A business phone ringing is a happy sound. It means new clients and more money, but if you are never around to pick up the phone, that ringing means missed opportunities. Fortunately, since many people today are willing to click instead of call, there’s a cost-effective solution for booking clients: An online scheduler.
Picking an online scheduler can be overwhelming because there are many to choose from and many features to consider. Recently, I went the through the choosing-an-online-scheduler process with my massage business. At the end of the day, these 12 questions clarified the process for me so that I ended up with a scheduler that best met my needs.
Before we jump into the questions, it would be helpful to open a spreadsheet or grab a piece of paper. Across the top, write the names of the online schedulers you want to compare. Write your questions in the far left column. Your answers will go under the names of the schedulers for easy comparison.
Question #1: How much does it cost?
The price of an online scheduler is probably the number-one consideration for most massage therapists. Prices can range from $20 to $80 per month, but that’s not an apples-to-apples comparison. Typically, the price of an online scheduler goes up alongside the features and users you add. However, the schedulers with higher starting prices often have more features included in their starting price offer than the lower-priced ones.
Most online schedulers offer a free trial for a limited time. If you sign up for the free trial, beware that you might be getting cool features that are not included in the starting price. If you want to keep those features when the trial is over, you’ll have to pay extra. It’s a smart marketing tactic because once you like a feature, it’s hard to give it up—trust me on that.
When you ask the pricing question and do your research, your list will narrow. My list was cut by 50%.
Question #2: Is the phone view of the scheduler easy to navigate?
This is a very important question, because you will probably be doing most of your scheduling on your phone, not your computer. If the phone app for the scheduler is clunky, it will slow you down. To investigate the phone view, some schedulers have video tutorials. You could also call or use online chat support to get more information. The best way to get a feel for an online scheduler without committing is to sign up for a free trial.
If you opt for the free trial, make sure you look at all the features of the scheduler when using both your computer and phone. One online scheduler I tried showed the complete client intake on a laptop, but only a partial intake on a phone. This was a major issue, since all therapists at our office use their phones to navigate the scheduler.
Also, if you have therapists working with or for you, check to see if you can see all (or a grouping of schedules) in one view on your phone. I can’t overemphasize the importance of ease of use for the phone scheduler app. You’ll regret choosing one that isn’t practical and doesn’t feel intuitive.
Question #3: Does the scheduler have a client-intake form feature?
Why would you want a digital intake? It makes client information storage and retrieval easy. In our business, we have both paper and digital. If you’re leaning toward digital, check to see if the scheduler has standardized and customizable forms with the capability to print from your phone. Remember: You’ll probably pay more than the base price for standardized and customizable digital intakes.
Question #4: Is there a cancellation feature?
If you have trouble enforcing a cancellation policy, having a scheduler that automatically sends out cancellation emails and texts should make that easier. The cancellation feature should have the options to charge and notify the client.
A cancellation feature should also give you the option to set a cancellation-time cutoff for the scheduler—and clear instructions on what a client should do if they’re cancelling after the cutoff time.
With one scheduler, we set a 24-hour cancellation cutoff. If a client tried to cancel online 23 hours and 59 minutes before the appointment, she couldn’t. However, the scheduler didn’t make this clear to the client. After a series of “but I cancelled online” conversations with no-show clients, I started to look for a new scheduler.
Question #5: Are there appointment confirmation and reminder features?
In today’s busy world, a reminder feature is a must. The feature should be adjustable. For example, you should be able to set it for different times so that you can experiment to figure out which reminder times work best for your clients. We go with two days and 12 hours before the appointment.
An appointment confirmation feature can help cut down on missed appointments. If you don’t get an appointment-confirmation text back from the client, you still have time to reach out to the client to confirm.
Question #6: Is there a waiting list feature?
A great way to fill an unexpected vacancy in your schedule is to let clients immediately know you’re available. Clients who signed up for your waiting list will be notified automatically.
Question 7: Are blocking off and adding time easy to do?
When you’re at work and something comes up, you need to be able to block off time quickly from your phone. If the phone app is difficult to navigate, you’re likely to make mistakes or have to wait until you get to your computer to block off time. Also, if you decide to add a few more hours to your week, you should be able to do that on the fly from your phone.
Question #8: Is there decent support?
Support is sometimes contingent on the price of the plan you choose. In other words, the more expensive plans have better support. However, not all schedulers sell support as an upgrade. A great way to get a feel for how responsive an online scheduler company will be is to use support during the free trial phase.
The scheduler I eventually went with was Johnny-on-the-spot during the trial period. They also had excellent tutorials and support material.
Question #9: For a practice with multiple massage therapists practice, can the break time between clients be adjusted per therapist?
Jalen wants 15-minute breaks between clients and Serenity wants 30 minutes. Many schedulers only allow one setting for all therapists. In that scenario, you would have to pick between 15 or 30 minutes for both Jalen and Serenity.
A scheduler that allows therapists to have different break times between clients will limit the number of schedulers you have to choose from, since most schedulers don’t have this feature.
Question #10: Does it have smart scheduling?
A feature I really liked with a scheduler we used for a while gave the massage therapist the option to show partial availability. What is the advantage of not showing all your availability? You look busy and create a sense of urgency, prompting the client to schedule sooner than later.
Question #11: Does it track tips?
Some schedulers offer a credit card processing feature. The advantage of using a scheduler’s credit card processing system is all your information is in one place. We have our credit card processing through our online scheduler and it includes tip tracking for each therapist.
Popular credit card processing systems, not connected to online schedulers, like Square, have tip tracking too. It’s likely you’ll pay extra for tip tracking whether you go with a scheduler’s credit card processing feature or a stand-alone credit card processing company.
Question #12: Does it have a rewards system?
Online schedulers are natural places to have a rewards system, since all the client information is stored there. Recently, we set up a rewards program through our online scheduler to incentivize our clients to refer more clients, and it’s working out well.
Pick the Most Important Questions
The key to finding the best online scheduler for you is to understand your needs so you can ask the right questions during the scheduler selection process. It’s unlikely that one scheduler will be a total slam dunk. Be prepared to live with one or two things you don’t love.
Lastly, once you have an online scheduler, it doesn’t mean the phone will stop ringing. To handle times when you can’t pick up the phone, try this: In your recorded message, let the client know they can schedule online by going to your website.
You’ll probably never get to the point of eliminating the phone entirely, but the more text notifications you get alerting you that clients booked with zero work on your end, the more you’ll try.
About the Author
Mark Liskey, LMT, CNMT, is a massage therapist, business owner, teacher and blogger. You can access his free, massage-business crash course on his business page.