Comparison of appointment scheduling processes

Comparison manual vs automatic appointment scheduling processes

 The appointment scheduling process for many businesses is not as simple as it seems. It is often a burdensome task that can require significant time and staff resources to manage. It can have a negative impact to the business operations and can restrain the business from running at its fullest potential.

The traditional manual way to manage appointment bookings is via the telephone and writing the booking details into an appointment diary. A typical small business without a receptionist will manage appointments between client visits or after hours. This often requires calling back the client to arrange the appointment time.

The following example is a comparison of  the traditional manual phone booking process (without Online Appointment Booking software) and managing appointments with automated online appointment booking software.

Small business example:

A Physiotherapist business has two therapists that process 300 client appointments a month. All client visits must be arranged by appointment only. The average revenue per client is $70 per consultation.

 

Manual appointment scheduling

Managing the appointment bookings without Online Appointment Booking software

The time taken to administrate 300 booking over the phone at 3 minutes per booking is 15 hours per month.  This does not include the time it takes to confirm and update client details, enter appointments into your appointment diary, call-backs to answer phone messages, and the amount of time lost getting back on track after being distracted.

The business does not have any automated reminder service so relies on the client to remember the appointment. They average 5% no-shows per month due to client forgetting their appointment time.

Without Online Appointment Booking software 

Monthly Income: $19,950

Lost Income to No Shows: $1,050

Lost Time to Booking Administration: 15 hour(s)

Automated appointment scheduling 

Managing the appointment bookings with Online Appointment Booking software 

Most businesses that use online appointment booking software will experience at least 50% of their appointment booking occurring  online without any interaction with the clients this will result in 150 less phone calls per month and 7 .5 hours in productivity gains.

Using  email & SMS automated appointment reminders will reduce the no-shows by over 85%.

Clients will become accustomed to reminders and will stay with you, increasing your loyalty rate over time.

With Online Appointment Booking software + email & Text Message Reminders

Income: $21,832.05

Increased income due to reduced no-shows: $892.5 (based on 85% reduction in no-show rate)

Increased income due to loyalty uplift: $1,050

About bookitlive: Providing online booking software solutions for all service based business across automotive, education, entertainment, fitness, health, professional and training sectors. Catering for individual and group bookings, online payment, client management and appointment reminders.

For more information http://bookitlive.net