Using an appointment booking system to enable your customers to schedule store visits, in person services and virtual services will help you to increase sales, drive loyalty and to improve your overall efficiency.
To reap the many benefits of using appointment scheduling software to choreograph an engaging customer experience, it’s important to perfect your in-store signage to drive maximum customer usage by ensuring the service is easy for them to understand and use.
This blog covers our method for creating just that.
Examples of effective appointment booking signage:
For more indepth insights download our full guide to signage.
The Qudini formula for highly effective retail choreography signage
The image here shows our formula we use for creating effective appointment booking signage that drives customers to check-in.
We’ll start by explaining some of the key copy writing considerations you need to think about to build this formula:
Put pen to paper
Throughout all your signage content it is essential to be clear, bold and consistent in how you talk about your new process.
So, to start with it helps to put pen to paper and to define a name for your process.
Some example names to get you thinking:
- Store appointments
- Bookable appointments
- Premium appointments
- Virtual appointments
- Video appointments
* If your appointment booking offering is for a specific service it is generally best to use this within the name. E.g. “Style Experts”, ”Tech Gurus” or “Personal Shopping”
Naming tips
When defining a name for your new service offering ensure that you are:
- Clear and relevant – use a name that clearly explains what the process is and the benefit it offers to your customers.
- Simple – the most important thing is that the name explains what you do without over-complicating it.
- Unique and on brand – to own a name that is uniquely yours, it can be good to incorporate your brand name or the Qudini brand name in some way.
- Consistent – use the same name with consistent spelling and formatting across all your content referring to the process.
Creating compelling call to action statements
After defining the name for your service, it helps to think about the one CTA you want customers to take in relation to that service.
Using clear and compelling CTA statements throughout your signage is essential to driving your customers to take the actions you want them to.
Some example call to actions to get you thinking:
- Book an appointment
- Book now
- Schedule a time
- Want to speak in detail? Book an appointment
Call To Action tips:
- Big and Bold – Your CTA should be the biggest and boldest piece of text within your signage. When your customers glance at your signage, this should be the first thing they see.
- At the top – Placing your CTA at the top of a sign ensures it strikes customer attention and drives them to action from the outset.
- Relevant and explanatory – The CTA statement should be relevant and should clearly describe the action the customer should take and what they will get by taking action. E.g. “Scan to join the queue”.
- Use verbs – Motivate the customer to action by using verbs to make your call to actions more authoritative. Action words have been proven to boost CTA compliance.
- Service name or questions can triage – If the service you are using Qudini for is only for customers with specific shopping missions or meant to speak to a subset of customers with specific challenges, you might like to prefix your CTA with your service name or a question that will effectively triage customers before informing them of the action they should take. E.g.
- Missions specific. Here to collect an order? Check-in here.
- Challenge specific: Hate standing in line? Join the virtual queue
Defining your value proposition
The next step to defining your offering involves writing a simple value proposition statement that explains your new Qudini service within a single declarative statement.
Doing this will bring clarity to what you are trying to say to customers as the value proposition will inspire the key content across your signage content.
What is a value proposition
Within a single sentence your value proposition should:
1. Explain the service and process you are offering.
2.Be clear as to why your customers should use it through the benefits it offers.
- Collect your order without even leaving your car by checking in from your phone when you arrive.
- Check-in from your phone when you get to store and we’ll bring your order to you, whether you’re in-store or at our curbside.
- Check-in to let our store team know when you’re here to collect your order and they’ll bring your order to you straight away
Use icons and simple images
Using clean and simple images that visualize what the Qudini service is, it’s benefit and the action that your customer needs to take to use it can really help to explain your offering and to nudge the customer to take action.
We’ve included some example images on the next page and you can even download the Qudini icon kit and use our suggested images across your content.
Nudge images
Our clients saw QR code scan rates double when they incorporated the QR code within an image of a phone scanning the QR code. This effectively served as a nudge to explain to customers the action that they needed to take.
Clarify your customer journey
Defining the customer journey steps that a customer will need to go through once they follow your Call To Action is also a helpful process for creating extremely clear signage.
These process steps can then be alluded to within your content or you might choose to include a simplified list of these process steps as subtext within your signage.
In addition, you may wish to add a few notes to answer customer queries, such as; what do to if they don’t have a phone or how you will use their data.
Download our signage planning canvas pack
Maximize who will read your steps
When writing your customer journey steps, remember that people tend to ignore text. So keep the steps as simple as possible and live by the power of 3 where possible.
Inject your brand tone of voice into your steps to make them engaging to read and follow.
Collect your order from your car with 3 simple steps.
Some ideas for customer journey steps:
1.Scan a QR code, text 074929292 or use our tablet kiosk.
2.We’ll notify a colleague immediately.
3.Stay updated by phone while you wait.
Now bring it all together
Now that you’ve defined your key messaging, it’s time to put it all together to create striking signage that captures customer attention and drives them to action.
On the right we’ve listed the key pieces of content that you’ll now have created in part one and the best order to place them within across your signage. On the next pages we’ve mocked-up examples of how this could look for the different Qudini solutions and included some client examples.
You don’t have to use all elements and you could also change the order of these elements (except the Call To Action which is always best placed at the top).
Ensure a relevant and effective content cadence
When writing your signage out, think about the priority of things that your customers need to do and know and put your content in this order on your sign. To capture customer attention, start with the most important details that inform the customer of the action they need to take before explaining the why and the how in more detail.
Examples of appointment booking signs
Signage types and locations:
Some of the different types of signage that we’re seeing our customers successfully use include:
End of queue barrier
Lollipop signs
Window posters
Window signs
Desk wraps
Digital signage
Closed desk/Store Signage
If you are using Qudini to provide customers with a way to get service when colleagues are unavailable at a desk or specific service location (such as click and collect desks or information desks). It can help to use a desk sign to inform the customer of the alternative process they should take to get service.
Some of our cilents are also using appointment booking links on their closed store signage to encourage customers to book their time to come back.
If you are using the Qudini Self-service Kiosk App to enable your customers to join the queue, check-in for online orders or to book appointments you will also need to clearly sign post your this to drive customers to use it.
Most clients find it works to include similar signage with a very clear call to action around it and at times additional information to support the customer’s journey.
Kiosk locations
Place your kiosk in the footpath of the customers you want to use it, including: the front of the relevant service area, near a queue barrier, in front of a relevant service desk, at the store entrance, near the staircase.
Use visual nudges (arrows or footsteps) to direct customers to wards your kiosk
If a kiosk is placed near the counter, your customers will likely request the help of your staff first, unless the staff are unavailable or the customer has been previously educated on the process.
Make your host stand out
If you are using a host to enable customers to join the queue or to book appointment from a tablet or reception desk it helps to make them visually stand-out from your other colleagues, so that:
a) Customers can easily find them and are educated as to their purpose,
b) Host have a fixed meeting point and process,
c) Customers understand the host has a different role and don’t request service from them (which can be a common challenge),
d) Customer experience is consistent across stores,
Our clients are using one of multiple of the following methods to ensure their host stands out to customers.
Educate customers about your appointment booking offering
Other types of content our clients are printing and using at different locations within their customer journeys to inform customers about their new service offerings:
Inform customers using your website
In this next section we will suggest how you can inform customers about your in-store services used to perfect their experience using your website.
Starting with your:
Service information page
Create one single landing page to explain all the services you offer to improve your customer’s experience, as well as an individual landing page on each service.
This will ensure you realize the SEO benefit if customers search your brand name and service. Eg. QDi Virtual Queue
Mention the service on your individual store pages
On each store’s individual website page provide customers with more information about the service you offer for appointments, virtual queuing and contactless pickup.
Store finder
Drive footfall to store by using your store finder page to enable customers to book appointments and to indicate which stores offer virtual queuing and contactless order collections.
Entry pop-up
Help your customers to convert across channels by using entry website pop-ups to inform customers about your services to ensure a fantastic in-store experience.
Promotional banners
Make it consistently simple to engage with your brand by using promotional banners to inform customers about your new shopping services on your website.
Footer
Encourage customers to visit store by informing them of your fantastic shopping services from the footer of your website.
Product information page
Encourage customers to engage with your in-store and virtual service offerings by enabling them to book appointments from your individual product pages.
Nav bar
Drive customers to schedule appointments for in-store or virtual service from your website navigation bar.
Your website: An SEO optimized service information page
Across social media
To learn more download our Promoting your online appointment booking offering best practice guide
