The right tools can be very helpful in making your business more efficient and effective. In my series Essential Marketing Tools, I discussed an easy and affordable tool to get more traffic to your blog and the world’s easiest email marketing system.
A new tool that I have started using this year that has helped me to be more productive and has saved me time is an online scheduling tool that syncs to my calendar. An online scheduling tool saves you the hassle of the back and forth when it comes to scheduling appointments, meetings, conference calls, demos, etc.
However, before I decided on the tool I am using now, I did a lot of research and noticed that 3 online scheduling tools kept coming up, Acuity, ScheduleOnce and Calendly, so in this post, I compare the three most popular online scheduling tools, and share with you the reason why I selected ScheduleOnce.
Acuity
Acuity is a super popular online scheduling tool for coaches and consultants and has lots of great features. Clients can quickly view your real-time availability and self-book their own appointments—and even pay online and reschedule with a click.
You get notified anytime a new appointment is booked, you can check your schedule right from your phone, and even tell Acuity to automatically update the calendars you already use, like Google, Outlook, iCal or Office 365.
You can automatically send branded & customized confirmations, reminders & follow-ups—via email or text message—and even accept payment and tips via Stripe, Square, PayPal, Braintree & Authorize.net with the click of a button.
Price– A 14-day free trial is available, and packages start as low as $0/month, but depending on the features you need, can go up to $34/month
Website: www.acuityscheduling.com
ScheduleOnce
ScheduleOnce is a field-proven solution for powering online scheduling with your customers and prospects. They offer solutions for every stage of the customer lifecycle.
You can configure ScheduleOnce to fit your specific business needs. Decide how bookings will be made, who they will be assigned to, and through which channels meetings will be conducted.
Native connectors are available for key third-party apps such as Salesforce, Infusionsoft, GoToMeeting, WebEx, and PayPal. Hundreds of other third-party apps can be integrated through Zapier. Easily integrate scheduling into your website, web forms, campaigns, and emails.
Customers book from any device, are kept in the loop with notifications and reminders, and are given the option to cancel or reschedule should they need to. ScheduleOnce allows you to manage bookings across multiple teams and organizational structures.
Check out the ScheduleOnce video below:
Price– A 14-day free trial is available, and packages start as low as $5/month, but depending on the features you need, can go up to $49/month
Website– www.scheduleonce.com
Calendly
Calendly is simple, beautiful scheduling that allows you to save time, accelerate sales, and improve service. You set your availability preferences in Calendly. You share your personal Calendly links with clients, colleagues, students, etc… They pick an available time and the event is added to your calendar!
Calendly checks your Google or Office 365 calendar for conflicts, so you’re never double-booked,and adds new events to your calendar automatically.
It automatically emails custom confirmations and reminders to invitees, and you can set buffer times between meetings, prevent last minute meetings, create secret event types and much more.
Price– A 14-day free premium trial is available, and packages start as low as $0/month, but depending on the features you need, can go up to $8/month
Website– www.calendly.com
After researching all three and some other options in the market, I chose ScheduleOnce simply because of the user interface. I found that the layout, look, and feel of the ScheduleOnce system works best for me.
Since implementing ScheduleOnce into my procedure for booking appointments, I have gotten lots of comments about how efficient my booking system is.
All three scheduling platforms offer similar features and benefits, but it is important to test drive the platform and see how you like the user interface and the features.
Regardless of what system you decide to use, adding an online scheduling system will make your business more efficient and effective.
For your convenience, I have created a comparison chart of the top 3 scheduling tools. Check it out and see which one works best for you, or if you are already using a scheduling system, comment below and let us know which one you are using, and how it is working for your business?
Check out the comparison chart below:
| Acuity | ScheduleOnce | Calendly | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Client self scheduling | X | X | X |
| Coordinate appts with your calendar (ie. Google Calendar, Oulook, iCal) | X | X | X |
| Sends client customized confirmation reminders and follow-ups via email | X | X | X |
| Sends client customized confirmation reminders and follow-ups via text | X | X | |
| Time Zone Conversion | X | X | |
| Embed scheduler to your website | X | X | |
| Integrates with payment platforms | X | X | |
| Reports | X | X | X |
| unlimited bookings | X | X | X |
| multi-user system | X | X | X |
| buffer between bookings | X | X | X |
| Group Sessions | X | X | X |
| Session Packages | X | X |
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