An online booking system is a software solution that allows potential customers to self-book or even pay through your website and other channels, while giving you the best tools to run and scale your operation.
Let’s see the pros of online booking.
Your business is always open
One of the biggest advantages of an online booking system is that you can stay open for business 24/7, no matter what your hours of operation are.
Saves time and money
Automating appointment booking can eliminate the immediate need for an administrative assistant by streamlining the daily phone calls and emails from clients. This gives time back to you to do more creative and fulfilling responsibilities, as well as saving money if you can’t afford to hire an administrative team.
Decreases human error
Online booking can eliminate human error from administrative tasks such as appointment confirmation and creating an accurate schedule for stylists. Also, everything is in one place. All you must do is login and you will see your daily bookings among other elements.
As everything else, online booking has cons too.
Gives too much power to the customers
Once clients have more say in what types of services they are booking and the duration of those appointments, the stylist isn’t able to set reasonable expectations for the client. This can make appointments more difficult to navigate and puts the ball in the client’s court.
Pushes operation to the limit
Online booking is not human. So, it cannot calculate the actual time each employee needs to finish the job. It calculates a specific time for each service, but not all employees are working the same way. So, a lot of times, due to the appointments booked, operation is pushed to the limits.
Can book the “wrong” appointment
Online booking systems often lack the expertise needed to guide a client to the right type of appointment or service to book. Therefore, unless it is a part of a larger automation system that understands salon servicing nuances, your stylists aren’t receiving the necessary pre-consultation information they need for their clients.
Being accessible online is important because that’s where people spend most of their time. Using online booking correctly, you will be able to increase your clientele and keep your customers satisfied.
If you found our article useful, you can browse the rest of our articles on the Salon Proactive blog.
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