
The way that business owners met with their clients changed dramatically in 2020. Rather than in-person consultations, most meetings shifted to Zoom video chats or phone calls.
But as life shifts back to being in person, the flexibility of where and how to meet is increasing!
One of the best features of Online Scheduling in 17hats is creating different locations for your Online Scheduling Services!
Location, location, location
Are you a photographer who provides mini sessions in a variety of parks around your town? Create a service and location for each park! Your clients will be able to choose their ideal location, and you will be able to automate sending directions and instructions.
Do you prefer phone call meetings with your clients? Then, you can create a “Phone Call” location. It will display the number you’ll be calling from, and you can even add instructions like requesting that your clients take the call from a quiet location!
Still loving the convenience of Zoom? The 17hats and Zoom integration makes scheduling Zoom meetings a breeze. In addition, 17hats will automatically include the Zoom link as your “service address.”
Customize emails with tokens
Another upside of using detailed locations in Online Scheduling is that you can use tokens to populate the location name, address, and even notes about the location in your Scheduling-Type Email templates.
Pro Tip:
Emails tied to Online Scheduling bookings that include information created by the Online Scheduling booking (booking time, location, etc.) need to be “Scheduling Type” emails. That ensures the correct information will be inserted into the emails you’re sending.
Create multiple templates
You can use Online Scheduling tokens to personalize several kinds of email templates. Here are few common ones you may want to create:
- Booking Confirmation Emails
- Booking Time Reminder Emails
- Booking Instructions and Details Emails
The brilliance of creating templates for these emails and utilizing Online Scheduling Tokens is that you will never have to look up the details of a client meeting booked through Online Scheduling just to send a reminder email. Instead, let 17hats do that back-end busywork for you!
Location checklists
Items to include in your Online Scheduling locations:
- For in-person meetings
- Include the name and address of the location where you’ll be meeting.
- Include details and instructions for getting there in the location notes section.
- Add a link to Google Maps (or your preferred map service) into the location notes using the “link” icon in the toolbar.
- Is this a first consultation? Wear the same outfit to each initial consultation with a new client, or describe exactly where you’ll be sitting when your client arrives. Then, include that information in the location notes so that your first meeting can get started without a hitch.
- For phone meetings
- Be sure to add the phone number you’ll be calling from in the “Phone Number” section. Then, you can insert the number into your emails using the “Location Address” token.
- Include instructions if your client misses your phone appointment: how to reschedule the call, if there is a fee involved, or how long you will wait for a return call.
- For Zoom meetings
- 17hats will automatically include the Zoom link as the location address, so use the Location Address Token in email templates.
- Include instructions about how to join a Zoom call, how to adjust microphone levels and enable camera permissions, and any other Zoom details you think your clients should know.
Including detailed Online Scheduling locations helps ensure that your client knows exactly when, where, and how to meet you. Providing this information to your clients via Online Scheduling confirmation emails and automatic reminder emails makes it easy to work with you. Better yet, it will impress your clients with your attention to detail.