D4Drivers are a company, owned by medico-legal firm Ryminster, based in Shoothill’s hometown of Shrewsbury, offering a service facilitating short-notice medicals. With appointments for a medical exam often a challenge to organise due to limited availability, yet, for so many professions, a time sensitive necessity, this service had a large target audience, and was much in demand.
The problem faced by this enterprise was that their innovative business model was held back by an antiquated booking system, which revolved around a phone operator assigning bookings by manually cross referencing each customer with the available practitioners using hard copy maps and diaries.
D4Drivers challenged Shoothill to design a software system which phone operators could use to streamline and automate this protracted workflow, cutting down time spent per booking. They were also looking to deploy the system to a web portal for round the clock remote customer access.
The result of this project was a detailed and in-depth back end database, armed with a smart form wizard to walk a user through the booking procedure step by step. This tool was tailored precisely to D4Drivers’ specifications, adopting their existing booking structure and adapting it to a superior digital platform. With implemented workflow automation, the process of assigning customers to practitioners is handled swiftly, effortless and with no room for human error. The solution can be used by the phone operators to complete customer interactions in a fraction of the time, whilst delivering a more reliable quality of service, or be deployed to the cloud for direct customer access.
As we began the project, we worked closely with the D4Drivers’ team, undertaking a series of workshops so that we could fully understand their intricate and unusual business model. We employ a team with expertise in business process analysis, who specialise in finding ways to convert tasks to digital solutions for seamless but powerful results. Once we had got to grips with the company’s operations and comprehended every nuanced requirement, we could translate them to a software alternative. This initial discussion stage, attentively working with our client, was a vital step in planning out the optimal solution.
Central to this digital transformation was the booking tool, which had to replace the archaic manual process by which appointments were previously made with a faster paperless solution. The wizard takes a systematic approach and, using smart forms, first guides the user through the process of gathering all necessary data to select an available practitioner. During the initial phase of this project this tool was to be used primarily by the phone operators taking customer calls.
Before working with us, this would take the D4Drivers team member a lengthy period, with a complex workflow needing to be memorised and carried out with paper records and legacy systems. Our solution decimated the time consumed by this procedure, prompting the user with every question and automating the decision making and calculations necessary to assign the ideal clinic for each customer. With this wizard at their disposal, call handlers could rattle through the process, providing consumers a swift and satisfying service.
In order for this intelligent automation to be achieved, the system had to store and organise the myriad data on which D4Drivers based its business. This meant a back-end database, structuring information on locations, practitioners, sectors, scheduling and payment details. A number of interlocking factors had to be taken into consideration to effectively manage their hundreds of country-wide clinics.
In order for our customer to handle this back-end system, we built an admin portal, which permitted users could access to manage their data. Permissions, venues and practitioners could be added, removed, and modified through the portal. Admin users could create time slots within clinics, which could be then booked out to a customer with a corresponding pre-configured appointment type, including price and duration.
Company accounts with limited permissions were also supported, allowing organisations who regularly used the service, such as public transport firms, to login to the system and book appointments for their employees directly. The system also implemented communications, sending out confirmation messages to customers and acting as a central hub for email and SMS correspondence with clinics, as well as various in-built management reporting tools. Overall the portal was designed to be functional and robust for ease of use.
Once the system was functional and operational, we worked on translating the booking wizard to a consumer facing web portal. Building a simple but efficient front-end application, we migrated the tool to the web, and made it publicly accessible. Presenting potential customers directly with the wizard allows them to quickly complete the process to their own timescale, around the clock, and be immediately assigned a time slot. The tool automatically syncs with the admin system data, and vice versa, meaning available slots and present bookings are always up to date for both customers and team members. D4Drivers were now able to offer true on-demand medicals.
Overall, the system succeeded in cutting down the time consumed by booking these appointments whilst also creating a more comfortable user experience on the back and front end. In order to achieve this transformative effect our solution combined a robust back-end system with a swift and streamlined wizard. This wizard can be feasibly operated by anyone, allowing for a multichannel customer engagement strategy, and the focus on customer experience was able to drive more reliable business. Staff roles had been simplified, empowering the team to perform with heightened productivity and efficacy, whilst maintaining higher job satisfaction.
Since implementation of the solution, our customers profits have soared up 50% and they’ve established a dedicated call centre, doubling their call operator staff force. Not previously an option through the company’s legacy system, online bookings have proved as popular and indeed successful as expected, coming to represent 40% of all appointments made since their introduction, further driving up the firm’s conversion rate.
On the call centre end, the wizard reduced the number of clicks required to complete a booking down from 50 to 10, managing to cut the average time of the process, from as much as 8 minutes, down to 4-5. This almost double pace, considering the number of calls handled daily, alongside Ryminster’s ongoing marketing efforts has helped drive substantial growth to the business through swifter customer service.
In light of the system’s success, D4Drivers were very pleased with these changes to their operations, and their many customers have also commented on the ease, simplicity, and convenience of their services since their implementation, in particular the online portal. Shoothill have maintained an ongoing working relationship with the neighbouring firm, supporting them in use of the solution, keeping everything functionally optimal as their business steadily grows.
“There can be no doubt that when added to our combination of B2B & B2C marketing strategies this software has assisted D4Drivers reach the next level, paving the way for us to increase the volume of customers booking on a day to day basis,” a D4Drivers representative commented.
In conclusion this complex back end system was challenging to build, but by working carefully with our customer we were able to learn how their business functions intrinsically and develop them an ideal bespoke system. We relish seeing our customers performing well, and our system has enabled rapid growth. Updating the manual legacy system to an automated streamlined software process achieved its objectives, saving Ryminster and their customers time, and enhancing the business’s audience engagement.
