03.23.2020

Managing Your Business During Lockdown - Checklist

Business Tips
Covid-19
Feature Focus

During these unprecedented times, it's wise to try and stay as calm as possible - although we appreciate this is easier said than done. Salons, barbershops, spas, gyms and more are starting to close their doors to make sure people are staying safe at home. But even though your shop may be closed, you’re still in business. To restore even just a little peace of mind, we've put together a 'checklist' to help make sure you're fully prepared for a lockdown scenario.

Whether you’re managing a staff of ten or renting your own chair—now’s the time to encourage customers to book future appointments and schedule services for when you’re open. People want to support small and local businesses during this time, and your clients are no exception. All you need to do is communicate with your clients about how they can support your business.

Here’s a few ways to help you encourage customers to fill your calendar, so that you can keep generating income, even though your salon or shop may be closed for a short period.

Prepare

1. Cancel Current Appointments

An appointment on the Booksy app can be cancelled within a few clicks. All you'd need to do is, click on the appointment, select cancel and then choose whether you want to send a cancellation confirmation to the customer. Check out our quick how-to video run through to show you exactly how to do this, below.

2. Blocking Out Your Calendar

Consider blocking out your calendar whilst your business is temporarily closed, so no customer appointments can be made during this time. Booksy provides a fast and simple way of being able to stop bookings from being made. On either an android device or a PC (if you don't have access to either of these, you can do this on the Booksy website), open the "Business Profile" section and then select "Work Schedule". Within Work Schedule select "add time off", choose whether just for one staff member or the whole business and then finally choose the duration that you wish to close for. Watch our video below for a quick run through on how to block out time.

3. Update Your Calendar Settings

One of the benefits of Booksy is that your customers can schedule appointments up to 24 months in advance depending on your account settings.

Take these steps to adjust the time frame for future bookings:

Open your Booksy app profile and select “Settings” and then click “Booking Settings.”
Select “Booking for Future.”
Select how far in advance clients are able to schedule an appointment. We recommend you allow bookings to be made at least 3-6 months in advance during this time.

4. Turn Off Any Automated Marketing

If you've previously set up automated marketing campaigns such as the popular "It's time for your next appointment" you should consider disabling those while your business is closed. To do this,

Go to MORE > Marketing > Message Blast
On the Biz App - Use the 3 dots in the top right corner to manage your templates
On the Web version you can go to add or manage your templates
Scroll to any templates that you've set up to automatically send marked by the orange "Send Automatically" badge
Tap the template and change "Automated Campaign" to "No"
Tap Save

Don't forget to turn them on again once you're shop is open, if you've never set up automated campaigns before now can be the perfect time to create an automated marketing campaign to help hit the ground running once your business is open. Our team is here to advise you on campaigns that have proven to work well for other business' in your industry.

Communicate

5. Keeping Your Client Database Up To Date

Take away the trouble of getting back into the swing of things by staying in touch with your clients. Make sure you have up-to-date emails and phone numbers for all of your clients. Organise and store your client contact details in Booksy so it is easy for you to keep up with. Storing contact details in Booksy will also make it easy for you to send updates out to your entire client base.

This small step will help your business return to its normal operations more quickly once you reopen. And that could minimise the number of empty slots that you have the first week or two after you start working with clients again.

And do keep in mind that developments are being made all the time. A quick email or text blast will help comfort and reassure your clients.

6. Closure Sign On Shop Window

Many customers may not see your closure notice on your social media. Make sure you reach everyone with a notice on your shop window. We have put together some closure sign templates for you to use and encourage your clients (existing and new!) to download the Booksy app to keep fully up to date with your business. You can find these here.

7. Stay Social, Whilst Socially Distancing

Take advantage of our Social Post Creator and Message Blast features to keep in contact with all of your clients during your temporary closure. They'll want to keep up to date with how you are, when you know you're likely to re-open and whether you're taking future bookings for when normal service resumes.

Social Post Creator

Use our Social Post Creator to keep your clients up to date as to when you're temporarily closing. Our Social Post Creator will share your custom Booksy URL so your customers can still browse your services for future appointments. See how the Booksy UK community are currently using Social Media to keep in touch with their clients.

Message Blasts

In the Marketing section of your Booksy Biz app, you'll find Message Blasts. Use SMS, Push Notification or Email to communicate to your clients with all your Covid-19 related updates, whether that's closures, future booking availability, offers available for services once reopened and more. We've installed several Covid-19 templates within the app, but you're also able to fully customise these to suit them to your current business situation. Take a look at some of the examples from the Booksy UK community here.

8. Set up Facebook Autoresponders

You'll inevitably receive many messages during your temporary closure from genuinely interested customers. To give yourself peace of mind, we'd advise setting up an Autoresponder on Facebook with a link to your Booksy profile, and explaining when you'll be taking future appointments from, and if you're offering any discounts for services booked during your closure.

For a quick how-to on how to set a Facebook Autoresponder up for your business, watch our video guide below.

Building Revenue & Peace of Mind

9. Use Prepayments to generate revenue upfront.

Use Booksy to offer prepayments. This tool lets you charge for appointments upfront, which lets you generate some revenue even while your shop is closed. Let your clients know they can support you through this time by booking and paying for an appointment in advance.

Take the following three steps to set up a prepayment in the Booksy app:

Log into the Booksy Biz app.
Select “Settings,” which is listed on the main menu (on the left side of the screen).
Then select “Cancellation Fee & Prepayments.”
Select “Strict policy – Prepayment.”
Select the % of the service that you would like to charge as an upfront payment (you can choose to apply it to all services).

If you’re not currently using Mobile Payments, you can set them up yourself in under 5 minutes by opening your Booksy Biz app and heading to Mobile Payments. After set up, you’ll be automatically promoted to turn on Prepayments.

10. Advertise a Package

Let customers buy a package of services or sessions with you, upfront. Selling packages is another way to generate upfront revenue even if your business is closed. Clients can purchase a package now and then redeem the services at a later date when your shop reopens. It's also a great way to shine a spotlight on certain services - perhaps your most popular service to get customers back through the door with ease when you reopen. To create a package, follow these few steps:

Log-into your profile at https://booksy.com/biz/en-gb/.
Select “Business Profile” listed on the main menu, and then click “Packages,” to sell a bundle of services for a specific price.
To sell a Package, a template for the Package must be created. When creating a new Package Template, you must specify the Name, Description, Validity (length of time it will be valid) and Price (the price your customer will pay).
Your Package Templates are available for purchase in the Sales section of Booksy.

11. Start Selling eGift Cards

People love supporting their local shops and neighborhood businesses. Let them show their support and appreciation for your hard work and excellent craftsmanship through eGift Cards.

Remember that customers will pay for the e-Gift Card upfront, which is another great way to bring in some extra cash. Simply follow these quick steps to set up eGift Cards today:

Head to https://booksy.com/biz/en-gb/ and enter your email and password to log-in.
Select “Business Profile” listed on the main menu (on the left side of your screen), and then click “e-Gift Cards,” which lets you set up an e-Gift Card template.
To sell an e-Gift Card, a template must be created. Specify the Name, Description, Validity (length of time it will be valid), Price (the price your customer will pay), and Value (the amount the e-Gift Card is worth).
Head to the Sales section (also located on the left side of your computer screen) to sell an e-Gift Card. Click “e-Gift Cards” and then select the e-Gift Card template you created.

Keep in mind that clients won’t be able to purchase the eGift Cards on their own. Instead, ask clients to contact you directly if they are interested in purchasing an eGift Card. You can complete the eGift Card purchase in the Sales section of Booksy.

12. Sell Products Online with E-Commerce

Seamlessly sell your own products, add upsell from your services and encourage customer loyalty with Booksy’s E-Commerce feature. Simply connect your online shop to your Booksy profile, making it easy for your customers to purchase your products and support your business whilst closed. Find out more here.

13. Use Online Services

Take your business to a whole new world… the digital world, with Booksy Online Services. Reach new audiences, build your online brand and generate revenue, even when your storefront is ‘closed’. Booksy Online Services allows you to host your services remotely via Zoom, with a simple, no-fuss set-up, just the usual booking method your clients know and love.

We’ve seen businesses from every industry on Booksy take some of their services online from Yoga and PT classes, to hair consultations and tutorials! Whether it’s education, language skills, nail art, music, you name it - here’s your new classroom. Find out more at booksy.info/onlineservices

12. Keep Up to Date

It's important that you keep up to date with official government advice at this time. We would strongly recommend that you take note of regular releases from the World Health Organisation - (WHO) and the UK Government.

We also will be regularly updating Booksy.info/BooksySupport with the top line from these news releases and how they might affect your business, so please do feel free to bookmark this page.

Keep In Touch

We're honoured to have you as a part of the Booksy family. Please do stay in touch with us on Social Media (Instagram, Facebook, Youtube) and at Booksy.info/BooksySupport to keep up to date with all the tips, support, help guides from your Booksy UK team.

Don't forget you can also reach out to our Customer Success Specialists on 01323 700057 and on our help chat within the Booksy Biz app - booksy.info/helpchat. Please do allow extra time for responses, as we're experiencing incredibly high request levels during this time, but our team will do their utmost to help you in a timely manner.