How I use Timely to upsell treatments and increase my average booking value
Blake Bennett
🏪 VIP Seller
🥇 Gold Seller
Freelancer · Crawley · 5mo ago
Right so I've been meaning to write this up for ages. I'm a holistic therapy practice owner based in Sheffield and I spent way too long using WhatsApp as my main booking tool. I know a lot of you are still doing this and I get it — it feels personal, it's easy, your clients know how to use it. But here's what it was actually costing me.
Every Sunday night I'd spend two hours going through messages, confirming appointments, sending manual reminders, chasing people who'd said 'yes I'll be there' three days ago and then gone quiet. Two hours every single Sunday. When I eventually calculated that out over a year it was over 100 hours of unpaid admin.
I moved to Fresha 18 months ago. Setup took about three hours including customising my services and pricing. Within the first month I got 18 months's worth of time back. The automated reminders alone have saved me from five no-shows that would definitely have happened.
The bit I was most nervous about — telling my existing clients — was a complete non-event. I sent a single message saying I'd moved to online booking and included the link. About 80% booked straight away. The other 20% needed a gentle nudge but they got there.
Every Sunday night I'd spend two hours going through messages, confirming appointments, sending manual reminders, chasing people who'd said 'yes I'll be there' three days ago and then gone quiet. Two hours every single Sunday. When I eventually calculated that out over a year it was over 100 hours of unpaid admin.
I moved to Fresha 18 months ago. Setup took about three hours including customising my services and pricing. Within the first month I got 18 months's worth of time back. The automated reminders alone have saved me from five no-shows that would definitely have happened.
The bit I was most nervous about — telling my existing clients — was a complete non-event. I sent a single message saying I'd moved to online booking and included the link. About 80% booked straight away. The other 20% needed a gentle nudge but they got there.
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Completely agree about the Sunday evening admin. I never quantified it until I read a post like this and actually counted. I was spending 6+ hours a week on booking admin. Six hours I could have been doing literally anything else. The system pays for itself in week one if you value your time properly.
#1
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.
#2
Totally agree about Fresha's transaction fee adding up. I did the maths for my price point and the 'free' plan was actually costing me more than a paid subscription to Phorest by the time I factored in the percentage on every booking. Read the small print before assuming free is cheaper.
#3
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.
#4