Client Management
How client portals and receipts improve the booking experience
Two unglamorous features that remove most of the messages a service business receives after a booking is made.
By Sulit Suites. Published .
After a booking is made, a service business gets three kinds of message: "what time was it again?", "did my payment go through?" and "can I move it?". A client portal and a proper receipt answer all three before they are asked.
What a client portal is
A page where a client sees their own bookings with you: upcoming, past and cancelled, each with its status and what was paid. From there they can finish an outstanding payment, download a receipt, or ask to change the booking. It should not require an account to find a booking made without one; an emailed code works.
What a receipt should show
- The business name and contact details.
- The service, date and time.
- The amount paid, the currency, and whether it was a deposit or the full amount.
- Any fee included in the total, shown as part of it rather than added on top.
- A reference the client can quote.
- Any refund against it, if one has been made.
Why it matters for a one-person business
Every question answered by the portal is a message you do not receive at 9pm. Every receipt the client can find themselves is one you do not re-send. And a client who can see their payments and bookings laid out cleanly experiences your business as organised, which is most of what "professional" means.