Is it to have more sales, to make more money, to stay busier? Yes, Yes, and Yes. Why do people choose to have Online Scheduling?
It’s funny how things change and change quickly! I remember when I was still building FittleBug Real-Time Booking. The talk of the carpet cleaning industry was “Should I put my pricing online?” That was about 7 years ago… Today I was perusing the Forums and came across this thread:
My first thought was OMG, have we not learned a thing in 7 years. Let’s break this down – if your goal in business, let alone online scheduling, is one of the three choices above, then lets see why you might want to show people what things cost. First lets agree on a few things:
- There is no one way to market
- When considering any product/service cost is a factor for everyone
- We all have our own definition of success
Now – why do you have a website? Is word of mouth not working for you? You have a website so people can learn more about your business on their time and anytime. Do you share your selling points on your website? Of course you do, but if you can’t sell your own sizzle, then don’t expect other people to understand why you! When the internet first came out it was basically a digital brochure; then we got smart and figured out that we could ask people questions through forms and get answers that could benefit us. Today it is all about bi-directional communications, Real-Time or what others call On-Demand information. If you are not empowering your marketplace to work with you on THEIR time then you are forcing them to work with you on your time… and no one likes to be forced.
It seems a bit crazy to me to spend money to attract people to your site, educate them and then tell them to go away because they can’t see what the cost are. You could educate the heck out of them with your adverbs and adjectives but if they can’t finish what they wanted to accomplish, you are at risk of others that WILL allow them to complete a task of securing services or products.
Finally – Allow them to complete the task with a complete online order of your service or product. No one wants to fill out a form and wait for a return correspondence today, if they don’t have to! AND THEY DON’T HAVE TO! Real-Time, ON-Demand, and bi-directional communications is the future – Hell, it’s the present!
Technology has changed the game and will continue to change the game. Are you familiar with AMCOM, MetroCall, or Arch Wireless? Neither is anyone else – they were the leading pager companies in the early 80’s. Tech usurped the market approach and I would suggest that it always will. If you don’t share pricing, you’re marketing only 1/3 of the day while your competition is marketing around the clock. How do you like them Apples! (as Goodwill Hunting would say)