ScheduleThing Blog

Gutter Installation and Cleaning

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 10:00:05 -0500

Imagine you’re on the job, up on the ladder, in the middle of a gutter cleaning or repair, and you get a phone call about scheduling an appointment for another client. Since you’re attentive to the needs of your clients, you come down off the ladder, walk to your truck, and pull out your planner to schedule an appointment for the following Monday. You end up chatting with your client for 10-15 minutes before hanging up the phone. As you’re on your way back to the ladder to finish the job, your phone rings again. It’s the same client that just called asking “are you available next Tuesday, instead?” Now you’re on your way back to the truck, making for a sluggish repair time and a disgruntled customer.

Wouldn’t it be great if there was a way to let clients see your schedule in real-time and book appointments online instantly? Well, with ScheduleThing, it is a reality. ScheduleThing is an online booking service that gives you a customized site for your gutter installation and cleaning business that lets customers schedule appointments without making a phone call that drags you away from your tasks. You and your customers receive instant email notifications the moment there’s a cancellation, rescheduling, or new appointment. You can also opt to send your clients reminders, so missed appointments or no-shows at the site of repair are a thing of the past.

This spring let ScheduleThing ease your scheduling worries. Happy Scheduling!

Create Your Free Booking Site Now! »

Group Bookings / Multiple Seats

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:27:00 -0500

At ScheduleThing we cater to a wide variety of businesses and industries. In doing so we have had to make our software flexible and capable of handling a number of different booking types. One of the ways in which we maintain this flexibility is by offering group booking or multiple seats. Are you teaching a class that has room for multiple students? Or giving a tour for a group of people? With ScheduleThing’s online scheduling software you can customize the number of seats in a reservation time.

Start by Clicking the “Reservation Types” tab

Select the Reservation Type you want to edit and scroll down to “2. Advanced Options”

At the bottom of this section you’ll see “Restrict by Seats:” This is where you can edit the amount of spots available in this reservation type.

When customers view your booking site it will automatically display how many seats are left for each time slot. If you don’t want this information to display, click the box next to “Check to suppress number of available seats message”

Once your customer selects their reservation type and the date, the information will show as above. the seats will be automatically updated in your ScheduleThing account to ensure no over bookings. And there you have it, Group booking made easy!

Happy Scheduling!

Create Your Free Booking Site Now! »

Real Estate Agents

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 10:25:51 -0500

If you’re in the real estate business, you know that your job’s success hinges on two things: your ability to successfully manage your listings and your ability to keep your showings organized to maintain your reliable reputation. Closing the sale is important, and getting overwhelmed by the number of listings or by last-minute cancellations or schedule changes could make all the difference between a sale and a missed opportunity.

Juggling your schedule is a challenge. If you don’t have enough time to deal with booking, cancelations, or reschedule viewings, consider making a change for the better by adding ScheduleThing’s online appointment setting software to your daily routine. ScheduleThing lets you manage resources like house listings, agent and appointments while allowing potential clients to view your availability and schedule an appointment online.

Accountant / Tax Preparation

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 10:09:23 -0500

Tax season is coming! You know what that means. Every hour of your day will be jam packed and micromanaged.

Many CPA firms are still stuck in the dark ages when it comes to using technology to improve their in-office efficiency. Don’t get bogged down by the huge surge of clients and ditch the old desk calendar. Get online and let ScheduleThing manage your life for you.

Online scheduling

Nine months out of the year, your schedule is internal. Tax season, however, is a different story. For the three months, your clients need to know your schedule. So why not let them book their appointment with you on their own?

ScheduleThing gives you a customized booking site where clients can view your availability and schedule appointments online, all without picking up the phone. Set up email updates to remind you when appointments and important meetings are.

Schedule internal resources at your firm

You don’t need expensive licenses for software like Microsoft Office anymore. ScheduleThing lets you reserve resources in your office like important meeting spaces and conference rooms for internal meetings or client engagements.

Solar

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 10:00:05 -0500

Everyone is going green, and you couldn’t be happier. Not only do you feel passionately about the environment, but business is good and you’re keeping busy. Whether you work for a consulting company or a installation business, you know how important it is to keep a schedule during the busy seasons. Phone calls start rolling in and you want to fit as many clients in as possible without stretching yourself too thin.

This is isn’t as easy at it seems. Especially during stressful times, miscommunication is bound to come up. You may forget to call a company back one too many times, and you eventually lose the client and valuable business. Or maybe you frantically wrote down a referral in the car on the way to work, thinking you would remember to pencil them in the schedule. You forget, and they move on to another company.

These things are inevitable. No matter how organized you are, there are bound to be those days where it falls apart. Lose the calendar and planner from the 1980s. After all, going green is a modern movement right? Give your scheduling an uplift as well.

ScheduleThing allows you to post your availability on a custom booking site, so potential and current clients can reserve times for meetings and installations. It makes it impossible to double-book, and you can set up email notifications and reminders so you know exactly where you need to be each day and when. You can also see cancellations and reschedules so the time is open for other clients to use. Get online and let ScheduleThing manage your life so you can focus on expanding your business.

Home Inspection

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 10:27:46 -0500

A house is a huge investment—one of the biggest we make in our lifetime. As an inspector, you know this means that a buyer wants to know everything. They want to know about every leaky pipe, moldy wall and sneaky rodent before they shell out thousands of dollars. Nobody wants to buy a home and find out later they need tons of maintenance.

That’s where you come in. Potential homeowners rely on you to do a thorough inspection, and oftentimes, they want it done as quickly as possible. You’ve got to keep your schedule straight, and your reputation is on the line if you miss an appointment or double-book your day. The problem is, with so many phone calls and voicemails, it can be difficult to stay organized. Things come up, and sometimes it’s a challenge to keep up. Families call to cancel and reschedule, and some just forget to call. Sometimes it’s a mess to deal with, and any confusion slows you down and makes you appear less reliable.

Start scheduling online with ScheduleThing’s web-based reservation system. ScheduleThing allows you to post your availability online on a customized booking site so clients can set up appointments based on when you can be there. Its online reservation system sends email alerts so you can see cancellations as they happen and plan your life accordingly. Clients can schedule and change appointments multiple times, and you won’t have to play the dreaded game of phone tag. You can send clients email reminders, making no-shows less frequent. Inspecting houses, you’ve got enough to worry about without dealing with a hectic schedule. Keep chaos in check by switching to ScheduleThing, and rest at ease knowing that your schedule is organized and worry-free.

Catering

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 10:06:05 -0500

If you’re in the catering business, you’re passionate about food. You’ve got the cooking and baking down, but when things get crazy, the last thing you want to worry about is your schedule.

Unfortunately, a small scheduling mix up can throw off your whole routine.

Whether you cater large events or small events, your reputation can be badly damaged by one scheduling mistake. As a caterer you need to know about schedule changes as soon as possible in order to keep your clients happy and avoid wasting food.

ScheduleThing can make your job way easier. Its online scheduling tools make it easy to stay on top of your schedule.The ScheduleThing system allows your clients to make appointments online in real-time. Your schedule is updated instantly, so you’ll get an email notification the second anything changes.You and your clients will always be on the same page.

Not tech savvy? Not a problem. ScheduleThing makes it easy to set up a custom booking site by walking you through each step. If you already have a website, you can customize their widget to fit seamlessly into your current site.

It’s easy to customize ScheduleThing to your catering business. You can create different reservation types that make it easy to keep track of each event’s size and occasion.You may only need a few people on hand for a business meeting, but you’ll need a larger staff for a wedding. You set the requirements and ScheduleThing does the rest.

When the holidays roll around your schedule can get pretty chaotic. ScheduleThing’s calendar view gives you and your clients an easy-to-digest look at your schedule. The Blackout feature allows you to show your clients when you’re closed or unavailable.

Simply put, ScheduleThing takes care of the details so you can focus on the food.

Bon Appetit!

Limousine Services

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 10:21:05 -0500

Delivering high quality service. Finding new clients. Booking pickups. Exceeding expectations. Limousine rental is a business based on impeccable image and reliable results. As business grows, however, maintaining your image and reliability can become a challenge. Double-booking a limo or writing down the wrong reservation time chips away at your squeaky clean record, and any negative feedback can lead to a loss of potential customers.

If you’re having a hard time keeping your schedule straight, an online reservation program like ScheduleThing may be what you need to regain customer confidence. ScheduleThing lets clients view your availability in real time and book new appointments directly from your customized booking site. If a customer reschedules or cancels, ScheduleThing sends you an automated email the moment it occurs, meaning you’ll always be current with your reservation list.

If you run multiple vehicles through your rental service, ScheduleThing makes it easy to set up different reservation types catered to individual limos. It’s also simple to adjust times for how long a limo can be available. If specific drivers are associated with an individual limo, our new calendar features let you integrate personal calendar availability into the system so your employees don’t overbook their lives. It’s just one more reason to let ScheduleThing take the wheel and maximize your business potential without overloading your agenda.

Tree Service

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 00:03:06 -0500

The tree business is tricky. Some of your jobs may be planned well in advance, like your clients who’ve been sick of their slowly rotting tree for weeks. Others will strike with little or no warning—like a tree that falls on a power or through the fence of a house. Either way, it’s your job to be prepared for any scenario, and that means keeping an organized schedule. If you double-book your services or forget to respond to a voicemail, your reliability and your business are questionable.

To stay on top of your game, make the switch to ScheduleThing. Its online appointment software lets you post your availability on a customized booking site, letting customers book their appointments without hassling you with a phone call. Our integrated calendar features let you see your schedule and add it to any standard online calendar system. If a client adds an appointment, cancels, or reschedules, email notifications alert you the moment it happens, which means you’ll always know exactly what’s going on.

If you run multiple employees or several types of tree removal equipment, it’s easy to customize reservations for each of them. ScheduleThing is designed to grow with your business, so if your company becomes bigger in the future or acquires more equipment, it’s simple to keep it all organized. The longevity of a tree is uncertain, but your schedule doesn’t have to be a puzzle. Rely on ScheduleThing to keep your agenda in line, and your reputation will thank you.

Vacation House Rental

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 00:00:05 -0400

Summer is always a guaranteed busy season. Phone calls from eager vacationers start pouring in as early as January to book houses, rooms and timeshares for their big summer plans. Everyone’s ready to shed the winter layers and cash out on their accumulated sick days to book vacation plans with friends and family. It takes a lot of time and a lot great deal planning, and there is always someone who makes the process difficult.

The rescheduling, canceling and confusion isn’t new to you, and sometimes it’s hard to keep track of it all. Incoming phone calls, emails, and voice messages are hard to shuffle. That’s where ScheduleThing can save the day. Its online reservation system lets customers cancel, reschedule, and make reservations directly from your online booking site, keeping your phone traffic to a minimum while maxing out your reservations by showing potential renters exactly when your space is available. Automated email notifications let you know when someone cancels or changes their reservation, keeping you informed up-to-date.

ScheduleThing lets you book multiple resources or reservation types, so it’s simple to keep track of several properties at once. If you’re renovating for a bit, the blackout feature lets you make a single property or your entire list unavailable. Put an end to juggling your reservations, and let ScheduleThing manage your bookings, leaving you free to start planning vacations of your own.

How To Use Our Booking Widget

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0400

At ScheduleThing, we’re all about giving you more ways to connect with clients and make it easy to manage your appointment or reservation scheduling. Now, you can add our new booking widget directly to your website so clients can book appointments from there without navigating to the booking site. Customers simply click on the widget to view appointment types and available times to make the reservations.

To add this feature to your website, go to your ScheduleThing dashboard. Click on “Settings,” and in that category, select the “Booking Site” tab. Once there, you’ll see the new booking widget on the right-hand side. Copy the script and paste it into the code of your website to add the widget.

Once the widget is added to your site, customers can book directly from there. The booking widget’s colors match the color scheme of your customized booking site, so if you want to make any modifications, it’s easy to adjust the colors in the Design section under “Settings.” When customers book appointments using the booking widget, they’ll see something like this:

Create Your Free Booking Site Now! »

Parent-Teacher Conferences

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 11:55:27 -0400

It’s that time of year again! Teachers, you know what we’re talking about. Fall is in full swing, you’ve had your students for several months now, and it’s time to meet with their parents. You send a letter home with your students and wait for it to be returned with the parents’ preferred time slot. Problem is, five moms send back a request for the same spot. Now you have got to get a hold of each one to ask them to pick another time. This can result in a full game of phone tag and/or paper shuffling, which gets frustrating and confusing.

Is there a better way of going about scheduling parent-teacher conferences?

Absolutely! ScheduleThing is an online scheduling system that can not only help you to set up all of your parent teacher conferences, but also allows parents to book things like classroom volunteer time or help with a holiday party. The best part is that you don’t have to take any time out of your day to call parents. You don’t even have to send a note home! With ScheduleThing you can set up a reservation type for any classroom activity and parent can select time slots online. ScheduleThing will make sure that no two parents book the same times slot. When it comes to volunteer sessions or field trips ScheduleThing will allow several parents to book the same time - it is fully customizable for your classroom!

You’ll be able to view and even print your schedule to keep your your days and weeks on track and running smoothly. You can even allow your students to use ScheduleThing to book tutoring sessions, group project meetings or virtually any appointment type imaginable. Have a space in your classroom or school that is in high demand? Create a reservation type and allow students to book time in the space. Eliminating arguing and fighting between students.

Have a classroom webpage? Great! ScheduleThing has a widget that will appear right on your page, so parents, grandparents and guardians can easily select a time to come in. If you don’t have a classroom webpage it’s no problem, you can still set up your own booking site. It is quick and easy, and ScheduleThing support is always here to help if you get stuck.

ScheduleThing is a great classroom management tool and a wonderful way to incorporate technology into your repertoire. Head over to ScheduleThing and sign up for your free account today!

Yard work and Lanscaping Services

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 10:00:05 -0400

If you’re like most yard services, your business probably started as a part-time gig and eventually grew up to become a full-time business. What was the key to your success? Probably referrals. If you’ve experienced growing pains associated with your yard service — and we bet you have — here’s a tip to help you manage your growth:

Sign up for ScheduleThing

Every minute you spend scheduling appointments with customers is a minute spent not earning money with your other obligations. Taking appointments by hand could result in missed appointments, and missed customer opportunities. Nobody likes the paper trail.

With ScheduleThing, all the guesswork is gone. ScheduleThing provides an online booking site for your business. You select your availability and clients can book their own appointments from their computers. That means no more missed phone calls, no more missed opportunities to make money. ScheduleThing will even send out reminders for you and you client.

Counseling Services

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 10:23:05 -0400

Working as a counselor, your patients come first. They are the reason you chose this career in the first place. You enjoy helping people, and you want to ensure that your patients are getting quality service and your full attention.

This can be a difficult task when you have so many phone calls coming in. Cancellations, last minute appointments and first timers all seem to come rolling in at the same time, and you want to make there’s a spot for everyone in your schedule. You have to constantly check your voicemails or inbox to follow up on appointment requests, or your administrative assistant is swamped with phone calls and other time-consuming tasks.

To illustrate this point, let’s use an example client—we’ll call him Mr. Indecision. He’s the guy that frequently calls to check for your availability and takes forever to nail down an appointment time, carefully weighing each possibility and mulling over the choices. By the time this lengthy conversation is over, you somehow know his entire weekly schedule, and you still expect Indecision to call back and change his mind yet again. Let ScheduleThing’s online reservation software take over and free your work day from Indecision.

ScheduleThing takes the time and guesswork out of client scheduling. It allows you to post your real-time availability online, so clients can start making their own appointments from home or work computers. With our scheduling system, playing phone tag to set up a time that works for both of you is a thing of the past. You can also use ScheduleThing to set up customized email updates and reminders, resulting in fewer dropped appointments.

Coordinating clients and appointments is a tricky process, but with ScheduleThing, we’ve simplified it. Our online scheduling system minimizes your one-on-one time juggling your agenda and maximizes your one-on-one time with the people who matter the most: your clients.

Animal Grooming

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 10:56:05 -0400

Working in the grooming business, you know how important it is to keep a schedule. You get to the shop early in the morning, check your calendar and see a full day of shampooing, clipping and pampering is ahead of you. You’re completely swamped, and the last thing you need is to be interrupted by constant phone calls. There are just too many dogs and too little time. You’re rushing back and forth between the phone in the office and the pups waiting to be primped. You forget to write down an appointment or respond to a voice message, and before long, your reliability is questionable.

These situations aren’t uncommon. Things happen. Work gets hectic, especially when you’re in charge of multiple grooming jobs at the same time. Maybe it isn’t an option for you to hire someone to work the phones. In any case, if you’re feeling overwhelmed by the chaos in your office, it’s time to add ScheduleThing to your workplace. Its web-based appointment system allows you to post your availability on your own booking site so customers can make their reservations without picking up the phone. ScheduleThing’s automated emails alert you whenever someone makes an appointment, cancels, or reschedules, so you’re always on the ball.

If you’re running multiple facilities, or if several employees share rooms or equipment, you can use ScheduleThing to keep your company organized. Manage room rotations or equipment check-out easily by setting custom reservation types for different types of grooming reservations. If your employees work part-time, it’s simple to set hours tailored to individual needs, and customers can view availability from your booking site. You’ve got enough going on without fixing the tangles in your schedule, so make the switch to ScheduleThing and free up your time (and your scissors) to making Fido fabulous.

Auto Repair

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 10:00:05 -0400

Oil change at 9:00, brake check at 9:30, another oil change at…3:00. Working at the shop, daily business is hit or miss. These time gaps aren’t unfamiliar. People usually won’t call you until they have a problem. They get into their car, realize their “Change Oil” light is glowing or their brakes are struggling, and they drive over to see if you’re busy. If you are, they may just go elsewhere while they’re out. Or maybe someone calls while you’re in the middle of a job and you miss out on valuable business. Either way, you’re overbooked in the morning and struggling to fill your afternoon time slots.

If this is a common scenario, ScheduleThing can help fill your schedule without your phone ringing off the hook. It’s a low-maintenance, online scheduling tool that allows you to post your availability online. Rather than drive all the way to the shop to be disappointed, customers can view your availability and schedule appointments instantly from your customized booking site. When someone cancels or reschedules, ScheduleThing notifies you by email the moment it happens.

If you run a shop with multiple employees or designated repair areas, it’s easy to use ScheduleThing to reserve areas, equipment, or people for specific jobs, making double-booking a thing of the past. If your business shuts down for vacations or breaks, the reservation system’s blackout feature makes it simple to make reservations unavailable for those times or for specific employees. You’ve got enough to worry about…let ScheduleThing take over your daily planning so you can get back to your business.

Financial Planning

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 10:00:05 -0400

As a successful financial planner, you enjoy being attentive to the needs of each of your clients. However, with each client’s unique goals, risk profiles and contact preferences, your stress level grows in tandem with your client base. You’re great at balancing a budget, but sometimes balancing your workload is a challenge of its own.

If managing your office is becoming an increasingly difficult task, check out . Its online reservation system allows clients to view your availability in real time and schedule appointments without calling your office. If you’re in the process of expanding and space is tight, you can use ScheduleThing’s room reservation system to specify which staff will be in which room at any given time, preventing confusion or double-booking and keeping your office organized.

With ScheduleThing’s customized email features, you can send personalized emails to your clients, which lets you sound less like a robot and more like the engaging financial planner we know you are. If a client cancels at the last minute, you’re notified the moment it happens, making any unexpected no-shows a thing of the past.

Managing the finances of others isn’t always easy, but your scheduling system should be. With online reservations through ScheduleThing, you can always be up-to-date about what the day will bring.

Dog Walker

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 10:31:06 -0400

Your neighbor is a busy guy, so he asks you to walk his dog twice a week. You’ve had some extra time recently, and you love his dog. Then he refers you to the girl downstairs who needs someone for evenings. She refers you to her mom, and before you know it, you have a business on your hands.

What is an entrepreneur to do when you have other obligations to keep track of? School, work, kids and a social life can be stressful enough if you don’t manage your time. You want to continue to market yourself without neglecting your customers or stretching yourself too thin. Forgetting to walk one dog or double-booking your life can add up to a hectic juggling act, and ScheduleThing is here to fix that. Its online reservation software lets customers view your availability in real time so you’re never overbooked. If someone cancels, reschedules, or books a new appointment, you’re notified the moment it happens. If you’ve got a big vacation on the horizon, it’s easy to blackout your business for days or weeks, so clients know you’re unavailable during those times.

If your business grows in the future, it’s easy to modify your ScheduleThing site to accommodate new employees or different types of reservations. Our different plan sizes are designed to grow with you, so you can keep your original site. Your booking page is easy to customize, keeping your business professional. Our new calendar integration features let you sync your ScheduleThing calendar with other electronic calendar systems so you can view your daily tasks all in one place.

Your life can be pretty hectic, but switching to ScheduleThing can declutter it in minutes. It’s simple to get started, and your first two resources are free! Take charge of your day and your business with ScheduleThing, and give yourself the organization you need to stay out of the doghouse.

Dance Instruction

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 10:31:05 -0400

Dancing is a great way to spend the evening, but if you’re an instructor, finding the time to dance with your favorite partner, family, and friends can be a difficult task. You are expected to teach everyone before you have the chance to enjoy it yourself. Ever since the rise of ‘Dancing with the Stars’ and ‘America’s Best Dance Crew,’ you haven’t had a rest. Everyone thinks they can and want to be the next Mario Lopez, but maybe they don’t have the talent to back it up. Yet.

Whether you instruct from your own basement or run a large studio, you know the value of keeping a schedule. You want to teach the cha cha and tango and still have time to get your own groove on every Saturday night. Things can get complicated when you have to remember the wedding parties, group lessons and country club workshops all while managing the rest of your life. You need a low-maintenance solution to making sure you keep your appointments, while still showing availability to new customers.

ScheduleThing’s online scheduling tool allows you to post your availability on your website so that customers can schedule lessons and plan their lives accordingly. You can use the scheduling system to set up private lessons, group sessions or special events all on an easy-to-use interface. Use ScheduleThing to set up email alerts so you know when lessons are scheduled in real time.

With ScheduleThing, changing your schedule as your business progresses is easier than convincing Patrick Swayze that nobody puts Baby in the corner. If you’re unavailable for a week or even a day, ScheduleThing’s resource blackout feature prevents your customers from showing up on a day you’re out of town or taking a break. The online scheduling tool lets you add additional instructors or different kinds of classes quickly and easily. Try ScheduleThing today, and free up more of your time to do what you love.

Tutoring

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 10:01:00 -0400

Your tutoring business probably started pretty small with a few referrals from friends or neighbors. In any case, word has gotten out that you can bring an F to an A in 3 weeks flat, and your client list is beginning to grow. Here’s the problem: people are busy, and you’re dealing with cancellations and rescheduling which has your head spinning. Managing your schedule shouldn’t be rocket science, but it’s becoming a tricky task.

If you’re having a hard time organizing your day, ScheduleThing may be exactly what you need to get back on track. The online scheduling tool lets you post your availability in real time so your customers can book appointments right then and there. If you won’t be available on a certain day or week, the scheduling system’s blackout feature alerts your clients. If tutoring isn’t your full-time gig, ScheduleThing can help to free up your phone line by letting your customized booking site do the work for you.

To manage the mess of cancellations and changing sessions, rely on ScheduleThing’s online scheduling tool to send you automatic email alerts the moment your schedule changes. If you’re managing a tutoring service with multiple employees, ScheduleThing grows with you and allows you to add additional employees, room reservations, or types of sessions. With your schedule back in order, you can get back to the intellectual betterment of your clients. It’s genius.