headshot photographer

Organization and automation are two ingredients of a successful business. Here at 17hats, we are constantly innovating to help you streamline your operations and accomplish more with less effort.

Our latest feature, Online Scheduling Groups, is designed to do just that. 

How can 17hats Online Scheduling Groups help you save time?

Online Scheduling Groups is designed to save you time by simplifying the process of booking multiple clients in one-time slot. Whether you’re hosting a group session or managing back-to-back appointments, this new feature reduces the back-and-forth of scheduling, allowing you to focus more on your business and less on logistics.

Classes and Workshops

Coaches, trainers, teachers, influencers, and educators – now you can release your classes or events and cap the number of people per class. Utilize other features, such as pay upon booking and questions, to streamline the process even further. 

Product Pick Up

Balloon artists, portrait photographers, bakers, and custom jewelry creators can now allow two or three clients to pick up their products within a 30-minute window using Online Scheduling Groups. This feature not only gives your clients the flexibility they need but also keeps your calendar running efficiently, freeing up more time for you. 

High Volume Service Providers

Commercial headshot photographers, professional Santas, and palm readers can use Online Scheduling Groups to allow three clients to book every 15 or 30 minutes. This way, if one client is running late, you can keep things moving smoothly by taking care of those who arrive first. It also provides a simple queuing option, ensuring that your events run on time and efficiently.

How 17hats Online Scheduling Groups work?

Online Scheduling Groups is a part of the 17hats Advanced Online Scheduling feature available in our Premier Packages, as well as our upgrade module, and it is very easy to use. 

Group Type Service

First, when creating a service, select Group as the type of service. 

If you do not see the ability to select a type for the service, then you do not have Advanced Online Scheduling. 

Service Duration

Next, under the Service Time Frame setting, you will need to add your Service Duration which is the length of your service in minutes. 

Here are some examples: 

For balloon artists allowing three people to pick up garlands every 30 minutes, their Service Duration would be 30 minutes. 

For dog walkers who walk four dogs for 20 minutes, the service duration is 20 minutes. 

Coach providing a one-day workshop from 9 am to 5 pm, their service duration would be 480 minutes (8 hours x 60 minutes).

Buffer Times

If your service is recurring each hour or 30 minutes, you may want to add 5 or 10 minutes of buffer time between recurrences. 

If you are providing 50-minute coaching sessions, you can add a 10-minute buffer afterward to take notes and grab a snack. 

Number of Booking Per Time Slots – Important!

This is an important setting you don’t want to miss because it allows your service to book more than one person. By increasing the number of bookings per time slot, you are setting the maximum amount of people who can book your service. 

Coaches teaching a 5 person group session, would want to increase the number to five. Once five people book a time slot, the time slot will disappear ensuring no one else can book or schedule for that time. 

Now that you have your required settings completed, a few others you might want be interested in would be:

Location: Adding in the location of the service is quick and easy, and more importantly, those details will populate in the contact’s project and can be reused through Tokens in emails. 

Online Payments: Ensure payment by asking for it upfront. Before booking your service or class, you can require your contacts to pay the full amount or partial amount. If they pay a partial amount, they will be reminded of their upcoming and past-due payment via email. Make sure you set up your upcoming and past-due reminders.

Terms of Service: Easily add your terms of service that they will need to agree to before booking. This is a great place for your late policy or cancelation policy.

Calendar: Once a contact books the service with you, a Contact and Project will automatically be created in 17hats. And, the booking of the service will be added to your calendar.

If you are hosting a large event, we recommend creating a Groups Calendar in 17hats to put all these bookings on. Then manually add the event to your main calendar. Because all your bookings are a separate calendar, your main calendar will remain organized and easy to view. 

Reminder Emails: And, finally your reminder emails. These two reminder emails will help your contact remember your event and also provide them with important information. You can send one out the day before and the second is sent a few hours prior. 

If you want a more customized set of emails, we recommend adding a Workflow. 

How to Get Started with Online Scheduling Groups in 17hats

Ready to streamline your scheduling? Simply dive into Online Scheduling Groups in your 17hats Account Settings to get started. 

Need a refresher? Rewatch our workshop on 17hatsUniversity.com for step-by-step guidance. And remember, our support team is always here to assist with any questions!

Not a 17hats member yet? Get Started Today!

There’s no better time to join! Start your 7-day free trial today and experience the benefits firsthand.

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One reply on “Maximize Efficiency with 17hats Online Scheduling Groups”

  • December 24, 2024 at 5:14 pm

    Thanks for the article! I will try out 17hats for my own personal tax advisory UK business.