Published on 01-04-2021

Top 10 tips to increase your online booking appointments

The top tips to increase your online booking appointments in this article cover deep insights that successful businesses use to increase their online booking appointments. They’ll guide you through expanding your customer base to grow your business.

Who are these tips for?

Are you an educator, coach, tattoo artist, dentist or orthodontist, financial adviser, accountant, lawyer, doctor, or your business runs on appointment booking? These tips are for you.

They are for business owners automating their online booking and scheduling process, sending clients reminders, and managing cancellations and reschedules.

With the flexibility and robust features of scheduling tools like Appointment Reminder, your business has the pliability to onboard more online booking appointments.

Statistics about online booking appointments and reminders

“Data is the sword of the 21st century, those who wield it well, the Samurai.” – Jonathan Rosenberg

Key findings from GetApp research reveal, 70% of customers prefer online booking whenever it is available.

Comparing text reminders to email and phone call reminders, 60% of customers say text reminders significantly reduce the chances of them missing an appointment.

31% of customers could switch to a service provider that offers them options to book appointments online.

It’s frustrating for 56.4% of customers who struggle to book online appointments by phone. It also limits them to office working hours of the service provider.

Why should you increase your online booking appointments?

Your online-appointment-based business has two main parties; you, and your customer. It drives your revenues. However, the customer comes first!

“There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.” – Sam Walton

Always remember the fundamental reason for increasing online booking appointments is to serve more customers with your remarkable services. Revenues will follow suit.

Top 10 tips to increase your online booking appointments

Increasing online booking for appointment-based businesses is a requisite for business growth. It grows your save, consequently, your revenues.

“More appointments complemented by excellent service is a true pass to building a loyal customer base, the recipe for a sustainable business running on appointment scheduling.” – Appointment reminder

Let’s now dive into the tips.

1. Choose a suitable online booking appointment solution

Your business depends on online booking appointments. So, choosing a suitable appointment scheduling software is a good start. It will help you increase your online bookings by automating manual processes of organizing bookings and sending reminders to your customers.

An ideal appointment solution should:

• Support other integrations. The easier it is for you to integrate online booking into your existing calendars like Google Calendar, Office 365, or other calendar integrations the more the flexibility to manage and accept more online booking appointments.
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• Allow clients to book 24/7. Automating online booking allows your customers 24/7 flexibility to book a slot in your allocated time blocks. Autonomous booking opens the window for more online bookings as clients can align themselves with your time of availability without interrupting their or your schedule.
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• Eliminate no shows. It doesn’t benefit a business when clients book but fail to show up. You’ll lose time, money, battle with some irrational clients, interrupt your schedule and this will impact your overall online booking appointments. Gradually the number of online bookings will reduce. Keep the focus. Send clients automatic reminders via email, voice notes, or the preferred SMS texts right into their phones. What is more – they can even reply to your notifications and you will know what to do in case of cancellations or rescheduling.

Appointment Reminder is built to grow with your business. Get started with a 14-day day free trial – cancel anytime. You can also contact us and or call us on (844) 333-3702 and we’ll gladly assist you.

2. Utilize word of mouth customer referrals

Word of mouth referrals are timeless, cheap, and a reliable means to increase your online booking appointments. It is as simple as getting your customers to refer their friends. However, before you go for referrals, always ensure you offer an outstanding service.

“One customer, well taken care of, could be more valuable than $10,000 worth of advertising.”  – Jim Rohn

Why are customer referrals important?

• Increased revenue prospects: Chances of referred leads seeking your services are higher. Nielsen data insights reveal a 4x likelihood of seeking a service following a referral by their friends. The same report reveals an 84% consumer trust for recommendations over other marketing avenues.
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• Growth in the volume of leads: Your serve different customers. Their referrals can increase the prospects of acquiring a high volume of promising leads. The higher the number of leads, the higher the chances of new clients. A research publication by Boston Consulting Group identifies a 2-10x likelihood of people’s reliance on word-of-mouth referral than paid advertising.
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• Generate high value leads: Referrals coming from the customers you serve are high-value leads because it’s someone they know in person likely to seek your services. McKinsey & Co report has found out that word of mouth referrals earns double revenues compared to other forms of advertisement.
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• Higher customer retention. It’s not uncommon for clients to vanish after a service never to show up again. It may not service-related but they may branch elsewhere down the road. Deloitte brand advocacy publication states that businesses have a 37% higher customer retention rate from referred customers.
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• It’s free: Referrals from your customers are mostly free unless they ask for a recompense (which rarely happens). Use such great opportunities to drive in more customer leads to increase your online booking appointments. Ride on almost zero financial implications as you add valuable leads to your online booking appointment business.

How to successfully get more word-of-mouth referrals

Succeeding in getting more word-of-mouth referrals requires a strategy to win.

• Provide excellent service to your customers. This is the kick-off point for all referrals. The quality of service your customers receive from you will determine whether you’ll earn any referral from them. Ensure your services are always first-rate.

“Good customer service alone doesn’t win referrals. Great customer service does.” – Entrepreneur

• Ask customers for referrals right away. Normalize asking for a referral once you complete delivering a service to your customer.

“Huh! But that’s crazy! Can’t I wait for the client to use the service for a while before asking them for a referral?”

Other online booking appointment-based businesses play such waiting games. Be different! After all, some of the services you offer are seasonal and if you wait, you may have to chill until another season for the same service.

Clients are most intrigued by your service once you complete their work. As they get satisfaction and value for their money, it is the ideal moment to ask for referrals from them.

You may get a referral or a no. If you get a no, all is not lost.

• Ask again, a different way. Let your client know you may drop them an email with a referral template and if they know someone, they can refer them at their convenience.

A useful email referral template can be something like this:

Hi John,

I’m wondering whether you are using any appointment booking and reminder application or you may try out Appointment Reminder.

I tried it out and I’m now using it to schedule my online booking appointments for my tax business. It’s helped increase my efficiency and reduce no-shows. I can equally send text reminders and my clients are impressed.

You can check out their 14-day trial to find out whether it can add value to your business and clients.

Best regards,

CPA – Mike

• Appreciate the referral. Whether it actualizes or not, thank your customers for the referral. Customers may not expect much, but a thankful heart will go along way in building a close bond with them. Keep “Thank you!” email templates to quicken the process.

“If you are not appreciating your customer, your competitor will.” – Appointment Reminder

• Remind your clients. If a client books an appointment online and shows up for a service remind them about what you do. It may not sound a big deal, but with sufficient information about your business, a client may seek your other services.

Ensure your office is well-branded with all necessary public information. This may include your brand name, logo, service charter, and portfolio. Make the branding conspicuous that clients will involuntarily recognize it.

Give out business cards, flyers, thank you notes, or newsletters containing your business information. Such items can help you grow awareness about your business.

3. A clear and visible call-to-action (CTA)

Your booking option and CTA is the accelerator and must, therefore, stand out. The idea is to ensure customers can book your services with ease with a noticeable booking button. The easier it is for customers to book your services, the higher the chances of increased online booking appointments.

A good CTA should be:

• Simple. Avoid long phrases and bombastic words. It can be something like “Book now; Reserve a seat; Book a session; Reserve a slot, or Book my dentist”. It all depends on your service. Research your industry to find out the most engaging call-to-action options to use.
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• Clearly visible. CTA button formatting should be different from the rest of the pages’ content. For instance, if you have it on the menu items on your website, you can assign it a solid color with bright font color.

“If it is not visible. It is absent.” – Appointment Reminder

• Strategically-position Place your booking option or button where customers will access it with ease. Ensure the button is visible on every part of your page. Insert the button on the menu, mid pages, at the end of your pages, or the footer. If you have a blog section, ensure the CTA features within the blog content.

 

4. Use social media traffic

Use social media to push traffic for online booking. Statista.com 2020 statistics indicate over 3.6 billion worldwide social media usage with 4.41 billion projections in 2025. Add the “Book Now” button on your Facebook page link it to your booking URL. Add booking details to your LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram bio.

As you add the buttons, ensure your pages are well branded. Customers should cast doubt at your business profiles. Update the profiles with current contact information so that if clients decide to cross-check, everything will be harmonized.

5. Inform users about your online booking appointments

Don’t assume that by merely having your booking button on your website or social media business profile, clients will come.

“Assumptions are made and most assumptions are wrong.” – Albert Einstein

Here are specific ways to inform your clients about your online booking appointment presence.

• Blog and social media. Use your blog and social media to inform users that you use online booking appointment.
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• Email signature and email campaigns. Fix the note with the booking link in your email signature and slot it in your email campaigns.
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• Print media. Feature the information in your print media like business cards, flyers, and office banners.
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• Office branding. Include the details in your branded office covers and anything brandable.

Ensure all design for your blog, social media, email signature, email campaign newsletters, print media, and office branding is phenomenal.

“Design is the silent ambassador of your brand.” – Paul Rand

6. Run paid promotions using Google Ads and Facebook Ads

In this case, paid promotions should target conversions. You need returns on ad spent (ROAS) to evaluate your overall return on investment (ROI), thus the need for conversion-based ads.

Run your promotions at the right time. For example, if you are a tax professional and targeting the US tax season that starts from January to April, you should run your ads prior to and during the season until you hit your client capacity.

Keep in mind the following qualities of a good promotional ad:

• It should be ethical. Your ad should not falsify any information about your service. If customers discover some mischief later, it can hurt your business.

“Nothing travels faster than the speed of light, with the possible exception of bad news, which obeys its own special laws.” – Douglas Adams

• Simple and objective. Design your ad in simple language with short, easy to understand, and objective words.
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• Make it creative. Your ad should hold the viewers’ attention. The design of your ad should grab the viewer’s attention with immediacy and make your brand’s identification easier. Use a clear outline, relevant picture, any other details in brief, and an attractive call to action.
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• Maintain consistency. Your ad should be consistent with your brand image and voice. The impact of the ad should be adequate to remind every view of your business.
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• Be original. Don’t be a victim of the copy and paste ads. Your competitors are offering a similar service and you may notice a semblance in some of their ads. Build a unique ad position for your brand. Think outside the box, use unpredicted formats.
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• Target your ads. Google and Facebook monitor user browsing behavior and allow you the opportunity to run ads targeting audiences with specific and similar characteristics so your ads can reach a relevant audience.

 

7. Refine your search engine visibility (SEO)

So, you have everything in check but you’re barely seen? It’s time to gear up.

The more visible you are the more online booking appointments you’re likely to register.

Optimize your website with the best SEO practices to improve ranking on search engines. You may best hire a professional for this task.

Your online booking option should also be optimized for search. Users can go to the search engine and Google “Best salons in New York City”. If your salon business is well optimized, then you stand a chance of featuring on Google’s first page.

Discoverability allows you to pick traffic based on the search terms users are typing on search engines so long as you have featured the terms appropriately within your content.

8. Be anywhere, anytime, any device

Traffic to booking your services may come from different devices. Ensure your website is responsive. It should adjust according to the size of the screen users have in their hands while maintaining the visibility of your booking information.

Thankfully, social media has already done the hard work for you. You only customize your profiles and clients can access your booking info at the convenience of their devices.

9. Local marketing via Google My Business & other directories

You can target customers within your area if you’re serving a defined geographical area. Online booking appointment clients prioritize the service nearest to their location.

Start by listing your business on Google My Business and other local business directories. If you find out that your business is already listed on Google or any other directory, proceed to update your details. Once again, you can include a booking link in the sections provided by directory engines.

10. Implement a post-appointment survey

Allow your customers to give feedback on the service they received. It can be best if you make the feedback anonymous to assure them of their confidentiality so you can reduce the bias in the feedback you collect.

You can collect the feedback via email survey forms, text surveys, or implement the survey on your website to capture customers and users visiting your website. Find whatever works best for your business.

Remember the feedback will only be useful if you act upon it.

Way forward

Some of the strategies to increase online booking appointments discussed in this article may need more time to implement.

Start small; progress gradually. The best way to implement the strategies is to identify the immediate needs for your business then start with the strategy that best meets that need.

For starters, seasoned businesses and professionals, or simply businesses at the growth stage looking to increase online booking appointments, Appointment Reminder is here for you.

Appointment Reminder is an online booking solution that supports multi-device accessibility, automating scheduling, booking, and reminders, it is easy to use with 24/7 booking flexibility, and calendar integrations.

Get started with a 14-day day free trial – cancel anytime. You can also contact us and or call us on (844) 333-3702 and we’ll gladly assist you.