How to Use Scheduling Tools to Uplevel Your Law Firm
By Next Level Pod on October 20th, 2021 in Uncategorized
Ever heard of scheduling tools? If not, you’re missing out. They could be a game-changer in your law firm.
Scheduling tools are apps that allow referral sources, clients, and potential clients to schedule a time in your calendar to meet with you. The capabilities they offer and the flexibility they allow for both you and your clients are fantastic.
Whether you’re brand new to scheduling tools or have heard of them but have hesitations, let’s talk about the countless benefits of using this resource to take your law firm to the next level.
Benefits of Scheduling Tools
There are tons of reasons why you should use a scheduling tool.
Firstly, they save you and your team time and hassle. They help prevent the endless email chain of trying to figure out everyone’s availability. They also increase your show-up rates because they have automated reminders built in.
Additionally, scheduling tools allow your clients to schedule and reschedule appointments without the assistance of your team. This gives them the flexibility to schedule times on your calendar that works for them and you.
Some law firm owners worry that scheduling tools will cause them to lose control over their calendars. However, these tools actually allow you to take more control of your calendar by setting up time blocks for certain types of appointments. This gives structure to your day and helps your concentration and flow immensely.
It all comes down to how you use these tools. If you’re using them wrong, you might lose control. However, if you create time blocks and rules on your calendar (e.g. “I’ll only do new client consults on Monday-Wednesday between 1 and 5”), people can only schedule those types of appointments at those times. They can’t pick a random time when you’re not available or when you intended to do other things. This keeps you in control.
Finally, scheduling tools can enhance the quality of your customer service. Use them effectively by using them internally. Encourage clients to schedule on their own but if a client calls and asks to meet with you, set their appointment up in the scheduling tool on their behalf.
Features of Scheduling Tools
There are many features of scheduling tools that you don’t want to miss. Knowing these tools’ capabilities often prevents the fear that most people have about using them. These features are common and can be found in multiple apps.
1. Choice of location: you can pick the location you want each type of appointment to be at.
2. Video conferencing integrations: whatever video conferencing tool you use, if you integrate it with your scheduling software, the link for the conference automatically gets created and sent out when a meeting is scheduled. If someone cancels or changes the appointment, that automatically updates in the software as well.
3. Buffers: these prevent back-to-back meetings. You can set your tool to not book over buffer times both before and after your meetings.
4. Not too soon, not too late: scheduling tools allow you to say how soon or how far out people can schedule on the calendar. This means that you can set the tool to only allow people to schedule meetings for a day from now (or however long you need to prepare) and prevents them from scheduling too far out into the future.
5. You can ask questions when people schedule an appointment: in many scheduling tools, you can set up questions that automatically come up when someone schedules an appointment. This allows you to gather information ahead of time from the client so that your meetings are much more productive.
6. Emails and text reminders: this is a great feature that reduces the number of no-shows.
7. Helps you collect payments: when a client books, they can be automatically directed to the place where they pay for the meeting.
If you want to learn more about how to use scheduling tools and which one you should pick for your law firm, check out Episode 021: What You’re Missing By Not Using A Scheduling Tool.