Every “call to book” is a customer who has to catch you at the right moment. Online booking lets them book at 11 PM, on their phone, without the phone tag. A deposit at booking means they show up. Here's how it works, and the choice you have between renting a booking tool and owning one.
The parts of a booking system
- Availability. What can actually be booked: time slots, days, rental inventory or crew capacity, with buffers between jobs and dates you're closed.
- The booking itself. The customer picks what and when, and gives you the details you need.
- A deposit or payment. Taken by card at booking, through a payment processor, into your account.
- Confirmation and reminders, sent from your own domain with everything the customer needs to know.
- Your calendar. The booking lands where you already plan your day.
- Changes and refunds. Rescheduling, cancellations and refunds that follow your rules.
How a deposit works
The customer enters their card into the payment processor's own secure form; your website never sees the card number. The processor charges the deposit and sends the money to your account, minus its normal card fee. If you refund, the refund goes back through the same processor. A good system records all of it against the booking, so you always know who has paid what.
Keep your deposit and cancellation terms clear and visible before the customer pays. That's both fairer and fewer arguments later.
Renting a booking app vs. owning your booking
- A booking app is quick to start and fine for many businesses. You'll typically pay a monthly fee, sometimes a cut of each booking, and your customers book on the app's page under its rules.
- Booking on your own site costs more up front. It fits your exact rules, keeps the customer on your site and in your records, and avoids per-booking fees. It's worth it when your rules don't fit an app or the fees keep growing.
- Connecting the two is often a good middle step: keep the app you use, built into your website so it feels like one experience.
Two real examples
Rentals with checkout. Pierpoint Events offers 43 rentals online, with day rates, checkout by card and South Carolina and county sales tax worked out from the address, through the payment account the business already had. See the case study.
A first call, booked online. Your Therapy Works, a counseling practice in Myrtle Beach, shows the next open time right on the first screen, so someone can book a first call late at night without having to talk to anyone first, with a phone number for anyone who'd rather call. See the case study.
Written by Nikita Huttenlocher, founder and lead engineer at Huttenlocher Technologies, a web design and software company in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.