One-on-one experiences are by far the best way to ensure customer satisfaction, build loyalty, and drive high-value commercial transactions. Because of this, an enterprise-scale scheduling software platform is an essential tool for any company invested in connecting with their prospective buyers and customers.
But not all solutions are created equal, and, while many software offerings label themselves as ‘enterprise-grade,’ that doesn’t mean they actually have the functionality to support the needs of enterprise-size businesses.
Large organizations in global industries require appointment setting technology that allows for flexible deployment options, handles organizational complexity, supports multi-national business interactions, and meets ever-expanding compliance needs.
Here are the 5 essential functionalities your appointment-setting software should have in order to enhance the customer experience and build stronger customer relationships.
1. Support for a Global Business
Successful businesses can no longer operate in a local bubble. Across industries, enterprises big and small are expanding their footprint around the world, striving to break into new markets and reach new customers daily.
Working in a global industry means that you’ll be interacting with customers and partners around the world, and your software must facilitate that. This means simple requirements, such as seeing time zone differences for scheduled meetings and having a range of supported languages, but it also demands more complex and nuanced features, many of which so-called enterprise-grade offerings can’t provide.
For example, different languages have different naming conventions. Does your software allow the customer to enter their name and have it displayed properly? While these might seem like minor issues for a US or UK-centric business, they’re vital. If your software can’t handle the complexities of a global, diverse customer base, it’s only a matter of time before you accidentally alienate potential business.
2. Seamless Customer Experience
Today’s consumer expects a seamless experience, whether they are booking an appointment online, through a mobile app, or in-person. By the same token, customers expect an experience that feels personalized. If they’re a longtime, loyal patron, will they be satisfied when the process of booking an appointment feels the same as that for a new prospect?
Enabling these seamless customer experiences requires tight integrations between the appointment-setting software and other enterprise software systems on both the front and back ends. By integrating payment software like Stripe, communication solutions like Zoom, CRMs, accounting, web analytics, and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, you can harness customer data and product information to address your customer more accurately, and provide additional convenience.
Finally, your software must be able to quickly adjust for last-minute cancellations, rescheduling, location changes If an enterprise’s appointment setting software can’t handle these changes in real-time, the business is at risk of double-booking, missing appointments, and delays, which can result in a poor customer experience and frustrated staff.
3. Robust and Actionable Analytics
Data can be a goldmine, but only for enterprises that have the capability to harness it effectively. Too often, businesses make decisions based on hunches or gut feelings, but in an increasingly competitive landscape, this is simply not enough.
The right appointment setting software offers analytics capabilities that allow businesses to more readily notice trends and allocate resources for enhanced success. What is the ROI for meetings held at a specific location or with a specific staff member? Which appointments are resulting in tangible revenue and which end in abandonment? Are certain locations or departments over or understaffed for appointment needs?
The answers to these questions will help you notice patterns that you can incorporate into your business strategy in any number of interesting ways. For example, let’s say a business wants to know how its appointment scheduling software is being used during the end-of-year holiday season. By looking at performance data from previous years, the business can identify trends in when and how customers are scheduling appointments. This information can then be used to plan for future end-of-year campaigns, ensuring that the business is always one step ahead.
4. Compliance
The costs of non-compliance are steep and varied, from litigation to reputation damage to brand damage. It is important for enterprises to consider compliance when reviewing their appointment scheduling software options. Data sovereignty, data access, and data retention are all compliance issues that need to be considered when setting up an appointment system—especially when the software deals with and stores personally identifiable information (PII).
Enterprises must also consider compliance when transmitting data between different software systems. The complexity of these requirements is compounded by the aforementioned integration needs. The appointment software must be able to store data securely and encrypt it at rest and in transit. There should also be processes in place for data archival that meet compliance requirements.
Data auditing and governance capabilities are key requirements for compliance. Enterprises need to be able to track who did what and when, as well as have the ability to control which staff members have access to certain data.
5. Scalability and Reliability
When it comes to enterprise software, non-functional requirements such as performance, security, scalability, integrations, supportability, auditability, observability, and reliability are just as important as the functional requirements. The appointment system you choose must be able to handle patches and upgrades without disruptions and be resilient in the face of outages.
For instance, if a different integrated software system experiences an issue, the appointment system needs to handle it without going down. It is also important to meet the demands of a large customer base. This means being able to handle a high number of appointments per minute and a large number of users hitting the system simultaneously.
Another important non-functional requirement is real-time availability. Enterprises need to be able to see in one place which staff members and physical locations are available for appointments. This information should be integrated with other enterprise systems so that it doesn’t have to be input manually—this would create an unnecessary burden on staff.
Scheduling software is a direct line to your customer. It cannot fall short.
There is a lot to consider when you are selecting appointment scheduling software for your enterprise. Taking the time to review your options carefully will pay off in the form of increased customer satisfaction and loyalty, leading to increased revenue.
While lightweight tools and apps may work for consumers or small businesses, they are not suitable for enterprise-level deployments. Enterprise appointment scheduling software must be able to handle multiple levels of complexity—a large number of customers, staff, and appointments; integrate with other enterprise software; and meet compliance requirements.
Only the right enterprise-grade software can enable enterprises to provide a great customer experience—and great customer experience is key to satisfaction, loyalty, and revenue.
JRNI Appointments, The Enterprise Appointment Scheduling Solution That Drive Revenue
