If you’re reading this article, you’re probably trying to find out what absolutely essential features your future online booking platform should have. If so, you’re at the right address.
Online booking platforms have been gaining popularity in recent years thanks to many reasons. And it’s not surprising at all. Compared to traditional appointment scheduling techniques, like through telephone calls, online booking platforms perform much better. And we’ll tell you why.
First of all, they allow business owners to save time. Now, we know that time is precious today so that’s a huge benefit. Second of all, with online booking platforms you can be available to your customers 24/7, which will undoubtedly make them happy. Finally, implementing new techniques to your business will make your brand seem much more modern, futuristic and it will be positively received by your customers in the long run.
Now, simply having an online booking system isn’t going to do the job. To ensure maximum efficiency and profitability, you’re going to have to look for certain features within your chosen online scheduling tool. What are those features? Keep reading to find out!
Real-time online booking 24/7
Number one on our list is the ability of your chosen online booking platform to manage and schedule meetings for you all the time – no matter what day or time it is. One of the largest advantages of online appointment schedulers is the ability to be available to people around the clock. Nowadays, people really do value flexibility and they often expect companies to always be available for them.
How can you meet those demands? Well, while you’re on your hunt for the best online booking platform on the market, one of the first things you should look out for is the 24/7 meeting booking possibility. As long as your customers have access to the Internet, they should have the option to reach out to you and check your calendar out anytime. What’s in this for you? Well, the most important and at the same time obvious benefit is an increased volume of booked meetings. When you’re available 24,7, your customers can book appointments with you practically the second they open your website – they won’t read or hear the classic ‘Sorry, we’re not open right now’. Do look for this feature!
Different languages and currencies
You will appreciate this feature if you run an international business and you deal with different languages and currencies on a daily basis. Imagine a booking platform that not only manages your online bookings for you while you’re busy focusing on other aspects of your business, but also automatically responds to your clients in different languages and converts their payments from different currencies to your home currency.
Not only is it great for you as it saves your time, but it also shows your clients that you’re close to them. This will contribute to creating a positive image around your brand, as well as will make it easier to stay in your customers’ minds, creating very much desired by companies today brand recall and customer loyalty.
Subscriptions
Number 3 on our list is an equally desired feature that is essential to have with your online booking provider – subscriptions. The moment you implement subscriptions to your offers, your customers will love you for it.
Let’s say, for example, that you run a beauty salon and have in your offer various beauty treatments that are done regularly. Moreover, you have customers who book those appointments with you every 2 weeks or even a month. This means that they always have to remember to book those appointments with you repeatedly. With Calendesk, you have the possibility to completely automate these mundane tasks and allow your customers to purchase subscriptions at your company. Both you and your customers will save time and will be able to enjoy the appointments without extra hussle.
Subscriptions are also great because they keep your customers with you for a longer time, supposing that they pay for the whole subscription upfront or agree to a year subscription paid on a monthly basis, for example. This is another great way to encourage customer loyalty and further grow your business.
Various payment methods and automatic invoicing
When you run a business, no matter the size and type, your bottom line most likely remains one of your top priorities that you constantly monitor to make sure everything performs well and without any problems. Although on a different scale, your customers are probably the same – they look out for their finances and often expect a lot of flexibility when it comes to the available payment methods.
Now, what if we told you that some of the best online booking platforms could take some work off your shoulders and at the same time make it easier for your customers to complete their bookings?
Some appointment booking platforms can offer you and your customers amazing solutions like various payment methods and automatic invoicing systems. It’s worth considering implementing multiple payment methods for your customers to ensure maximum comfort and flexibility. Whether it’s PayPal, bank wires, cash at the location or ‘buy now, pay later’ type of transactions, your customers will love you for them! When it comes to automatic invoicing, this is an extra benefit for you as your invoices will be done automatically – say goodbye to mundane and boring tasks.
Integrations
Integrations are yet another significant aspect when it comes to your online booking platform. After all, they make your job easier, and the experience of your customers much more pleasurable. Think about the possibility to integrate your online booking platform with tools and solutions like InvoiceOcean, Stripe, Google Meet, Facebook Messenger, Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics and more.
Does this sound interesting? We know it does. Now, your ideal online booking platform must have such integrations to offer. Not only will they make your job easier, but also the booking experience of your customer will be taken to the next level of comfort and flexibility. And that’s what we want, isn’t it?
Individual technical support
Now this aspect is also important both for you and your customers – individual technical support. Sometimes, things in a business go wrong. Whether it’s an unsatisfied customer, a bad deal or something else – it can happen and that’s normal.
Again, imagine you’re running a beauty salon and a bride-to-be books a makeup session through your online booking system with your company. For some reason, the system fails and you aren’t informed about the booking. The bride comes to your salon a few hours before her wedding and you’re both surprised – you don’t have the time to do the makeup and she came to you thinking she had booked an appointment with you- but the system never registered it properly. Now that’s a disaster waiting to happen, isn’t it?
To avoid such scenarios, all you need to do is find an effective and reliable online booking system that offers individual technical support. Thanks to support like this, you won’t have to worry about bookings-ghosts, as there will always be professionals looking after your platform to ensure zero mistakes.
Automated newsletters
Automated newsletters are a great way to stay in touch with your customer between meetings and encourage them to book more services with you. A reliable online booking provider will definitely have this feature in their offer.
Email marketing is still one of the most profitable marketing strategies and therefore it’s important you practice it within your business. As it turns out, with a good booking platform, you can create and send your automated newsletters in one place. Now that’s a great way to organize your work, keep it easy to manage and speed up the whole process.
Mobile app
Online booking, like the definition says, is done online. But how exactly? Well, one of the first ways of scheduling meetings that probably comes to your mind right now is through a website using a computer or a mobile phone. Now, what if we told you that there are booking platforms out there that offer all of that to be done using a mobile app – and more?
Thanks to this invention, booking meetings online has never been easier. What does it mean for your customers? Now they can book appointments with you practically wherever they are – since they probably carry their phones everywhere with them anyway. Moreover, in such a mobile app, customers can have their own customer accounts and keep all their booking history in one place. There’s also advantages for you: more bookings, access to customers’ information, various statistics and more.
If this sounds like something you’re interested in, make sure to include it on your list of must-have features for your online booking platform.
Website and landing page builder
Together with a responsive mobile app, it’s worth having the option to build your own custom website, as well as a highly converting landing page. This will be possible, of course, with a reliable online booking platform only as not every tool provides this.
There are many benefits stemming simply from having an online website and a landing page. Examples include:
- contacting you is made easier
- your credibility is increased
- you save time – both yours and that of your customers
- you get better brand recognition
- more qualified leads and conversions come your way
That’s, of course, only some of the great things that could happen to your company if you decide to get a custom website together with a landing page with your online booking system. With a good online booking system provider, you will be able to do everything you wish: set up your own domain, pick your own headlines, customize pictures, add videos. All of that is possible with your perfect online booking tool, so don’t give up and continue your search until you find it!
Privacy policy and terms and conditions
Last but not least, there’s never too much safety and security. Although it seems like a rather irrelevant addition, you’re going to need some proper, well written and thought out privacy policy and terms and conditions. You never know what type of customers you come across, so you need to be prepared for everything.
The same applies to your customers, actually. Once they see that their rights with you are secured and they can always refer to your terms and conditions, they will be much more confident when booking appointments with you. Such a small thing, but it changes a lot, so don’t forget about it!
Where to look for my online booking platform?
When choosing the perfect, most reliable and full of attractive and modern features online booking platform, there are a ton of things to consider. Privacy policies, mobile app, payment methods, integrations, technical support…
It does sound like a lot, we totally agree. Luckily for you, we can recommend a solution that will meet your even most sophisticated demands – Calendesk. It’s a complete online booking system with a goal to make your job easier, and the experience of your customers unforgettable. Manage everything online, pay in seconds, take advantage of great features and enjoy a quality of service you’ve never had before.
We deeply hope you found this article interesting. If you want to look into the topic of online booking more, as well as website building, newsletters and more, don’t hesitate and head over to our blog section now. Other than that, remember about our list of top 10 essential features for your online booking platform and we wish you a happy searching!
