Timely cashflow guide for COVID-19
It’s a crucial time in your business, and any money you can bring in now will help you get back on your feet faster when you can open your doors again. Your clients are the key to keeping your cash-flow coming in during this time, and we’re here to show you how you can keep giving your clients the love they need, so they help you generate the revenue you need.
This guide will help you:
- Sell products online
- Take bookings and deposits
- Sell gift vouchers online
- Add a payment gateway
Let’s go!
1. Sell products online
Your clients will want (and in many cases, need) their favourite products even though your doors are closed! Where possible, take your stock home and get ready to sell online through your website or systems like Shopify and WooCommerce.
Don’t worry, we’re working on a new way to sell products while your business is closed. To start with, you can promote your products through Insta and FB; when a client wants to buy something, you’ll be able to raise the sale in Timely and send them your payment details.
To get our best tips and advice, head to our ‘Selling products online during COVID-19 with Timely‘ help guide.
Soon, we’ll be adding a filter to SMS campaigns so you can target clients based on the products they’ve purchased, so you can get really targeted in your messaging. Make sure to follow the guidelines outlined in your region; some businesses will be able to sell products online and have them delivered while others may be restricted by tighter guidelines.
2. Take bookings and deposits
There will be a lot of people desperate for appointments when the lockdown lifts (us included)! We recommend you keep your online bookings open (or set them up) so people can book appointments for future dates.
Tip: You can enter the dates you’re closed in your online booking, so clients can only book for when you’re open in the future (whenever that might be). Visit the help doc for more information.
Timely’s new Client login feature will save you time and give your clients control of their appointments, so they can manage any changes themselves if your opening date changes.
It’s also a great idea to set up online deposits, so clients need to pay a portion of their appointment up front, giving you some much-needed revenue and your clients get a treat when they don’t have to pay for their full appointment when the time comes.
3. Sell gift vouchers online
Selling gift vouchers online is like a small interest-free loan; they’re a great tool to keep money coming into your business! You can promote gift vouchers to your clients through this time that they can use for future appointments (when you’re open again) or suggest they send them to someone who needs a pick me up. Even better, there are some improvements coming to online gift vouchers next week!
4. Add a payment gateway
An awesome way to generate revenue when your doors are shut is to add a payment gateway online, which will let you securely take payments from your clients. You can set this up quickly and easily with Timelypay (which launches next week!) but there are also other great options like Stripe and Paypal.
How to set up your payment gateway
