Leads & bookings
Test a booking journey
You will have a short log of what worked and what to fix in your booking process, based on a real walk-through.
Before you start
- A way customers already book with you, such as a form, a calendar link, email or phone
- A notes app, a document or a piece of paper
- A friend or a second email address to act as the customer is helpful, but not required
Why test your own booking process
You know how your booking process is meant to work. Customers only see how it does work. A short walk-through as a customer shows problems before a real person hits them.
Walk through it as the customer
Start where a customer would start and go step by step, noting what you see at each point. Do not rely on memory.
- Find the booking option from where customers find you.
- Choose a service and a time.
- Enter details and submit.
- Look for a confirmation on screen and in your inbox.
- Try to change or cancel the booking.
Use a test booking and tell anyone who needs to know that it is a test. Delete it afterwards if your method allows.
Run the four checks
- Timezone: does the time shown match the time you meant, especially if the customer is in another city or daylight saving applies?
- Confirmation: is it clear, quick and does it repeat the day, time, place and your contact details?
- Cancellation and changes: can the customer find how to move or cancel, and does the policy say it plainly?
- Duplicates: what happens if someone books the same slot twice, or submits the form twice?
Worked example
Dana, a fictional mobile dog groomer in Sydney, tested her booking form. This is a made-up example.
- Timezone: the form showed times without a zone. Dana added “Sydney time”.
- Confirmation: it arrived, but listed no address or phone number. Added both.
- Cancellation: there was no mention of how to cancel. Added one line to the confirmation.
- Duplicates: she submitted twice and received two confirmations. Noted to check for repeats each morning.
Log, fix and retest
Write each problem as one line with a fix and a date. Fix the quickest ones now and test again. Repeat the walk-through every few months, or whenever you change how you take bookings.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Testing only the happy path and never trying to change or cancel
- Assuming the confirmation looks the same on a phone as on your computer
- Ignoring timezones because all your customers are local
- Leaving a test booking in place so it clashes with a real one
- Fixing problems without testing again
Final checklist
- I walked through the process as a customer
- I checked timezone, confirmation, cancellation and duplicates
- I logged each problem with a fix
- I removed any test booking
- I picked a date to test again