If your business is taking appointments over the phone, by hand, into an appointment book – that’s fine. The system has served countless business owners for a very long time, and it’s bug-proof (well, so long as your receptionist is on the ball).

We’re not going to tell you that has to change.

What we are going to tell you, however, is the cost of using that system (and only that system): some sales prospects may avoid your business, and may book instead with a competitor. In fact, one mobile restaurant booking service reports that certain restaurants are getting 12% of their bookings online, and a third come from mobile devices.

Of course, this percentage can vary widely depending on what industry you’re in, but if your business doesn’t take online and mobile bookings, you’re almost certainly leaving some money on the table. The reason is simple: the more obstacles you put in the way of a prospect or customer making a booking, the less likely they are to make one. And in today’s everything-on-demand world, the most insignificant tasks count as obstacles:

1. Having to look up a phone number
2. Having to dial it
3. Needing reception to make the call
4. Needing to be in a quiet enough place to make a call
5. Social anxiety of having to speak to a stranger on the phone
6. Being put on hold
7. Having to switch from a device’s phone app to the calendar app (what percentage of users can do this smoothly?)
8. And so on

The goal is always to reduce these obstacles as much as possible, and adding a simple booking feature to your business’s mobile app or mobile website is a great way to do it. Booking features let customers book appointments with your business anytime, anywhere using their mobile devices. When they look up your business online, instead of having to reach out via phone, they can simply pop open your booking feature, select an open appointment, and they’re done. The process is smooth and convenient, and is often a lot quicker than making a phone call.

As a business owner, you’re still in total control of the bookings that come in. You can limit how many appointments users can book, the duration of appointments, which appointments are open to users, and even when they can submit bookings. You’re also notified when an appointment is made, so there are no surprises. Managing and reviewing appointments is also easy from any of your computers or mobile devices. If you like, you can even charge a fee for bookings using PayPal or Google Checkout functionality.

You might be wondering what users who aren’t comfortable with mobile technology are going to do after you “go mobile.” They’ll do the same things they always did! If any user finds this stuff to be too complicated, and still prefers to call in a reservation, that’s fine. You’re not going to lose any of those prospects. They can still call in. You’re just adding a new channel to receive bookings.

At the end of the day, the benefits really add up. First, an easy-to-manage, cost-effective electronic booking system saves you time and money because you don’t have to spend as much time on the phone taking appointments. But that’s nothing compared to the boost you get from new customers and increased bookings. Users can also create accounts and schedule appointments more easily in the future, leading to increased repeat bookings from current customers.

For easier operations and increased revenues – mobile bookings are a simple, cost-effective solution every small business owner should seriously consider.

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