I’ll start by saying…. When it comes to the wonderful world of marketing, booking systems might not seem like the most glamorous topic. But it’s super important. When you start your business whether that’s yoga, holistic wellness, education, fitness… you might have put a booking platform in place right away, or you might have started manually, capturing interest over email, having pay as you go cash options. There can be a place for this type of system but as you grow and expand, it usually becomes clear you need a bit of help! 

Even if you have hastily implemented a booking system, are you using its full potential? 

In this blog we’ll uncover some of the ways to ensure your booking system is working best for your wellbeing business and you’re utilising its full potential.

Booking systems like Mind Body, Eventbrite, Bookwhen, Acuity… all have their unique strengths. The key is to determine exactly what requirements you have, perhaps you don’t need all singing all dancing and it’s not worth overpaying, ask yourself these questions when evaluating what’s right for you:

1. How does the pricing model work based against your predictions of where your business will be in the next 6-12 months?

2. What are your must-have features? And what are nice to haves?

3. How does it sit within your website?

4. Can you customise the booking and reminder emails?

5. Does it have waiting list functionality?

6. Do you want to offer bundle/pass options, and how does that work?

7. What’s the customer experience? Have you trialled it as your customers?

8. Does it integrate to your email provider (if you do newsletters), how does that fit?

9. What reporting does it offer?

10. Can you make it “feel” like your brand? What opportunity is there to customise the look and feel?

11. What is the payment gateway? Do you have options? How does this work and what is the commission structure?

It’s not to say all of these will be relevant for you, but perhaps these will spark your own questions and priorities. I’d recommend making a list of what’s important to you and your business, now and in the near future, you want something scaleable that will grow with you.

Once you have your booking platform in place, here are five areas it's well worth optimising to provide the best customer experience possible.

#1 Personalise the content of your confirmation and reminder emails

The automated confirmation and reminder emails are such a crucial opportunity to relay fears your customers might have, and ensure you're providing really clear and helpful information.

I was reminded recently when attending a new studio that it can be very nerve wracking joining a new class, it takes a lot of courage as a newbie to even walk through the door. Think about how you can use your confirmation and reminder emails to put your customers at ease. Could you link to an FAQ? Can you ensure the writing is friendly and personable?

It’s also important to be very clear about your cancellation or transfer policy, what is the vital information that customers need to know to avoid disappointment. The open rate on these types of emails is sky high, so make sure you’re utilising this channel to provide an engaging customer experience.

#2 Make sure each class or session listing has enough information about what to expect

When it comes to the event or class listing itself, are you making full use of the description and the opportunity for imagery? Make sure you are communicating key information about the session to make it easy for customers to know if this is right for them. If you offer a range of services such as massages, is it clear to customers the difference between them? It’s best not to assume your customers are experts in each of these types of experiences, and that is certainly the case if you offer yoga or fitness.

It’s best to address potential concerns or worries your customers might have in this section, this also lowers the chance that they will need to contact you to ask questions that could have been answered on your booking page.

Make the listing as attractive as you can, many of us are heavily influenced by nice visuals and we’re more likely to book!

#3 Be savvy with the timing of your reminder email

It’s always worth setting up reminder emails, we all know how busy life can be and it’s easy to forget about things you’ve booked. But think about the timing of your reminder email, 3 days before runs the risk that it goes from the customer’s mind, whilst 2 hours before might mean it’s missed.

I find 6pm the evening before the day of the session works well. It provides plenty of time for the customer to see it over the course of the evening and get in touch if they have any problems.

#4 Ensure your pricing options are clear and not overcomplicated

I see many studios offering a complex range of bundles and options. Whilst flexibility is good, some customers like to pay as you go, others prefer monthly bundles, just be careful you don’t have too many options and it becomes overwhelming. 

Make sure you have something in place to welcome new customers and encourage them to try sessions or experiences with you. Likewise you’ll hear me say time and time again, make sure you are rewarding your loyal customers. It’s never sensible to focus on acquiring new customers at the expense of valuing existing customers. 

You will always have people who drift in and out of your business, that’s natural but really spend some time considering what pricing options make sense for you. Then I urge you to constantly revisit your page as if you are a customer. Go through the process and evaluate how easy it is. If it's clunky and unclear, how can you streamline it?

Finally, talk to your customers, survey and ask for feedback on whether the packages and pricing options are meeting their needs. It sounds simple but we can often lose sight that the best people to advise on what’s best are your own customers!

#5 Be mindful of follow-ups, you can have too much of a good thing

Creating a follow-up email can be a great way to connect with your customers and encourage them to leave a positive review. Where you need to be careful is if you have a regular customer who is attending multiple sessions with you, and you ask for feedback 3-4 times a week. 

Think about this from the customer’s point of view… this can feel a little jarring. 

Whilst it’s good to ensure customers feel that you value their perspective and experience, avoid flooding them with requests as this can have an adverse effect, particularly when it isn’t personalised. Instead sending a thoughtful, personal welcome email when someone new has joined you can be a much more rewarding thing to do. 

There’s a huge opportunity to make the booking process a really lovely smooth experience for customers, it’s well worth taking an extra few minutes to ensure you’re utilising the full functionality and periodically revisit this. If you want to chat about implementing a booking system (they aren’t all pricey I promise), or review what you currently have in place, I’d love to chat with you.