Is Your Massage Practice on Facebook? Add Online Scheduling and Let Your Customers Book From It!

March 11, 2013 - PRLog -- The word on the street keeps getting louder and louder... ONLINE SCHEDULING, ONLINE SCHEDULING, ONLINE SCHEDULING.

Regardless of the type of service a business offers, if it requires appointments, it needs online appointment software. Not only are customers clamoring for it, but an online scheduler also enables owners and their staff to operate more efficiently and productively by decreasing the number of daily customer phone calls and eliminating the need to manually record and track appointments in a paper calendar book or spreadsheet.

This is especially true for massage practices and therapists, who not only rely on accurate appointment-scheduling to run and grow their businesses, but who oftentimes lack the office manpower to adequately handle the tedious and time-consuming process of managing appointments.

The benefits of online appointment software are many: it allows customers to self-schedule; it sends out automated e-mail and text message reminders (which reduce the no-show rate); it can accept and process payments as appointments are booked; and it provides accurate record-keeping and reporting functionality.

And since it's Web-based, it also gives massage professionals another avenue to promote their services and schedule even more appointments: through their business Facebook page!

APPOINTMENT SOFTWARE AND FACEBOOK: A PERFECT COMBO

As countless numbers of businesses have already proved, Facebook can be a terrific resource for generating buzz about a massage practice or therapists' services. In fact, studies have shown that more and more consumers are checking out business Facebook pages even before they visit business Web sites. Smart businesses have capitalized on this fact by creating engaging Facebook pages that are engaging and offer unique benefits not available on their Web sites, such as special offers and discounts. This often results in a loyal (and growing) following of both current and prospective customers, which is just what a massage business needs to grow and be profitable.

And with this increase in customer traffic comes the potential for instant bookings, which is where appointment software comes into play.

Because it's Web-based, online massage scheduling software can easily be added to a Facebook page, either as a "Book Now" button (which is typically made available by the online scheduling provider) or as URL to the practice's or therapist's online scheduling page. And it can generally be placed in prominent places where the business believes it will be most noticeable and effective in getting customers to schedule, such as at the top of the page or next to any mentions of current deals or specials.

Human nature tells us that individuals who are highly interested in a certain discount or special rate are more likely to purchase it if they do so immediately and conveniently. Massage businesses can capitalize on this by offering these deals only to those customers who book online, as well as by placing the "Book Now" button or URL as close to the deal details as possible.

As the prominence of social media continues to grow in the business world, it's vital that massage businesses take advantage of this marketing opportunity to boost their customer base and, ultimately, the number of appointments scheduled. A perfect way to do this is by appointment software with a business Facebook page.

Find out if online scheduling software is right for you by visiting http://www.appointment-plus.com