Managing the day-to-day operations of a small business can be extremely challenging! Small business owners must meet with clients, communicate with suppliers, and tend to their daily business operations, all while maintaining excellent customer service and providing personal attention to each and every person they come into contact with.
Juggling all those tasks while keeping everyone happy can really be tough sometimes, and in some cases, small business owners may even miss out on a potential opportunity because they spread themselves too thin.
For instance, think of a small one-person photography firm. If the business owner goes to a morning photo shoot, meets with her landlord over lunch to discuss rent on a new office space, then has to spend the afternoon in the darkroom developing the morning's pictures, she has, by necessity, spent an entire day away from her office phone.
When she finally gets back to the desk at 6:00 p.m., she finds she has a message from a potential new client who was referred to her by an existing client. She is excited to hear from a new person, but that excitement quickly turns to dismay when she realizes the new client wanted to schedule a photo shoot for that weekend, and needed to confirm a time by 3:00 p.m. Our photographer has missed out on a golden opportunity to work with a client who was referred to her by another satisfied customer.
Now imagine this scenario - what if client could schedule appointments online rather than on the phone?
The new client calls the photographer who was referred to him. He listens to her voicemail, which directs him to go to her website and access her online appointment scheduler, since she is unavailable to take the call personally.
The new client goes to the photographer's company website and clicks on the "schedule appointment" button that is prominently featured on her website. An appointment software program allows the client to schedule a time to meet with the photographer, at his convenience. The online booking software shows available times for the weekend and the client picks one.
When the photographer checks her email at 6:00 that evening, she is thrilled to learn she has an appointment for Saturday afternoon, and that it's from a referral!
Having the ability for clients and business owners to schedule appointments online is a huge benefit. And you can do it today. So why wait?
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