24hrAssistant – Business Tips and Booking Appointments

Let me start by being honest – this blog entry is late. I intended to have this post done almost a week ago, but then life happened. We’ve all been there. We plan to clean out, for example, the garage, only to discover a friend is in from out of town and as such, we put off cleaning. Each of us goes about our daily routines and yet, we are consistently rearranging and prioritizing tasks on account of those little surprises life throws at us.

Now maybe it’s just me, but it seems that these little surprises find us a lot easier than they used to. Technology has positioned us in such a way, that we are now almost always connected and therefore ‘available’. It is now possible to reach out to someone in numerous ways, each method unique from the next.

Whether it’s email, instant messaging, or a simple call on a cell phone, people can now be reached with ease when ever and where ever they may be. You might be wondering where I’m going with all of this and it’s simple really – people are on the go a lot more than they used to be. With each incoming text or email the potential for an individual’s day to completely change increases. Thinking about it, the world runs at a faster pace these days and ultimately this can affect the way you run your business.

This change of pace will ripple. It affects how much time people have available and the best thing a business can do is evolve to accommodate. Instead of having everyone work around your schedule, calling during your hours, would it not be nice to allow people to work around theirs? Evolving your business is crucial in moving forward and that, I firmly believe, is a mentality that every business or even individual should strive to embrace – that no matter what, you keep moving forward.

What is social media? It’s a way for individuals to connect and interact online. It allows for you to keep up to date with Mike in London, or Beth in Calgary, or Bonnie in Texas. And why does it work? It works because people don’t trust traditional media methods anymore. We don’t believe the newspapers, or the news, or the big billboard ads. But, we do trust Mike, our Facebook friend, who recommends a Massage Therapist, Hair Salon or restaurant downtown. This is how it affects your business. What are people saying about you online? Each person who comes into to contact with your business is more powerful than the newspaper, because almost immediately they can voice their displeasure or their pleasant experience.

There are so many social media sites you might be overwhelmed where to start. My suggestion is to get started big players. Facebook, Twitter and Flickr.

Facebook has powerful ad placement campaigns, and with over half of Saskatoon’s population subscribed as a member you can’t go wrong. As an advertiser specify whom you wish to see your ad such as women from the ages of 18 – 24 who are engaged. Really where else can place your ad with such quality leads. And if you don’t have the budget, just start with promoting specials on a business page, and having your loyal customers spread the news.

Twitter is a microblog tool and it may be a new one for you. I would suggest interacting with the tool first. I encourage you to go to search.twitter.com and look up your company name. See what the results are and you may or may not find anything. Try searching something close to your industry or your cities name. I search the term online appointment scheduling, this way I can always be the first to let them know we are here to help and we might be a good fit for their company. Make an account and be the first to Twitter about your company. It’s free.

Here is a real life Twitter example, which I had in Victoria, B.C. earlier this year. My husband and I checked into our hotel at the Laurel Point. We decided we wanted to upgrade to the Erickson Wing. I was so excited about our fantastic room I sent out a tweet on Twitter from my phone that read, “Wow, I love our room in the Erickson Wing at Laurel Point.” Not even 10 minutes later I got a reply from the corporate Laurel Point account, “We are happy to hear you love your room. Let us know if you need anything else.” I could not believe it. Wow, they are on Twitter and they replied with a personal message. It was way more powerful than the tent card by the desk lamp saying we appreciate you staying with us.

Flickr is one of the largest photo-sharing sites. Make an account and post photos of your business location or products. I use it to search a place I’m interested in to see what the “real photos” look like. Again, I don’t even always trust a website, but I trust Mike’s real life photos. Tons of businesses place photos of their business or products.

In fact all these methods combined is how I booked our wedding in Banff last year. I selected everything from the cake, the photographer, the florist, to the reception location, to the salon based on what others said about it online. And if a company didn’t even have a website, they were not even an option. They missed out on revenue because they were not available through social media networks. And for the few minutes it takes — what do you have to lose.

Hey everyone its Jordy again and its now my 4th post. So I have spoke about how enjoyable the work atmosphere here at 24hrAssistant and zu are. Now I will get into the meat and potatoes of what makes my job enjoyable, you people I get to meet with day in and day out

Online appointment booking is a relatively new practice and the general nature of people is to not change what is working, “if it isn’t broke why fix it?” This can be a large hurdle for some people to leap and a small road bump for others. People’s reactions can range from anything of being downright rude all the way to pleasant but very hesitant. The rude people are not much fun to speak with, but pretty much everyone else is awesome.

Ok, so the first meeting is not necessarily the most fun, you caught me. But as you go developing relationships and having somebody who is hesitant use the Free Trial of 24hrAssistant that is fun. Then having 24hr make a world of difference for themselves and their business is extremely fun and rewarding. It is nice to know as well that if a customer does take a leap of faith and try 24hrAssistant, and for whatever reason it doesn’t necessarily work for them, they can stop at anytime and they are not out a whole whack of money or have any contract to pay out.

So for making my job as enjoyable as it is and for taking the time to listen to me, I say Thank you to all of you out there,

Jordy

Hi everybody, well its my 3^rd blog entry and hopefully they are becoming a little easier to read. So my opinion of zu and 24hrAssistant has come full circle in the short month I have spent here. At first I thought the world of them, now it’s the complete opposite, nah I’m just kidding. Everybody has been great and I actually could not be happier with the people around me or what I am doing. One thing we have had a lot of discussions about and will continue to discuss I’m sure is how to contact potential customers? We have all agreed that we need to be in the public eye with promotions, newsletters, speaking engagements, tradeshows, etc, but to a certain extent we must also contact people we think could use our product. I am going to pose the question to you out there what do you think? Should we:

Hi everyone! My name is Romeo and I’m a developer here at 24hrAssistant. I’ve been with the company for a while now and as such i have decided to push Katherine and Jordy to the side and make my presence known.

As a developer, I’m lazy. Now that may sound really bad to most of you, but anyone in the IT world can tell you its actually a good thing. Being lazy as a developer actually translates in to writing better code. How? Well it means we think of better ways to work. We’re lazy because doing so will help us avoid writing monotonous, repetitive code – thus avoiding redundancy, the enemy of software maintenance and flexible re-factoring (code rewriting). Mostly, the tools and processes that come out of this endeavor fired by laziness will speed up the production.

Now I’m sure some of you out there have heard of the KISS Principle. Its an acronym for “Keep It Simple, Stupid”. It is this principle that i adhere to in my life and not until recently did i realize to what extent. I’ve explained already how I’m lazy and therefore try to keep my code as simple as possible, but what i didn’t say was how that affects my life outside of work. As a developer, and a self declared geek, i am very fond of electronics (Laptops, iPhones, iPods, Mp3 Players, etc). That being said, i leverage them whenever i can. If I’m looking to try out a new restaurant i can use my phone and look up its menu and perhaps reviews. If I’m thinking of checking out a movie, i can look up show times and maybe even book my tickets. See where I’m going here? I can arrange a good portion of my day from the comfort of my chair. I’m keeping things simple for myself.

Some of you may be wondering what my point is. It’s easily this – who wouldn’t want to spend more time with their friends, family or even their dog! Who out there doesn’t want more time for themselves? An entire generation of people are growing up with online access. The internet is everywhere. Its on your phone, your computer, in the libraries and in your schools. What is funny is that maybe ten years ago, I would of been an exception. The times they are a changing.

In the background I hear the theme song to Jaws. DUN NAH DUN NAH… then the shriek… but really, is taking the plunge accepting online appointments that scary?

For some maybe it is; this is why I thought it would be good to address some of those concerns here. The fear of the unknown is really a lack of true understanding and education, once we understand we no longer are scared. Since I started the 24hrAssistant   these are some of the concerns we discuss everyday with customers.

1) What if my customer wants to use the phone?

I say, “ Too bad, no phone for you.” Of course I don’t say that, what I do say is, you still need a phone. We are here to give your customer an option and you more time. That’s it. Email didn’t replace the phone.

2) What if someone starts requesting bogus appointments?

Well, it’s possible. It’s also possible someone could call in and book fake appointments on the phone. How do you handle it? Really it is no different than the phone but an online method offers more options at a really low cost.

3) I don’t see the value in a website or online appointment scheduling.

Yes, the Internet is probably a fad.  No worries.

However, those of you who do see the value of having an online presence, well done. You get it and you are making the most of it. You know that having the freedom to update web content gives you way more opportunities than a yellow page ad.

4) Receptionist worried about losing their job.

Even though our online appointment scheduling system does a lot, it won’t greet your customers at the front door, nor sell them product, nor ask them if the would like a beverage. Again we are not here to replace anything or anyone, we are here to give you a hand.

Now I might be coming across as a bit hasty but my point is, any of those questions or fears are most likely limiting the growth of your company. Don’t be scared, ask questions and you might be impressed at the results you achieve.

Shout out to our latest online superstars:

SpasinMotion – Calgary, AB
Salon Fuzion – Saskatoon, SK
Deb E Ward Massage Therapy – Melville, SK

Hi again everybody, its Jordy for my 2^nd ever blog post. So its been 10 days since I started here at 24hrAssistant and with each day I get more and more excited about the industry of online appointment booking. I have now had the chance to speak to a few prospective clients and a few current clients, and with each one of these conversations I see how useful 24hrAssistant can be for each person. I truly do believe that online appointments are the way of the future and the innovative thinkers that lead the way with this, will reap the rewards.

Another thing that is really impressive that I have noticed with Katherine (Founder) is how she will do everything in her power to fulfill a clients needs without jeopardizing the quality of the program. This attitude is often what companies preach but never follow up on. Katherine instills this attitude on all of us by leading by example. So in the short 10 days I have been here, I have seen Katherine make or working on making a number changes to our site based upon people’s feedback. Based on the feedback of customers, just before I started Katherine added “Repeating” appointments, which some customers really wanted. Since I started I have seen a “Security Certificate” put in place, and now we are looking into having payment options our clients, clients.

So that being said if you are a current client, potential client, or just have an opinion that you would like to share with us, please do.

Jordy

www.24hrAssistant.com

jordy@24hrAssistant.com

(306) 986-1080

Hi everyone my name is Jordy Burrows and I am the newest member of the 24hrAssistant team. I will do my best to introduce myself in this blog post, and that way I will hopefully not be such a stranger.

Well first off, I am from Edmonton originally and I moved to Saskatoon to play football and go to school. I played football for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies for four years. I graduated from the College of Commerce, with a Major in Marketing. I have really enjoyed the last four years in Saskatoon, the people are nice and the city is beautiful.

I started here three days ago and have loved every minute of being here. I know that sounds a little cheesy, but honestly it is a breath of fresh air to be around people who are passionate about what they do. Now that being said, passion to many people is an excuse to be overbearing or even rude to each other. Here at 24hrAssistant and Zu it seems that everyone genuinely cares about their work, and is open for help or constructive criticism to make the end product better.

Anyways thanks for having a gander at my first ever blog post, I hope we get to meet in person.

Cheers,

Jordy