Joel Orr: Save Time When You Set Appointments

A significant business time-waster is the typical email exchange for setting an appointment, like the one below.

You: How about I call you Monday at 10:30 am?

Prospect: Monday is good, but I’m tied up until 2 pm.

You: OK, I’ll call you at 2:15 pm. Will that work?

Prospect: It ought to, unless my earlier meeting runs over. Can you do 3 pm?

You: Sure. I’ll call you at 3 pm Monday.

Oh, and you didn’t say what time zone you are in; you could still mis-connect, if the other party is in a different time zone from you.

Compare that to an exchange like the one below:

You: Thanks for agreeing to a telephone call. Please click here and pick a time that works for you.

Prospect: OK. Talk to you then.

(“Click here” is a link issued by your online appointment site.)

Here’s what the service does:

• It syncs with your calendar (Google; Outlook; iCal)

• It may let you define different types of appointment, of different lengths

• It takes care of time-zone issues by reminding everyone

• It may handle rescheduling by the appointment-maker

• It may send reminders

• It may give you a “widget” to put on your site, to make appointment-setting easy

• It may require a payment from the appointment-setter before setting an appointment; this might be more comfortable for you than a direct request for money, if you are charging for the contact

I’ve tried Bookfresh and Setster; both are pretty good. I just started using TimeTrade; it seems to have a great combination of price ($49/year) and features. Clients have reported that they feel it’s very professional and a definite time-saver. Instead of the usual back-and-forth, they just pick the time that works for them from times that work for you.

Most companies that offer this service have either a limited-feature free version or a free trial. Most seem to cost $20/month for the solo professional version, although some charge $29 or $39/month–and I’m not sure how they justify the higher fee.

I’m sure others will pop up; this is a highly competitive space.

What’s the downside? Personally, I don’t see any. Two consultants have told me it’s too automated for them; they don’t want to come across as “processing” their prospects. They want the prospect to feel engaged and taken care of.

I respect that. But for me, I feel my clients feel most taken care of when I save them time, when I make it easy and efficient to do business with me.

Please comment! Let me know what you think of these.