at the right time. For example, you may be a barber that offers plenty of different hair services. As a customer, it may be daunting to book a time with you and see 20-30 different hair styles and services to choose from. However, breaking services up into different categories will make the scheduling process easier, resulting in more sales.

Make sure to take advantage of all calendar integrations or utilize the built-in time blocks to keep your calendar from having conflicts. Many booking software provide ability to connect with your Google Calendar or Outlook calendar so you can make sure your personal life obligations do not coincide with your business schedule. Once you connect your personal calendar, your business calendar will block off the times you're busy so customers can't book you for those times.

DO: Set up Customer & Business Notifications

Several studies have shown that sending customer reminders of upcoming appointments reduce no-shows significantly. This study conducted by the Department of Primary Care and Social Medicine at Imperial College London concluded that non-attendance rates were 38% lower in patients who received an SMS reminder than in patients who did not receive a reminder. Having a booking system that automatically notifies your customers to remind them of their upcoming appointments can be an effective way to minimize no-shows in a non-invasive way.

Depending on your business structure, you may also want to get notifications when a customer books on your calendar. Obviously, this makes sure that you're also on top of your schedule to avoid double-booking or conflicts. This may be most optimal for solopreneurs on a dynamic schedule, such as a part-time barber or a tutor. But businesses with set schedules can certainly benefit from this feature as well, as an added measure of awareness.

With Bloom Bookings, you can opt-in with getting notifications whenever a customer books on your calendar. You're able to add multiple emails and phone numbers so you and your team are always up to date on the business schedule.

DON'T: Ignore Market Research for Pricing

When creating your online booking profile, it can be really easy to just slap an arbitrary price point onto your service. However, pricing strategies are exponentially more important on the Internet than it is in-store. Potential customers can easily research prices between you and your competitors within seconds. Making sure your prices are competitive and reasonable will prevent your customers from going with your competitors.

An effective way to do market research for pricing is to create a spreadsheet of your competitors, the services they provide, and the associated cost. Once you have this information laid out, compare the services (and the extent of those services) with your own. How do they compare? Are your competitors providing more or less than you are? Why might the pricing be less or more than you were expecting? How do geographical locations affect these prices, if applicable? Take all variables into consideration before inputting a price for your service, no matter how tempting it may be to get started immediately!

DO: Make it Mobile-Friendly

In today's mobile world, it's essential to have a mobile-friendly booking system. Your clients should be able to book your services from their mobile devices without any issues. Make sure your booking system is responsive and easy to use on mobile devices. This will help ensure that your clients can book your services on the go.

With a software like Bloom Bookings, this is taken care of automatically, so you have one last thing to worry about. Regardless, it's always a good idea to test it out on your personal mobile device so you know it's good to go before sending your booking link out to your customers.

DON'T: Overcomplicate Your Booking System

When setting up your online booking system, keep it simple. Overcomplicating your booking system with too many options and features can be overwhelming for your clients. This may lead to confusion and result in fewer bookings. Keep your booking process straightforward and easy to use. Limit the number of options and features to only what's necessary.

DON'T: Forget to Test Your Booking System

Before launching your booking system, test it thoroughly. Ensure that it's easy to use and that all features are functioning correctly. Test it from the client's perspective and make sure it's user-friendly. This will help you avoid any last-minute issues and ensure a smooth launch.

In Conclusion

Setting up your online booking system can be challenging, but it doesn't have to be. Follow these dos and don'ts to ensure that your booking system is user-friendly, consistent with your brand, and functional. A well-designed booking system can save time, increase bookings, and help you grow your business.