4 Ways Using an Online Scheduler Can Simplify Your Business

There is nothing worse than trying to book an appointment with someone and getting stuck in this familiar back and forth:

  • How’s 11AM – 1PM on Tuesday?
  • Wait, 11 AM your time or mine?
  • Oh, sorry booked that so how about Thursday at 2pm EDT?…

And on and on it goes…

These back and forths are not only frustrating, but they also waste a lot of precious time.

Instead of wasting that time, using an online scheduling tool like Calendly, Acuity, or countless others is definitely the way to go.

Here’s why:

1. Online scheduling tools save you time

You send a link to your contact and they can book at their convenience – but it eliminates the time you waste going back and forth as your schedule changes. These booking calendars generally sync with your availability, so as you book things, they automatically adjust.

This typically means you need to use an online calendar like Google Calendar so that the scheduler knows what your calendar looks like, but syncing saves you a ton of time as well.

2. Online scheduling tools save your contact time and aggravation

This is just as important because you don’t want to alienate your potential client or partner with the back and forth time shuffles.

By using an online scheduler, you can send a link that shows your available appointments whenever they click. Plus, it generally allows them to look in their own time zone which also makes it more convenient and simple for them to book – two big wins!

3. Online scheduling tools make it easier to outsource your scheduling

Using an online scheduler and an online calendar also makes it easier for an assistant to help you with lead or client scheduling.

They can view your current appointments, available slots, and any other upcoming scheduling issues to help you manage your calendar.

For example, one of my assistants has a recurring task to check my calendar for the upcoming 1-2 weeks every few days. If she sees a day with 3+ client calls or other appointments, she blocks the rest of the day. This helps prevent overloaded days where I somehow end up with 6 hours of back to back appointments. I simply never remember to do it myself, but it’s a vital part of managing my days and my weeks.

4. Online scheduling tools help you create and enforce your scheduling boundaries

When you set up your scheduler you have to decide what you want your standard availability to be. Generally, you don’t want to take calls any day and any time (LINK) so you’ll want to make some intentional decisions about days and times that you will make available.

This creates some boundaries around your time. But, by using a link to schedule, you also remove the temptation to constantly bend those boundaries.

I generally tell people to let me know if they don’t see times that suit, but rarely does that ever happen. Clients and potential leads respect what’s available and only reach out if it’s truly urgent.

Convinced that online schedulers are brilliant? Now you just have to decide which scheduler to use.

One of my favorites is Calendly – they have a great free option if you only need one link and their paid option is very affordable.

If you want to add in some other functionalities like invoices and contracts, Acuity gets rave reviews from many of my clients.

Another one with lots of bells and whistles, like online payments and CRM capabilities, is vCita . I had one client who loved it and used it to collect a large majority of her invoices and then immediately schedule people.

To get started, consider what you need it to do.

If you only need a scheduling tool, keep it simple and go with one that does only that. Consider what it needs to integrate with and ask friends and colleagues what they like.

Then, take action and get started!

Your calendar and contacts will certainly thank you!

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