To start offering your customers the convenience of online bookings you must first choose the right system. There are many to choose from and they vary greatly in quality, ease of use, and price, so take the time to see what’s on offer. Ideally, you’ll want a system which works right on your existing website, rather than one that redirects your customers to a separate a course in miracles website. Having a booking calendar on your website not only looks more professional but will result in less customers giving up in the booking process due to frustration or confusion.
Ease of use is another key factor to consider when selecting an online booking system. First and foremost, the system needs to make it super easy for your customers to complete a booking. The easier and quicker it is to make a booking the better the booking system, as many of your customers won’t have the patience to spend too much time trying to make a booking. Don’t select a system which will unnecessarily force your customers to create user accounts, or to fill in countless details which are completely unnecessary for the booking. The best online booking systems are those which allow your customers to book your services with minimal clicks and typing.
The next thing to consider when selecting your reservation software is flexibility. Double-bookings can be a nightmare, so you’ll want a system that’s flexible enough to let you fully control when you’re open for business. Make sure that the system you choose lets you setup availability not just for a normal working week, but also for specific dates. If, for whatever reason, your business is closed on a specific date, or is open for irregular hours, then you’ll want the ability to reflect that in your booking calendar.
Ease of use and flexibility are probably the most important things to consider, however there are other things to look out for when selecting a booking system. Here are a few more points to consider:
- Choose a booking system with a modern and stylish booking calender, and one that gives you the ability to customize the colors to match your website
- Make sure that the reservation system you choose has full admin control to let you view, modify and delete bookings, as well as create manual bookings
- Ensure that double bookings don’t occur by selecting a system which lets you specify how many bookings can be made before a time period is booked out
- If you use Google calendar then choose an online booking system which fully integrates with your Google calendar. Many of the newer reservation systems incorporate full 2-way integration with Google calendar, which means that you can shift bookings around from within Google calendar and this will be reflected in your booking system database
