Top 5 ways to boost your bookings

If you’ve taken the plunge and started a business that sells services, your top priority needs to be getting your bookings from zero to sky high. What you’re really selling is time, and the better you manage your time, the better your business will do. Time is money, after all.

Here are five ways you can make sure your schedule is brimming with new and existing clients.

1. Make it super-easy to book

The first way to increase your bookings is to make it as easy as possible for your customers to actually book. Requiring them to call or text you to negotiate an appointment time is not a scalable way to run your business. Allowing customers to book online is more convenient for both parties. Here’s why:

• Online booking puts your customers in the driver’s seat. They can book an appointment with you whenever they’d like, from anywhere. What’s more, they can pick a time that suits both of you without having to negotiate over the phone.
• You’re available to take bookings 24/7, and you won’t need to use your valuable time to pencil appointments into your calendar. It’s all automatic.
• Booking online is something more and more people expect from a business. We book hotels, flights and events online. If you’re not allowing clients to book with you online, you could be losing business.

There are plenty of online appointment systems that allow bookings via your website using a plug-in or a widget. For example, Timely gives you a free mini-website, booking buttons for your existing site, and a Facebook app so people can book directly from your business page.

2. Make sure you are showing up in the local SERP’s (search engine page results)

If you’re not familiar with search engine optimization (SEO), it may be time to learn a little. Being on the first page of Google for a relevant keyword is a vital marketing opportunity. Everyone is searching for services online these days.

In fact, even the ones who already know about you will do a bit of stalking before getting in touch to make that appointment. So make sure they can easily find you.

The first step of SEO is to figure out what keywords you need to rank for. A free tool you can use for this is the Google Adwords Keyword Planner (you will need to set up an Adwords account). Once you’ve found your keywords, use them two–three times on the page on your website you’re using to target that keyword. Include them in your title and page description as well. All of your pages should have good titles and strong descriptions. But remember, make sure your content sounds good over and above optimizing for SEO.

If you regularly post quality content that includes your keywords, you should start to see results in Google search. Be patient though! These things take time, so it’s worth considering at the startup stage and you can build on it from there.

3. Give your customers flexible payment arrangements

Giving customers the options to pay in a way that suits them is key to keeping them happy. Happy customers is a key way to increase your bookings. While many will prefer to pay on the day with debit, EFTPOS or credit card, some will want to pay in advance with a bank transfer or using their credit card online.

You can set up a payment gateway with your booking software so at you take a deposit or full payment at the time of booking. This is great for clients on payday when they’re making an appointment and they know they have the cash.

Having your clients paying with bank transfer may be important if you don’t have card or cash facilities on site. If you think clients would like to pay with a bank transfer, a good idea is to hand out a thank you slip with your bank account number on it. Make sure you only do this for clients you trust and have clear guidelines around how soon you need to see the money in your account – ideally the same day!

Once this is set up, the client can then forward pay for their next appointment if they need to – which means guaranteed cash flow for you.

The more payment options you have, the better the experience clients are going to have with you. They need to work around their finances too! Make it easy and you’ll be ahead of the competition.

4. Develop a referral program straight away

How often do you find yourself recommending a great service to a friend – even without an incentive? Imagine what you would recommend if you knew you were going to get some kind of bonus.

Word of mouth (WoM) marketing is often touted as one of the most effective (and cost-effective) forms of marketing available to any business. If you’re a startup, give this some thought from day one so that you can help generate word of mouth yourself.

There are a few different options with a referral system. You can offer loyalty points for a referral that the client can redeem, or you could offer a discount on the next appointment. Depending on the person doing the referring, you could co-promote their business to help them out.

The options are endless, but the most cost-effective system is probably the best as you don’t want to be discounting too much. While discounting may be essential in the early days, it’s not a long-term strategy.

5. Get plenty of recommendations from day one

You need to develop a level of trust from the first day you are in operation. As we already know, potential customers are searching for you online well before they decide to make their first appointment. So make sure you not only show up, but they can find some social proof about your business.

If someone is raving about the service they just received, make the most of the opportunity and ask them if they will put that in writing. You can get them to leave reviews on your Facebook page, Google Places for Business page or simply write it down and you can put it up on your website. As your recommendations build up, new customers are going to trust your service a lot more, so expect more inquiries.

Starting up a business from scratch is a challenge at the best of times. Being one step ahead of the game is key, and often simple systems will help your business scale quickly and without stress.

Remember, you are selling time and it is very valuable, so don’t discount it too much. Most importantly, have fun, follow your passion, and enjoy the ride!

Louise Blakely is the Digital Marketing Manager at Timely, a New Zealand based appointment scheduling software company that allows those in the beauty and health service industries to build successful businesses.

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