How simple is it for a client to sign up with you right now? If you haven’t walked through it yourself lately, it’s worth a look. This is often a client’s first interaction with your business so it’s important to get it right. Client sign-up to your offerings or services should be three things: stress-free for the client, low admin for you and completely functional for your business.
If your sign up process is something you haven’t reviewed lately, read on to find out how to ensure you are providing the very best service for your clients from the get-go.
Here’s the part that’s easy to miss: when a sign-up is confusing, clients rarely tell you. They just leave, and you never see the booking that didn’t happen. Research on checkout and booking forms has found that nearly one in five people abandon a process that feels too long or complicated, and form length alone drives about a quarter of drop-offs. For a wellness business, that’s a client who wanted to come to your class, got stuck, and quietly booked somewhere else. The fixes below are about closing that gap.
1. Break Down the Steps
Whether you are offering services or booking classes, the way the client navigates their way into your business is crucial. If the sign-up process is complicated, unclear or features broken links, the chances are that you could lose potential clients, without ever knowing they tried to sign up. Some things you can try:
- Examine your current sign up process with a trusted friend or client. Are there gaps in the process? Could any steps be shortened, or even eliminated? Is it easy to navigate? The easier the process is for the client, the better.
- How many steps are there in your registration process? Ideally, the fewer steps the client has to take, the better. If possible all steps should be on the same website rather than hosted elsewhere, which could increase the risk of them clicking away.
- Are your offerings or services clearly and concisely worded, including all the information that the client needs to know?
- Is your website up to date, with current times, prices and information?
- Pay attention to any negative feedback that you get on your sign up process. When your clients offer feedback they are oftentimes either frustrated, or they care about your business success and want to help. Show them you are listening and taking their concerns seriously.
- Ensure you are collecting all your client’s contact information during the sign-up process. Usually, email and/or phone number in case you need to contact them prior to their appointment.
2. Automate to Communicate
Setting up automation in your emails, or even using text message reminders is a great idea. This saves you heaps of individual admin work and alleviates the risk of errors. A process might look like this:
- A confirmation email including receipt (and including details of what to bring to the appointment)
- Reminder email 1 day prior.
- Reminder text 4 hours prior
Creating an automated process like this means that when a client uses your service more than once, they understand that they will receive reminders, receipts and all the information they need via email, and so they can mentally switch off. The simpler you make it for them, the better.
If a client does reply to your automation with an issue, make sure you are able to see that so you can respond efficiently. If a new client tries to sign up and needs to reach you, responding quickly will keep them engaged and help them solve the issue they are experiencing before they become too frustrated to continue.
3. Enable Calendar Invites
Is it possible to enable calendar invites in your online bookings? These are another helpful reminder for clients, and save them a step in setting up the reminder themselves. OfferingTree sends a calendar invite as part of the automated emails, which helps to be sure your booking shows up in the right place for that client.
4. Talk About Your Sign-Up Process
It never hurts to outline the signup process for the client on your website or within your offering. Whether this is written in a description or pops up when they try to purchase a service – having clear directions is helpful. Example: ‘When you book a massage, you’ll be asked for payment information and will be emailed a receipt. And the day prior to your booking, you’ll also receive a text reminder.’ This gives the client something to refer back to if they need a reminder of what happens next.
An OfferingTree user shared this wonderful tip recently – they created a Loom video showing the sign-up steps to help their older client base navigate the website. Simple and successful. And their clients appreciated being able to do it themselves without having to reach out.
5. Security is Paramount
Secure payment processing is crucial in your business, and using a trusted provider is so important for both you and your clients. Asking clients to share their payment information on your website requires a huge amount of trust, so ensure that the payment processing partner you are using is trustworthy, secure and (if possible) has reasonable transaction fees.
Understand the fees that you or your client will be charged for each transaction. In your OfferingTree site, there is a choice to ‘absorb’ the fees yourself or ‘pass fees on’ to your clients and when you are reviewing this with each offering, it is wise to be transparent with your clients about fees during booking.
6. Make Sure It Works on a Phone
Most of your clients will find you and try to book from their phone, often between other things, standing in a kitchen or waiting in a car. If your sign-up is hard to tap through on a small screen, fields are tiny, buttons are hard to hit, the page loads slowly, that’s where you lose them. Open your own booking flow on your phone and book a class as if you were a brand-new client. If anything makes you squint, pinch, or wait, fix that first. (With OfferingTree, your site and booking pages are mobile-friendly by default, so this is one less thing to build.)
7. Simplify the Integrations
Integrations in your website can be problematic, time-consuming and pose a risk of things breaking for your clients. Using a platform that has all the features that you need in one handy place is an important part of keeping the sign-up process simplified.
No extra links, extra subscriptions, or sending your clients around different websites to get what they need. Less chance of user or technology error and, if anything does go wrong, you only have to deal with one support team to fix it.
And of course, this is what OfferingTree provides – an all-in-one platform for your wellness business. Scheduling, payments, memberships, video library, email marketing and automation and text message reminders are all part of the many features in the OfferingTree websites. Learn more via this demo on our website.
Common Questions About Simplifying Client Sign-Up
How many steps should a client sign-up take?
As few as possible. The booking research is consistent on this: shorter forms convert better, and every extra field or page is a chance for someone to drop off. Ask only for what you genuinely need to deliver the service, usually a name, email, and sometimes a phone number.
Why do clients start booking and then give up?
Usually friction, not lack of interest. The common culprits are too many steps, a form that feels long, unclear pricing, a process that breaks on mobile, or being sent off to a separate site to pay. Most people who abandon a booking were ready to buy; something just got in the way.
Should I make clients create an account before they can book?
If you can avoid it, do. Forcing account creation before someone can see availability or check out is one of the most common reasons people abandon a sign-up. Let them book first; the account can come after.
What's the easiest way to reduce no-shows during sign-up?
Confirmations and reminders, plus taking payment at booking. A confirmation email with the details, a reminder the day before, and a text a few hours out go a long way, and prepaid clients are far more likely to show up.
