Calendly is great to avoid the following scenario happening via email or DMs:
“I’m free Monday, Tuesday, Thursday. How about you?
“Erm, I could do Tuesday afternoon??
“Actually, I have a doctor’s appointment then…have you any availability on the other days?”
“Let me check and get back to you.”
Before you know it, you’ve wasted time with the back and forth, or worse – the other person has moved on as the process was just taking WAY too long.
Some folk aren’t so keen on tools such as Calendly as they feel it takes the personal touch out of your business…
Personally, I feel that yes, if you reply to a request for an appointment with Just The Calendly Link, it can look a little inhuman.
A message such as –
“Dear Potential Client X,
I would love to discuss Service Y further. Shall we set up a 15 minute Zoom call? Here is my booking link so you can slot in a time that is convenient for you. I look forward to hearing more about your business and seeing you soon…”
– means that you are coming across as friendly, accommodating to your (potential) client and efficient.
Coming onto the point of this blog, the number one mistake I see people making on Calendly is:
PEOPLE MAKING THEMSELVES TOO AVAILABLE!!!
AND/OR
ALLOWING PEOPLE TO BOOK IN WITH VERY LITTLE NOTICE
By this I mean they are offering out appointments Monday – Friday 9am – 5pm (and the rest!)
(This is actually two mistakes, but it spoils the Impact of the Title of My Blog…)
Imagine this scenario.
Tuesday evening you finish work at 5pm. Everything is tied up for the day and you plan out Wednesday’s work. You know exactly what is happening and you are feeling relaxed, in control and calm.
Wednesday morning you start work and check your calendar and discover that first thing this morning, a client booked an hour’s ‘catch up’ session right in the middle of the day and at the time you had decided yesterday that you were going to do your accounts.
You feel:
🤔 Thrown
🤔 Out of sync
🤔 Unorganised
🤔 Unprepared
If you click on ‘Additional rules for your availability, you can set up how far in advance people can book your time and stop this scenario happening…
In terms of always being available, I always make Friday’s a ‘non-bookable’ day.
a) I finish early on a Friday and I want to ensure that this will definitely happen.
b) Friday is my Getting Things Done and general admin day – so I can tie things up and make sure I can relax over the weekend.
These dates and times can easily be set in Calendly – and if you link it to your own calendar, anything you put in your calendar will sync to your Calendly so you don’t end up being double-booked!!
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