10 key benefits of using an appointment scheduling software for your business
Table of Contents
Introduction
Scheduling appointments form the most monumental part of business strategy and help streamline the overall process. With a plethora of bookings, tasks, and appointments vying for attention, businesses can’t rely on archaic scheduling methods such as manual calendar entries or organizing telephone entries in the books. An appointment scheduling software is a must for small to medium businesses that can reduce unnecessary paperwork and help them adapt better to customer expectations. Pair with personalization, appointment scheduling software can serve as a winning strategy for small businesses to encourage loyalty and grow revenue.
According to a survey by Accenture, 70% of patients prefer health care providers with a self-scheduling option for preventative or follow-up care as opposed to those who do not.
Appointment scheduling software serves as an essential tool to automate tasks and bring undeniable positive impact to both businesses and customers.
#1: An appointment scheduling software offers seamless customer experience
Customer experience lies at the center of a successful business strategy. With the ability to schedule even the last-minute appointment, you can offer a convenient way for your customers to interact on their terms – whenever or wherever they want. Customers can book in-person or remote meetings as they please. These personalized experiences exceed customer expectations and drive loyalty. Additionally, the data insights regarding their preferences and purchase behaviors can be accessed to design highly personalized experiences for your high-profile customers.
#2: An appointment scheduling software enhances revenue and conversions
According to the latest report by Allied Market Research, the global appointment scheduling software growth is expected to grow at a CAGR of 13% to reach $546.31 million by 2026 from $205.85 million in 2018. Increased adoption of digital devices during the pandemic has anticipated the imminent adoption of web-based and SaaS appointment scheduling software across various industries.
From a business perspective, minimizing administrative tasks is the central function of an appointment scheduling software. It implies that small businesses can exert extra time and energy on other important tasks such as sales, customer management, and product development. Over 90% of financial institutions using appointment scheduling software saw an appreciable increase in the opening of new accounts, according to The Financial Brand. Businesses can leverage customer insights to create more cross-selling and up-selling opportunities that increase conversion rates.
#3: It improves operational efficiency
Did you know that it takes approximately eight minutes to schedule or re-schedule an appointment over a phone call? Multiply that by 7 and it will take about an hour of your staff each day. Assuming that the employee is compensated $20 an hour, this will amount to over $5,500 a year. (Source)
With businesses operating across multiple time zones and locations, it can be a task to manage schedules and appointments manually. An online appointment scheduling software helps improve efficiency by managing appointments, reducing the time taken to manage back and forth emails, automating syncing of tasks to calendars, and offering customers to cancel or schedule an appointment online. It is especially helpful in reducing employee downtime in service-based businesses and improving business outcomes.
#4: It saves time and costs
Using an appointment scheduling software goes hand in hand with saving time and money. It eliminates the need to hire a receptionist or additional administrative staff to manually maintain the books. Customers can set up meetings and view real-time availability straight from your website or mobile app. It frees up a lot of time for your business that can be devoted to improving services and generating more revenue.
#5: It results in better customer satisfaction
With an appointment scheduling software solution in place, small businesses can empower their customers to get things done in the convenience of their homes or on the go with a few easy clicks. In our fast-paced world, customers prefer email or text notifications over phone calls. The appointment scheduling software notifies your customers and clients of upcoming appointments. Having a visual look at their schedule eliminates the chances of miscommunications and lets them make informed decisions. It makes your customers feel valued and satisfied. It goes a long way in generating positive word-of-mouth for your business.
#6: An appointment scheduling software improves employee productivity
Having a centralized system for scheduling, storing, managing, and analyzing appointments encourages better employee productivity. Regardless of the size of your business, the appointment scheduling software offers a single point of contact to access customer details. Employees can seamlessly access the analytical dashboard and analyze key performance indicators. They can also run reports and check the performance of ongoing campaigns, sales, and other critical business data. The automation features will reduce redundancy in the scheduling process and employees will be able to serve customers effectively. It helps employees to delegate tasks accordingly and aim for higher productivity.
#7: It reduces no-shows and cancellations
There will always be customers or clients who will cancel or try to book appointments at the last minute. Implementing features of appointment scheduling software such as automatic appointment reminders helps in minimizing cancellations and no-shows. Automatic reminders make it easier for customers to re-schedule, cancel or confirm the appointments in advance. Emitrr can help businesses reduce last-minute cancellations and no-shows that would have otherwise led to loss of profits. Using an appointment scheduling software like Emitrr can help businesses reduce no-shows by up to 90% or more.
#8: With an appointment scheduling software there is lesser room for error
There is no denying that manual scheduling of appointments is prone to human errors. Also, accessing physical data can be tedious and time-consuming. The appointment scheduling software lets you store, manage and update entries from one place reducing the inconsistencies and errors in the data such as overbooking and repetitive bookings. Self-scheduling feature not only gives significant convenience to customers but also helps prevent communication errors.
#9: It leads to faster payments
The online appointment scheduling software is a win-win for both businesses and their customers. While it allows customers to seamlessly schedule meetings, businesses can benefit from capturing consistent revenue. You can expect your customers or clients to prepay before they book their schedule further generating a constant stream of revenue. It is easy to integrate a desired payment option with the appointment schedule software and keep track of payments as well as establish refunds. In case of no-shows, you can also keep the entire or some part of the paid amount as compensation. This helps accelerates sales and ensures that you don’t lose payments. It
#10: It results in greater sales and service synergy
To facilitate easy scheduling, you can install instant ‘Book Now’ buttons or one-click links to your web page, social media profile, or mobile app. That serves as a great sales tool to attract and retain new customers while building your presence in the market. You can target specific demographics and encourage customers to take the desired action by accompanying a compelling call to action. This increases the chances of mass bookings and significantly boosts business sales.
Conclusion
If you are in a service-based business and tired of handling multiple customers calling to schedule or re-schedule the appointments, you probably need an appointment scheduling software. If you already knew this, then allow us to help you zero in on the best one for your small business.
If you are just starting out, a bespoke appointment scheduling software like Emitrr can help your business run smoothly. Akin to a digital receptionist, Emitrr can handle customer queries and automate appointment bookings. You can rest assured that every single customer call/query will be handled by Emitrr even on the weekends or while you are away. That’s a massive advantage for your business as it lets you focus on revenue-generating opportunities and help it grow exponentially.
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