How to Improve Your Customer Experience with Appointment Scheduling Software

Consumers’ expectations have gone digital, and there’s no turning back. Regardless of a shift back towards pre-pandemic life, the convenience and flexibility of a digital customer experience is here to stay. Businesses need to adopt digital solutions to keep customers satisfied and continue growing their businesses. Subrah S. Iyar, CEO and co-founder of Moxtra

If you are reading this blog post, you’re most likely to own a business that provides online consultations or services. For sure, you are familiar with the following scenario: it takes hours to manage appointments since you have to contact your clients by phone or email. This frustrating routine goes on and on every day. Slotting appointments into your calendar turns into a guessing game — it takes time and lots of effort to communicate and find a suitable date and time for your customers and results in lost money as you’re answering the phone instead of serving customers.

You might have heard or even tried different methods to streamline the phone scheduling process. But in fact, there is only one workable solution to this problem.

Online appointment scheduling software is a remedy to the painful scheduling routine. It helps you tidy up your scheduling and cut your time spent on administrative tasks. Another reason to opt for online appointment bookings is to offer a superior customer experience. Below, we’ve collected some pro tips on how scheduling software improves your customer experience (CX).

Why a positive customer experience is a must for your business

Without knowing the needs of your target audience and how consumers feel about your products, there is little you can do about running a profitable business, let alone retaining clients. Customers get an impression of your business every time they interact with it, and this impression plays a decisive role in whether they’ll return. Take a look at the following statistics:

• 54% of customers have higher expectations for customer service today than they did a year ago.
• 69% of Americans are ready to pay more if a company provides good customer service.
• 52% of consumers make an additional purchase after having a positive CX.

Below, you’ll find reasons why you should make the CX your number one priority.

1. Retain customers and turn them into brand advocates

Positive customer experiences powered by emotional attachment create a sticky brand, meaning your leads become buyers and transform into regular customers who promote your products or services.

To build this type of bond, take a look at Gartner’s CX pyramid:

The moment your business starts preventing customers’ problems instead of purely solving them, you’ve reached the summit of the pyramid and have won loyal customers who’ll advertise your business. On average, one satisfied customer brings in nine referrals.

2. Boost your ROI

A stable ROI growth is the KPI every business strives to achieve, and proper software can guarantee it. Researches show that people are willing to pay more as long as they receive an outstanding CX. Customers generally feel that if a service or product have a high price, they’ll get more exclusive treatment. When choosing between two options, customers will opt for the one that offers a more welcoming experience even if the price is higher than the competition.

3. Decrease negative feedback

Any business can face negative feedback on platforms like Yelp. However, it isn't as bad as it seems, as negative reviews will help you perfect your service, focus on problems and learn from your mistakes. At the same time, negative feedback is a red flag to your customers. Take a look at these statistics:

The key takeaway from this — even if you happen to face criticism, make sure to learn a lesson from it so that your next review shows you do your best to smooth things over and improve customer experience.While improving the quality of your service can take some time, improving your customer experience is a matter of choosing the right tools and approaches. A study by Yelp reveals that you’re 15 times more likely to get a five-star review if you provide a good customer experience.

How appointment scheduling software can improve your customer experience

Technology has changed the way people conduct business and polished a lot of business processes. However, there’s always a long way to go to achieve a long-lasting relationship and a high level of customer satisfaction. The main obstacles include lack of employee dedication, a nightmarish scheduling process, and long response time.

Since there’s a low chance today that you’ll communicate with your customers in person, you have to opt for sophisticated tools to satisfy customers when they use your services online. Continue reading as we describe the ways to better your customer experience with scheduling tools.

Improved customer flow

Before, we had to call the hairdresser’s, wait for a response, ask if a stylist was free, and agree on a date and time. A rather tedious process, isn’t it? Not to mention rescheduling, which really is a game of Battleship for both businesses and customers.

Online scheduling delivers your customers a worry-free experience. You just need to select your availability during the workweek. That’s it. Now, all your clients have to do is open a booking page or app, see your availability, and book appointments. This easy procedure reduces waiting times and eliminates endless emails and calls.

Flexibility and ease of use

One of the main determiners of business success is being nearby when a client needs you. Being available online is a must. Most businesses have started offering not only online services but also a comfortable online appointment booking option.

Why not broaden your potential audience by providing your customers not only with a desktop booking option but a mobile booking option as well? Research by the Local Search Association shows that about 40% of bookings happen outside regular business hours. It means that roughly every third client books a service early in the morning when they take their kids to school, late in the evening when they go home after a yoga class, or even in the middle of the night when they suddenly recall they need an urgent consultation tomorrow morning. Your business must provide such flexibility to please your clients, anticipate and meet their needs.

Thanks to online booking, any current or prospective client can see your availability and plan their own meetings on the go wherever there’s an internet connection. Plus, it takes just a few clicks to cancel or reschedule an appointment, which reduces the hassle. You no longer need to be at the desk — online scheduling works even outside office hours and increases your chances of getting more bookings.

Besides, a website booking page, a user-friendly app design, and calendar synchronization add to the ease of use. With these tools, booking your services online becomes an easy, convenient, and stress-free experience for your clients.

Automatic reminders & notifications

This is another benefit that will save you a ton load of time and resources on your way to making your clients happier. There is a higher chance that customers will turn up if they get appointment reminders. In fact, reminders can increase the attendance rate by 23%. To reduce accidental no-shows and late arrivals, provide your customers with automated notifications.

While calling each client with an appointment is exhausting, automated messages will inform clients about upcoming appointments without disrupting them with calls. Clients are free to choose the most comfortable way to receive reminders — via email, push notification, or SMS. Customized text in reminder messages can also show your care and leave a positive impression of your service.

Personalization

Imagine your client wants to rebook an appointment, but they don’t remember their specialist or your website address. In this case, they spend extra time trying to find a link on their device or googling for your business — it’s far from a satisfying customer experience. A complicated booking flow directly influences the return rate, and 59% of respondents find personalized engagement based on past interactions crucial for repeat interaction with a business. It’s recommended that your online booking software remembers each client and their past interactions and appointments for a positive customer experience.

An online scheduling system solves this pain. Scheduling systems typically save all user data, keep a record of previous bookings, and offer to auto-fill fields using stored data when creating new appointments. 

Fewer no-shows

Scheduling software with online booking capabilities and reminders offers a robust approach to reducing no-shows. First off, your clients can find you with one tap at any time in a mobile app or via a mobile version of your site.

Second, a scheduling system can automatically send notifications as frequently as you wish, so there’s a little chance your clients will forget about their appointments. Set a desired interval — a day, an hour, or five minutes before the meeting.

Third, there is an option to set a required prepayment, decreasing the chance of a no-show, as clients never want to lose their money. To make sure clients pay in advance, add some incentives in the form of discounts. For instance, you can offer a 5% discount on the next appointment in case they prepay while booking a meeting.

Finally, it’s a great way to remind your clients about your company. Give them a chance to reschedule with a “We’re sorry you’ve missed your appointment” message via push notification, email, or SMS if they don’t turn up. Showing empathy and care is a sure way to boost your CX.

More spare time to commit to customer service

Having installed scheduling software you’ll boost your performance and KPI. How come? The answer is simple — such software saves your energy and keeps you concentrated on your work. The fewer distractions you have, the more devoted and productive you’ll be. You can devote more time to conducting a more in-depth research, planning your meetings and providing your clients with good service, which will encourage them to come back.

Streamlined feedback collection

The last challenge that scheduling apps can help you overcome is improving your services. With 76% of customers expecting you to understand their needs and expectations, collecting feedback is a must. Feedback describing a customer’s experience will show your strong and weak points. Thus, you can conduct audits and analytics to get more customer insights and refine your service to reach a higher level of customer satisfaction.

Send your customers an email or SMS with a link to collect their impressions. According to BrightLocal, in 2020, 72% of customers gave feedback about appointments when asked to do so.

What’s next?

Embracing digital transformation in your business and creating a comfortable online workspace is a must. Robust scheduling software improves your customer experience, streamlines your business processes, and saves you time on management. Before choosing a stable online scheduling solution, research what's on the market, read reviews and compare the market leaders. Many platforms offer a video demo, so you can see they can solve your pains.

However, it’s better to test something once than to hear about it a thousand times. Don’t miss your chance to try ExpertBox. This all-in-one appointment scheduling software comes with a free 14-day trial and comprehensive onboarding to help you streamline your business. We understand the importance of all the above-mentioned factors that influence customer experience and did our best to ensure ExpertBox provides a superior CX. Try it now and see yourself.