B104.5a - Service Business - Appointment Scheduling |
To Appointment Schedule or NOT to Appointment Schedule, that is the question (and it's a big deal).
Some service businesses don't require appointments
Some business and by appointment only, others allow for either appointments or walk ins. When setting up an Appointment system there are a ton of considerations to take into account, and some subtle ones can really mess things up.
The sections below include:
Some service businesses don't require appointments
- Barber shops traditionally don't.
- Some nail salons and pedicure places don't.
- Some Chiropractic offices don't (or they have times for walk ins only)
- Many Restaurants don't (a reservation is a type of appointment, but is a restaurant a service or a product business?)
- etc..
Some business and by appointment only, others allow for either appointments or walk ins. When setting up an Appointment system there are a ton of considerations to take into account, and some subtle ones can really mess things up.
The sections below include:
- Options Related to Calendar Entries
- Options Related to Scheduling and Cancellation Process
- Discussion - Last Minute Appointments or Schedule Modifications
1) Options Related to Calendar Entries
Options related to the Calendar and Calendar entries..
- Are you going to use a paper or electronic calendar?
- Does the calendar need to be shared with others?
- Are you going to mark start times only or start time and duration?
- Is a system of appointment coding needed to denote service requested?
- Can appoinments overlap? (an acupuncturist can be treating two people at the same time)
- Is a quote associated with the Appointment?
- How are you going to track or account for late arrivals or no shows
- Are you going to use a pro-active reminder system to try to mitigate no shows and/or same day cancels?
- Is the reminder system going to be a one way or two way reminder system?
- Will the public be able to see your available slots?
- Will the public be able to book on a public calendar?
2) Options Related to Scheduling and Cancellation Process
These all assume Appointments are part of the business...
- Are walk ins accepted? Any conditions?
- Is same day scheduling allowed for open times?
- What is the lead time required for cancellation?
- What is the fee for inappropriate cancellation or no show?
- Do you have the heart, guts, or ability to charge for inappropriate cancellation or no show?
- Do you have a process for firing customers after a certain number of inappropriate cancellations or no shows?
3) Discussion - Last Minute Appointments or Schedule Modifications
This is a very broad and hairy topic. Almost too broad for many generalities. Below are some things experienced that aren't overly intuitive.
If you typically schedule out your day (or try to to some degree), and if your day is not filled with appointments, in the AM you should be looking to fill in those spaces with non-appointment related items. In such a system, you really should avoid scheduling same day appointments after you've put your full day into motion unless you really need the money or unless you consciously shift the items you filled your day with before accepting the appointment.
This may sound trivial, but in general this applies well beyond appointments. When in construction, one guy would do his darnedest to lay out my "required" events for the day and then he'd fill in my time with a seemingly endless to do lists. If he didn't inject something into the day after he got going intentionally, it was surprising how smooth the days would go. If he got "greedy" and tried to inject something in that really could have waited to have been scheduled for the next day or later, invariable, the flow got thrown off at some point during the day. It was almost as if he had messed around with an energetic realm that had been set based on sound intentions expressed that morning by him or some other source that was futzing with his schedule to put things in the best order for him.
Having shared this with a few people in the wellness business who use to take last minute appointments and fill-ins, many of them have seen the phenomena too on multiple occasions. There are always times to break general rules like not scheduling same day events after the morning round up, but in general, be mindful of this scenario. It's a flow kind of thing that you may get more experience with the more you set your goals related to getting in and staying in a flow.
If you typically schedule out your day (or try to to some degree), and if your day is not filled with appointments, in the AM you should be looking to fill in those spaces with non-appointment related items. In such a system, you really should avoid scheduling same day appointments after you've put your full day into motion unless you really need the money or unless you consciously shift the items you filled your day with before accepting the appointment.
This may sound trivial, but in general this applies well beyond appointments. When in construction, one guy would do his darnedest to lay out my "required" events for the day and then he'd fill in my time with a seemingly endless to do lists. If he didn't inject something into the day after he got going intentionally, it was surprising how smooth the days would go. If he got "greedy" and tried to inject something in that really could have waited to have been scheduled for the next day or later, invariable, the flow got thrown off at some point during the day. It was almost as if he had messed around with an energetic realm that had been set based on sound intentions expressed that morning by him or some other source that was futzing with his schedule to put things in the best order for him.
Having shared this with a few people in the wellness business who use to take last minute appointments and fill-ins, many of them have seen the phenomena too on multiple occasions. There are always times to break general rules like not scheduling same day events after the morning round up, but in general, be mindful of this scenario. It's a flow kind of thing that you may get more experience with the more you set your goals related to getting in and staying in a flow.