Tips & Resources

How an online booking system fits into a personalised customer service strategy to increase customer satisfaction

TIMIFY
By TIMIFY
19 June, 2020
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A successful and enjoyable shopping trip doesn’t start with having to queue outside your favourite store for 15 minutes before being admitted. Your loyal customers are looking forward to getting back into your store, but many may be put off by the Corona restrictions currently in place. Some may even order from your online competitor rather than go through the hassle of visiting your store.

Imagine how your customers will feel if their shopping trip begins at home with an online booking system that enables them to avoid queues to enter the shop and provides an unprecedented shopping experience – one that they won’t want to forgo when the pandemic ends! 

An online booking system isn’t just about managing footfall or avoiding queues. The personalised services that you can offer your customers will make them want to return to your store in the future. 

Personalisation for every customer

TIMIFY’s system offers a range of simple and automated functionality that helps build an experience that feels personalised for every customer.

This begins with the online experience.

By adding booking widgets to a variety of your customers’ online touchpoints, including Facebook, newsletters and QR codes, they don’t need to hunt down online booking – it comes to them, wherever they are online.

One an appointment has been made, automated confirmations and reminders keep communication channels with customers open. This can provide key pre-appointment information and helps reduce no-shows, but also offers them the chance to reschedule appointments at their convenience.

TIMIFY also allows customers to book a range of appointment types, giving them more choice and freedom in how they interact with your business. Some may choose to book a click and collect to avoid heading in-store, while others may opt for a personalised staff consultation.

Easily customise the booking form to enable the customer to state brand, colour and style preferences and even their preferred staff member. Your experienced salespersons can gather suitable products in advance, and they know which additional products they can offer the customer, which provides an additional service to the customer and increased revenue for your store.

TIMIFY‘s retail customers report basket sizes increasing by three to four times when a customer has booked a consultation appointment online than when they just walk into the store.



Help staff give better service 

Providing a personalised customer service also depends heavily on the ability of your staff to meet customer needs. TIMIFY makes it possible.

In the most obvious terms, with customers booking online you aren’t taking staff from the shop floor to answer phone calls or take bookings. This gives them more time to dedicate to customers and preparing for appointments.

The system also brings crucial clarity to the range of customer visits and appointments, allowing staff to accurately plan which resources will be required.

Assign different duration times to different appointment types, as well as the resources required. They will be automatically applied every time that booking type is made.

This means that a click and collect appointment assigned a 15-minute slot can ensure the staff member is at the counter at the time of arrival with the product ready to be taken.

Meanwhile, as 45-minute appointment to use fitting rooms might allow for two staff members to attend, pre-prepare the items to be tried on and include a mandatory cleaning session before or after the appoint with our ‘buffer time’ feature.



Easy integration, complex problems solved

TIMIFY can be integrated quickly and easily into your existing IT system, adopting corporate colours and branding to keep customer experience seamless.

Various functions such as online payment, marketing or our Upselling App – which promotes related appointments to customers when booking – can be added to your set up by installing an app.

Meanwhile, during the post coronavirus period, the tracking of all customer visits and staff members on duty means you can quickly and accurately perform contact tracing if required.



​​​​​​​Applicable to any industry
 

These options are easily transferrable to non-retail industries who also need to control the flow of visitors. 

Banks and other financial services can use TIMIFY to allow clients to book consultations directly with advisors. Civil institutions such as libraries and public offices can enable members of the public to book appointments easily. Private leisure venues such as gyms can quickly activate an efficient online booking system. 

TIMIFY provides enormous benefits for your company, but the improvement of the customer service you offer is one of the most significant. You can stand out from the crowd by providing a unique, personalised customer experience that delights your clients and strengthens customer loyalty long after the pandemic has passed.


What services would you offer to your customers, to enhance their shopping experience? Our team can walk you through the options. Visit our website and start a conversation with one of our representatives or book a consultation to do a full analysis of how TIMIFY’s online appointment scheduling software could benefit your business. 


TIMIFY

About the author

TIMIFY

TIMIFY is a global leader in scheduling and resource management software-as-a-service (Saas). It is known for its sophisticated, secure, and customisable enterprise-focused technology.