Print Article for : Quest Diagnostics Appointment Scheduling

[Q16]Quest Diagnostics Appointment Scheduling

by Don R. Crawley, Don

One of the great promises of the digital age is to free people from mundane and routine tasks so they can work on more interesting projects. The human brain allows us to reason and think creatively in ways that machines can't (at least not yet). Unfortunately, many people are still performing tasks that are repetitive and, frankly, better done by machines or, in this case, a computer.

In this article, I'm going to talk about automating the appointment scheduling process. This applies to you if you're a hair stylist, a dentist, a massage therapist, an oil change shop, a psychologist, a plumber, or anyone who sets appointments with clients. By automating the appointment scheduling process, you can free your receptionist to work on more interesting, revenue-producing tasks while providing exceptional service to your clients or customers.

An online appointment scheduling service allows you to set available appointments and allows your clients to schedule appointments whenever they choose within the times you set. You can be notified of new appointments via email.

One service allows you offer coupon codes to customers as an excellent form of customer retention.

In a larger operation with multiple providers, you can setup accounts for each provider allowing your clients to choose their provider or take the first available appointment regardless of provider.

The scheduling service will automatically send your customer reminders and, if they need to change or cancel their appointment, they can do it all online.

Other features available include a way for you to rate your customers as to their punctuality or missed appointments.

Pricing ranges from free (GenBook) to $10/month and higher, depending on the features you want. At a price of free, it's definitely worth checking out to see if it will even work for you. You could try setting it up in a test with a few select clients to see how they like it and whether you like it or not. You could run it side-by-side with your paper and ink appointment scheduling system for a month or two to see if it works for you and then make the decision about whether or not to make the switch. The really cool thing about it is that you can still take appointments over the phone; you just enter them in the appointment scheduling website instead of in your old-fashioned paper planner. For your clients who are web-savvy, however, they can make and manage their appointments with you 24 hours a day, seven days a week. All you have to do is provide your service and collect your fee! (Some of the services will even collect your fee for you by accepting credit cards online. I LOVE it when money just shows up magically in my business account!)

Here are some links to appointment scheduling sites:

www.appointmentquest.com
www.zappointments.com
www.genbook.com
www.web-appointments.com

There are actually many more services like these. Just Google on "appointment scheduling service" if you want to check out more of them.

Copyright (c) 2008 Don R. Crawley

Is your spa, health club or massage therapy business, client focused? Do your clients and customers rave about you, your staff and your services to their friends, driving in droves of new referrals? If not, take a step in that direction by allowing your customers to book their appointments online, 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. With the advancements in technology and the growth of the internet, it is easier than ever to give this simple but vitally important service to your clients and customers. They will appreciate that you are giving them the convenience of booking online, and you and your staff will save a ton of time taking appointment , modifying them, and "working" the appointment book manually.

Owning and managing a spa, health club, or a massage therapy business will require a great deal of your time. You will be needed to attend to a lot of business-related activities, from planning to execution, as well as managing your appointment schedules. Time management is truly necessary.

You do not need to hire additional administrative assistants or secretaries to organize and systematize your everyday schedules of operations and appointments, especially with clients, the most important people in your business. There are now various online appointment scheduling systems available today.

Online appointment scheduling systems are actually software or computer programs that primarily run with the goal of managing and organizing your operational schedules. Because spa, massage therapy, and health club businesses are different in that they are more client-based, it is important that booked appointments and schedules be updated and and regularly maintained.

Customers book reservations and appointments at spas, massages clinics, and health clubs for convenience. Usually clients would prefer to book appointments online. Online appointment scheduling programs are just the thing. Invest today in these special computer software packages and be greatly assisted in your daily scheduling operations.

It is not easy to handle appointments and schedules. If your spa business is attending to hundreds of regular and new clients, it will be hard and tedious to monitor appointments and schedules. You do not want to hire more personnel to do the task for sure, as doing so will be more costly on your part. Through investing in such scheduling software, the tedious tasks will be taken care of.

How much time will you save if you have online appointment scheduling? On a daily basis, you may constantly check and verify appointments. Some customers may change schedules and new ones keep coming in. You can practically do this task the whole day. If you have an online appointment scheduling system, you no longer have to handle such tasks anymore. So how much time can you save? The answer: your whole day of productivity.

You can now spend your spare time doing other productive and necessary tasks. As the manager, you must spend time and effort in planning. You can personally attend to errands and you can roam around your spa or massage clinic to check for every aspect of operations, from the most minor detail to the major ones. The result: total client satisfaction will be attained in all aspects.

You can leave your online appointments scheduling system on and it will book appointments and update changes 24 hours a day, all week long. Even while you sleep or your spa rests at night, you can be sure customers can always book appointments and reservations, for their maximum convenience and satisfaction.

Time is not the only aspect saved, for effort is also saved as well. You do not need to bring home papers and copies of schedules and appointments. If you need to check on time frames and schedules, you can easily do so as long as you are connected to the Internet. It is really that convenient and will be a huge time saver for you.

Article Source :

About Author

Both Don R. Crawley & John Ramallo are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Don R. Crawley has sinced written about articles on various topics from Computers and The Internet, Personal Desktop and Computers and The Internet. President and chief technologist at Seattle, Washington-based IT training firm soundtraining.net, Don is a writer, speaker, trainer, and veteran IT guy with over 35 years experience in technology for the workplace. Today, he delivers keynote speeches, wor. Don R. Crawley's top article generates over 4400 views. to your Favourites.

John Ramallo has sinced written about articles on various topics from Food and Drink, Search Engine Marketing and Internet Marketing. Staying current in business and looking for competitive advantage are key to growing and maintaining your business in rough economic times. John Ramallo has been in online software for over 12 years. His online appointment scheduling software can be found. John Ramallo's top article generates over 880 views. to your Favourites.