The rise of online booking platforms

Are phone bookings a thing of the past?

Is having an online appointment booking system for customers the single greatest productivity and profitability hack you can introduce to your business right now?

If the experience of Capricorn Member Nathan Brookes is anything to go by, the investment is a classic no-brainer. Nathan owns The Garage Miami, on Queensland’s Gold Coast, and specialises in tyres, wheels, servicing, suspension and brakes. He added an online booking system to his website more than three years ago and says around 30 per cent of his bookings are now completely online.

“We were looking for a way to reduce inbound phone calls,” Nathan said. “The expert advice at the time was to make the form as simple as possible, but we went against that and asked a whole bunch of questions about the vehicle. We found that people loved it.”

In fact, when customers visit The Garage Miami’s booking platform, they aren’t just asked questions about the car, they’re offered a full menu of potential services, with an anticipated price range.

“They’re self-selecting an extra $50 to $200 worth of upsells on every booking,” Nathan said.“Interestingly, 95 per cent of the time they’re choosing logbook services. Customers are almost never saying, ‘give me a basic service’. So, I think the price pressure we feel is sometimes in our own heads.”

He reckons the online booking system is a win-win:

• Customers tend to work through the list and select all the services they need (He’s getting fewer end-of-day surprises, e.g. where a customer suddenly remembers the internal light isn’t working)

• The form captures all the information the technicians need, so customers can “dump their keys and run” at drop off, rather than hanging around

• Brand and date filters on the form mean customers cannot book an appointment if the vehicle is not a target vehicle for the workshop (these customers get an on-screen message asking them to call the workshop)

• It saves Nathan and his staff the awkward upsell at the front counter

• Customers have seen the price guide at the time of booking, so there’s no risk of a nasty bill shock

• Pricing is clear and transparent, so price-sensitive customers who aren’t happy with the workshop’s rates will go elsewhere, and he keeps those who are

• Every online booking is a phone call (and a lot of data entry time) saved, freeing up time for Nathan and his staff to do other things.

The online booking system integrates with the booking diary in Nathan’s point of sale system. When a booking comes in, a team member can accept or decline it with just one click.

Moving an appointment is also quite easy. Customers are notified by confirmation text messages of the status of their booking.

Nathan had his online booking system built especially for his workshop, rather than choosing an off-the-shelf-solution.

“When we first got it, we felt like we’d wasted our money because it almost never got used, but now we’ve got an established customer base, our customers are using it,” he said. “I’d hate to consider running a business without it now.”

These days, consumers are used to booking everything from hotels to haircuts online. Asking them to book their vehicle service online, too, might just be a profitable next step for our workshops.