As a service business that relies on client appointments, online booking, and automated scheduling are very important for modern massage businesses.
Today’s consumers simply prefer the flexibility offered by 24/7 online booking functions, especially ones they can do on their mobile devices. In fact, more than 40% of online bookings nowadays happen outside business hours, so simply put, if you don’t have the ability to offer 24/7 online bookings, you are going to miss a lot of potential clients.
Fortunately, getting online booking functionality on your website or mobile app is now only a matter of getting the right software solution, and nowadays we have plenty of online booking platforms for massage businesses we can choose from.
This post will learn the concept of online booking, why your massage business needs online booking functionality, and more.
Let us begin right away.
Table of Contents
What Is an Online Booking System?
An online booking system refers to a piece of software solution that allows your massage business to accept bookings online. This software solution will also provide the ability to manage your appointments and schedule in a more organized way.
While the actual features may vary between different solutions, typically the core functionality of an online booking system is the online interactive calendar.
For example, a potential client can visit the massage business’s website or app and access this interactive calendar for a massage business. This client can view available time slots on the calendar, then make their bookings with just a few clicks (or taps on their mobile devices).
An online booking system for massage businesses can be easily integrated into your website, allowing your clients to simply visit your site, choose the available time slot, and fill out a simple form. If you’d like, you can also require them to pay upfront via an integrated payment gateway that transfers the payment to you.
The whole online booking process takes just a few minutes, while also reducing potential errors like double-bookings you’d otherwise get in manual appointment-taking processes.
Why Your Massage Business Needs Online Booking
Integrating online booking functionality on your website and enabling automated scheduling for your massage business will provide numerous benefits both for your business and your clients.
Below we’ll discuss a few of them.
Benefits of online booking for your massage business
- Get more bookings
Integrating an online booking system allows your business to accept bookings 24/7, so your potential clients will have the convenience to book your service anytime, anywhere, and from any device.
If, for example, a client suddenly wanted to get a massage in the middle of the night, they’d want to book it right away, and if your massage service isn’t available, they’ll simply move to your competitor.
- Optimizing your staffing and schedule
Online booking will reduce workloads for your staff, for example reducing the need for them to answer back-and-forth phone calls and to manually input client’s information on a spreadsheet. In the long run, this will also allow you to optimize customer service, improving both your team’s morale and customer satisfaction.
- Maximize reservations
With online booking, clients are the ones booking their own reservations and choosing their preferred time slot, so they are more likely to show up. Also, the online booking solution can send automated reminders and notifications, which have been proven effective in reducing no-shows.
With automated scheduling, even when clients inevitably need to cancel their appointment, the spot automatically opens up for other clients, and if you have a waiting list, you can automatically pass the spot to the next in line. This will allow you to maximize reservations.
- Easier and faster online payments
You can require your clients to pay for your service upfront (partially or fully), which will not only allow you to get your money faster but will further help in reducing no-shows. Advanced online booking platforms like Bookeo will also allow easy integrations with various online payment options (credit card, PayPal, etc.), and you can avoid needing to use a third-party service which may mean sharing your income.
- Smart analytics and reporting
The online booking system keeps track of your reservations and offers a dashboard of analytics and useful reports that will provide valuable insights into how you can grow your massage business.
You can, for example, get information on the most requested time slots so you can schedule your staffing accordingly, and track the performances of different service providers.
Benefits of online booking for your clients
Here are some ways how your online booking system can help improve your client’s experience:
- Versatility and convenience of booking anytime
The biggest benefit of online booking for your clients is that they can book your service anytime and anywhere, 24/7. Also, most consumers are now booking their appointments from mobile devices, and having a mobile-friendly online booking platform will further improve their experience.
- Easier access to information
With the right online booking and appointment scheduling in place, clients will have an easier time finding all the information they may need in a single place: your address, different services you offer (and their prices), available time slots, and so on.
- Automatic notifications and reminders
The online booking software will automatically send a confirmation notification once the booking is confirmed, and you can set up the system to send an automated reminder, for example before the actual day of the appointment and then an hour before the appointment. With this, clients will have an easier time remembering their appointments and won’t need to manually update their calendars.
- Easily compare options
With online booking, potential clients can go through all of the details themselves, check reviews, and compare different options before finally they hit that book now button. Clients can also easily compare different available time slots between different service providers, and other details.
In short, they have more transparency in choosing the best possible service for them.
Wrapping Up
Now that you know how an online booking solution is great for both your massage business and your clients, it’s definitely time to invest in one. By investing in an appropriate scheduling and booking platform, you can offer reliable 24/7 online booking and grow your massage business’s clientele and revenue.
