Let your customers & clients do the scheduling
December 20, 2007 by ShannonCherry
Filed under Business
A couple of weeks ago, I finished reading the 4- Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss.
Although I was planning on giving my thoughts on the book in 2008, I wanted to say that automating some business tasks can – and does – really make a difference to your bottom line.
Most small business owners skip over the crucial step of creating systems and processes. The most effective systems small business owners can put into place involve the elimination of unnecessary or duplicated tasks and the delegation to others of those tasks that don’t really merit an owner’s personal time and attention.
I found a great free service perfect for startups and small businesses, looking to streamline scheduling. It’s called Next Available and it’s provides you a web presence, with search engine submission, as well as a free appointment setting service.
This appointment setting service allows clients or customers to book time with you online. So you don’t have to take phone calls and pencil in an appointment. It does it automatically and leaves you more time to focus on income-generating tasks.
Winging it is not an option. Having a proper system is a must not just for businesses but for organizations as well. While Next Available sounds promising, they should fix the bugs here and there. Not being able to upload files properly is one of the most frustrating experiences anyone could ever have online.
Great recommendation. I’m a big fan of productivity apps and technology.
I think Ferriss’s recommendation for freelancers and entrepreneur’s to use Jott, along with info diet, 80/20, and outsourcing are by far his four most critical recommendations. All certainly help with everything from communications to work life balance.
I might have to check out Next Available. It will be a change from my Mac calendar.