Sometimes booking appointments can be a lot of back and forth. How often do you find yourself in this conversation?
How Does Tuesday at 2:00 work for you?
This coming Tuesday? Oh that won’t work for me.
What about the same time Wednesday?
That won’t work either, have anything in the morning the following week?
The week of the 24th? I could do Tuesday the 25th at 10:00 or Thursday the 27th at 11:00.
Oh the Thursday might work, can you go ahead and pencil me in for 11?
(Fast Forward till the following Wednesday afternoon)
I just wanted to confirm our appointment for tomorrow morning at 11.
Oh that’s tomorrow? I’m sorry something came up I can’t make it.
So after all the back and forth, you’re left without an appointment, and even worse an open spot in your calendar where you may have been able to meet with another prospect. During the AEP scheduling can become even more of a headache. So why not have someone, or something (come on this is a Tech Tuesday article after all) help you schedule your appointments?
Meet Calendly, the scheduling assistant app that eliminates the back and forth (read: waste of time) we outlined above. Calendly allows you to send a link to your prospects where they can schedule their own appointment.
How does it work?
You log in to Calendly to set up the appointment type. Almost everything is customizable, and honestly it’s harder to figure out how to say Calendly out loud than it is to get started. You can create questions that will show up when your client goes to schedule so you can gather all the important information you’ll need to be prepared for your appointment (like name, current plan information, or what they’re looking to discuss). You can set the duration and then limit the times when people can book appointments. So if you don’t want to work after 7:00 in the evening, you can limit the times someone can book an appointment with you. Calendly even allows you to place a buffer so that you’ll always have 15 minutes between appointments in the event one runs over. Don’t want any surprise meetings? You can even limit how soon someone can schedule a new appointment. After you’ve set up the appointment details Calendly easily syncs up with your other electronic calendars and updates everything in real time. So if you add in your own outside appointment, or block off other time on your Google, iCal, or Exchange calendar Calendly will close down those time blocks for you. And not to worry, your clients will only see the times you have available; they won’t get to see your entire calendar (so feel free to schedule that 10:00 am tee time, they won’t know that’s why you’re busy).
(Click The Image Above for a Preview of How Calendly Works)
Once your client schedules an appointment, you’ll receive an email notification with the details and Calendly will automatically add it into your existing calendar allowing you to stay organized and see your schedule filling up in real time. Something comes up? You or your client will be able cancel or change appointments if needed, and your calendar will be automatically updated. Once you’re up and running you can share your personalized Calendly link wherever you want – on your business cards, in your email signatures, on your website or on your social media profiles. Use it as a way to capture leads!
How I use Calendly
I personally use Calendly all the time in the office. When I’m not helping agents or writing Tech Tuesday Blogs, I’m the resident “IT Guy” around the office. So when something breaks or someone needs something set up, I get the call. To help manage those requests and balance my other responsibilities I’ve created a system where those in the office can complete a form to let me know what needs fixed or worked on, then they get a link to schedule a time for me to work on it. All my important meetings, scheduled phone calls, and even time devoted to other projects in my calendar aren’t pushed aside. Instead, my coworkers can see when I’m available and can have my undivided attention to handle their tech issue. Best part for me?is At no point in that entire process did I have to stop what I was doing to see what was wrong, and to tell them some of the times I would be available to help.
Simplify Your AEP
AEP is right around the corner and clients will soon (if they’re not already) be beating down your doors and blowing up your phone trying to find the time where they can sit down to discuss their Medicare Advantage and Part D options. Why not shave a lot of time off that entire process and let them schedule their own appointment? Calendly is free (there are some premium upgrades available) and can be set up in minutes. So take advantage of the calm before the storm and set up your digital appointment setter now and focus on the appointments themselves, not the run around of setting them.
