More local businesses are implementing online appointment systems since the pandemic. Your website can be the tool that fills your calendar. Following our system is the best way to schedule appointments.
There Are 4 Steps In Our Online Appointment System:
- Sign up for Calendly
- Create a 15-minute appointment Calendly link
- Add survey questions
- Put “SCHEDULE CALL” buttons all over your website
Most healthcare and service-based businesses have “call me” websites. That means when someone comes to your website, social media, or review sites you want them to call so that your front desk person can book the appointment. This is inefficient. You are losing money.
Changes During The Pandemic
As we take a look at this past year things have changed. The way people purchase and book appointments have changed too. If you haven’t embraced the change, you need to. Online scheduling for service-based businesses isn’t going anywhere.
Think about the online schedulers you used this past week…
- Maybe it was for booking your child’s next dental cleaning?
- Booking pilates class at your favorite studio?
- Scheduling house cleaners?
- Or rescheduling your hair cut since something came up last minute?
I mean heck, even the California DMV uses an online appointment system so you don’t have to wait in line a couple of hours to renew your driver’s license.
People are now used to using online schedulers more than ever. They get frustrated when they have to be put on hold for 5-10 minutes just to book an appointment or they are researching on the phone in the middle of the night but have to wait till the next day when your business is open.
Ask yourself how can I make the customer experience better?
I’m sure as you think about some online schedulers you’ve used in the past, many were clunky and didn’t work. Or they made you create an account when you were just researching to see if you could get a facial tomorrow.
This Is The Best Way To Schedule Appointments
We have a 4-step process that has helped us and dozens of our clients make scheduling appointments easier.
STEP 1: Sign Up For Calendly
I’ve tried others and I like this one the best. It’s great for B2B and many service-based businesses.
Gyms, hair salons, and healthcare businesses have so many services. Using Calendly is great for the owner or sales team but most likely you need a more robust tool. If you want to learn what we’ve set up for clients in these industries then leave me a comment and maybe I’ll bring you on a Facebook Live to discuss it or write a blog going in-depth like this.
Finances Online shares a great report with all kinds of stats like these…
“42% of patients prefer to book appointments online.”
“45 hours is the average lead time between booking and service fulfillemnt.”
“12% of clicks have been found to result in appointments.”
“70% of salon and spa appointments are booked from bobile devices.”
Ok back to what I like about Calendly!
I like that…
- It syncs with Google Calendar
- You don’t double book
- People can cancel or reschedule on their own
- Appointment reminders go out automatically
- I have a paid account since I do most of the sales calls and Robert just used the free account since he mostly doesn’t client check-in calls
- I have different calendar appointments for each service we offer so I can pick the exact time I need to block off before, during, and after the appointment
- There are no long email chains trying to find a time that works for both of us
- When someone has a referral I give them my Calendly link and the referral self-books
I’m sure there are so many more things I like. I know you will love it too! Being more efficient with appointment setting will make your life so much easier.
STEP 2: Create a 15-minute appointment Calendly Link
Free Strategy Session or Free Consultations are inefficient. You give 30 minutes or 1 hour of your time, make a proposal, then get ghosted. You wasted your time! Hours are gone that you will never get back.
Your website should give a customer all the information they need to they are sold in working with you before they schedule a call. So that literally the 15-minute call is to help them pick which package to start with first.
Wait…you don’t have packages? Do you do everything custom? Do you love giving strategies away for free?
If this sounds like you, download our 25-Point Website Checklist. You’ll get inspired to embrace the change that will increase your revenue.
Having a 15-minute appointment link is so useful. If you are in charge of sales, you can reply back to DMs or referral emails with your link.
I hope you are getting value from learning our online appointment system.
STEP 3: Add Survey Questions
If you are giving 15-minutes of your time. Come up with 3-5 questions that will help qualify your ideal customer to work with. If they don’t want to answer the questions then you won’t waste your time with someone who isn’t serious about working with you.
Don’t be scared of asking a financial qualifying question…
- Financial Planner – If you only work with people that have 500K liquid then put a question like “Do you have…300-400, 400-500, 500-600, 600+ to invest?”
- Social Media Agency – Have you worked with an agency? If yes, what did you like about the last company you worked with?
- Interior Designer – What are the top 3 home decor stores you shop at?
You can ask questions to see what stage are they in…
- Real Estate – Do you looking to buy, sell, or invest?
- Acupuncture – Have you read our blog on how to get naturally pregnant with our 6-month program?
- Moving Company – Are you planning on moving in this weekend, in 30 days, 6 months, or longer?
Some others to ask that work for any industry…
- How did you find us?
- Who referred you?
- On a scale of 1-10 (1 being desperate or 10 I don’t care), how badly do you need patients/customers/clients in the next 30 days?
- If we are a fit, how soon do you want to start this project?
What are some survey questions that have really worked great for you? Comment below. I’m going to do an IG story with what you share.
STEP 4: Put “SCHEDULE CALL” Buttons all over your website
If you Click HERE it takes you to our homepage. Count how many times you see a “schedule call” button.
Next, make a list of all the buttons you have on your homepage.
How many have your main call to action (CTA)? If you are a “call me” business you need to have a “schedule call” button 7 to 10 times on your homepage.
Get rid of the “learn more” buttons they can learn more on your blog.
Calendly makes it easy to add the embed code or URL to those buttons. All you need to do is copy/paste and give it to your web developer.
After you get your website set up with an online scheduler. Use it in these areas too.
If you apply what I taught you here today, I know that you will increase sales and increase revenue. You will make more money with your website. You will be making the customer experience easier and you will be more efficient with your time.
Take Action Today
Like I shared earlier, there are more strategies to increase revenue and sales that I’d love to help you with. Your top priority this week is to start using Calendly and get this online appointment system working for you.
Next, download our 25-Point Website Checklist.
This checklist along with weekly emails will help you to stay on track as you make changes to your website.
Finally, if you want to see the checklist in action live on a website. Watch our Facebook Live Website Audits where I walk about which sites did good at implementing the 25-point website checklist and what they could do better to increase conversions.
