Item: Zoho Bookings
Rating: 9
Author: Stephen Lalla

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

The big challenge was the going back and forth via email trying to lock down an in-person meeting, a phone call, or even a video chat session. And even trying to do it over the phone was a challenge. What Zoho Bookings has allowed us to do is to create the various meeting types we accept and then allow clients and even the public access to the free times in our calendar. Some of our initial consultations are free while others are paid. If someone elects a paid consultation, they pay in advance which makes it a bona fide consultation on our end. There are reminders both internally and externally for the booking, reminders, and cancellations. We are in full control of our schedule and the hours we operate. It's saved us a lot of time which enables us to run a more optimized operation.

Pros and Cons

Online booking without hands on involvement by our team
Security of publishing a link for free consultations
Automated two-way syncing with our calendar
Ease of use both for us as well as our clients

It didn't integration with our CRM so every client comes in as a new customer inside of Bookings
It is so fully functional that it can be slightly confusing to set up initially
Would like to see better integration with Zoho Meeting in link generation

Most Important Features

No additional cost since it's part of Zoho One
Eliminates the insane back and forth trying to schedule with someone via email
We can collect payment in advance for paid consultations eliminating "No Shows"
The seamless integration with our calendar so no accidental double booking

Return on Investment

It would be hard to estimate the time savings it has provided but I'd easily say 1 hour a week
Our clients and potential clients love it as they can schedule with us 24/7
If anyone emails about setting up an appointment, I simply reply back with a link and they do the work

Alternatives Considered

Acuity Scheduling, a Squarespace company and Calendly

I found the integration with the two above is great if you're a Google Calendar user which we are not. While with Zoho Calendar we can have two way integration with Google Calendar there wasn't a need to do so. With Zoho Bookings which also integrates with Google Calendar we didn't have to worry about that as the integration with our Zoho Calendar was virtually automatic. There was also the cost consideration as the two above have a free version it was limited and didn't have all the bells and whistles we needed. Zoho Bookings provide us with everything from a single sign-on web browser and mobile app

Key Insights

Do you think Zoho Bookings delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Zoho Bookings's feature set?

Yes

Did Zoho Bookings live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Zoho Bookings go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Zoho Bookings again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Zoho CRM, Zoho Campaigns, Zoho Books

Likelihood to Recommend

I've tried some of the other online booking services and while there were good, they didn't have all of the features that Zoho Bookings does and since I'm already a Zoho One subscriber, it doesn't cost me anything more. I think virtually any type of business can use Bookings as it's not geared to a specific industry but can be customized for use in any type of industry. I would love to see salons use it as I think it can be truly a way for them to better book clients than using a paper calendar which I see many using. I also think massage therapists would also benefit but using Bookings. If you are a solopreneur or have a sales team, there's no way you can't benefit by using Bookings for your phone appointments, Zoom/Video meetings, or in-person meetings. There is also a resource function which allows you to block out conference rooms and other resources.

Zoho Bookings Will Make You Think How Did You Operate Before Without It

Overall Satisfaction with Zoho Bookings