What Is a Booking Widget? | Reasons to Add a Booking Button to Your Website | How Adding Booking Widgets Helps Get More Customers | Create a Better Experience for Your Customers and Team
Did you know that 67% of consumers prefer to book appointments online? If your home services business doesn't offer an online booking option, you could be missing out on a significant chunk of potential customers. By adding a booking widget to your website, you can streamline the booking process and improve your customer experience.
A booking widget is a plug-in that can be added to your website, allowing visitors to quickly and easily book, schedule, or reserve appointments online. They typically come in the form of a code block that you can embed on your website or a booking frame that you can add as a pop-up or button.
When a customer clicks on the widget, they’re taken through a secure booking process where they can choose the service they need on a drop-down menu, select an available date and time, and provide their contact information. Some may also let customers pay using a credit card or other payment method when they book.
To make it even easier for customers to access your booking widget, you can create widget booking links that you can share on social media channels, in email newsletters, or on other platforms.
Source: GoSite Booking
Many scheduling software even have a built-in calendar feature so businesses can manage their appointments and schedule with ease. You can often create specific color appointments, set and adjust availability, view appointments by day or week, and send notifications letting you know that the customer's request has been received and processed.
After confirming or rescheduling their booking, customers get an email or text confirmation. Most bookings tools (like GoSite) also include links for customers to reschedule easily and appointment reminders that business owners can set up to reduce no-shows.
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At the most basic level, booking buttons serve to make booking appointments easier for your customers. With just a click, potential customers can schedule appointments at their convenience. Let’s explore a few reasons why you should add a booking button to your site.
Before the existence of online scheduling, people used to book appointments with home services businesses manually. Customers would have to call or email the business during business hours, and if they needed to reschedule or cancel, they would have to go through the process all over again.
Rather than having to call or email you, customers can now simply click a button and fill out an online form with their contact information and payment details. A smooth booking flow eliminates back-and-forth communication and streamlines the booking process to provide a more efficient customer experience.
The beauty of booking widgets is that it helps to ensure accuracy when customers book services on your website. A widget can provide an overview of up-to-date available services, their cost, and schedule, allowing customers to select the option that best suits their needs before completing the booking process. This helps prevent any misunderstandings or incorrect bookings, ensuring that you’re delivering exactly what was promised.
Adding a booking button to your website ensures that you’re never missing out on potential customers. The widget is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, meaning that customers can book appointments at any time of the day or night. Customers won’t have to wait until business hours, and you won’t have to stay by the phone waiting for them to call. You’ll increase the chances of securing more business and boosting profits for your home services business.
Source: Housecall Pro and Webflow
Across various home services industries, online booking has significantly increased revenues. For pest control businesses with a single owner and operator, revenues are shown to increase by over 120%.
Booking buttons reduce the number of last-minute bookings your business receives, as customers can easily see the availability of services and select an appointment time that works for both parties. They’re less likely to request a last-minute appointment, which can cause unnecessary stress.
This also means you’ll be able to plan your schedule more effectively and prioritize your workload, leading to a more efficient and productive workday.
With a booking widget, you can display a comprehensive list of your services, along with descriptions and prices. Having this list will provide customers with a clear overview of what’s available, helping them make informed decisions about which service they should book. And when it comes to promotions and packages, you can easily showcase these with the widget and potentially boost your revenue in the process.
Without one, customers will likely have to navigate through multiple pages of your website or contact you directly to find out what services you offer - thus, dragging out the booking process and decreasing the likelihood of conversion.
As a home services business, your success relies heavily on your ability to attract new customers. So how do booking widgets do this?
Nowadays, people expect a digital-first experience. It often signals efficiency and convenience. Especially with the shifts in societal norms thanks to COVID-19, customers expect all touch points to be frictionless.
Part of what makes appointment booking frictionless is allowing customers to book appointments around the clock. It’s especially helpful to capture customers who aren’t able to contact your business during normal office hours and need flexibility in the scheduling of their appointment.
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Providing a booking widget essentially puts the customer first. It shows that you recognize that they have busy schedules and want a sense of autonomy in the overall customer experience. Instead of having to inquire, they can get all the information they need and the service they need with a few clicks of their mouse.
Research shows that online booking is “sticky.” 58% of people who try online booking continue to do so for future bookings. The repeat business and increased loyalty that comes with online booking can help you get more customers and keep the ones you already have.
Booking widgets make it easier to manage your bookings, something that can’t be overlooked. Overbooking can lead to a negative customer experience and potential loss of business. When you have a manual booking process, there is a higher risk of double bookings or schedule conflicts, which can reflect poorly on your business.
A widget can set parameters for available appointments, such as specific times and dates, and limit the number of bookings per time slot. With this real-time availability visible to customers, there’s more transparency for the customer and control for your business. You won’t have to worry about mistakes occurring or losing potential customers because of them.
When visitors come to your website and see an online booking widget, they have the ability to take immediate action and schedule an appointment, rather than simply browsing and potentially leaving without taking any action.
Source: GoSite
Widgets can capture contact information so you can create a database of potential clients that you can nurture with targeted marketing efforts. Keeping in touch with these leads will give you a chance to convert them into customers over time. It also offers opportunities for interactions with your business, such as sending notifications and reminders. This builds up that trust and loyalty with your brand even further.
All of these factors contribute to speeding up the sales process and result in more closed deals.
For your team, a booking widget can reduce the administrative workload of scheduling appointments and managing calendars. After all, your team probably wants to free up time to focus on delivering high-quality services. It can even provide data and insights that can help you optimize your scheduling process and continuously improve your services.
This domino effect will ultimately create a better experience for your customers as well. They'll be able to take advantage of more efficient and accurate scheduling, while your team will have the data they need to serve them better.