Appointments. They’re a big deal if you want your business to thrive — regardless if you’re a freelancer, consultant, personal trainer, or electrician. After all, without properly scheduling and managing your appointments how can you effectively run your business. But what is the best approach to appointments on your calendar?
Think about it. If you’re a tutor and aren’t properly managing your appointments, you may double-book clients or schedule an appointment when you’re not available. That’s not good for business since it demonstrates that you’re not as professional as you’d think.
That’s why you must take the best approach to book appointments on your calendar. And, to help you get started, here are a couple of pointers.
Use the right tools.
The right calendar tools eliminate that tedious back and forth communication when it comes to scheduling appointments. For example, we at Calendar allow you to share your availability with other via email or embedded links. Attendees then pick a time and the event is added to everyone’s calendars.
Of course, Calendar isn’t the only tool option available. There are hundreds of tools that can assist you with creating, scheduling, and managing appointments on calendar. When narrowing down your options find a tool that fits your specific needs, is easy-to-use, cloud-based, scalable, and integrates with your existing calendar.
Show your availability.
When a client or colleague arrives to your site, they should be able to see your appointment availability immediately. This way, they’ll know when you’re available for a meeting or when you’re offering a class or a lesson. This way they can see when you’re booked or when you’re free.
Bonus tip: Besides displaying your availability, you should also offer online booking. This way attendees can schedule appointments 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can then check, accept, or edit your appointments directly from your phone.
Empower the other party.
Whether if it’s a client or employee, you may want to consider allowing access to appointments. This gives them the ability to cancel, reschedule, and book appointments on their own time.
Additionally, you should provide scheduling options for the other party. For example, some people prefer group sessions, while others favor private sessions. Others use Google Calendar, while others use Outlook.
The point is, make booking an appointment a more personalized experience. The best way to do this is by offering a variety of options so that they can more easily schedule appointments.
Be transparent and accessible.
This may not apply to all people, but if you’re running a business then you should be completely transparent. This involves including information like the services or products you offer, pricing, and cancellation policies. This prevents the invitee from feeling mislead, which makes them more comfortable about scheduling an appointment.
You could also create a FAQ page, forum, or live chat.
Also, don’t forget to clearly display all of your contact information on your website. When you send a confirmation email, you should also have your contact information in your email signature.
Keep in touch frequently.
Like Simple Minds once belted out, “don’t you, forget about me.”
Remain front and center in the minds of your prospects, clients, and colleagues by keeping in touch with them. It could be anything from a monthly email newsletter, a quick phone call, or sharing a Facebook post. That newsletter offering a promotion or piece of content could entice them to make an appointment with you.
Again, don’t forget the share your calendar with them and include your contact information so that they can quickly make an appointment.
Final words to the best approach to appointments.
Besides the calendar that you use for reminders and scheduling, use a general calendar to your advantage. For example, if there’s an upcoming holiday, run a promotion to encourage new appointments. You can also use it to block off specific days so that you’re not working on a holiday.
Most importantly, however, make sure that you clear the clutter from your calendar. This means that you should focus on your priorities, remove unnecessary recurring events, and stop filling your calendar with minute activities.
Deciding on the Best Approach to Appointments on Your Calendar was originally published on Calendar by John Rampton.