Context is King: Knowing Thy Customer for Smarter Biz

Data is power. FlexBooker helps businesses put data to work.

One critical activity entrepreneurs, start-ups and small business owners often underestimate is the importance of measuring.

The only way to improve future results is to be able to gauge and learn from past performance, so analytics should not be overlooked! Big Data is a major buzz word for good reason. 

New technology is equipping businesses with valuable insight on consumer behavioral and

transactional patterns and preferences.

Did you know FlexBooker’s built-in reporting and metrics collects and analyzes information that can help you do business smarter, more effectively and with the potential for greater profit?

What's your busiest appointment type? 

Who is the most productive employee? 

Which customers book the most—and when? 

FlexBooker answers these questions and empowers you to put that data to work to drive repeat business.

Quality, organized information on your client base, their habits and preferences allows you to make better business decisions, conduct more precise and personalized marketing, up-sell and more.

Example: As personal fitness regimens continue to skyrocket in popularity, personal trainers are using FlexBooker to measure their customer engagement. FlexBooker assigns each of their clients a score based on their current attendance records and automatically compares that with the previous month. This allows trainers to identify top performing client—and also who they may need to offer extra motivation to.

Boost your business today with the power of automation.

Time is Money: Are You Safeguarding Your Most Valuable Asset?

3 common ways businesses are losing productivity—and the bottom line.

It’s been said that time is our most valuable commodity, as it’s the one thing in life we can never get back.

In business especially, where time translates to earnings, taking proactive measures to protect your time and maximize your productivity is mandatory.

Here are three common mistakes businesses make that may be costing them—in more ways than one and tips on how to ensure your time is honored when customers don’t hold up their end of the deal.

1. YOU DON’T REQUIRE A DEPOSIT

Requiring customers to make a deposit to secure an appointment for a service—even a small one—is a sign of solid intent on the part of the customer and an insurance policy for you. 

Service deposits separate serious clientele from those who may be indecisive, and as clients who make a deposit become ‘invested in’ your service, it also minimizes the chance of no-shows and lost revenue.

When appointments are honored, it is often standard to apply clients’ deposits to their overall balance.

2. YOU DON’T HAVE A NO-SHOW FEE

One or two missed appointments a week mean five to ten missed opportunities a month.

They add up. And they can seriously affect your bottom line.

Similar to service deposits, instituting a no-show fee policy is a great way to commit clients to the time and service they reserved and receive compensation in the case of a default. We like to think of no-show fees as being an approach of greater faith and optimism—as it assumes clients will keep their appointments and only ‘penalizes’ or requires a payment in the case they do not.

With a no-show fee, instead of charging a customer up front to reserve your time, when a reservation is missed you can recoup a portion of the scheduled service fee from a credit card preauthorization required to complete booking.

From medical practices to hair salons, service providers across industries have started protecting their businesses from missed appointments and last-minute cancellations by charging these fees—often the only way to earn back even a fraction of lost revenue.

3. YOU’RE DISORGANIZED

Are you still accepting and keeping track of appointments and managing your schedule offline?

If so, you’re missing out!

An online, automated schedule management solution like FlexBooker saves time, eliminates the hassle of tracking cancellations and reschedules and even briefs you daily as to what’s on your agenda for the work day. 

FlexBooker is also works for you as a great customer service tool that: sends out automated SMS and email reminders to reduce no-shows; enables customers to modify or cancel bookings by themselves; allows you to easily cancel and/or reschedule an appointment and alert all affected customers.