4 reasons why to offer online booking for your veterinary clients

How online booking fits to veterinary services? Clients want to be in direct contact with us – online booking would not work for veterinary practice. Clients would not know how and what to book if online booking was available for veterinary practice. The practice needs to know why the client books the time to set the correct time for appointment. Does it sound familiar? We heard these reasons from many Finnish veterinary practices more than 5 years ago. It was in the early times, when online booking was first offered for the Provet Veterinary software. Still, some brave veterinarians wanted to try online booking. Today, it is more rule than exception that veterinary clinics in Finland offer online booking. The appointment bookings are done online in about 15% to 50 % of all bookings of a practice. Why is it so? 1. Service for the clients Veterinary practices have often busy phone lines. It may be difficult to reach the practice to book appointment. Online booking offers an 24/7 alternative for the phone booking. For single vet it offers possibility to concentrate on patient and not answer the phone during the treatment. 2. Availability for booking any time People are busy. It may not be possible to call the veterinary practice during the opening hours. Online booking offers convenient alternative to book time when it best suits the client. 3. Saving time in the practice Online bookings reduce the workload of the reception desk and enable them to better serve the clients in the practice without interruptions. 4. Financial impact Online booking releases your workforce to do things which create more value to the client. When planned well, the process of online booking appointments may be used to better even out the workload at the practice, for example by offering discounts for the online bookings for the off-the-peak hours. Online booking may also increase the total number of clients. And help to keep the client who did not reach you over the phone.