Appointments Are a Key Business Investment in the Experience Economy

Businesses already recognized the importance of appointments as an experience driver for customers and prospects before the pandemic.

Once the pandemic hit, however, the need and desire for appointments accelerated, and companies now see the ability to pre-book or schedule meetings as an integral part of providing personalized service to consumers. John Federman, CEO of JRNI, tapped Cimarron Buser, Founder & CEO of TASBIA (The Appointment Scheduling & Booking Industry Association) to share his insights about these increasing needs.

In working for an appointment and scheduling provider, Buser saw the need to educate companies on the value appointments could bring to their businesses, which led him to start TASBIA.

“I started the association last year with a two-fold mission,” Buser said. “First, to help appointment scheduling, booking, queuing and other similar technology providers that have common challenges, including trying to get access to industry information and trying to understand customer behavior. And, secondly, to promote the use of appointment scheduling to anyone interested. This is primarily business customers.”

Federman said that one of the trends he saw during the pandemic was the role of appointments transforming from a nice-to-have to a must-have for organizations in many industries. The usage of appointment features offered by companies also skyrocketed during this time.

“We’ve seen one top-10 U.S. bank increase their appointment volume by about 2,200%,” Federman said.

They went from 7,000 monthly appointments to 300,000 last month.

As the need for appointments increases, so does the efficiency. Businesses now strive to make the appointment experience as value-oriented for both sides as possible.

“Companies create a customer journey on the front end that asks a lot of questions, so that, when that appointment happens, the associate has all the information in hand,” Federman said. “That appointment is productive, it’s personal, it’s relevant and it delivers an experience that keeps people coming back.”

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