The Convenience of Automation: Scheduling Appointments Online

[00:00:01]
 Thank you for tuning in to WedPro Business Solutions. I'm your host, Kristina Stubblefield. I love saving people time and money. If you don't already know that about me, it is one of my favorite things to do. And the topic that I'm taking on today really falls into both of those categories.
 
 [00:00:22]
 So many times people get weary when they hear the word automation. And I believe that's because they don't really have time to research or find out about how automations can save them both time and money. But what I really want to focus on is online appointments. Because for the past several months I have been very fortunate to work with several different wedding professionals in all different categories to help them implement an online appointment software. Some of them are venues and some of them are vendors.
 
 [00:01:04]
 So for the venues they utilize it for booking tours and for vendors they utilize it for initial appointments or follow up appointments. So let's start first by really sharing. How does a software like this work? I'm really going to talk about the big picture here. So people are after convenience.
 
 [00:01:34]
 I'm probably not sharing anything new with you. Most people nowadays want to do things from their smartphone. They don't necessarily want to talk on the phone. They either want to email or text. And working with wedding professionals for as many years as I have, that is one thing in the event industry, when you talk about booking, whether it be appointments, tours, or actually the booking process of proposals and signed contracts, always people are evolving with technology to make it as efficient and easy as possible.
 
 [00:02:19]
 So the view that I want to talk about is the overview. And that is if you're a venue, for example, and you schedule tours for people to come out and see your venue, have a detailed conversation about their event, a lot of times I hear that the process can be many steps. Someone calls in, they're interested, the venue coordinator or manager gives upcoming available dates to do the tours. But then the engaged couple maybe wants to talk to the mom grandparents wedding party, for lack of better word, their entourage because they want people to come with them. This can turn into multiple phone calls, emails, text messages.
 
 [00:03:15]
 If you're relating to what I'm saying, it's okay. You can raise your hand even though you might just be listening to this or watching the video, you can probably relate. What that translates into is a lot of time. Time that could be focused on revenue generating tasks for your business. But instead you're back and forth, back and forth, giving information, waiting on a response.
 
 [00:03:42]
 Another example I will give you is you're a vendor and let's just say you're a wedding planner and you meet with clients before they become a customer. So you have those initial consultations or meetings maybe before they sign the contract. And you probably email or if you're talking on the phone, give options. I can meet next Wednesday from this time or this time next Thursday I've got 02:00 or a 04:00 Open or Friday. You're giving all these options but then they've got to get with the fiancé again, maybe the parents or grandparents or wedding party, whoever that may be.
 
 [00:04:29]
 By the time they get back to you, those dates may not even be available. Or if it takes them a few days, those days may already be passed. And now we're to the back and forth, back and forth. So here's how it can work. When you implement a software to help you with cutting out all the BS, after all, that's what we want to do.
 
 [00:04:56]
 So the scenario I'm going to give you is you can have a calendar embedded, for lack of better word, on your website with a button that is booked to or schedule initial consultation. And they see the availability. You have no phone call, no email, no text message. They click the button. Oh, they have a Tuesday available at 03:00, Thursday available at 11:00 A.m..
 
 [00:05:29]
 Whoever they need to call or get with that may want to go to this appointment or tour with them. They can have those conversations without going back and forth with you and then pick a date that works for them. And guess what? No phone calls, no emails, no text messages. Now, before your mind runs wild, let me reel it in a little bit.
 
 [00:05:55]
 The software that I put in place for wedding professionals syncs with your calendar. It works with Google Calendar. It works with iCal. It syncs with your calendar to check to see if you have openings in your schedule. Now this is a lot to explain, so keep an open mind.
 
 [00:06:21]
 This software. You also put in place what days or times you even want to be available. So for example, if you want to be available only on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:00 A.m. To 03:00 P.m., that is how the software is set up. It's easily changed, but if that's how it's set up, then it also syncs with your calendar to see is a Tuesday available and what times are available in those slots.
 
 [00:06:56]
 And this may sound more complex to you, but honestly it is a very simple technology that with my own experience, just with the wedding professionals I've worked with, are saving three to 5 hours a week just on scheduling appointments. And in some cases most of the time these are people that aren't even signed contracts, they're potential. So there's a lot of time spent on someone that's not even signed with your business yet. That's what makes this really important because if this is a person's not serious or you could be spending a lot of time and they're not signing with you. So I want to open people's eyes to how technology can be your best friend.
 
 [00:07:55]
 I know I say that so often, but I have really felt a calling to share with people. Technology is here to be like an assistant, to be your BFF and take off some of that workload, some of those follow ups and scheduling. And one of the other great features about using an online appointment or booking a tour is the reminders. How many of you out there do follow ups 24 or 48 hours before a scheduled meeting or tour? How many times do you play phone tag?
 
 [00:08:39]
 How many times do you have people not show up for those scheduled appointments? And it's frustrating. It's time out of your day. Time is money. So the software that I put in place for people, those automatic reminders, I set them up how you want it.
 
 [00:08:59]
 You want them to get an email three days before their scheduled meeting. We can do that. You want them to get a text message 2 hours or 3 hours or 24 hours before their scheduled meeting, we can do that. And the other part is, if that time does not work for them, there's a reschedule button right inside of the email message that they get. It takes the step away for follow up or confirmation phone calls or text or emails that you're doing.
 
 [00:09:31]
 And that's why I tried to talk in more detail about that word automation. Because when you say that, unless you're in the marketing or It field, a lot of times you don't fully understand what that word means. In some cases, people think, oh, I'm giving up control.
 
 [00:09:54]
 I won't have complete control over my calendar. And I've worked with wedding professionals in regards to that mindset about that control of them having to talk to someone or actually emailing and oh my gosh, but what if they automatically schedule an appointment? Most of the time it's the mental part that's the hurdle to get over. And I understand. Believe it or not, I'm still old school on some things.
 
 [00:10:29]
 It took me a long time to give up my paper planner, I was one of those I carried around one of those planners, looked forward every year picking it out with the great cover. It took me a long time to go to a digital calendar. Now google Calendar is my lifeline. Everything revolves in day to day around my Google Calendar. But I'm going to be honest with you, it was a hurdle for me to get over.
 
 [00:10:56]
 I've told you all, I'm going to be completely transparent with you. And this is one of those things that if you have someone like me to be a guide, to be that person that walks beside you to implement a new software, a new technology, an appointment setting software, or a booking, a tour option that's on your website, it can relieve so much stress but also save you time and money. And that's what I love to do is just be that guide to help you through technology and software. Solutions. That's what I love to be about.
 
 [00:11:44]
 And I've been very fortunate to see a person be very overwhelmed and how many hours it takes them every week to juggle their appointments, to putting in a software and then see them a couple of months later and hear them talk about I've had people tell me like, you don't understand, this changed my life. It gave me back four or 5 hours a week and I didn't even realize how much time I had in phone calls, getting voicemails, returning calls, texting, emailing. And here's the other part of this people want convenience. Engaged couples want convenience. We already talked about they're doing their research online, making buying decisions off of social media and online presence.
 
 [00:12:35]
 But the other thing is, if they want to schedule a tour or an appointment with you at two, three or 04:00 a.m. When you're sleeping, why not give them the option to do so? Maybe they work a different schedule. You can pull in business because you make it easy to do business with you. That is the direction everything has been headed for quite a while and this is one step that you can take to make it easier to do business with you.
 
 [00:13:09]
 Save time and money and save yourself some stress and overwhelm. I still schedule appointments over the phone and not send people to my online appointment link. And I think to myself, I just sent three emails back and forth. It would have been so much nicer if I just sent them this link. I catch myself still doing that and it's a work in progress.
 
 [00:13:41]
 That's the point. There's no magic wand for marketing. And when you implement new technologies, new automations, it takes a little time and it's a work in progress. But it is not something that is this huge ordeal to work through. That's what I want your takeaway from this to be about is no matter what category you're in as a wedding professional, no matter what those appointments look like or that schedule needs to look like, you can program software to work for you almost to be like an assistant with scheduling those appointments, those follow up meetings, those tours, you have so many options.
 
 [00:14:36]
 And I really want people to focus on what they love to do in their business. A lot of wedding professionals love events. They do not like the office part of it. And honestly, this is a win win for your business and your potential clients. And if you use it for follow up meetings, once someone is already your client, it's a win for your clients.
 
 [00:15:11]
 Again, we come back to convenience and efficiency. I feel like I talk about it like a broken record, but there are so many things with technology that I love to embrace for people and this is a topic that I felt like really needed a light. Shined on it. I've in the process of working with quite a few different wedding professionals to implement this. And a lot of times I share with you all that I map out.
 
 [00:15:45]
 I literally map out how a person wants the process to work for them. And it's no different with booking appointments or tours I like to actually draw out, okay, these are the steps, this is how you want it to flow, and then programming that software to work the way you need it too. So I've talked about the solution throughout this, and I want to share with you a link to give you more information. As always, you can go to my website, kristinastubblefield.com, and get to my resource page for access to this software that I utilize, as well as other solutions that you may be interested in for your business. If you haven't already joined my free Facebook group, I encourage you to do so.
 
 [00:16:44]
 It's all for wedding professionals. You can get the link to join either on my website or however you're listening or watching this. I hope you found this helpful. And until next time, see you.