What is online booking?

How it works

You set the times you are available. A customer opens your website on their phone, picks a service, picks a time that is free and types their name and number. They get a message confirming it. You get the booking in your calendar.

Taken times disappear, so nobody can book a slot that is already gone. That is the main difference from a contact form, which only sends you a message and leaves you to sort out the time.

It also works while you are busy. A booking made at 10 at night is waiting for you in the morning, with the name, the service and the time already filled in.

What you decide

Good booking software lets you set the rules, so it works the way your business already does.

• Which services can be booked, and how long each takes
• Which days and hours you are open for bookings
• How much notice you need, such as no bookings less than 2 hours ahead
• Gaps between jobs for travel, cleaning or a break
• Whether a customer can change or cancel, and how late
• Whether you take a deposit, covered in how to take a deposit for a booking

Who it suits

It suits any business that works to appointments: dentists, physios, hairdressers, vets, plumbers who book a call-out, restaurants that take tables, charter boats. It matters most where phones go unanswered while you are with a customer.

It suits less well a business where every job is different and needs a conversation first, such as a large building project. A request-a-quote form, which asks a few questions and lets you reply, does that job better.

What customers think

Some of your customers will always prefer the phone, and they should still be able to use it. Online booking sits beside the phone and does not replace it. Keep your number visible.

What it adds is a way for the person who would never ring, or who looks after hours, to book without waiting. That is who you were losing before.

Where it appears

A booking box on your website is the usual place. It can also be linked from your Google listing, your social pages and your emails, so wherever a customer finds you there is one clear way to book.

You can see a made-up example in our work, where a sample vet clinic and a sample dentist each show the box a customer would use.

What to do next

Write down how a booking works today: who answers, where it is written, what happens when you are busy. That list is the plan for the software. Our online booking service sets it up so it fits that routine, or get in touch.