You asked for features that will improve your experience with Setster and we’ve delivered them to you.

From the very beginning, we set out to make sure that your experience and that of your users is as easy and seamless as possible. We are constantly working on ways to enhance the features while at the same time keep the service simple to use.

We’ve asked for your input and received great feedback on how we can improve. To that end, we recently added a slew of new features that will both make your schedule even easier to control and make it easier for your clients to book time with you.

How did we improve Setster?

• Keep your Calendar in Sync! Now, not only can you bring your Setster appointments into Google, you can bring your busy times over to Setster and block those times from your availability. Using Google 2-Way Sync, you both bring your Google calendar into Setster and push your Setster events into your Google calendar
• The best way to stop no shows! What’s the best way to eliminate no shows? Make your client put some skin in the game. In other words, take a deposit. Your client will be much more committed to showing up if they have money on the table. With the new Partial Deposit feature, you will see your no shows disappear You can also enforce your cancellation policy with partial deposits. Now you can decide if and how much you want to charge as a partial payment up front as the appointment is being set.
• Manage multiple locations! Do you work from multiple locations, or is your business in multiple cities? Check out the new Multi-Location feature that allows you to define locations and services that are specific to only those locations.
• Don’t get stuck with a last minute cancellation! Cancellations are one of the more frustrating tenants of a service based business. Once a time is blocked out for a client, it is costly when they do not cancel the appointment in time for you to replace it with another paying client. The Enforced Cancellation Policy feature lets you determine how far in advance a client can cancel an appointment.
• Save time and lessen your work load! Giving your clients flexibility in scheduling means giving them an easy way to cancel or reschedule an appointment. One of our newest features, Client Cancel/Reschedule lets your clients cancel or reschedule directly from the confirmation email you send them. Plus you can decide how close to the appointment time you are willing to allow a cancellation or reschedule.
• Give yourself time between appointments! Do you travel between appointments? Maybe it takes some time to set up between appointments. With the new Appointment Padding feature, you can make sure you have plenty of time to travel or prepare for your next client.
• Make the most of your web traffic by capture leads from your website! Each time a client sets an appointment, we push their information intoSalesForce.com as a new lead. Now you can record your leads directly from your website, send emails and market directly without having to duplicate your efforts.
• Teach a class or hold seminars! Do you provide group services? Our new Group Session feature allows for multiple sign -ups for your service. You can even hold a one-time event and limit the number of attendees. Remember the Partial Deposit feature? Use this in conjunction with Group Sessions for a seamless event.

Check out these new features and more by singing into your account at www.setster.com.

We are always working on enhancing the features of our service and love when we get feedback and feature requests. If you feel there is something we can do to improve, please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts with us.

Wishing you success!

The Setster Team

Over the years, I have found it difficult to book my clients and balance my other work responsibilities. Some weeks I might spend 2-3 hours simply booking and rebooking clients as their schedules change. And this intrusion is often at the expense of my family or some non-vocational interests.

I Googled “online calendars” and found Setster and I have been using it for the past month with significant success. My clients appreciate not having to email and phone me to make their appointments. And I love it when I see that a booking has occurred and I have done nothing to make it happen. Plus it appeals to the “techy” in me and many of my clients.

During my time of using Setster, I enjoyed a 2-weeks vacation. While away I could watch my calendar, see who was making appointments and not have to worry about unattended emergencies. This was a real help to me.

I also very much appreciate having a listing of my clients email addresses and other info where I can easily contact them.

The price is a bargain. I hope that there will be sufficient support of this excellent and growing program to be around for the years to come. I am depending on it.

Dr. Patrick Ducklow, Psychologist

We are constantly on the lookout to provide a streamlined experience for our clients.  Whether that be a Doctor or a Consultant, we look to make their lives easier.

We joined forces with FreshBooks which is a great tool for invoicing and integrated it into our application.  What this means is a when an appointment is set, the clients information is automatically entered into the FreshBooks invoicing system.  The service provider can then send the invoice with the services and fees already inputted into the invoice.  It is a seamless transaction not only saving the service provider time, but presents a professional polished image that they can be proud of.

We are happy to have such great partners and are excited for Setster users to give this new feature a try.

Enjoy,

The Setster Team.

The big question is; how can you save money, while still marketing and providing customer service in a way that keeps your clients happy?

Over the last six months, I have been talking to a lot of professionals. Each one has been feeling the crunch of the downturn and each has been affected in a different way. When we started to develop this product, we knew we had to focus on the customer experience, but had no idea the economy was going to force such radical staffing decisions. Take the example of a photographer.  Since the start of the recession most have seen clients really pull back.  A good photographer has to go out of their way to create a special moment for these clients and when they are in a session give that client 100% of their time.  Whether at a wedding or a product shoot, the photographer is focused in a way that makes the client feel good about the attention and service they are getting.

In the mean time, no one is there to answer the photographer’s phone.  In the past, she may have had an office manager who would book appointments and send invoices for her.  The last year as business keeps droping, businesses like this have had to make the difficult decision to run the show on their own. The danger in this is customer service starts to lag. In a photographer’s world, while on a photo shoot, they are off the grid for 4 to 6 hours or more. She could forward her calls to her cell phone, but then she’s interrupting her current clients. If she doesn’t answer her phone, she may lose a new client. This was truly a dilemma.

Our clients have started to look for a more efficient way to communicate with their clients. First and foremost in every one’s mind is customer service and the biggest fear is losing the connection with clients. Saving money over hiring a new staff member is a close second.

We suggest giving online appointment setting a try. It gives the service provider the ability to set their schedule and availability online. When a client needs to book an appointment, the client can set it without having to call. This is a perfect solution for when a photographer is “on set”.

We’ve also integrated an invoicing system that can invoice for services when the appointment is finished. This again saves time and the need for an office manager.

While service provider’s bookings may not have increased over the last few months, they are still able to give the superior customer support to their clients that keep them coming back and getting referrals. Service professionals are able to manage her business professionally and efficiently with less cost. Making more money through bottom line cost savings or keeping the old adage alive that “a penny saved is a penny earned”.

The idea was to integrate the widget into the website in two ways. First, develop the widget in a way that does not interfere with the layout and design of the site. All our clients have worked hard to design their sites and adding a button, a link, or a banner does not fit within those original concepts. Sometimes, you just don’t want a book now button on your web page. Secondly, we didn’t want the users to leave the web page. At the end of the day, you drove the traffic to your site and you should be able to monetize it without sending your clients to a third party site.

We are happy to introduce the HTML Flash inserted widget. You can see it functioning on the right of this page. Its installation is beyond simple. As you are logged into the admin section, you select get widget and copy paste the code into your site. It works on websites and blogs. It keeps a small appointment button to the right or left of the page that scrolls along with the page.

We’ve also introduced a contact section into the widget for those clients that want to keep their appointments booked privately yet want a clean contact form. Give it a try and don not be shy with your feedback.

After many discussions with service providers and potential users, we narrowed our service offerings to those that set appointments, manage customer relations & loyalty programs and create visibility in a directory.  Our first beta release has accomplished many of these development milestones and we’re looking forward to introducing beta users into our system.  We could use your help.  Give us feedback and be direct and candid as you work through our bugs.  Let us know what we can do to improve the experience.

Until next time,
Setster Team