Behavioural science in customer experience: Five ways TIMIFY makes it happen

Behavioural science has become one of the biggest buzzwords in business in recent years, with the service industry in particular using the science of how people think, make decisions and change behaviours to revolutionise customer experiences.

There are vast amounts of theory out there, and this blog is not the place for a debate on which works best. But it got us thinking that with the TIMIFY relaunch, our software allows your business to put many of the techniques to use by creating a user experience tailored to the needs of your customers.

One simple behavioural science approach comes from a specialist team in the UK government, who use the acronym ‘EAST’ to guide their application of the theory to a range of service provision and customer communications.

• Make it EASY
• Make it ATTRACTIVE
• Make it SOCIAL
• Make it TIMELY

Below, we look at how the new and improved TIMIFY system makes it simpler for your business to build a supreme customer journey, with the potential to incorporate a range of behavioural science techniques such as those outlined in the EAST methodology.

1. Make it easy

The theory here is focussed around removing barriers to people taking action, often by carefully selecting which elements are pre-determined, leaving a customer with just a few of the most empowering choices to make.

Make it easy for customers with TIMIFY:

• Let them book an appointment from the channels they are already using. Place your booking widget on Facebook, your website, emails and more.
• Booking appointments from any device, at any time of day, removes numerous barriers people have to making bookings by phone
• Give the option to pay online, in advance, if preferred.
• For businesses with a range of services, create a dedicated booking widget for each one and place it strategically wherever that service is promoted E.G. at a health spa, create a dedicated booking widget for each treatment type. Customers clicking to book from the massage section will book that service directly, rather than searching from a schedule of all bookable services.

2. Make it attractive

How your services and online tools are presented to customers, as well as how valuable and personalised they perceive the service to be, can make a huge difference to uptake and ongoing loyalty.

Make it attractive for customers with TIMIFY

• Your customer sees all available booking slots at a glance, before choosing the most convenient appointment time and their favourite staff member. All this takes place in just four or five quick clicks, with a booking often completed in less than a minute
• Customise the booking widget to sit seamlessly in all of your digital touchpoints. Customers should click on a booking button and make an appointment without any hesitation, delay or interruption
• Personalise your email communication with your customers, such as using the customer name, staff member’s name and the unique details of the booking date and time to build a personal connection

3. Make it social

Humans are social creatures and influenced by how those around us behave. Incorporating statistics from your customer base to demonstrate behaviours you wish to encourage can be effective. Cancellation and no-show rates can be improved by building a meaningful connection between your staff and the customer, or highlighting positive actions of other customers.

Make it social with TIMIFY

• Customise your messaging to include key statistics relevant to your customers e.g. “90% of customers booking online stick to their original date and time”, or “98% or customers continue using online booking after trying it once”
• Add photos of the team members who will deliver the service, emphasising to the customer that their appointment is a connection with a real person
• Share the ratings and comments of fellow customers by automating a feedback survey to be emailed to every client immediately after their appointment

4. Make it timely 

The timing and method of customer communications, particularly around appointment reminders, can be crucial in lowering no-show and cancellation rates. The same reminder sent at different times can have significantly different levels of success.

Make it timely with TIMIFY

• Our software allows you to vary the timing of reminders up to 24 hours before an appointment, as well as the channel of delivery (email, text, phone call etc)
• This makes it simple to test and refine the effectiveness of when and how appointment reminders are sent
• Your customers receive a notification immediately after booking online, whatever time of day. This gives customers instant peace of mind that a booking has been made successfully, helping to increase customer satisfaction.

To find out more about TIMIFY as your online scheduling software solution visit our website :