In 2013 when I moved from Massachusetts to North Carolina, one of the more time-consuming chores I faced was finding all new medical care providers. More often than not, this involved being put on hold by a busy office staff member when I called to make an appointment. There’s got to be an easier way, I kept thinking.
Imagine my delight last fall when I found that the new optometrist I wanted to see had an online booking capability that enabled me to just go to her website and pick an appointment date and time. Thirty seconds and I was done! Wow, I thought, here’s a doctor’s office that is actually operating in the 21st century, using technology to make life easier for patients. Why isn’t everyone doing this?
Why, indeed. With online booking and calendar software like Timendo readily available and affordably priced, why aren’t all service businesses making life easier for their customers and their staff? If your small business regularly meets with clients/customers, think how much they’d appreciate it if they could just go onto your website and schedule an appointment.
One important benefit to both your customers and to your business is that people can book appointments via your website 24/7 instead of having to do so only when your office is open. For many customers, this alone will be a huge help since they may not easily be able to take time out of their busy workday to call for an appointment. The automatic reminder service that such software provides also means fewer missed appointments.
Also consider how much time this capability would free up from the people in your office who now answer the phone and schedule appointments. Even if you only have meetings with your own staff or with vendors and those with whom you collaborate, this type of software enables you to manage your schedule faster and more efficiently.
Since I made the appointment online with the optometrist, each time I have to call another health care provider for an appointment, I sigh and wonder why everyone else hasn’t adopted a similar system to save us both time. Why not consider making life easier for your customers by exploring an online booking option? They’ll thank you, I’m sure.
