In this Calendly review, we explain why Calendly is more than a meeting scheduling software.
Our schedules have become tighter to the point where sleep and recreational time are becoming a luxury. Not that we have a lot to do per se, but because of improper allocation of time.
Many of us are like James, a freelancer, battling with missed meetings, scheduling, and sometimes time conversion issues with meetings across multiple time zones. His work required him to attend meetings, reply to emails, prospect new clients, meet deadlines, set reminders for payments, run his social media accounts, and many more.
All of these were overwhelming and had greatly masked the excellence he exude in doing his job. It was like cold water on a sunny day in the Sahara desert when he found that some of his overwhelming tasks could be automated, granting him the freedom to focus on the most important aspect of his job.
His clients are happy with how organized he is now and how promptly deadlines are delivered. All thanks to Calendly. When it comes to staying connected and organized with clients, Calendly is a great saas tool.
Calendly is a web app that makes client meetings and scheduling easier. It can conveniently manage a full schedule and cut down on the back and forth emails. It integrates with other tools to improve productivity, automate appointment scheduling, and eliminate double-booking or missed meetings. James is one out of many whose productivity has been improved by using Calendly, there is so much Calendly has to offer.
In an era where there is so much to keep up with, distractions are everywhere and deadlines are ticking. Somehow, 24 hours seems insufficient. The hours can’t be expanded, definitely but the hours can be better managed and allocated. This is where Calendly comes to your rescue.
Calendly is more than a scheduling saas tool. See how it works now.
This Calendly review will focus on what an average person out there can achieve with Calendly, its features, pricing plans, pros and cons, and many more.
What is Calendly?
In simple terms, Calendly promises easy scheduling. Broadly speaking, Calendly makes scheduling meetings easier, more professional, efficient, and eliminates the hassle of back-and-forth emails.
Calendly offers the liberty to focus on what’s more important in your jobs by taking up the hassles of scheduling. Thereby eliminating interruptions arising from clients’ calls and emails inquiring about your availability. These subtle distractions can mar your productivity and the efficiency of your work.
With Calendly, meetings are scheduled without calendar conflicts, reminders go out automatically, and rescheduling is a click away. Calendly helps you to meet the way you want, when you want it, and how you want it without getting interrupted.
Who is Calendly for?
Calendly is for anyone looking to automate scheduling processes. Be it an executive, a freelancer, a consultant, a website owner, a doctor, etc.
Calendly does not only make meeting scheduling easy for a solopreneur but large teams or departments can also enjoy its awesome services.
Calendly Review: Features
When planning, scheduling, and managing meetings start to feel like a job in itself, then Calendly is all you need to take the “job” title out of it. Meeting scheduling becomes easier because of the following features:
i). On-demand scheduling
Prospects and clients can schedule meetings for the perfect time on both ends with just a few clicks.
This on-demand scheduling helps in making more connections and reducing cancellations. In the event where cancellation is necessary, rescheduling is just with a few clicks.
ii). Time management
Calendly helps users to make the most of their time and that of their clients. Time is a precious commodity and it is inelastic, Calendly ensures it remains so by making meetings and appointment bookings seamless.
iii). Workflow management.
Calendly does not only make scheduling easy, but it also automates reminders and follow-ups. The entire meeting workflow from scheduling to sending reminders to thank you notes or payment links is done on autopilot.
“Workflows” is one of the newest features of Calendly that allows for the activities above and follow-up scheduling, feedback survey, and many more. It improves your no-show rates by giving you notifications that will help you to prepare before your meetings.
iv). Multiple meeting types
Calendly gives you the option to distribute meetings to team members based on availability, priority, or equity, and this is done automatically.
This is not limited to team members alone, clients can schedule meetings based on their preference and availability. It can be 15-minute, 30-minute, 60-minute meetings, or a customized duration for such meetings.
v). Time zone detection.
Calendly cancels out the stress of time conversion when scheduling meetings across multiple time zones. Calendly detects each invitee’s time zone and seamlessly converts the times without the need to go back and forth between attendees and organizers.
vi). Customizable Profile.
Calendly permits users to customize their profiles to suit their brands and public profile. This removes the Calendly branding and gives a more professional look to your business.
vii). Streamlining collaboration
Calendly does not only make scheduling easy, but it also boosts collaboration and efficiency among teammates with the following sub-features such as admin features, team pages, unified billing, metrics, and reports.
These features provide a holistic view of all schedules and upcoming events for team members to see and work accordingly.
viii). Integrations with other Software
Calendly securely integrates with other business tools and calendars such as Google, Salesforce, Outlook, and Office 365 calendars to ensure maximum efficiency and productivity.
It allows for connecting up to 6 other calendars, and checks for availability across all calendars to avoid mix-ups, double booking, or missed appointments. It permits integrating your Zoom account into the app for easy video meetings and conferences.
These integrations can be done on a personal website as well, allowing for easy online scheduling by prospects.
ix). Payment integration
The payment integration feature ensures that the invitee makes partial or full payment while scheduling a meeting. That is if you charge a fee for your meetings.
This feature eliminates the back and forth with haggling prices and delayed payments by streamlining the billing process into a single step with Calendly’s PayPal integration. Calendly permits the following types of meetings: One-on-one, round-robin, collective, and group meetings.
x). Metrics and reports.
Calendly ensures easy track of all activities related to an appointment. From invitee engagement and attendance to notifications and reminders, all scheduling activities are tracked accurately. And reports can be viewed on the go with the Calendly mobile apps.
xi). Ease of use
Calendly’s Software can be easily navigated even by less tech-savvy users. Although, some settings are hidden and could take a little while to figure out what functions they perform.
Once the initial setup has been made, Calendly takes over the rest. All scheduling activities will be well handled and little effort is required on your part.
Calendly Review: Pros
Throughout this Calendly review, a lot of advantages have been mentioned but to be specific, here are some of the benefits of Calendly.
i). Efficient for Ongoing Events
Calendly ensures that meetings are set up seamlessly, and for continuous events, Calendly takes charge of all the scheduling required. The user can then focus on other priorities while Calendly gives updates and notifications on all meetings and events.
ii). Adaptability of scheduling
with Calendly, you can set up different appointments and events. Meetings could include business meetings, blackout dates, webinars, parties, etc. Calendly makes you efficient since it adjusts and notifies you of upcoming events.
iii). Fewer emails
Attending to fewer emails saves you time and helps you to focus on important things. Calendly eliminates the back and forth with email inbox inquiring about your availability or the payment method.
iv). Free version
many of these features are available on the free version, making it accessible to many users without the need to subscribe to a payment plan.
v). Managed access
although your schedule availability is open to all, you can still manage access based on priority and equity. With hidden event features, only a few people have access to those kinds of events.
vi). Re-scheduling and reminders
it is so easy to forget schedules, with inbuilt reminders, this is eliminated. Also, both parties can reschedule meetings faster and easier when the scheduled date is no longer convenient.
Calendly Review: Cons
Here are some areas Calendly can improve on:
- Calendly customer support is limited. Free plans have can access support via emails only. Premium and Pro users have no access to phone support only live chats.
- Prospects and new clients might feel unfamiliar with using such software if they haven’t used any before.
- Metrics are limited. There’s no record for the number of clicks on the link and other vital statistics of such clicks. Examples are, who clicked, age, gender, location, time of day. This information helps to improve service operations.
- Users are required to sign in whenever the software is to be used. This can be a turn-off for many users.
- Difficulty in setting up the account due to hidden settings that couldn’t be navigated.
- Multiple accounts are required If you have or work with more than one company.
- Inability to add Brand kit in profile settings such as typeface, graphics, and brand color codes.
Calendly Review: Pricing Plans
i). Basic: Free $0.00
For individuals with little scheduling needs.
The basic plan offers automated event notifications, one active event type for unlimited one-on-one events, unlimited one-off meetings, Schedule unlimited events, and Google, Office 365, Outlook, or iCloud calendar connection
ii). Essentials: $8.00 (1 seat per month)
For individuals who need higher scheduling automation
The plan consists of everything in the basic plan, 2 Google, Office 365, Outlook, or iCloud calendars, group events, countless active event types, unlimited one-on-one events, and meeting reminders via email.
iii). Professional:$12.00 (1 seat per month).
Suitable small teams and individuals aiming for more integrations and customizations.
The offer includes everything in the premium plan, automated workflow, customized meeting notifications, and reminders, Up to 6 Google, Office 365, Outlook, or iCloud calendars, customized confirmation page, and can create collective event types.
iv). Teams: $16.00 ( 1 seat per month)
Suitable for large teams and companies aiming to collaborate more efficiently.
The offer includes everything in the professional plan, integrating with Salesforce, Hubspot, MailChimp, creating round-robin event types, manage groups and event types as an admin.
v). Enterprise plan: contact Calendly for the price ( 30 seats per year)
Suitable for large teams and companies needing advanced security, control, and support. The plan offers everything in the Teams plan and deploys confidently with SAML (SSO) and SCIM provisioning
How to set up your Calendly account
i). Sign up
You will be required to sign up with your email and a password, once inputted, click on sign up. From the main menu at the top of the page, navigate to your Event Types page.
One event type — 15 minutes, 30 minutes, or 60 minutes is available to free account users, which marks the duration of all meetings. Paid plans will give you access to more event types options.
There is room for a free trial of the paid plans for 14 days, this can help you decide if the paid plan will work best for you or your team.
ii). Next is Event Setup
On the event type page above, click on the upper right corner of the event you’ve chosen, then click on Edit. Here you can set your:
- language and time zone,
- days and times available to work per week,
- meeting notification settings,
- information and questions required before a schedule can be made,
- payment (for Pro accounts)
iii). Connect your Calendar
From your profile drop-down, click on Calendar Connection. Once opened, click on the calendar you want to connect to Calendly.
Don’t forget to turn on “Add new events to calendar” to give Calendly permission to write to your calendar. Also, the “Sync cancellations” box so you can decline events straight from your calendar.
iv). Fill out your Profile
Click on your profile link at the top right of the page, then click on Account Settings. Here, you can upload a profile picture, write a bio, and any other personal branding details.
v). Personalized Link
Once you’ve set up your account and saved the changes made, click on Share Your Link, then copy the link and paste it where it is needed either on your website or email.
You can choose to send single-use links for event types to secure time slots. Such links expire immediately after the client makes a schedule.
This is done to restrict access and avoid unwanted appointments. Consultation fees can be accepted through this link if you are a paid plan Calendly user.
vi). Add User
The free account can only have one user — you. Paid plans permit more users. Click Users from your profile dropdown then click the Invite Users box, then input the email addresses of your team members
vii). Add Integrations
Both free accounts and paid accounts can integrate other Software with Calendly. The only difference is in the numbers allowed for each plan. These have been explained in detail above.
You will have the time to build a lasting relationship with clients, focus on the important aspect of your job, and increase your productivity when most administrative works are automated. Calendly is a perfect saas tool to maintain professional relationships with your clients and manage a full schedule with ease.
Calendly is more than a scheduling software. See how it works now.