Your AnswerConnect account comes with free appointment scheduling. But how do you make it respond to your business goals?

Life works better when things happen on time, right? You know the feeling; it happens on those rare days when hours float by on a calm sea of perfectly-timed tasks and promptly completed projects. Well, 90% of that efficiency is down to preparation. And in a world of meetings and video calls, preparation starts with an appointment.

Some industries – including real estate and healthcare depend on appointments. Others, including finance and insurance, often use appointments as a way to guide people through their sales funnel. Whatever you need it for, appointment scheduling offers a simple, versatile solution to disorganised diaries and cluttered calendars.

What is appointment scheduling?

Appointment scheduling refers to a service in which an individual or multiple parties can schedule appointments and meetings through a cloud-based digital platform. Users can book appointments and reservations online through a Web-connected device. 

From the booking platform, users can select an appointment date and time based on the availability of the other party. 

Real-time appointment booking allows businesses to consolidate appointments through one system, reducing the risk of double-bookings. And with automated reminders, businesses can reduce the number of missed appointments by 29%.

What is an appointment scheduling service?

An appointment scheduling service uses your chosen appointment scheduling platform to book meetings on behalf of yourself or your customers. Through an appointment scheduling service, your virtual receptionists can help leads and customers book meetings with members of your team.

That’s particularly important for businesses looking to take their support 24/7, as 35% of customers prefer to make appointments after business hours.

How to get your appointment scheduling service

You can add an appointment scheduling service to your AnswerConnect account for free. Just get in touch with your Client Account Manager (CAM) and they’ll walk you through the process.

We use Setmore online appointment scheduling software both internally and for our customers. It’s simple, secure and versatile enough to manage an international team across three continents. Best of all, every AnswerConnect account comes with free access to Setmore.

Already using a booking platform? We can use most platforms, allowing your virtual receptionists to add new appointments directly to your system.

The following tips, however, are based on using Setmore as your booking platform.

1. Add your team

Appointment scheduling is, above all, a time-saving device. By directing callers and website visitors to book an appointment, you can bring order to your schedule and prioritise opportunities according to availability. But it must also simplify the process for your customers.

And that means enabling them to book with the right person. That’s particularly important for businesses in which different team members specialise in different areas. Thankfully, Setmore allows you to assign specific services to different team members. Hey presto: your callers get to speak to the right person for their query, while your team can come to every meeting with a clear objective.  

Create multiple team calendars with staff scheduling software from Setmore.

He says: “Having or adding a lettings department may add an edge of resilience to agents’ businesses by adding a predictable monthly income stream – especially when technology, such as PayProp, can improve efficiency and cut the costs of administration.”

“Investing in the right processes and tools will free up time to facilitate the provision of higher-value activities such as first-class customer service, as well as saving agents hours every week on admin.”

Cobbold argues that many businesses focused on sales would massively benefit from either scaling up their lettings offer or by starting one from scratch.

“It is likely that the rental side will become even busier than it is now, because those who thought they would be able to enter the market as buyers may find their pathway blocked by high interest rates,” he said.

2. Add your business hours

Your answering service is there to ensure you never miss a call, even when you’re out of the office. When transferring a call, your virtual receptionists will check to see who is available. Likewise, when booking appointments, they need to know the availability of both individual team members and the business.

It’s important to note that, as your business can have multiple employees with different shift hours, your appointment availability is tied to your staff working hours, and not your business hours.

Learn how to adjust your business hours and individual staff hours in your online calendar app. 

3. Add buffer times for prep

This is particularly important for any businesses looking to conduct meetings in person. For personal service providers like barbers and salons, buffer times are essential to maintain a steady flow of customers. And with bricks & mortar businesses still bound by covid-safety measures, buffer time can actually be essential to ensure you’re abiding by the law. 

Buffer times are also essential for businesses without a physical store. Even if you’re only taking phone or video calls, you’ll need time between each call. Technical issues are just a fact of life. Adding a buffer time between appointments allows your team to prepare and take delays into account. That’s important for your team, and even more important for the customer experience.

Learn more about adding buffer times here.

4. Integrate with video-calling

The past year has brought an unprecedented change in how we do business. And appointments are no exception. With social distancing measures preventing in-person meetings, there’s been an explosion in video-conferencing. The video-calling software Zoom saw sales soar 326% from 2019 to 2020.

Putting aside social distancing, the benefits of video calls are obvious. Professionals in the finance and legal industries are increasingly turning to video meetings to provide professional advice to clients. Meanwhile, real estate professionals are utilising video-conferencing software to give prospective buyers virtual tours of properties.

You can add a direct video link to specific people when setting up your Setmore. Alternatively, you can create custom links using Teleport (also free with AnswerConnect) and add them to specific appointment cards.

Discover how to book and host crystal-clear video appointments with Setmore.

5.  Set up appointment reminders

A missed appointment is essentially wasted time. And sure, introducing an appointment scheduler will bring order to your day. But for your business to truly run like clockwork, you need attendees to show up on time. Sometimes, that means giving them a little reminder.

Adding appointment reminders is a vital step to improving attendance rates; which translates to a more efficient working day for you. In a 2020 survey by Setmore, 57% of respondents noted a reduction in the number of missed appointments after introducing appointment reminders.

Through Setmore, attendees can receive email and SMS reminders anything from a week to one minute in advance of their scheduled appointment. Of course, if the meeting is in a physical setting, it’s important to set reminders to go out at least an hour before the meeting starts. That gives people plenty of time to actually get to the meeting.

But appointment reminders work even for quick one-to-one virtual meetings. A reminder ten minutes prior to the call prompts you to prepare and impose a structure on the meeting. That leads to a more efficient (and less stressful) experience for everyone involved.

Explore how tocustomise text reminders for your clients.

So, an appointment scheduling service really does offer something every business needs. For businesses looking to bring some structure to the working day, appointments provide a framework.

And for customers looking to get in touch with your business, appointment scheduling offers a tangible confirmation of their

Get in touch today to find out more about adding appointment scheduling to your answering service.

Find out how AnswerConnect can help your agency here.