Do you have an appointment booking functionality on your website? Do you want to increase your revenue per customer? Then you need to know about upselling through bookings. How do you do it? Read along to learn.
But first of all, let’s define an upsell.
What is an upsell?
An upsell is a sales tactic that pushes a customer to purchase a more expensive version of an item, an upgrade, or add-ons to generate more revenue for the business.
The goal in an upsell is to make the people spend more money than they initially intended and increase revenue per customer.
Upsells usually happen during or after the checkout process, but it can also happen before or long after.
Then the connection between appointment booking becomes a problem?
Really again, why do you need an appointment booking system for upselling?
Why use an online appointment booking system?
For businesses that rely on appointment booking, the checkout process is the same as the booking process.
That’s why an upsell will mainly occur during the booking.
If you are accepting appointments via calls, your receptionists would have to manually give information about additional services or add-ons to your services.
If you are accepting bookings via a contact form (sometimes called a booking form), you can send the upsell in the confirmation email itself.
However, the best way to do this in our opinion is via an automated appointment booking system.
A booking system functions nearly identical to an e-commerce checkout system. Users choose the service they want, the store location, the staff member and proceed through each of them.
If you can squeeze in an add-on service immediately after the service selection, you can essentially increase your revenue by 10-30% (according to an Accenture study).
But, what other options do you have in hand?
So how can you improve upsell with an online appointment booking system?
With an online appointment scheduling system, there are several options to improve the upsells. We prepared a list of these methods:
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Let your past and future potential clients know that you have an online reservation system
An online reservation itself can be a source of upselling. Maybe a user didn’t have time to call or send back-and-forth emails for just one appointment and you stepped in just in the right time, boom, appointment secured.
Maybe you've decided to use online booking services, but your previous clients don't have information about it. That's why you must send a message or an email to provide information.
You can also share posts on social media sites, especially on your stories and add call-to-action to your posts. Make sure you follow the CTA best practices and make use of retention strategies for maximum conversion.
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Always check website errors
Make sure everything about your booking system is okay. You may lose future clients due to any errors on your website. That's why a successful analysis is essential before picking the correct plugin. Pick a plugin that has 24/7 support.
Now that we have covered the essentials, let’s get into the meat of it.
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Use coupons
This strategy will boost sales. People like using coupons. They will even spend more money if they find a good coupon deal. Around 24% more according to Blippr. So make sure you offer one.
For example, mention a particular code on your social media and another one in your email messages. You can also add a coupon code in a thank you note to make sure they come back.
As customers book online, they will use these coupon codes and seeing they save more, they might even get a few extra services. You will see how many people have migrated over and how much money and time you save in the process.
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Offer bundles
If you have a combination of services that people usually get together, offering them in a bundle can be a great way to increase your sales.
Tiered packages, especially, are one of the most effective upselling strategies for an online booking system. They provide customers with clearly defined options that cater to different budgets and preferences, making it easier for them to choose a more premium option
For example, a customer only looking for a hair cutting service might get a hair care kit if they are bundled in a good deal.
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Add special messages to email signatures and confirmation messages
Even after a customer has made a booking, you can still upsell them. Write simple hinting sentences on your confirmation message, or offer them a coupon code if they want to get additional services.
Alternatively, you can make use of email signatures. Change the email signature and add a website link for booking. Change your business card as well and add your website to it. Add a CTA about a specific discount or set of discounts for customers to know.
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Ask Clients for Google Reviews
Reviews are so valuable. Because, for most people, they are significant. When your customers post positive feedback about your business, you can get more customers. Try not to get negative ratings. These reviews would impact your progress.
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Try to find a partner to create your advertisements
Suppose you know someone who can advocate for your business, partner with them. Ask them to share some of your products' details. You can also post about your online booking system. Upselling a customer that doesn’t even buy your services can be a great way to boost your income.
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Customize offers based on customer history
While greatly manual, this approach nearly guarantees you build long lasting relationships with customers and serve them over a long period of time. It also greatly increases your chances of upselling and increasing your revenue.
You can achieve this by creating little internal documents or notes about your customers, their preferences and other important information and sending those offers at the right time.
Conclusion
As we listed above, there are many methods for improving your upsells with online appointment booking systems. Follow our list for these methods.
You must find the most reliable and successful way of doing things to get ahead. Booknetic provides an online appointment booking system that can modify your company's runs. Your company will start to run more successfully as you get started with it, and your clients will be happier.
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Booknetic is a simple yet powerful plugin for accepting online bookings & payments on your WordPress site.