Appointment scheduling tools like Calendly and Google Calendar have made it easier than ever to book meetings with leads and prospects.
But of course, booking the meeting isn’t the end of it. It needs to make it into your CRM too, so it's not disconnected from everything else you know about the contact.
A CRM with appointment scheduling integration makes it easier and faster to do that.
In this article, we'll cover what appointment scheduling apps do, the benefits of connecting one to your CRM, and a few popular scheduling apps worth knowing about.
What are appointment scheduling apps?
An appointment scheduling app lets you share your availability with a prospect or customer through a shareable link and lets them pick a time that works for both of you. This way, you don’t have to send back-and-forth emails to find a time that works.
Most scheduling apps also handle follow-up, sending confirmations, reminders, and rescheduling, so you don't have to track them manually.
These apps save small businesses time and help improve the customer experience. A prospect who wants to book a demo or a customer who needs a support call can simply pick a time themselves instead of waiting for a reply.
How does a CRM with appointment scheduling work?
A CRM with appointment scheduling connects your meeting scheduling tool, like Calendly or Google Calendar, with your CRM. So, when a lead or prospect books a meeting with you, it automatically gets tied to their contact record in the CRM.
On its own, a scheduling app is only aware of the meeting itself, the time, the attendee, maybe a few notes. It doesn’t know any other details about the contact that are present in your CRM.
A CRM with appointment scheduling integration closes that gap.
Here’s how a CRM with appointment scheduling typically works:
- You set your availability in the appointment scheduling app and share the booking link with the prospect or customer.
- The customer sees available slots in their own time zone and picks a suitable slot.
- The booked meeting is added to the connected calendar, such as Google Calendar or Outlook.
- The booked meeting also syncs to the CRM with the relevant contact. For example, with the OnePageCRM Calendly integration, the meeting appears in the Action Stream as well as in the Contacts page as a Next Action.
- You can prepare for the meeting using the CRM data and create a follow-up action after the meeting.
Benefits of integrating a meeting scheduler with your CRM
Here’s how integrating a meeting scheduling tool with your CRM can benefit your business:
Less manual CRM admin
Without the integration, a booked meeting only exists in your scheduling app. If you want to add it to your CRM with other details about the contact, you have to add it manually.
Many meetings never make it to your CRM, especially when you are busy with other things.
But when you integrate a meeting scheduler with your CRM, your scheduled meetings sync with the relevant contact in the CRM automatically.
For example, with OnePageCRM's Calendly integration, a booked meeting appears automatically as a Next Action on the contact's record. You can see the meeting in the Action Stream as well as on the Contact Page.
Every meeting has context
When you’re engaging with multiple leads and prospects, it’s easy to forget if you met someone before and what you discussed.
A meeting scheduled through a standalone app is just an event on a calendar. It doesn't carry any context about who you're meeting or why.
If you have the CRM integration enabled, though, you get full context. With quick access to all your past interactions with the contact, you’ll be able to prepare better for the meeting.
And if you don’t have time to read through all the data, you can use the TL;DR button to let AI not only summarize all of your interactions with the contact, but also suggest the best next step.
Add booking links instantly
The integration lets you send booking links to your leads and customers right from your CRM.
For example, OnePageCRM has a full email sync. So, you can send emails right from your CRM. And when you connect your meeting scheduler, like Calendly, you can add a booking link to emails.
Without the integration, sharing a scheduling link requires switching tools. You usually have to open a separate tab, copy the right link for the right meeting type, and paste it into your email.
Full view of past and upcoming meetings
Even with a scheduling app connected to your calendar, you'd typically have to search through it to find a specific contact's meeting history.
OnePageCRM makes this quick and easy.
For example, the Calendly integration adds a Calendly widget to the Contact Page, showing a contact's past and upcoming meetings in one place. If you need more detail about an event, you can simply click it, and it’ll take you straight to the full event in Calendly.
Top 5 appointment scheduling apps for small businesses
Small businesses can choose different apps for booking meetings. Here are just a few of the most popular choices.
Calendly
Calendly is one of the most widely used scheduling apps, known for its simple setup and shareable booking links. It supports multiple event types, team scheduling, and integrates with most major calendar and CRM tools, including OnePageCRM.
Google Calendar
Google Calendar offers basic appointment scheduling. You can set your availability, appointment length, maximum number of bookings per day, and more.
Many small businesses already use Google Calendar, and having a dedicated appointment-scheduling feature inside it is handy.
Outlook
Outlook Calendar also offers built-in scheduling through Microsoft Bookings. It’s a great scheduling tool for small businesses that are already using Outlook Calendar to create appointments and meetings.
Like other scheduling tools, Outlook scheduler lets you create a personal booking page that you can share as a link with your leads and customers.
Cal.com
Cal.com is a scheduling platform designed for businesses that want more control over how scheduling works. It offers standard booking features as well as extensive customization and integrations.
SavvyCal
SavvyCal focuses on making the booking experience feel more personal. It allows invitees to overlay their own calendar on your availability, making it easier to find a time that works for both sides.
It also includes features such as team scheduling, round-robin meetings, scheduling limits, and payment collection.
Conclusion
A scheduling app makes booking a meeting easy. By integrating an appointment scheduling app with your CRM, you can keep all the relevant context in one app.
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