Your UPbook business appointment schedule is the backbone of everything that you do. Your team works diligently to keep that schedule full so customers keep coming in your doors and revenue keeps flowing. If you aren’t already using the power of forward-booking to maximize the effectiveness and efficiency of your schedule, you’re missing out!
What is forward-booking? All it means is scheduling a client’s next appointment before they’ve left your office. When a customer checks out with your UPbook-trained front-desk team, scheduling a future appointment must be a part of that transaction.
Let’s take a closer look at forward-booking and how it can help your UPbook team maintain a jam-packed schedule, day in and day out.
Introducing Forward-Booking to Your Team
First, explain the value of forward-booking to your front-desk staff. Coaching will be a key part of the process; try role-playing forward-booking scenarios so that front-desk staff members can work on the new policy in a realistic way. Make sure to impart to your UPbook business’s entire team that forward-booking isn’t just valuable for your clients, it’s valuable for them — forward-booking makes everything easier on your staff!
The Importance of Reminders
Any forward-booking system needs a functioning reminder system to accompany it. Keep this in mind: if your UPbook team members are calling to confirm an appointment, it was never really confirmed in the first place. The customer can still change their mind. The solution is to remind, not confirm.
Give each and every client a reminder card to give them a physical and visual way to remember their commitment. Pay attention to the language on these cards — have it say something like “we thank you in advance for honoring your appointment time.” This places the burden of responsibility on the client, not on your UPbook business.
Introducing Forward-Booking to Your Clients
Now that your UPbook team has the hang of forward-booking, it’s time to introduce it to your clients. Start with the “easier” appointments, or those clients that tend to come back anyway, and gradually roll out the new policy to all clients. Again, pay attention to the way your team is phrasing things. Try: “Let’s get your appointment booked for next year while you’re here,” or “Your regular appointment interval is six months, let keep that up.”
Once you get past the growing pains of implementing a forward-booking policy, it will pay off in spades for your UPbook business. You’ll be able to keep a full schedule booked for months in advance! That means continued revenue, peace of mind, and a thriving business.
