If your non dual teachers bookings and you already have a business website then it’s easy for you to start offering your customers the convenience of online bookings. Using an online booking system on your website is a great way to attract new customers. Your customers will benefit from the convenience of being able to book online, and your businesses bottom line will benefit from an increase in customers.
To start offering bookings on your site you first need to select online booking system software. There are many reservation systems to choose from and they vary in features, price, and ease of use. The software must first be installed onto your existing website. The booking software will then either take your customers to a separate website to complete their reservation, or will allow your customers to book right there and then on your existing site. Generally, it’s better to choose a booking system that works right on your existing website. This eliminates confusion and looks much more professional.
You’ll want the booking experience to be as easy as possible for your customers to avoid bookings being abandoned before they are completed. Therefore it’s usually better to choose an online booking system that doesn’t force your customers to create accounts with them – your customers simply want to make a booking, not create accounts with booking software companies. It’s good practice to only ask for the minimum information required when making a booking. Therefore, choose booking software that let’s you determine exactly what information you ask from your customers at booking time.
Online reservation systems can include many useful features that can help you manage your bookings. You’ll want a system that lets you quickly and easily view bookings on a calendar and generate reports such as bookings by date. If you already use Google calendar in your business then you may want to select a booking system that integrates with Google calendar. You can even choose a reservation system that will let your customers make payments online to complete their booking. PayPal integration is a must for online payments, as it’s the most well known and trusted payment gateway today.
As you know, staff availability is an unpredictable thing. Staff may go on leave, take time off work for illness, etc. Therefore, it’s important to choose a booking system that’s flexible enough to handle all these kinds of situations.
Generally, an online booking system will require you to define the standard availability for staff/resources. Make sure you choose software that let’s you override availability for special cases like staff leave, holidays etc.