For retailers whose business models require customers to make appointments and provide details of their needs – portrait studios, dog grooming services, bridal shops – the key to building same-store sales volume is an efficient system for making those appointments and ensuring that they are kept.

For Ritz Camera PROEX Portraits’ 21 studios in the Minneapolis/St. Paul market, that initial customer call for an appointment is also an opportunity to cultivate a lifelong relationship, from portraits of newborns to those customers’ wedding albums.

The customer service component of that initial contact requires several details of the caller’s needs and, for the company, coordination of variables such as the appropriate studio, the photographer to best handle baby pictures versus wedding portraits, an e-mail reminder of the appointment and access to fundamental operating details like the number of appointments made and kept.

Until May 2007, Ritz Camera PROEX relied on a network-based system that represented cutting-edge technology when it was designed 15 years ago, but which had become cumbersome and difficult for new staff members to learn. The company has now become one of TimeTrade Systems’ newest clients, relying on its self-service appointment scheduling system to set up thousands of photo sessions each year.

“We’ve seen an immediate benefit in the customer service and the rapport we’re able to offer our customers,” says Bryan Engblom, general manager, portrait studios, for Ritz Camera PROEX Portraits. “Both the call center and the website have allowed us to be more effective and to offer better service to our clients.”

Enhance the experience
For many customers, portrait making “is very emotional,” he says, and taking kids’ portraits is right up there with root canal. We want to make it an enjoyable event and not a chore: anything that enhances that experience will build revenue.”

The company’s photographic services include studio portraits and location portraits, with lots of additional details like the age of the subject, the number of subjects, the most appropriate photographer, portrait background and props.

The TimeTrade system also includes an automated e-mail confirmation as a reminder to customers; Ritz Camera PROEX uses eight e-mail formats that relate to the specific type of sitting and recommends ways the customer should prepare for that sitting.

Although the company’s use of the TimeTrade application is still relatively new, it is “absolutely generating repeat business,” Engblom says. “It is generally the mother who is responsible for having portraits taken and, just like they will go to the same person to have their hair cut, it’s the same with portraits. They will go with the people they trust, and they will make sure their children look good for the appointment.”

Since Bedford, Mass.-based TimeTrade Systems introduced its technology in 2000, the company has continued to attract clients from the retail industry, colleges and universities, government agencies and the health care field. Last year alone, TimeTrade’s clients used the system to make more than 50 million appointments that generated some $1.5 billion in revenues.

In addition to Ritz Camera PROEX Portraits, TimeTrade Systems’ retail clients include David’s Bridal and PETCO. “The need for self-service appointment scheduling is going to be really important,” says CEO Ed Mallen, “because retailers need to increase revenue in same-store sales, and one way to do that is to increase the service content in the store.”

The initial point of contact for these retailers’ customers can be either a TimeTrade-hosted website or a call center: in either case, the process requires five minutes or less, even though the list of details required for each appointment is lengthy. For example, when customers contact PETCO to schedule dog grooming services, the company needs to know if the dog is a large, long-haired breed or a small, short hair because one will require double or triple the amount of time for grooming as the other.

Managing resources
And when customers contact David’s Bridal, associates have to be prepared to deal with any requests a bride or groom may have for themselves and the wedding party, along with the endless details that are part of the ceremony and reception.

“Our system manages the resources that must be available for the appointment,” Mallen says. “The No. 1 increase in satisfaction is the prospect who becomes a customer because the location resources are ready to go – the resources are where they’re supposed to be deployed.”

And TimeTrade’s clients like the system because it saves them time and money. Cindy Johnson, vice president of marketing for TimeTrade Systems, recalls the experiences of a state department of motor vehicles agency that requires some staff members to renew their credentials.

“In the past, it had taken these employees up to five hours of standing in line,” she says, “but now, with their new appointment system, it’s a 15-minute experience.” Another customer reports that “it used to cost $11 per appointment, but that figure is now down to 23 cents.”

Mallen says TimeTrade is at “the leading edge of the phenomena. Customer relationship management and call center technologies have been out there trying to improve the experience of retailers’ customers, but we are just at the beginning of this. In the next few years we will have a lot of exciting news.”