Everyday business is done by appointment. Traditionally, the telephone has been the preferred way to do business by appointment. However, as the behavior of consumer’s change, the need for businesses that conduct business by appointment will have to adapt to the way consumers interact with them. The internet and cell phones have been disruptive technologies in consumer behavior over the last 15 years. They have become pervasive in business today. With the mobile internet becoming commonplace, the combination of the internet, cell phones and applications like online appointment scheduling will usher in the next frontier for computing. The need to manage and maintain internal computer hardware and software will go away as the Software as a Service(SaaS) computing model frees Spa and Salon owners from managing computing infrastructure.

Automating your front office will be very important to stay competitive in marketing, managing and growing your business in the future. For appointment based businesses, the requirement to make your appointment book completely virtual 24 x 7 will be critical. It will allow prospective clients to select your service based on information provided via your electronic storefront- your website. This means that your website must be optimized for search engines, marketed offline (direct mail) and online to drive clients to your website and geographically targeted where your clients are located.

By integrating appointment scheduling into your website, an appointment based business will facilitate existing and new clients doing business with you.  Integrating a contact manager into the online appointment scheduler, gives the owners of appointment based businesses, an easy way to store unique information about each client; preferences for services, products used and see a recent history of services the client has used. Adding an e-mail marketing solution gives them a cost effective solution to contact clients, promote products, services and get feedback on the products, services and customer experience they receive from your business. All these services will be done via an internet enabled cell phone or personal computer anytime, anywhere, 24 x 7 in the very near future.

In conclusion, the merging of the internet, cell phones, websites and online applications like appointment scheduling, contact management and e-mail marketing, will change the way appointment based businesses are operated. Instead of waiting for clients to walk in the door, these technologies allow appointment based businesses to be proactive in marketing their businesses to new clients and managing their existing clients and staff effectively.  The results will be a more effectively managed business that is more profitable, with higher customer retention and loyalty. These are all common traits of a successful business.