Zoho Bookings is appointment scheduling software that streamlines your scheduling workflow. But with Zoho Flow, it becomes a growth accelerator.
In this article, we'll use Zoho Bookings and Zoho Flow to build repeat customers and accelerate revenue through automation.
As we know, repeat customers are vital pillars of every successful business. This is because they:
Bring in sustained revenue, serve as concrete proof of customer satisfaction, and have an increased lifetime value at lower or negligible marketing spends.
Trust you, advocate for you, and help you outlast tough times.
Recurring revenue stabilizes your business and allows expansion opportunities.
We'll create repeat customers through continuous email and text communication, extending beyond their initial visit. This way, we establish a rapport, educate them on how we can provide value, and win their trust.
But first, let's address the elephant in the room.
Why integrate Zoho Bookings with Zoho Flow?
There are a multitude of tools on the market, so why did we choose Zoho Flow?
Here are a few reasons:
Seamless integration: Integrate with any third-party or other Zoho apps with ease.
Ditch the manual work: Opting for text and email campaign tools means you'll have to go through a number of steps: importing customer data from Zoho Bookings, creating campaigns, developing content, and sending it all out. Phew! And it's not easy to keep up with this for the long term when you have an overwhelming amount of other work to do. With Zoho Flow, set it up once and the flow takes care of itself.
Personalize your emails: Tailor emails with the customer's last appointment data to encourage brand recall and provide a customized experience.
Deliver emails at the right time: Send automated emails at regular intervals from the date of appointment. For example, you could send a follow-up email 10 days from the customer's last appointment. Email marketing tools don't allow you to do that.
Easily detect and resolve issues: Zoho Flow's built-in flow history logs help you pinpoint issues for quicker resolution.
Deconstruct complexity with ease: Consider setting up the following process: Send a text three days after the appointment to thank customers and an email 10 days later to promote your services. You'd need to juggle multiple apps and set different campaigns just to achieve this. With Zoho Flow, it's simple to build complex flows in a single dashboard.
Now let's explore the major functions that we'll be using in Zoho Flow.
Working with Zoho Bookings and Zoho Flow
The three major functions that we're using to automate our process are:
Decision: Helps you segment the flow in multiple ways depending on predefined conditions. For example, if the service name is "Dental appointment," flow A is triggered. If not, flow B is triggered.
Delay: Imposes a waiting period and restricts the subsequent task from happening until the set duration. For example, if the delay is set to 10 days, the next task will be deferred for 10 days.
Send Email: Sends an email to the corresponding email address.
We'll see these functions in action in the following sections.
Here are a few use cases to build repeat customers based on your intent:
Periodic customer check-ins
Service promotions
Seasonal promotions
Industry insights digest
Note: For maximum efficacy, we recommend that you use premium versions of the suggested tools.
Automating customer follow-up and service promotions by integrating Zoho Bookings with Zoho Flow
Touching base with your customers goes a long way when it comes to striking the right chord with them.
Here's an overview of how things work:
Here's how different industries can take advantage of this flow:
Hospitals and dental clinics can send periodic check up reminders every six months to their patients.
Automobile servicing workshops can inform customers that they're due for a vehicle service.
Freelance tutors can connect with their students, reassuring them of their availability for assistance.
In the following video, we'll see the Zoho Flow functions in action:
Here's a sample email template that you can emulate:
Since your customers are satisfied with your offerings, use the same method to promote your other services. Replace the customer follow-up email with a service promotion email and you're good to go!
Here's a sample service promotion template that you can refer to:
Using Zoho Flow to automate seasonal promotions and industry digests
Stay in touch with your customers by sending out greetings or seasonal promotions in the form of special offers.
You can thank them, or wish them well during holidays and birthdays.
Check out the following video to see how we can automate the sending of seasonal greetings to customers using Zoho Flow.
The following template is a sample of a seasonal promotion email:
Similarly, you can replace the above email with an industry insights digest that covers the crucial updates from your industry.
Here's a sample email template for your reference:
Other applications
The following use cases are extended capabilities of building repeat customers using several Zoho apps (other than Bookings and Flow). Feel free to experiment with these ideas as well.
If you have a higher marketing budget and a sufficient bandwidth, you can send memories of previous visits and an online voucher to high-value customers. This improves brand recall, gives a memorable customer experience, and makes your business stand out.
Make these high-value customers part of loyalty programs based on previous volume of the business and interactions.
Integrate with SMS provider tools and send automated SMS messages to your customers using Zoho Flow.
We've explored various ways to communicate with our customers and build a stream of recurring revenue through automation.
If you wish to learn more ways to pack your outgoing notifications with value before an appointment, check out this article: Making the most of email notifications in Zoho Bookings.
If you wish to design these templates yourself, check out our guide on customizing email templates.
If you have any queries, you can always email us at hello@zohobookings.com, or drop your questions in the comments. We'll be happy to help you out!
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