Online scheduling can be easy and efficient. But it can also be a hassle. Between software glitches and forgetting to look at an auto generated schedule, a business owner can get himself in trouble with online scheduling. So we aren’t surprised when a customer asks if we can schedule appointments for them. By the way, we can.
Apello’s appointment scheduling service is ideal for any small business that either doesn’t want to invest in online scheduling or simply can’t afford it. We take the calls, we schedule the appointments, and we assist callers on the customer’s behalf. Here is an added bonus: in many cases, we can use the customers’ existing calendaring software.
2 Reasons to Let Us Do It
Maybe you are already handling appointment scheduling by yourself. You are not quite sure if there’s any valid reason to turn that task over to a live answering service. Let us offer you two valid reasons, presented as questions:
1. How much time do I spend scheduling appointments?
Scheduling appointments is not a time-free task. Even if it takes you just half a minute to help a customer, that’s time you cannot get back. It is also time you cannot put into something else. Here is the thing about the little snippets of time spent scheduling appointments: they are a lot like pennies. One here or there isn’t much. But over the long term, they all add up to a significant amount of time spent on a task we could have done more efficiently.
There is another thing to consider in terms of the interruption. Whenever you need to stop what you are doing to schedule an appointment, your mind is pulled away from the task at hand. So now you’re not just looking at the minute or so you spend on the phone, you’re also looking at additional time spent getting back to the swing of whatever you were doing before.
2. How often do I play telephone tag with my customers?
This second question of playing telephone tag has implications beyond just scheduling appointments. But sticking with scheduling alone, think how frustrating it must be for customers who only want to schedule an appointment. They don’t have a problem or concern. They are not calling to complain. But if they cannot reach you, their time is being wasted.
You call back and don’t reach them. That is more time wasted. The two of you go back and forth until you finally make a connection. It can all be avoided by letting a live answering service take your calls and schedule your appointments.
Ideal Customers for the Service
It goes without saying that not all our customers require appointment scheduling services. Those that don’t are typically businesses that do not set appointments anyway. But that leads to the obvious question of who would benefit most from the service? Here are a few types of businesses that immediately come to mind:
- Contractors – Home contractors including plumbers, electricians, and remodeling contractors tend to schedule non-essential work in advance. And because so many of them work alone, answering calls and scheduling appointments makes them less efficient.
- Medical Offices – Smaller medical offices with limited office staff really don’t need the time-consuming task of scheduling appointments. There are more important things to do.
Real estate brokerages, property management companies, lawncare providers, and independent attorneys are all good candidates for both live answering services and appointment scheduling. If you are currently managing your own scheduling and are interested in knowing what it would be like to let someone else do it, reach out to Apello right away.
