An online booking software is one of the most useful tools your small business can acquire in order to not just keep track of appointments but also develop your business in a steady manner. But you have to make sure the solution is up to high standards and can actually bring you benefit. A free online scheduling tool can seem great for small businesses with a limited budget but its downsides can end up costing you more than the paid tool. In this blog post we will discuss the disadvantages a free online tool has. Let’s get into the subject.
Insecure Connection
An online booking software requires certain personal data of your customers when they book an appointment online. If you offer online payments to clients, too, then it asks for their credit card information as well. Once it does, you become responsible for that data and need to make sure it’s protected as well as possible. A free online scheduling tool usually cannot afford to keep their software highly secure. Thus, your clients’ data may get compromised and stolen. This can cost you a lot more than any online booking subscription.
The only way you can avoid the risk of a breakage is if you decide to purchase an online scheduling software plan that takes security very seriously.
Cheap-Looking Tool
A free online scheduling tool relies on ads from third-parties to earn money. It displays the ads on the widget and tarnishes the look of your website. Customers perceive blunt ads as something a trustworthy company wouldn’t do. And brand image is extremely important as many people nowadays tend to judge by looks first and harshly. Some potential clients might not even begin to consider using your service because of your website not looking clean. Make sure your webpage is perfectly balanced and everything is in its right place.
No Insights
One of the biggest advantages of a good online scheduling software is its monthly report feature. It provides you with valuable information on how your business is currently doing in terms of bookings. The analysis of this data can tell you who your most loyal customers are, what your most and least popular services are and so on. You can use it for targeted marketing or for creating offers in order to drive traffic.
A free online scheduling tool usually does not come with such features, which means that it cannot help you with identifying your small business’ problems. You will have to find other ways to do so and the two most practical ones – analyzing yourself or getting a special app – will cost you either your time or your money.
This concludes the 3 dangers of a free online scheduling tool we think are the most significant. Before you decide on which software to implement in your everyday business strategy take those into account. A free tool might be tempting but it can actually end up costing you more money than any paid subscription, not to mention its ineffectiveness in many aspects.