In a time where the customer experience is overtaking price and product as the key brand differentiator, online appointment scheduling can get you a step closer to customer engagement, loyalty, and retention. No matter the size of your business or the industry you’re in, enabling on-demand booking is a great start to a positive customer experience. But why stop there? Setting convenience aside, you can use appointment scheduling software as a tool to deliver and design experiences powered by customer data and relevant to customer needs.
So, sit back, relax and continue reading to find out why online appointment scheduling is the gateway to elevated customer experience.
Availability
Booking an appointment is, in many cases, the first interaction between your company and a customer. If you play your cards right, this initial interaction will eventually be the first stop in the customer journey. Your customers do not have time to waste. They are drawn to ‘fast and easy’. Allowing them to book a meeting at their convenience, through the communication channel of their preference, will get you started in the right foot.
Communication, communication, communication
Customers want to feel valued and cared for otherwise they might take their business elsewhere. Scheduling software can be used as a communication tool between your brand and its customers, before and after, the face-to-face interaction. This is a great way to build relationships and engage your customers.
Personalization
Not all customers are the same. Different people have different needs and your business should be flexible and willing to accommodate these needs. Allowing clients to edit bookings, cancel appointments or reply to reminders will improve overall customer satisfaction and increase your chances to gain repeat customers and grow your business through retention.
Capturing feedback
Of all the marketing tools out there, word-of-mouth is the most effective. This means, you need to know where you stand with your customers, how they feel about the service they received and whether they’d recommend you to friends and family. Capturing feedback is the easiest way to answer these questions and a fast track lane to improving the customer experience. For example, 10to8 integrates with Surveypal allowing professionals to automatically send customer satisfaction surveys before and after face-to-face interactions and collect feedback. The resulting data can be easily accessed in one place and inform effective decision making.
Reporting
Your appointment scheduling software is packed with data that can prove to be very useful for your business. This data includes information such as appointment history, payments, type of service etc. Create reports to see data by customer, service or team members. This will give you an overview of your operations and the relationship you have with your customers. Use these reports to personalize the customer experience and tailor it to the expectations of your customers to keep them coming back.