Let Insiteful Solutions Help you Get Your Business Back to Work with our Online Scheduling System
Getting Ready for the Future Post COVID-19
As the cloud of COVID-19 lifts and the various provinces start phased opening for places other than essential services, Insiteful Solutions has been hard at work helping our clients get ready to re-open and re-start operations. The past few weeks have been heartrending and complex. As we grapple with the ‘new normal’ that faces us Insiteful Solutions is here to help people get their businesses back up and running, safely and responsibly.
Doing Business in the age of Social Distancing
With the advent of COVID-19 in early March of this year the world took a sudden and dramatic shift. By mid-March many provinces had closed all but essential services and worldwide people were advised to stay home and isolate to protect themselves and the most vulnerable among us from the virus. These swift actions left many businesses scrambling not just to close businesses but how to transfer their operations to e-commerce in all attempts to keep their businesses running. At Insiteful Solutions we immediately swung into high-gear and set up e-commerce capabilities for several of our clients and made sure that their websites were mobile friendly. We also advised all of our clients to reach out via their social media channels to make sure that their customers were aware of their new operation schedule and how they could still provide service to them.
Provincial Recommendations
The province of Ontario has developed a framework to guide its re-opening plans. It is a three- step approach which will slowly see businesses, services and public spaces open. On the website www.ontario.ca the province outlines the steps to make sure things open with public health and safety at the forefront of everything. One of the main components which businesses all over the world, including Canada, will have to grapple with is how to maintain social distancing when the doors of businesses open. It is recommended that people stay 2 meters apart under all circumstances.
The New Solution – Online Scheduling
In the weeks and months to come it is clear that businesses are going to have to operate differently. Whereas before businesses were able to open their doors and allow anyone to visit within their operating hours, social distancing will cause these ‘regular’ operations to change.
One of the ways the business world is responding to planning in a post-COVID19 world is to organize online scheduling for business. If you run a retail store for example your previous operations most likely saw people come and go as they wish – going forward for the foreseeable future retail stores will need to monitor the number of people in their stores at any given time and do their best to encourage social distancing within their retail space. While many stores that were able to remain open at the beginning of COVID-19 started instituting line-ups outside their store, line ups might not be the best way forward. That’s why at Insiteful Solutions we are helping clients set up an online scheduling system so your customers can reserve a time to visit your store to go shopping.
Avoid the Stress of Scheduling
There are numerous benefits for your business to scheduling customers to visit your store or business. The system Insiteful Solutions is using takes all the hassle and stress out of organizing times for your customers to visit you. Clients can self-schedule the times they wish to visit you based on the information and parameters you provide; this allows you to anticipate the number of people that will be in your store at any given time thus allowing you to schedule the appropriate amount of staff at the right times. If you are a business that offers a certain service, again clients can self-schedule and provide the exact details of the service they wish to receive. The online system doesn’t just take care of scheduling – it covers off an incredible array of back of house work which will allow you to focus on other things. The online scheduling system can be embedded into your website for easy access and sync with Outlook.com, iCloud, Google Calendar, Exchange and Office 365. If your offering is solely an online venture then this system can sync with GoToMeeting, Join.me and Zoom so that when the appointment time comes customers are automatically linked to the online meeting forum.
As Canadian businesses quickly restructure their operations to cope with the complexity of COVID19, businesses are having to operate with leaner staffing and overall be more flexible. The online scheduling system doesn’t just help you book customers to visit your store – it can also by synced to whatever accounting system you use: QuickBooks, Freshbooks and Xero integrations are all possible. This syncing of systems frees up time from the nitty gritty of invoicing so you can focus on other things. Clients can also pay for the service they receive through PayPal, Square or Stripe. Credit card information is also securely kept for one time or future payments. Clients can also tip for the service they receive and use vouchers or coupons they have been given. The Insiteful Solution online scheduling system is so much more than just telling people when they can visit your store or business – you can be rest assured that the detail work around visits will be taken care of so you can focus on your interface with your customer and supporting your business.
Keeping Your Brand Strong
And you don’t need to worry about an online scheduling system diluting your brand. Insiteful Solutions will embed the online scheduling system into your existing website – your clients won’t have to deal with a clunky transfer between sites or any confusion that may cause. Everything about the online scheduling system will be branded as if your company created it. We can design the online scheduling system to display your logo and customize it with your company colours, the online app can be edited so that the text reflects the tone and culture of your business.
All the Convenience, None of the Hassle
One of the best things about the online scheduling system is the convenience for both you and your customer. Once a customer books an appointment they will automatically receive reminder emails or text messages so they don’t forget the appointment. The system is set up to take into consideration multiple time zones should you be located in more than one city and will automatically do the time zone conversion for customers.
Insiteful Solutions has been working with clients in Markham, Toronto and all over the GTA for nearly 20 years to address all of their digital marketing needs. With the onset of COVID-19 we were able to quickly help existing and new clients pivot their business to function online. As we face the future with our clients we are more focused than ever to help them develop new operating systems so their business can continue to function and thrive. Contact us today so we can help you set up an online scheduling system for your business and help grow your business!