Handling bookings can feel overwhelming; on top of event delivery, you have to balance handling phone calls, emails, frantically checking the calendar for availability and dealing with cancellations.
With an online booking system, you can save hours each day and improve customer satisfaction and revenue at the same time.
Here are 10 online booking shortcuts to help you reclaim your day.
These days, nobody wants to be faffing about with paying on-site for events. It’s time consuming, admin-heavy and can potentially delay the start time of your event.
Taking your payments online creates a smooth, upfront process where your customers can enter their card information and pay with ease. As well as taking the pressure off your events team on the day, this also means less time chasing payments.
Your website is often the first impression your potential customers will get of your offering. With a smooth user journey, you can convert casual visitors into committed, paid-up event attendees.
The key is making it easy; if your site visitors can see a Book Now button, they are more likely to click through and explore your offering. If it’s hard to find where to pay, they may look elsewhere.
TOP TIP: Also ensure that the Book Now button displays in a prime location for mobile users; these can often make up the majority of your website visitors!
As well as directly through your website, social media is a key source of potential customers. Ensure that you include the link to your event registration page in every relevant post; the more available it is, the more likely you are to secure attendees.
Automate your confirmation emails so that your clients feel instantly reassured that their booking is complete. As well as preventing unnecessary inbound enquiries, this also reduces your admin workload.
With an online booking system, you can also use the email tool to send follow-ups; for example, a thank you for attending, or a request for feedback to help you shape future events.
If your event requires a large payment up-front, this can sometimes be off-putting to customers.
A great solution for this is to offer monthly payment plan options; this spreads the cost, making payments more manageable for your bookers.
Giving multiple payment options shows that you are flexible and considerate; as well as being logistically helpful, this will also create a healthy relationship between you and your clients.
We touched on this in point 4; as well as using email tools for crucial event info, a great online booking shortcut is to ask your customers for their feedback. Giving them a voice to talk about your offering shows that you value their opinion; this builds loyalty and secures repeat custom.
Research shows that it can be up to 25 times cheaper to retain an existing customer than attract a new one; therefore, using an online booking system to ask for feedback can help towards building a regular, loyal customer base.
If you’re taking appointment bookings, it’s important to ensure that you can meet the start time for each customer. You can use an online booking system to add time to reset between appointments; for example, if your previous appointment finishes at 15:30, you may want to start the next one at 15:45.
The benefit of having an appointment booking system is that it’s easy to set this initially; following this, the timeslot bookings will be handled automatically and you won’t have to worry about being overwhelmed or late for your customers.
If you’re looking to secure bookings quickly, it’s often beneficial to offer reduced early bird pricing. Doing this gives your customers an incentive to book quickly, filling up your events and increasing your income.
TOP TIP: As well as adding early bird pricing within your event settings, also advertise this on social media and your website for maximum reach.
If you have achieved points 1 to 8, then your event(s) may well be in high demand. With this comes a new challenge; managing the waiting list.
With an online booking system, you can add a waiting list to automatically redirect if your event is full. This means that, if a space becomes available later, you can ensure it is filled by inviting attendees from the waiting list to register.
One of the key recipes for success is consistency. If you’re running seasonal events, or similar events throughout the year, then ensuring that you stick to a schedule your customers can get used to is an excellent online booking shortcut.
Giving your customers an expectation that your events will take place creates a base of keen attendees who will look out for future events.
With these online booking shortcuts under your belt, you should be in an excellent position to save time and reclaim your day.
If you would like to learn more, feel free to book a free no-obligation call to discuss tips and tricks to enhance your online bookings and event management.