Bookings and appointments are the lifeblood of many small businesses. They rely on these appointments to bring in clients and revenue. But the business landscape has shifted, and not many customers are still scheduling appointments through phone calls. In this digital age, businesses need to have some sort of online presence: through their website, through social media, etc.
Even this isn’t enough to drive revenue in a highly competitive market. If you really want more customers, you need to make your services as accessible to them as possible. You can do so by letting them book appointments online through the use of appointment scheduling software.
Most people don’t like talking to strangers on the phone, even if it’s to set up an appointment or a meeting for something important. So you need to give them the option to book an appointment on their own through online channels.
If it’s your first time using an appointment scheduling software and you have no idea where to begin choosing the right app for you, we have you covered. This list will give you a few top recommendations when it comes to appointment scheduling software, so you could take your small business to the next level and even thrive in your industry.
Top Appointment Scheduling Apps for Small Businesses
Take it from us, Kennected Calendar is one of, if not the, best appointment scheduling software out there. It has everything you might possibly need in this type of app, but we’ll go into detail about it later on. First, let’s go over some of our other recommendations that you should also check out, since we’re saving the best for last.
Calendly
Calendly is a good appointment scheduling software to start, especially if you are running a small business because it makes it easy for multiple people to collaborate at the same time. It helps save time for you and your clients, plus it’s very easy to use.
With Calendly, you can make a custom meeting link and then invite your collaborators to choose a schedule that’s convenient for them. There’s no need for the constant back and forth that usually happens when you set up an appointment. Stay organized by collaborating with leads, clients, and team members alike. It also has features like collective, round-robin, and one-on-one meetings.
You can select your availability preferences and then set up a meeting by sharing the link with your team members or prospects. They can then pick form the available slots that are still open.
What makes Calendly a good fit for small businesses is that the free version comes with basic functions for booking as well as a single calendar view. You can even try it for free for 14 days if you want to see if it’s a good fit for you.
If you try the paid plans, Calendly gives you even more team solutions. They start at $8 a month and are perfect for teams of 5 or more people. Calendly syncs to your favorite calendar, making it a great option for an appointment scheduling tool.
ScheduleOnce
Another good option if you are looking for a free plan is ScheduleOnce. The free plan lets up to 25 users collaborate. Just like all the best appointment scheduling apps, ScheduleOnce lets you skip the usual back and forth between you and your prospects. This means, just like the name implies, you only have to schedule your appointment once.
This software also offers one-on-one calls, video conferences, group meetings, and in-person meetings. It’s comprehensive and still easy to use.
It also has a paid plan that starts at $10 a month. For the enterprise package, you can get a custom price by contacting them. Use ScheduleOnce to keep track of your schedule no matter where you are. On top of that, it also gives you branding preferences, which is not a common feature among appointment scheduling software.
HubSpot Meetings
HubSpot is primarily known for its powerful CRM platform. But as part of one of its bigger packages, HubSpot also has its own appointment-scheduling solution. This is called HubSpot meetings.
For smaller businesses, this may be too robust of a solution, especially if you are only looking to buy a calendar and appointment scheduling app. But if you are already using HubSpot anyway, might as well upgrade your plan and try this solution.
HubSpot Meetings is an excellent choice for users who want all of their contact tools, lists, email trackers, and sales funnels all in one place. The full-featured calendar booking tool is free for those who have a paid HubSpot plan. But overall the biggest advantage of HubSpot Meetings is its connection to HubSpot’s own CRM.
Acuity Scheduling
This one seems to pop up on many lists for appointment scheduling software, and for good reason. Acuity Scheduling has plenty of options for customization. These are designed to improve user experience.
With Acuity Scheduling, your clients can book appointments, choose recurring appointments, and even pay in advance. If necessary, they can easily cancel or reschedule their appointment. When clients set up a meeting, you can even use Acuity Scheduling to easily offer coupons.
But arguably the most unique feature here is Acuity Scheduling’s “Make me look busy” feature, which does exactly what it says. This comes in handy for small businesses which may not always be overflowing with appointments. When business isn’t necessarily booming, you can still appear busy by hiding some of your available times. This makes your business more appealing to clients.
Acuity Scheduling’s plans start at $14 a month. The Growing plan costs $23 a month. This brings up the total number of calendars to 6 instead of just 1. Finally, the Powerhouse plan costs $45 a month and gives you up to 36 calendars. You can try these plans for free for a maximum of one week.
SimplyBook.me
SimplyBook.me is perfect for small businesses that want their services to be accessible. This appointment scheduling app lets you book online meetings in 32 languages. It also integrates with various payment apps to provide a seamless experience for your customers.
SimplyBook.me has pre-loaded default fields that allow you to choose your industry. So whether you are a consultant, a coach, or a gym owner, you can pick the role you want and find plenty of templates to work with. The downside is that it is a bit on the pricier end of the spectrum when it comes to online appointment schedulers. Its paid plan starts at $59 a month.
Appointlet
Appointlet is geared more towards salespeople, but it can actually be used by anyone. It is also affordable, with paid plans that start at $8 a month. Appointlet even has a “free forever” option that’s perfect for small businesses that just want to try things out at first.
This calendar booking software lets you customize your booking pages before you send them to your prospects and leads. It also integrates easily into your websites and email subscriber lists. Appointlet even has powerful integrations with Google Calendar, Leadpages, Office 365, Unbounce, Wishpond, Zapier, and many more.
How Scheduling Apps Work
Scheduling apps are a lifesaver for anyone in any industry. This is especially true for small businesses that rely on scheduling appointments. Scheduling is a nightmare when there are multiple parties and different time zones involved. You need a proper scheduling software to overcome this difficulty.
A scheduling app makes it easier for you to connect with your team members and your leads. They should also allow prospects and clients to book an appointment with you at any time. This makes it convenient for them because they can select a schedule that fits theirs. It also means a continuous stream of business for you, so it’s a win-win situation for everyone.
Most scheduling apps would allow you to choose your availability dates and times so you can leave the decision making to your clients. Put the ball in their court by allowing them to choose the schedule that works for them.
Scheduling apps like Kennected Calendar improve workplace efficiency in various respects, particularly when it comes to booking appointments. This means you and your team are always on the same page.
Once set up, these calendars work automatically to bring you the results you need, so you can focus on more important tasks. No need to sit around waiting for someone to call. The more efficient you are, the more you can accomplish, which translates to an increase in revenue for your small business.
These scheduling software come with plenty of features, tools, and integrations that are designed to improve the customer experience. For example, some of these apps let you set up multiple payment channels so you could get paid ahead of time. This way, you wouldn’t lose any revenue if they decide to cancel at the last minute. You also allow them to pay with whatever method is most convenient for them.
In addition to these benefits, scheduling apps also improve client experience, which makes them more loyal to your brand. With a positive client experience, they are more likely to repeat their business with you.
Most people these days find the traditional method of booking appointments tedious. They have to pick up the phone, dial your number, and talk to one of your representatives before they can even find out all your available time slots. But with an appointment scheduling app, they can do all of these things and more—faster. They can secure an appointment with you instead of being turned off by the traditional booking process.
Finally, scheduling apps also help gather valuable data and insights via analytics. A lot of these tools come with various analytic and business intelligence tools that you may find useful especially as you are growing your business.
These apps can even send reminders or allow members to collaborate and view their calendar at any time. Scheduling services are now more advanced than ever. Your small business would benefit greatly from having them. No need to dread the scheduling process ever again.
How Scheduling Apps Save Time
Scheduling apps are designed to help you save time and energy. That is their main purpose. As a business owner, you have plenty of things to worry about already, and unfortunately booking appointments is taking too much of your time.
With a scheduling software, you no longer have to waste time asking prospects what time works for them. They can just skip right to the part where they book an appointment and get the service that they need.
Normally this would take a significant period of back and forth through email or over the phone. It’s just an endless parade of confirmations, checking, and rechecking of available dates and times. Things can get even more complicated when you factor in things like time zones or multiple parties. Sometimes you might even spend more time scheduling the appointment than attending the appointment itself.
Using apps like Kennected Calendar, this will no longer be the case. Your operational efficiency will improve significantly once you start incorporating the scheduling app of your choice into your business. No need to manage appointments manually across your entire organization, no matter how many team members you currently have.
How Scheduling Apps Make People Money
They say that time is money, and when you are trying to run a business, that is definitely true. Every minute you waste on scheduling appointments manually, you are missing out on other business opportunities. You could instead be running your business, marketing your products, training your team, or building strong customer relationships.
Aside from helping you save time, it also lets you be available even beyond your regular business hours. Without a scheduling software, your prospects would have to wait for the following day to book an appointment with you if they decided to do so outside of business hours. In fact, 40% of appointments happen after business hours. This means you are losing quite a bit of revenue if you are missing out on these appointments.
With a booking tool by your side, you don’t have to worry too much about that because your business is open pretty much 24/7. Clients won’t have to wait for you to respond—they can book an appointment any time. And you don’t have to wait around for them either. Scheduling software makes your business easily accessible.
One of the most frequently overlooked benefits of calendar software is the fact that it reduces no-show rates. When people are able to choose the most convenient appointment that fits their schedule, they are less likely to miss it. For small businesses, no-shows can be devastating for revenue. This is something you cannot afford. Booking tools do not eliminate no-shows entirely, but they significantly reduce the chances of it happening. When clients book their own appointments, they feel more obliged to follow through.
Some appointment scheduling tools even send reminders via SMS and email. This also helps keep no-show rates low by making sure clients remember the schedule that they have. With these tasks being simplified, there’s no need for any additional manpower for this task. You get to save money and even set yourself up for higher revenue.
Considering all of these benefits, there is no reason for small businesses not to use the various scheduling tools that are available to them. You can run your business more smoothly, improve the experience for your customers, convert more leads, and generate more profit.
What Professions Are Scheduling Apps Good for?
Scheduling apps can benefit almost any professional in any industry. They can help small businesses and large enterprises alike. If you are in an industry where you are scheduling meetings with a lot of people, then these apps would surely come in handy.
For salespeople, scheduling apps can help them handle the rise in business appointment bookings. More and more customers are making purchases online rather than in-store. So to accommodate this change, salespeople need to schedule appointments more efficiently online.
Savvy entrepreneurs see this as an opportunity to meet the increased demand for their products and services. They use appointment scheduling software to cater to as many people as possible.
Forward-thinking entrepreneurs capitalize on niche trends in order to stay ahead of the competition. But online appointment scheduling isn’t just a passing trend. It’s here to stay. There’s no doubt that many consumers prefer this convenient method of transaction over personally meeting up with someone or calling them just to set a meeting.
Another example of an industry that benefits from appointment scheduling software is the healthcare industry. Because of patient no-shows, the healthcare system loses billions of dollars each year. Thousands of patients fail to show up for their scheduled appointments each day. But appointment scheduling apps help mitigate their problem.
These apps have in-built notifications, reminders, and alerts that increase the chances of patients actually showing up to their appointment. Plus, they get to choose their own appointment based on their availability. This helps doctors and hospitals focus on doing what they do best: save lives.
Scheduling software are used in the medical industry to help avoid double-booking patients. It also allows them to track patient information so that it is easier to keep a record of them. These tools reduce appointment-related mistakes so that doctors can focus on giving patients the help that they need.
With proper scheduling tools, healthcare becomes easier to access for patients. Most patients these days prefer to have a convenient hospital experience. They prioritize it over things like care quality and insurance. In fact, more than 80% of patients agree that if the option to schedule appointments on their own is available, they would rather go for that. However, not a lot of medical practices have this type of web service.
Kennected Calendar and other appointment scheduling apps can help people in the medical industry, including doctors, nurses, and staff to save time. For doctors looking for more patients, this might just be the thing you need.
Finally, there’s another industry that benefits greatly from online appointment setting: the legal industry. Law firms are beginning to incorporate them because of their benefits. With an appointment scheduling software like Kennected, law firms can streamline their process and book meetings with more prospects and clients than ever.
There’s no reason for law firms not to pursue this trend and reap all the amazing benefits, especially when the technology is right there. Making their legal services accessible to more prospects will improve your business. There are even several free options that are comprehensive and powerful enough to provide what your law firm needs. Even the paid options are a solid investment for any attorney.
Use these calendar apps to reduce the likelihood of no-shows and cancellations. We know how costly that could be for your law firm, especially if it happens regularly. These are only some of the examples of industries that benefit greatly from having online appointment scheduling software. It can also work wonders for your small business.
Using Scheduling Apps to Take Payment for Appointments
One of the most convenient features of scheduling software is the ability to take payment for appointments. This way you can streamline your process and centralize payments while making it easier for clients to pay for your services.
The best appointment scheduling apps allow you to collect a payment at the time of booking. PayPal, Square, and Stripe are some examples of commonly supported payment systems. Different scheduling apps may have varying payment systems in place, with some giving clients access to more payment systems than others.
In any case, you should look for an appointment scheduling software with some sort of payment processing feature so you could easily collect payment at the time of booking. You can take a deposit for an appointment or even have your clients pay for services upfront. Even if they don’t show up, it isn’t a total loss for your business. Consultants and coaches in particular benefit greatly from this feature.
Kennected Calendar: The Leader in Free Calendar Booking Solutions
We saved the best for last: this is our recommendation for the best appointment scheduling software for small businesses. You can get paid for appointments using Kennected Calendar.
When it comes to scheduling apps, there are plenty of options out there, but why not go straight for the best option? Kennected Calendar is the number one software when it comes to scheduling appointments.
This software is designed to help you manage your schedule from one place, so that you can simplify your appointment process. Kennected Calendar helps you sell more while chasing less. Simple, comprehensive, and easy to use, Kennected Calendar will make sure you are never double-booked ever again. Ever.
Kennected Calendar is a smart calendar app that seamlessly syncs up with Google Calendar. It also integrates with some of the most popular CRMs and online meeting platforms to make it as easy as possible for clients to meet you.
Access your calendar and check your schedule from anywhere. Kennected Calendar has a cloud server where your schedule is stored so you can check your calendar anytime, anywhere. You can simply log in using your mobile or desktop to access your schedule.
Kennected Calendar even has incredible features such as time blocks and boundaries, which allow you to take full control of your schedule. You can even sync with different time zones so you can stay on the same page with everyone on your team and all your leads, no matter where they are.
You can get started with Kennected Calendar for free with no credit card required. Just use your email to sign up. Start booking meetings efficiently today using Kennected Calendar.
