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Problems with Online Booking Systems

October 14, 2021

Naturally, we could sing the praises of a booking system all day long; there are countless ways online booking systems benefit your business and boost sales. However, there are a few online booking system problems you should be aware of when choosing the perfect booking system for your business.

 

  1. Choosing the wrong booking system for your company’s needs
  2. You will need (at least) one expert within the business
  3. Heavily reliant on a good internet connection
  4. A target for cyber criminals
  5. Your business needs to be ready to grow

 

1. Choosing the wrong booking system for your company’s needs

With so many booking system options on the market, it may seem overwhelming to pick the best system for you. This window shopping period is essential though, as you don’t want to sign up for a 12 month contract and pay for a system that’s not serving you as well as another option could. 

 

During this comparison process, it’s important to note that any reputable company will clearly outline pricing, offer free trials or tailored demonstrations, and answer any questions you may have ahead of signing on the dotted line. 

 

Remember that the cost of an online booking system will depend on the features your business needs. There’s no point in paying for a custom system at a higher price if you have a small business that takes a handful of bookings. BookingLive offers a solution for small businesses using a tiered pricing structure, so you only pay for the number of bookings you need. If you are a seasonal business, you can pay on a monthly subscription, and up or downgrade these tiers at any time, ensuring the best possible ROI for your business.

 

If you just want to get a feel for how online booking systems work and you only require basic features, there are some great free options available. We’ve written a series of guides to help you compare online booking systems: 

 

 

2. You will need (at least) one expert within the business 

No automation system is completely self-sufficient. You will always need at least one person in the business who can spend at least some of their working week managing the system. 

 

The BookingLive system is intuitive and has been carefully designed with both staff and the customer’s booking journey in mind. 

 

Our small business solution is self-managed – you can get your system live in as little as 5 minutes. The system features a chatbot that connects to a member of BookingLive’s Customer Success Team who will answer any questions you may have.

 

3. Heavily reliant on a good internet connection

Some things are simply out of our control. Online booking system problems are sometimes unrelated to your system and how you’ve set it up. If your customers have a poor internet connection you may still need to take telephone or email bookings.  

 

Luckily, BookingLive allows you to book on behalf of your customers and submit the necessary details directly into our system. So, you can easily manage your bookings and maintain a high level of customer service.

 

4. A target for cyber criminals

The importance of a secure booking system has never been higher. As personal data and bank details are required to complete a booking, your online booking system can become a target for cyber criminals. 

 

BookingLive only integrates with industry-leading secure payment gateways to ensure that your customer’s information is safe and secure. For example, our small business solution is pre-integrated with Stripe; which by learning from millions of global businesses processing billions in payments each year, can assign risk scores to every payment and automatically block many high-risk payments. Their tool Radar scans every payment using thousands of signals from across the Stripe network to help detect and prevent fraud – even before it hits your business. 

 

5. Your business needs to be ready to grow

Our research found that 69% of customers are more likely to book with a company that has an online booking system. If you don’t have one, 59% of people will choose a competitor that does instead.

 

Therefore, when your business begins to use an online booking system, you can expect to attract more customers and increase sales. Of course, this is great news! But it can be a problem if your business isn’t prepared to keep up with this higher demand for your services. 

 

Growing too quickly can be challenging so make sure you have enough staff and resources lined up. BookingLive allows you to put a cap on the number of bookings you take for certain slots and has a feature to help you manage your staffing levels and inventory. Get these things right, and growth shouldn’t be a problem!

 

Get started with BookingLive

We hope we’ve put your mind at ease and shown how BookingLive combats the potential problems with online booking systems. 

 

If you like the sound of what BookingLive has to offer, claim your free account today. If you’re a larger enterprise that requires a custom solution, book a demo to see BookingLive’s capabilities. Contact us and our expert team can answer any questions.

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