How I handled the transition when moving clients to online booking only
Jamie Harris
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Aesthetic Clinic · Norwich · 1mo ago
I want to be honest about this because I wasted money making the wrong choice first. I started with Shedul when I opened my spa in Liverpool 8 years ago. It looked great on the surface but the client-facing booking page was clunky and I had six people drop off mid-booking every week. Switched to Timely two years ago and haven't looked back. Here's what the switch actually involved and what I think matters most when choosing a system.
First thing: don't just look at the price. Look at the booking flow from a client's point of view. I had a client tell me my old booking page made her feel like she was filling in a tax return. That stung but she was right. Timely took me about half a day to set up properly, and within the first week I noticed clients were actually completing their bookings rather than dropping off halfway through.
Second: SMS reminders are non-negotiable. Email reminders get ignored. My no-show rate went from roughly 20% down to almost nothing once I turned on the automated text reminder 48 hours before each appointment. Worth every penny of the monthly cost.
Third: deposits. I introduced a £30 deposit about two years after switching and honestly I should have done it from day one. The people who complained were the people who would have wasted my time anyway. My regulars didn't blink.
First thing: don't just look at the price. Look at the booking flow from a client's point of view. I had a client tell me my old booking page made her feel like she was filling in a tax return. That stung but she was right. Timely took me about half a day to set up properly, and within the first week I noticed clients were actually completing their bookings rather than dropping off halfway through.
Second: SMS reminders are non-negotiable. Email reminders get ignored. My no-show rate went from roughly 20% down to almost nothing once I turned on the automated text reminder 48 hours before each appointment. Worth every penny of the monthly cost.
Third: deposits. I introduced a £30 deposit about two years after switching and honestly I should have done it from day one. The people who complained were the people who would have wasted my time anyway. My regulars didn't blink.
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Just want to add for anyone reading this who's worried about the tech side — I am not a tech person at all. I set up SimplyBook.me by myself in one afternoon by just following their setup guide. If I can do it, genuinely anyone can.
#1
The point about filtering your client base with deposits is something I wish someone had told me when I started. It sounds harsh but your business actually runs better with fewer, more committed clients than with a packed diary full of flaky ones.
#2
I had the same fear about telling clients I was switching to online booking only. Turns out most people actually prefer it — they can book at midnight if they want to without feeling like they're bothering you. The ones who complained were the ones I could afford to lose.
#3
The no-show stats in this post match my experience almost exactly. I was losing roughly £5 a month to no-shows and cancellations before I introduced deposits. That money was just gone. Now it's protected. The maths on deposits is completely obvious once you see it.
#4
Really useful breakdown — thank you. I've been sitting on the fence about Appointy for months and this has pushed me to just go and do the free trial. Will report back.
#5