Three things vendors call "booking"
Many answering products say they book appointments. Ask which of these three they mean, because only the last one saves you a call back.
| What they call booking | What actually happens | Who still has to act |
|---|---|---|
| Taking a message | The caller's name, number and request are written down and sent to you | You call back, find a time, and hope they haven't booked someone else |
| Taking a request | The caller picks a preferred day; you get an email or text to approve | You confirm the time, and the caller waits to hear |
| Real booking | The appointment is written into your calendar during the call, for the right person, at a time that is actually free, and the caller gets a confirmation | Nobody. The job is on the schedule |
B&G Solutions does the third. When we can't connect to the system you use yet, we say so before you start, and until it is connected you get each booking by text.
What a booking call sounds like
A caller rings at 7:40 in the evening about a slow drain. The receptionist answers in your company's name, asks what the problem is and where, checks that the address is inside your service area, and offers the openings your calendar shows for the next day. The caller picks 9:00. The receptionist reads back the name, address, phone number and time, books it, and the caller gets a text confirming it. You see the job on your schedule in the morning, with the notes.
For a barbershop or a salon the same call goes by staff member: the caller asks for a particular barber, and is offered that barber's openings for that service, with that barber's time for it.
What it needs from you to book well
A booking is only as good as the rules behind it. Before going live we take these from you, and you can change any of them later.
- Your services, and how long each one takes. For a shop with several people, how long each one takes for each person.
- Who does what. Not every tech installs, not every barber colours, not every lawyer takes every kind of case.
- Your hours, and the hours you take bookings, if they differ.
- Your service area, and what to say to a caller outside it.
- Which jobs you book straight away, which ones get an estimate visit first, and which ones you want to hear about before anything is booked.
- What counts as urgent, and who gets told.
What the caller gets
- An answer on the first ring, at any hour
- A real time, from your real calendar, not "someone will call you back"
- A text confirming the day, time and address
- The same price and the same answers your best front-desk person would give
- The call in English and Spanish
What you get
- Jobs on your schedule with the address, the problem and what the caller already tried
- Fewer phone-tag call backs, because the caller already has a time
- Urgent calls sent straight to you instead of booked into a slot next week
- A summary of every call, including the ones that did not book, so you can see why
Questions to ask before you buy
- Does it write the appointment into my calendar, or does it send me a request?
- Does it only offer times that are actually free right now, including bookings my staff made by hand?
- Can it book a particular staff member, with that person's time for that service?
- What does the caller receive afterwards?
- What happens if my booking software isn't one it already works with, and what does connecting it cost?
- Can I tell it which jobs need my approval before they are booked?
Connecting your booking software
We connect to the calendar or booking app you already use, and confirm which one on your setup call. Connecting software we already support is included in your plan. Anything else is connected to order, from $500, and you know that cost before you start. You keep your software, your logins and your customer list.