What if you could skip all those emails back and forth trying to find a time for a phone call/Zoom meeting?
“When works for you?” “These three dates…” “Oh those don’t work for me…”
If you love those emails as much as I do (i.e., not much), have you checked out a meeting-booking software?
When I joined the entrepreneur world, I got introduced to Acuity and Calendly.
And my first thought was, “WHERE WERE YOU WHEN I WAS PRACTICING LAW?”
And since more and more of my professional clients are turning to them, I want to make sure you know about them, too.
Essentially, Acuity or Calendly (and there are others – my favorite is Acuity) let clients / opposing counsel / anyone book an appointment in your calendar without your involvement.
You set up your available hours ahead of time. You also tell – let’s go with Acuity – you also tell Acuity to block your availability if you schedule over those windows in your calendar. E.g., I could tell Acuity I’m free from 12-4, but if I book a meeting from 3-4, a client can’t book that slot through Acuity.
You can even tell it not to let others book 15 min before or after scheduled appointments, have people fill out questions before they book certain appointment types (e.g., intake or “what do you want to discuss during this meeting?”), and send them reminder emails if you opt for the paid version
People can even reschedule or cancel on their own (within parameters you set) so that you can accommodate curveballs in their life without actually having to do anything.
AND can we talk about how amazing it is to have an end time set in advance? When I set appointments with people on my own via email, half the time we didn’t establish how long the call/meeting would be. This could lead to marathon calls that easily could have been 30 minutes. Using tools like Acuity and Calendly, you can offer your 30-minute meeting slot, your 60-minute meeting slot, etc., depending on what you think is warranted. So, not only is it helping you avoid the back-and-forth of setting up the meeting, it’s helping you run tighter meetings.
PLUS, Acuity protects your calendar way better than you do. At least for me, while I’m tempted to accommodate everyone else’s requests over my own, Acuity draws the line for me: These are her available times. Done.
Both Acuity and Calendly have free versions, but the paid versions (~$14/mo) is a no brainer in my book.
So, what about you? Do you use a meeting-booking software? Interested?
I’ve had clients from business owners to professors start to incorporate meeting-booking software into their lives with huge success.
We go over lots of tools like this (plus other actionable time management strategies) in my group program. The ladies there have such cool tools they utilize.
So, give it a whirl, and report back!
