Booking Systems

If you're new to the idea of a booking system, then it's basically just an online tool that handles all of your scheduling and appointments in one place. Clients can book themselves directly through it, so you're not constantly messaging back and forth to organise times. A good booking system also lets you track and manage all your appointments, take payments and deposits, and even send automated reminders. It keeps things professional, it keeps things organized and is so, so much easier to manage the day to day. Now another little story. When I first started out, I was working from home and I was doing mobile appointments, but I didn't have a booking system in my mind. I was kind of thinking that I wasn't big enough to need one, if I'm being totally honest. But let me tell you, I ended up spending so much time coordinating appointments and trying to keep track of my schedule manually. There was a lot of back and forth messaging with clients and without realizing it, I was actually just eating into all my evenings and my free time just to keep on top of my bookings without an official system. Like I've mentioned in past lessons of this program, I even ended up with the occasional double booking or missed message. Definitely not the most professional experience for me clients. The thought of having a booking system also just felt like extra work. And I just kept telling myself that I wanted full control of me bookings so I could make sure sure that I booked the right timings for each client and that I didn't have an annoying gap in my schedule at any point. Things took a turn for me when I started to rent a chair in a salon, so the owners insisted that I joined their booking system. And honestly I was so reluctant to do that at first. I just felt like it would feel rigid and it would make things more complicated, but actually it was the exact opposite and I really didn't expect that. So suddenly clients could just book themselves in whenever they wanted without needing to actually message me, which was so alien to what I'd ever used being used to. I'd open up my column and it would actually be filled without me needing to do anything. And that meant I had actual downtime again, which when I first started out when I was doing nails in a salon part time, I actually had a full time job as well. So the fact that I was working two jobs meant it so hard for me to actually sit there and do messages at the end of the day. So having downtime again was huge for me and my schedule was just automatically updated without me having to do anything. It was just something I'd never ever experienced before. So I wasn't playing message ping pong anymore. You'll know what I mean when I say that, I'm sure. Back and forth with clients and it just felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. The system also made it easy to take deposits or full payments up front. So I used to have that awkward thing of getting to the end of appointments and being like, oh, it's 35 pounds, is that okay? Or if clients no showed or cancelled last minute, I find it so hard to have that awkward conversation about, you know, paying me the full amount for the treatment or paying the amount that was on that cancellation policy. Now not only did it cut down no shows as well, but it also meant clients were full, fully committed to the bookings. So those automatic reminders kept clients on schedule and they helped me to avoid last minute cancellations as well. Just the whole process, to be honest, felt smooth. It felt professional and clients appreciated how easy it was to book. And here is the thing I never expected. It actually helped me to become faster at what I was doing. So because the system scheduled exact timings for each service, I learned to just stick, stick to those times. Like it wasn't me that was going, oh, you know, me and her have a chat so I'll allow extra time for this appointment. The appointment time was the appointment time. I had no choice to be just to stick to it. And I just became so much more efficient. I was fitting more clients into me day and I was earning so much more as well simply because I wasn't losing time managing bookings manually. It made a huge difference in my business and in my life. It actually felt like me. Now business became more of a proper business. And if I'm being totally honest, it was probably that and being able to fit more clients in due to the timing of the booking system that probably led to me being able to go full time in nails because I was earning so much more at that point, it just really accelerated my income. Now you might think that messaging clients to book appointments doesn't take that long, but actually it's taken up a large part of your time and your energy that you could be spending on the growth of your business. Just think about it. Even if you set an hour aside of an evening to reply to your messages, you then also reply to them, but have to wait for the reply to message back again or book them in. So let's say you set an hour aside and you reply to all your bookings, all your messages, then let's say after you've done that you go out or go shopping or go and meet a friend or something and then when they do reply, you are there. So you will open that message and think oh I'll reply later when I'm home and then you'll forget. Or you reply there and then. And then that means you're not present when you're out shopping or out with your friends and you're not having relaxed downtime, you just always having to be switched on. So here is my advice. If you are just getting started or you are still working from home or mobile, do not wait to set up a booking system. It is an investment in your time, your sanity and your professionalism. It just gives you back control of your schedule and it helps you to avoid double bookings and it also keeps everything organized in the one place. Being a great business owner is spot on where you can free up your time to focus on the bigger picture and your long term goals. You have to remove yourself from the day to day admin tasks and automate or delegate them as much as you can. A booking system is one of the ways that you can do that. Now in this section that's coming next, I'm going to guide you through the different booking systems and and why they are so useful. I also want you to see all of them so that you can choose the best fit for you. Now by the end of this you're going to see how much a booking system, how much of difference it can make and streamline your business. You can free up your time and also help you to grow and have an idea of which one you're going to use. So let's head into the next lesson and find the perfect booking system to take your business to the next level.