Online scheduling??

Kristopher1129

Kristopher1129

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Just curious if there's anybody out there who has looked into online scheduling. I've always kinda kept it old school and just bought my over sized calendars, and hand written my appointments. But, I hate this method because it doesn't save customers contact info for future use. I'd like to make my appointments online through a website so that I can access my schedule from anywhere.

One company I've briefly tried out was Vazing.com. You can kind of customize your own schedule. But, it's a little too in depth for what I want to do I think.

Apparently Vazing.com is not ServiceCeo.com...just found that out.
So, I'm just kind of curious how you guys do your scheduling. What do you use for scheduling. I'd really like to start using an online database, makes things easier for me. Any info is much appreciated. Thanks! Im the MAN
 
Since I don't have a website I'm not familiar too much with online scheduling, but what I do is use my smart phone calendar for appointments and save all my customer's as contacts. This way I have their info saved. I also try to capture email addresses if I can to do little promotions for my returning customers.
 
I've got a dry erase board that I write on for scheduling. I use Access for my database and have a business card leather holder/binder that I keep in the truck - came in handy today. I have many customers that want/need me to call them to remind them that they need their vehicles done lol..... so the card holder and a pad and paper work for me on the go. OH Yeah, and I occasionally use the back of the kids coloring book pages cause I have to write down something fast lol!
 
Welcome back Jay!

I had a GoTo Meeting type of walk through for this site today. It's ServiceCeo.com. You can really create a cool setup for your business. You can add in all your prices, packages, services, etc. It basically lays out your week days, and you just add appointments in. I'm heavily leaning towards going with this.

My old school over sized calendar really sucks cause a lot of times I answer my phone at home, or away from the shop. I end up putting appointments in my phone, and forgetting to transfer them to the calendar. Not only that, with mobile being added...I'm gonna need two calendars.

With this website I can seperate shop work, from the mobile. Another thing, that is really bad ass. Is that under the mobile calendar, it will lay out on a map all the locations of our upcoming customers. It uses mapquest so you can have directions right away through that same site. It also does invoices, reciepts, reminder emails...its crazy.

The downside. Is that it costs $99 a month to use the service. That really kinda turned me off. But, I really wanna use it. I like the idea cause it just does all the #### work for me. It will collect customers names, addresses, email, etc. So when someone makes an appointment...I instantly get all their info at the same time. It also gives you reports. Like yearly totals, what packages and services sell the most, etc. Pretty cool, and would be a good step forward. What do you guys think?
 
Kristopher1129 said:
Welcome back Jay!

I had a GoTo Meeting type of walk through for this site today. It's ServiceCeo.com. You can really create a cool setup for your business. You can add in all your prices, packages, services, etc. It basically lays out your week days, and you just add appointments in. I'm heavily leaning towards going with this.

My old school over sized calendar really sucks cause a lot of times I answer my phone at home, or away from the shop. I end up putting appointments in my phone, and forgetting to transfer them to the calendar. Not only that, with mobile being added...I'm gonna need two calendars.

With this website I can seperate shop work, from the mobile. Another thing, that is really bad ass. Is that under the mobile calendar, it will lay out on a map all the locations of our upcoming customers. It uses mapquest so you can have directions right away through that same site. It also does invoices, reciepts, reminder emails...its crazy.

The downside. Is that it costs $99 a month to use the service. That really kinda turned me off. But, I really wanna use it. I like the idea cause it just does all the #### work for me. It will collect customers names, addresses, email, etc. So when someone makes an appointment...I instantly get all their info at the same time. It also gives you reports. Like yearly totals, what packages and services sell the most, etc. Pretty cool, and would be a good step forward. What do you guys think?
Click to expand...


That sounds really good man.... $99 a month is cheaper than paying a secretary $1600 a month! Gonna have to check into this myself.
 
It's funny you say that. Cause that was pretty much my thinking as well. I really feel like this year I might need someone to step in and keep things in order, and answer the phones during peak hours. I thought this would be a pretty cool alternative.

I would still have to answer phones, and take appointments...but at least it would all be already organized, and filed for me. Plus I can access my schedule anywhere there's a computer.

Another thing, was that I wanted to buy a little mini laptop for the mobile van, get one of those wifi cards...and then my mobile guys can access the schedule as well. They would have to approve through me for the appointment, but at least they could tell a customer our possible availability on the spot.

I'm still looking around, hoping to maybe find something similar for cheaper, or maybe even free! But, I don't think I'll find something this in depth.

If you wanna check it out Anthony, just call the number and be at your computer. They'll take you right into the program and show you everything through your monitor. It's absolutely worth looking at. :dblthumb2:
 
Kristopher1129 said:
It's funny you say that. Cause that was pretty much my thinking as well. I really feel like this year I might need someone to step in and keep things in order, and answer the phones during peak hours. I thought this would be a pretty cool alternative.

I would still have to answer phones, and take appointments...but at least it would all be already organized, and filed for me. Plus I can access my schedule anywhere there's a computer.

Another thing, was that I wanted to buy a little mini laptop for the mobile van, get one of those wifi cards...and then my mobile guys can access the schedule as well. They would have to approve through me for the appointment, but at least they could tell a customer our possible availability on the spot.

I'm still looking around, hoping to maybe find something similar for cheaper, or maybe even free! But, I don't think I'll find something this in depth.

If you wanna check it out Anthony, just call the number and be at your computer. They'll take you right into the program and show you everything through your monitor. It's absolutely worth looking at. :dblthumb2:
Click to expand...

Yeah, will do man - being unorganized will end any business quick - I saw happen it in a lot of movies!
 
Just stumbled across something. Google Calendar...$50 a year!! I think this may be more up my alley right now. Anybody ever try this out for their appointments?
 
Kristopher1129 said:
Just stumbled across something. Google Calendar...$50 a year!! I think this may be more up my alley right now. Anybody ever try this out for their appointments?
Click to expand...

That sounds a bit easier on the wallet - does it have nearly the amount of whistles that the 99 a month has? Always hard to look at the best first!
 

Kristopher1129 said:
I've always kinda kept it old school and just bought my over sized calendars, and hand written my appointments. But, I hate this method because it doesn't save customers contact info for future use. I'd like to make my appointments online through a website so that I can access my schedule from anywhere.
Click to expand...


Just store your info on a laptop computer with a database or spreadsheet. It won't cost anything.





 
Kristopher1129 said:
Just stumbled across something. Google Calendar...$50 a year!! I think this may be more up my alley right now. Anybody ever try this out for their appointments?
Click to expand...

Sounds more reasonable than the $99 a month one, but as Anthony asked does it have all the bells and whistles that the other has? If it does it sounds like you might have found your solution! Keep us posted!

And thanks for the welcome back. Unfortunately, I'm not happy about being back. Much rather be sitting on a beach in the Caribbean!
 
It definitely doesn't have all the bells and whistles. I tried out the free trial. It's no good. It won't collect customer contact info. So, that's out!

The one I'm really into right now, is Genbook.com. This might be the one I go with. It's only $20 a month, $40 at the most (if you want multiple staff member calendars). I like the layout. It's simple, and collects customer contacts. I'm still gonna look around later on. But I've checked out at least 20 different sites/programs...and this one seems to suit me best, and be a lot cheaper than the first one. :xyxthumbs:

As for laying out all my appointments on a spreadsheet, that won't collect any information for me. That's really no different than writing it on paper. Plus, it's not website based...so I can't access my calendar, and info on any computer. I really want that feature!
 
Yeah being able to access it from any computer sounds like an added benefit that you might need when you get the mobile rig up and running.

I'm not going to be investing anything like this soon, but I'd like to know what you do end up settling on.

Right now my smart phone does the job, but if and when I take this to a full time gig I'll be looking for different options.

Good luck!
 
SeaJay's said:
Yeah being able to access it from any computer sounds like an added benefit that you might need when you get the mobile rig up and running.

I'm not going to be investing anything like this soon, but I'd like to know what you do end up settling on.

Right now my smart phone does the job, but if and when I take this to a full time gig I'll be looking for different options.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've just always hand written on my calendar. But now, I really don't wanna sit here with two big calendars, ha. So, this is a must for me this year. I really like the GenBook.com site. The only thing I don't completely care for is that they split every day up into 1 hour increments. I just want to input appointments in my own order. But either way, for the price...it's much more worth it than ServiceCeo.com. They are way too pricey.

I really don't wanna drop $1200 a year on scheduling. Yeah, they offer a lot more than just scheduling...but, I don't think it's worth THAT kind of money. Plus, all those extra features are great...but I won't even have the time to mess around with them. So, it's kinda pointless. If I had a secretary, who could sit there and send out reminders, make calls, collect customer info, and deal with walk ins, etc. Then maybe that site would be good, cause she could use all the extra stuff. But for just me...no good.

To be continued, ha. I'm gonna mess around with genbook.com tonight and start entering some appointments in, and see how I like it. I'll keep ya posted! Im the MAN
 
Alright. The winner is! (drum roll)....

GenBook.com!! I've been making my appointments using this site for a couple days now. I really like it. I do wish there was a better monthly view...as I don't care for week to week. But other than that, it works pretty good. They even let you pre-setup all your services, packages, etc. So that way you can just grab whatever info you want to store from the customer...then drag and click the appropiate service. They also leave you a little section to edit a memo. I like that option, cause I can add paint sealant, or engine cleaning etc. into the memo. That way I don't forget.

The two downfalls so far for me, are the lack of a monthly view. I also don't like that you can't add multiple services. But, maybe you can...and I just haven't figured it out yet. I don't think you can though. It would be nice to just click "Silver package", then add "paint sealant" or something of that nature. But whatever, It's definitely gonna make my life easier by having my schedule web site based.

Only thing is...I haven't figured out how I'm gonna work mobile into this. I think I'm gonna call and see if they could possibly customize some parts of my calendar.

But, there ya go. Just figured I'd share what I'll be using. I looked at quite a few options...this one just seemed right. Plus, it's $20 a month. I know you're probably thinking it's dumb to pay for a calendar...but having access to my calendar from any computer is very helpful. Not only that, it's going to automatically collect all my customer info (which Google Calendar does not). Plus, if ever came the day I decided to sell my business...I have more than enough proof of my customer base. Boo yah!! :dblthumb2:
 
Kristopher1129 said:
Alright. The winner is! (drum roll)....

GenBook.com!! I've been making my appointments using this site for a couple days now. I really like it. I do wish there was a better monthly view...as I don't care for week to week. But other than that, it works pretty good. They even let you pre-setup all your services, packages, etc. So that way you can just grab whatever info you want to store from the customer...then drag and click the appropiate service. They also leave you a little section to edit a memo. I like that option, cause I can add paint sealant, or engine cleaning etc. into the memo. That way I don't forget.

The two downfalls so far for me, are the lack of a monthly view. I also don't like that you can't add multiple services. But, maybe you can...and I just haven't figured it out yet. I don't think you can though. It would be nice to just click "Silver package", then add "paint sealant" or something of that nature. But whatever, It's definitely gonna make my life easier by having my schedule web site based.

Only thing is...I haven't figured out how I'm gonna work mobile into this. I think I'm gonna call and see if they could possibly customize some parts of my calendar.

But, there ya go. Just figured I'd share what I'll be using. I looked at quite a few options...this one just seemed right. Plus, it's $20 a month. I know you're probably thinking it's dumb to pay for a calendar...but having access to my calendar from any computer is very helpful. Not only that, it's going to automatically collect all my customer info. Plus, if ever came the day I decided to sell my business...I have more than enough proof of my customer base. Boo yah!! :dblthumb2:
Click to expand...

So this is a lot better than the Google Calender?
 
Glad you found something that works for you. Let's see how you feel about in a month or so after you've really got a handle for it.

I may look into something like this in the future if I end up taking this full time. Right now I'm able to manage everything on my phone with no issues so far.
 
B&B Tennessee said:
So this is a lot better than the Google Calender?
Click to expand...

I think it is by far. I tried to make things work with Google calendar cause it's only $50 a year. But it just sucks for a business like ours. It doesn't take customer contact info. That's a deal breaker for me. I thought there might be some customer app that would work with google calendar...but there's nothing. Not only that, you can't setup your services, packages, etc. for a quick drop and click. AND, being that you can't save contacts...every time a repeat customer comes in, you're asking for their info every time.

With genbook, when a customer is already in the system...as soon as you start typing their name, it pops up like in a previously typed google search. Then, once you click their name...it imports all their info automatically. Then you just click their package, confirm their number and email are the same...and move on. Done. It's pretty cool. You should check it out man..I think you'd really like it.

And oh yeah! It is integrated with the Iphone...which Verizon has now! So you can bet your ass I'll be making appointments for people on the spot with my phone. I don't know how many times I've got the talkin with somebody and they wanted to make an appointment and I didn't have my calendar. So instead of making the appointment...I just gave them my card and said call during business hours. Then guess what? They didn't call! Customer gone! That won't happen anymore :xyxthumbs:

SeaJay's said:
Glad you found something that works for you. Let's see how you feel about in a month or so after you've really got a handle for it.

I may look into something like this in the future if I end up taking this full time. Right now I'm able to manage everything on my phone with no issues so far.
Click to expand...

Jay, I was kinda thinking of you when I typed that above rant as well, ha. But yeah, I like it a lot so far. The iphone integration was what REALLY got my attention. That brings what I wanted to do, to a whole new level. Now not only can I get my calendar on any computer...but my phone as well. That's HUGE for me. I'm a talker...if you couldn't tell, ha. I get people wanting my services all the time. Now I can say...well, got my calendar right here, wanna come in on saturday?

If that ain't professional...I don't know what is! Im the MAN

P.S. another thing I just thought of too. I know the iphone has a credit card merchant app. I will definitely be buying the credit swipe plug in attachment. Cause I sell my gift certificates right online, and they can be emailed for the customer to print them out. When I'm at the bars...I'll get some drunk bastards to buy a gift certificate. By the time they realize what they did...it will be too late! But, it's ok...cause their cars are prolly dirty anyways! haha
 
Microsoft Business Contact Manager is another option. It integrates well into Microsoft Outlook.
 
Kristopher1129 said:
I think it is by far. I tried to make things work with Google calendar cause it's only $50 a year. But it just sucks for a business like ours. It doesn't take customer contact info. That's a deal breaker for me. I thought there might be some customer app that would work with google calendar...but there's nothing. Not only that, you can't setup your services, packages, etc. for a quick drop and click. AND, being that you can't save contacts...every time a repeat customer comes in, you're asking for their info every time.

With genbook, when a customer is already in the system...as soon as you start typing their name, it pops up like in a previously typed google search. Then, once you click their name...it imports all their info automatically. Then you just click their package, confirm their number and email are the same...and move on. Done. It's pretty cool. You should check it out man..I think you'd really like it.

And oh yeah! It is integrated with the Iphone...which Verizon has now! So you can bet your ass I'll be making appointments for people on the spot with my phone. I don't know how many times I've got the talkin with somebody and they wanted to make an appointment and I didn't have my calendar. So instead of making the appointment...I just gave them my card and said call during business hours. Then guess what? They didn't call! Customer gone! That won't happen anymore :xyxthumbs:



Jay, I was kinda thinking of you when I typed that above rant as well, ha. But yeah, I like it a lot so far. The iphone integration was what REALLY got my attention. That brings what I wanted to do, to a whole new level. Now not only can I get my calendar on any computer...but my phone as well. That's HUGE for me. I'm a talker...if you couldn't tell, ha. I get people wanting my services all the time. Now I can say...well, got my calendar right here, wanna come in on saturday?

If that ain't professional...I don't know what is! Im the MAN

P.S. another thing I just thought of too. I know the iphone has a credit card merchant app. I will definitely be buying the credit swipe plug in attachment. Cause I sell my gift certificates right online, and they can be emailed for the customer to print them out. When I'm at the bars...I'll get some drunk bastards to buy a gift certificate. By the time they realize what they did...it will be too late! But, it's ok...cause their cars are prolly dirty anyways! haha
Click to expand...

Did you sell alot of gift certificates last year? I sold one lol - but then again I was brand new - how many did you dish out if you don't mind me asking? Im dreading when this guy calls me about his certificate lol!
 
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