Booking the customer’s next appointment? Why not?

[Joe Marconi]

What do doctors, dentists, eye doctors and hairdressers all have in common? Thats right; they all book the next appointment. So why dont we do it? Oh, I know many of you do, and that's great. But most shops don't, and I have heard every excuse under the sun why booking the next appointment does not work: "My customers dont know what they are doing in 4 month." Well, guess what; when your dentist books your next cleaning, you dont know if you will be available on the booked date in six months or a year from now either, do you?

 

Booking the next appointment will help to smooth out the highs and lows in your workflow. It will keep the customer coming back to you and not thinking of someone else.

 

But, there is a trick to the success of booking the next appointment. What does your dentist do a day or so before the appointment date? Yes, he calls you. And if you cant make it that day? Right again; he books another day. So the trick is to set up a call system to remind customers.

 

The thing to remember is this.every car in your shop today will need future service workthe questions is this; will that customer come back to you? The odds are in your favor when you book the next appointment.

[bigdonstang]

What do you believe is the best way of keeping track of this? Do you recommend any software to make the process easier or will an old school calender do the trick? I've personally never booked a customer more than a week in advance but I'm very interested in getting a good system in place.

[Joe Marconi]

What do you believe is the best way of keeping track of this? Do you recommend any software to make the process easier or will an old school calender do the trick? I've personally never booked a customer more than a week in advance but I'm very interested in getting a good system in place.

I can't speak for all management systems. We use Mitchell Manager with an add on feature called Pro Pack from Bolt on Technology, it has it's own calendar system. When we print an oil changer sticker from Pro Pack, it automatically creates the next appointment and that appointment is automatically listed on the customer's invoice. At car delivery we u simply inform the customer that based on the vehicle and driving habits your next appointment will be November 12, 2014. As you inform the customer, you also point to the invoice where it's written and you circle it with your pen.

 

Mitchell will then send out a reminder card (or email) and a text message (if the customer opts in for texting). The reminder goes out a few weeks before, the text is set up two days before as an additional reminder.

 

But the system works best when you call the customer a few days before. Why? If the customer cannot make the appointment, simply reschedule. We print the schedule from Mitchell for following week and make reminder calls.

 

Another point, in time your customers become creatures of habit and the return rate goes up.

 

You can also do this with outlook calendar or Google calendar. With those calendars you will need to manually enter the customer's appointment and then look at the calendar the week prior to see who is coming in and make the calls.

 

Check your management system or use Outlook or Google.

 

One last thing, you can even use this system for other work, for example a timing belt needed on a customer's car next month. Set it up in your calendar, and call the person a week prior to remind the customer, and rearrange the appointment if needed.