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Sometimes it’s easy to ask a client to share their experience and feedback for the promise of exposure. However, most of our enterprise clients don’t need that kind of exposure, and neither do they want it. So it puts us in something of a bind when trying to illustrate how our enterprise solution works to support the scheduling and management of a larger company.
Every enterprise client we have, unless we’re explicitly advised otherwise, is protected by our security and confidentiality. You might think that would make it impossible to do a case study. However, by taking real-world examples of how our enterprise clients use our system, we can provide sanitised models that could work for you.
It’s interesting to note that some of our larger clients are using the scheduling management system beyond the realms of traditional service industry parameters. Scheduling isn’t just about booking appointments for clients. Although, we admit that’s how most of our clients use it.
Why do some of our clients demand an enterprise solution to their scheduling needs? The simple answer is that their business has exceeded the scope of the standard scheduling model. Sometimes added complexity comes with sheer scale; other times, it is simply because the structure of the company is complex.
So let’s see how enterprise clients use our system to enhance their own and make top-level management more streamlined with simple access.
Global and National Service Chains
Services are the backbone of the SimplyBook.me clients list; it’s the entire reason we came to be. However, even though services are often in-person and local, numerous national and global service chains use our enterprise solution to arrange appointments across dozens or even hundreds of locations.
A national optician has dozens of stores where people go to have their eyes tested and purchase their glasses if they need them. The people who need sight tests are different from those who wish to buy an extra set of spectacles, simply because a sight test requires a qualified optician while a trained sales assistant can help with the purchase of eyewear. With a multitude of store locations across the country, this company extensively uses the API function to transfer data from the scheduling system to their internal network. This means being able to maintain a central CRM of customers and customer data, optical prescriptions and any medical referrals. With extensive use of the API and the number of stores and systems involved, the client is also taking advantage of a dedicated server to maintain communication speed.
Like any other single business site, the cluster can assign different levels of subscription to each location, depending on required feature needs, number of bookings, and so forth.
Other applications
Like the opticians, any service company with a chain of retail stores can use the system to manage multiple sites. Other potential applications could be, large legal firms, salon and spa companies, gym chains, caterers, event organisers and any other service that might be a part of a larger whole.
Sports & Fitness Enterprises
Sporting and fitness associations and clubs have been using our scheduling management for their team members, to schedule sessions for their better performance and health.
Large sporting institutions usually have staff doctors and therapists, so it’s not a case of scheduling with external clinics or services. However, with a large number of athletes or players, allowing for flexible scheduling is essential.
You could argue that a single sports team would only need a single iteration of the scheduling system. However, when confidential information is involved, such as medical details, that section of the system needs complete segregation. An athlete would tell their masseur about a knee injury. However, they perhaps wouldn’t want them to have access to their therapy or medical records. On the other hand, team management needs an overview of how their members are performing to make the best performance decisions.
Other applications
While sports teams and associations might employ a scheduling system for their internal needs, the system is also useful for sporting event hosts and organisers. Being a good host means you get teams and sporting events coming back to you; have services on hand for their needs.
Medicine & Medical-Adjacent Companies
The way this year has gone, I really can’t get away from the use of cross-location medical appointment management.
Both state and private medical clinics servicing discreet regions and countries have used the SimplyBook.me enterprise solution to manage high volume bookings for widespread COVID-19 testing. While this might seem like a short term business use for the booking system, more and more medical businesses with multiple clinics are beginning to see to benefits.
The implementation of a new API that enables 2-factor authentication means integration with internal systems and patient databases is simpler. Transfer of patient data to a central system is a crucial component of distributed medical clinics.
It’s not just doctors and clinics that are using the system. Biological testing labs are finding the use of scheduled testing to be beneficial. Whenever people come to a testing lab, there is a possibility that they might be carrying something contagious. By scheduling appointments, labs increase efficiency, sample security and reduce the chances of being a contamination point at an outbreak.
Other Applications
Beyond doctors and medical testing, there are also adjacent medical companies that use an enterprise scheduling solution for their operations. Companies that sell medical tools, supplies and machinery, often arrange and schedule demonstrations and training seminars. Frequently, these have to be separate locations and offices to accommodate locality and “portability” issues.
Internal Organisation Models
Scheduling appointments is not the sole province of the customer. A large corporation with national offices has been using the enterprise version of the SimplyBook.me scheduling system to book internal appointments. Primarily of use for the Human Resources department, to allow for development and review interviews with internal staff, organise external job interviews, and allow for existing staff members to arrange an HR meeting to discuss any issues, they have.
Again this is an occasion when some elements of the system require complete segregation from others. While managers either hiring or firing staff would need HR in the loop, HR does NOT want all the managers to have access to internal complaints or confidential information from employees.
At the same time, different offices across the country have differing feature requirements and numbers of bookings.
Other applications
Other companies like to use the enterprise system to schedule internal meetings between departments and different offices, both in-person and remote video conferencing. While at the same time, maintaining separation between location-specific integrity.
A parent company wanting to maintain differentiation between sub-divisions can also use the enterprise solution for an overview.
Retail Enterprise Scheduling
Several retail companies with large numbers of stores are using the scheduling system for managing sales consultations. Big-ticket items such as luxury furniture, kitchens and bathrooms, demand a more personal and targeted sales experience than the average high street store.
This year has seen a significant increase in high-touch retailers using scheduled consultation booking. However, despite the necessary restrictions for implementing these consultations, some companies are seeing increased initial purchase value.
Other applications
Retail is pretty much the same whichever way you look at it. Still, there are different ways of approaching the scheduling aspect. Some chains of supermarkets have implemented scheduled pick up times for zero-contact grocery shopping. It’s a good call for when a delivery slot isn’t available. Other retailers, selling non-grocery items have implemented a “quick-shop” service, allowing customers to choose items from an online inventory for same-day collection. It doesn’t always require a consultation
Coaching with Electronic Sales
An international manufacturer of home appliances uses the enterprise scheduling software to arrange and timetable online and on-site cookery classes. It’s an incredible marketing move, inviting customers to courses showing them how to use their new appliance to its fullest. It’s also an excellent way to entice a purchase when customers can experience the benefit and convenience of their product.
Other applications
A similar model is also in use for companies providing mechanical or electronic equipment. Additionally, there’s a company using our enterprise solution for providing customer aftercare, including user training installation and repairs.
It’s not just for multinationals.
We have other clients that you might not think would fit the “enterprise” description. Still, the very definition of enterprise means “an undertaking or project that is particularly bold or complex”. Your company doesn’t need to be a massive entity to require a complex scheduling solution. An example is an equipment hire company with only three locations, but one is a new franchise venture. The franchise demands the complete separation of its information from the other locations. However, the parent company needs to know it’s performing under the franchise agreement. It requires a complex solution to its scheduling requirements.
The key to the enterprise solution, or indeed the SimplyBook.me system as a whole, is the flexibility to accommodate complexity.