Date Added: July 10, 2007 02:56:41 PM

10 Tips For Effective Appointment Scheduling

Time management is extremely important today and if you mess up with your records or your appointment schedule, you will probably end up with problems. If you are not effectively scheduling your appointments, you can miss out on sales or you may jumble up an entire day due to the problem. It is important that you work hard to run your business efficiently, and effectively managing and scheduling your appoints can definitely help.

There are a variety of ways that you can become more effective in your appointment scheduling. The following are a few suggestions that may be a huge help to you.

First Things First

During the design phase of starting my company Scheduleview.com, while on a flight from Dallas out West, I sat next to a high priced business consultant. When he learned I designed and wrote appointment scheduling software, he gave me this most important bit of advice to pass on to my customers. “Mark out or reserve time slots for your big $$$ dollar revenue services for the week. For example, if you are a dentist, block out time in the mornings for your root canals, bridge work, veneers etc.” Doing this one thing can add a DRAMATIC increase to your income. If you don't do this, your schedule can get crammed up with fillings and other “lower income” procedures, that you actually don't have enough income to pay the bills. Schedule a set time for your #1 income producing services!

Access to Records

One of the first this that you need for adequate management of your scheduling is to be sure that you can quickly access all of your records. When you are running a business and setting up appointments, it is imperative that you know who you will see, why you need to see them, and what time you will be seeing them as well. Having the records where you can access them quickly will help you to always be prepared for meeting your clients. Having access to your records by everyone will probably necessitate the need for computerized appointment scheduling software — you don't want to be in the position where you're putting your hand over the mouthpiece of the phone and calling out “who's got the schedule book?” at the top of your lungs and embarrass yourself to your customers.

Security and HIPAA

You don't want anyone to have access to your most important asset - your customer/client/patient base or list or files so its imperative to make sure you keep this information secure (either locked in a file cabinet or password protected in the appointment scheduling software program you purchase). And, if you're in the medical field at all, you're aware that the Federal Government actually mandates security and privacy thru the HIPAA Act.

Booking Appointments

While you have your client with you, it is best to go ahead and book their next appointment. This will save you a TON of time from having to play telephone tag with them later, but most importantly will increase your bookings and subsequently your revenue. Also, after you book their appointment, make sure that you remind them in some way, such as a phone call, postcard, or an email, so that they will remember that they have the appointment with you. Remember this, its 10 times easier to book a follow-up appointment during or at the end of a current appointment, than it is to let customer/client/patient leave and then try to book it later! Also, be sure to get any pre-information needed from the client on the phone before booking the appointment so that you are prepared when they arrive or your service technician arrives at their home or business.

How To Increase Your Revenue Without Increasing Your Charges!

When I'm talking to crowds or civic groups or at conventions, this is perhaps the biggest attention getter, and who wouldn't want to increase their revenue without increasing their charges? Well the answer is simple and elegant, but don't let it slip by you and forget to implement it. It works like this: lets take the example of my barber. On average, I get a haircut probably about once every two months. Because of travel, speaking engagements, business and personal interests, I keep pretty busy. And I know what you're thinking, this guy is pretty “hairy” and it is partly true as my name is “Harry” (lol). But all kidding aside, I really do need to get my hair cut more often, but my barber leaves the decision of “WHEN” to get a haircut to me, and as busy as I am, it always gets put off. Lets say instead of leaving the decision to me, my barber were to say to me “Harry, you know it looks like you need a haircut about once a month, so why don't we schedule your next cut on Thursday, four weeks from now” and he hands me a card with the appointment time and date on a reminder card. You know, I wouldn't be one bit offended by this and actually would appreciate it (and so would my wife and co-workers I'm sure!) But lets analyze this real quick - I used to average a haircut every two months; now I change to once a month and am happy about it. My barber now doubles his revenue from me every year, without charging me anymore for my haircut, he's happy and so am I! Do you see the power of this principle? If your business involves a service done on a period basis, brainstorm on how you can increase your services to your customer or decrease the time between services. Air conditioner contractors, you should do everything possible to get your customers on an annual maintenance plans! Pool service companies, do your customers try to get by with 10 cleanings a year instead of 12? Dentists, your hygienists should be seeing their patients twice a year, and seeing you once a year. Gynecologists, some of your patients should be getting annual exams for mammograms and pap smears. When I worked in marketing and strategic planning for a hospital, one of the most simple, elegant and effective marketing plans was a simple reminder postcard that went out to women who had a mammogram done reminding them of the Cancer Society's recommendations for annual exams. CPA's and tax preparers, you have a yearly service at tax time that should be resold every year. The list goes on and on- think about how you can increase your business by this method and drop me a card or email and tell me what ideas you came up with.

The Big Picture

One of the biggest complaints I hear from small businesses owners is that they want to view everyone's schedule on one page, or on the same “screen”. This is a very valid concern and should be a definite criteria when choosing your appointment scheduling software. As a business owner or manager, you can't waste your time switching back and forth between screens or pads of paper looking for either a specific appointment or an empty “available” appointment - you need all the information right there in front of you, in an easy “view” so you have an understanding of what is happening visually. With service businesses, you need to be able to see where your appointments are located (what part of town) so you can effectively schedule and manage your service technicians and not have to have them drive back and forth, all over town. Service business owners, you need to book appointments in geographic vicinity so look for software that allows you to color code the appointment by “location”.

Maintenance of Past Records

Keeping past service records is extremely important. This will enable you to quickly see what services they have had in the past, and which services they may need now. When you have these past records in front of you, you may even be able to resell a service that they have used before or cross sell other services that may be appropriate for them now.

Review Records

When you are not with your clients, it is still important that you find some time to look over their records. This will help you see which clients have need been in for an appointment for some time. Checking out the records will let you know when your customer is going to need service again so you can give them a call and schedule an appointment. Also, when you are reviewing these records, keep an eye out for people who are constantly changing, missing, or canceling their appointments. You may need to drop the client or start charging a fee for appointment cancellations.

Reporting, Reporting, Reporting, Did I Mention Reporting?

If you're planning on purchasing appointment scheduling software, what's the point of entering appointments for yourself and or your employees if you can't get useful information back that can help manage and grow your business? If an appointment scheduling software doesn't have more that 15-20 reports (not lists), then it doesn't meet the minimum requirements for business software. Look for reports that show staff productivity, referral sources, revenue by zip code, revenue by referral source, usage by service performed, driving directions, appointment trends, mailing labels and services utilization.

Work Orders, Service Tickets, Superbills and Encounter Forms

Each type of business calls these critical documents something different like work orders, service tickets, superbills, encounter forms, work tickets or something else. You know what I'm talking about for your industry, the form that gets filled out and turned in that shows what was done, who it was done to, and what to bill for. The beauty of a computerized appointment scheduling software program is that it should be able to print these documents out for you for everyone on your appointment list today, with specific information about the customer/client/patient. This useful information can have detailed info such as location, directions, insurance company. prior notes or history along with a listing of services that gets either checked or circled to indicate what to bill for.

SUMMARY

No matter what business you may be involved in, it is extremely important that you effective schedule your appointments. When you use these techniques in your business, no doubt you will find yourself more successful and your time being used much more efficiently than before. You will also be able to provide your customers/clients/patients with better service and enjoy more profit as a result too. I would appreciate hearing from you on how these tips helped you, or any appointment scheduling relates issues you're facing by emailing me at harryart at scheduleview.com