Is it always difficult to schedule meetings with your colleagues? There are constant emails going back and forth with each person checking their schedule to see if it lines up with the other. When it means a meeting with more than one person the headaches become even larger.
The Calendly app is a seamless tool that removes scheduling problems and eliminates the hassle of back-and-forth emails so you can get back to business.
(Ps, I don’t get any kick back from Calendly for this article. I just think it’s really great!)
The app provides you with a link which you can send to work colleagues or anybody who you want to collaborate with. I keep the link under my signature block and renamed it “Book a Time With Me”. The person that wants to meet with you will press the link and they will be directed to your calendar. They can schedule their own meeting with you that suits them and when you are also available! You are also able to integrate all your calendars so that there is no chance of you being double booked.
Do you want to avoid people booking meetings with you at 6am or at 8pm? (Don’t worry it does happen!). Then just use the preferences for when you are unavailable. I have my calendar open from 8.30am to 5pm. This prevents anyone trying to book before or after those times.
One thing to remember is to schedule your own times. For example if you have a Doctors appointment then book it into your calendar. If you don’t then sure enough someone will want to book that time with you. If you have booked it in then it will just show you as unavailable.
Another feature of Calendly is that it allows you to create different event types. For my own Calendly account I have created three:
- The assessment meeting that provides a time block of up to one hour
- The 30-minute meeting
- The quick catch up 10-minute meeting.
The person wanting to meet with you can then pick the time that suits them and book the meeting. It really is that easy!
It is even possible to collect payments through Calendly. So, if you are an online coach you can take a payment whenever anyone books a session. Alternatively, if you are a consultant you can ensure you will getting paid for that hour that has been booked!
Calendly offers a 14-day free version with all the bells and whistles. After that it is up to you what level you want to go for.
After the 14 days you will be automatically downgraded to the free version. This is the bare bones of Calendly but may give you some more time to play around with it.
At the time of writing the next step up from the Basic or Free version is the Premium Plan. This starts at $8 per month and is ideal for individuals or small teams needing customisation and more advanced features.
The Pro version at the time of writing is $12 per month which increases the users to 6 Calendar connections per user. This is for larger teams who want automated scheduling, custom SMS notifications. It will also connect to Salesforce, HubSpot and Mailchimp.
Enterprise plans are for large organisations and feature all the bells and whistles. Understandably they require you to contact the Sale support team for that level.
So, if you want to streamline the process of scheduling your meetings then I can’t suggest Calendly highly enough. Try the 14 Day Free-Version and let me know how you find it!