7 Tips to Coordinate Schedules with Clients

Successful, productive, and smooth-flowing collaborations come down to how efficient you are whenever you coordinate schedules with clients. It might take a little bit of practice and some skill, but you’ll soon get the hang of client appointment scheduling. Because the purpose of each communication is to nurture the relationship with them, flawless client meeting planning is essential.

We have a lot of useful tidbits for you below to help with how to coordinate with clients, as well as client calendar management and effective meeting coordination. We also have recommendations for scheduling tools for client meetings that will help make the process more flawless, efficient, and time-saving. Regardless of the industry you belong to, this article is packed full of useful and practical advice you might find valuable.

How to coordinate schedules with clients

The important thing is organization. Especially when you have more than one client and more than one project going on at the same time. The main challenge is keeping everything separate, sorted, and arranged to prevent scheduling conflicts and double-booking your team. Here are a few things that you can put into practice to get everything in order:

• Start a project documentation docket per client as soon as they sign on

• Keep a log of items included in each client docket

• Make sure your log is updated regularly with new things being added to each docket

• Assign a color scheme or code per client in your shared calendar to make them distinguishable

• Share your calendar with clients (if you’re able to) so they can clearly see your availability

• Schedule regular check-ins as necessary

1. Complete and share your agenda and prepare for the meeting

There’s nothing worse than getting lost in thought in the middle of a meeting, sputtering, and wasting the client’s time. Every meeting has a purpose, and it’s essential to identify what it is before you get started with planning to save time and effort. This is done by putting together your meeting agenda before you coordinate schedules with clients. You can ask yourself these questions when coming up with an agenda:

• What is the purpose of the meeting? What are the perceived issues and anticipated solutions?

• Which items will be discussed at the meeting?

• Who will be the presenters and decision-makers at said meeting?

• Who should be at the meeting?

• Where will the meeting be held?

• How long will the meeting go on for?

Remember to keep the structure loose at the beginning stages of planning. Your agenda can be as simple as bullet points of discussion items. You can then have your audience fill in the rest if they have anything to add. The conversation will flow naturally to allow the session to be productive in this way. If someone in the room is going off on tangents not connected to the main purpose of the meeting, use your notes to bring the conversation back.

Once you’ve completed your agenda, attach it to your meeting invitation before you send it out. This allows the attendees to get back to you with the items they wish to cover or to let you know that they would like the floor for a certain amount of time so they can present something to the room.

After the meeting agenda is all done, get yourself prepared for the meeting. That means:

• Booking the venue

• Securing supplies like pens, paper, bottled water, and more

• Completing all the presentation decks

• Finalizing the list of presenters

• Establishing the meeting timeline

2. Provide your attendees with options

Some popular pop star in the 70s said it best: you can’t always have what you want. That is absolutely the truth in business mostly when you want to sit down with a client but they’re unavailable. If a meeting is necessary, give your clients options. When trying to coordinate schedules with clients, provide them with the following choices:

• Two or three dates and times for the meeting

• In-person or virtual

• Full team or one-on-one

• Duration (30 minutes, 45 minutes, or 1 hour)

• Split meetings depending on time zones or time differences

Keep in mind that emergencies happen when you most need them not to so make room for tardiness and cancellations. Ask everyone invited to inform you ahead of time if possible. If not, make sure that they have a way of contacting you to let you know of last-minute causes for delay or cancellation. If it comes to it, go back to your calendar right away and reschedule to the soonest date and time you can find.

3. Make good use of online scheduling tools

In this day and age of super-smart, sleek, and snazzy mobile devices, more and more people tend to have an aversion to audio calls. No one likes an impromptu phone call, to be honest. To give your clients time to get ready for a check-in with you – whether it’s an audio or video call - consider using online scheduling tools like shared calendars. These can prove highly useful whenever you’re looking to coordinate schedules with clients, whether it’s a meeting or a service appointment, onsite or virtual.

If you have a business that provides services, get a CRM with a calendar that includes appointment client scheduling software. You won’t miss anything important anytime soon so long as everything is documented properly and confirmed. There is available software in the market that allows you to also log phone calls and other communications with clients to chronicle each interaction. This way, you can easily customize the care you provide for a truly personalized experience.

4. Send out invites containing comprehensive details

We mostly freeze or opt out of things when we’re unclear or unsure as to what’s in it or what it’s for. Think about it. If you get a meeting invite but don’t know what it’s about, will you go? There’s always a good amount of trepidation attached to not knowing. Take all the guesswork out for your clients. Be upfront and attach all the pertinent details to your invite when you send them out. These may include:

• Time, date, and venue

• Address for onsite meetings

• Link and password for virtual ones

• Attendees

• Points to discuss (issues and solutions)

• Breakdown of the hour or timeline of the meeting

If you already have your agenda complete before you coordinate schedules with clients, you can attach that as well. You’re giving your clients a clear picture of how things will go and setting the proper expectations. It also affords them the chance to add their input if they wish to discuss another topic to add to the agenda.

When sending out invites, leave nothing to chance and use every channel of communication available to you. Some clients prefer emails while others like text messaging better. If you have the software anyway, use it and make sure that all your bases are covered. This way, no one will be able to use the excuse that they didn’t receive your invite or even see it. Use read receipts as well when you can.

5. Send reminders and reconfirm before the day

Wouldn’t it be a bummer if you’re all set and raring to go just to have a fraction of the people you’ve invited show up? That would be deflating. Save yourself the disappointment by covering all of your bases for efficient client time coordination. First up: send out reminders. Send one out a week, and then a day until finally, an hour prior to the actual meeting. This gives everyone involved the opportunity to get ready or even reach out if they need to reschedule at the last minute.

Second, reconfirm. They might have said yes at first, but then life happens, and perhaps they forget to let you know. When you send a message to reconfirm the meeting, your attendees are able to reevaluate their availability and let you know if yes is indeed a yes or if the appointment should be moved.

You can use this time to make last-minute checks and changes such as:

• Going over your presentation deck and agenda

• Reconfirming the meeting venue

• Checking your equipment (cameras, mics, phones, projectors, etc.)

• Assigning a note-taker

• Testing the meeting link and internet connection stability

• Getting other supplies like stationery and snacks

6. Be flexible for efficient client time coordination

Foster a culture of flexibility and understanding whenever you coordinate schedules with clients by being open to changes. Encourage everyone involved to voice their opinions so you can all agree on a mutually beneficial setup. When you open the discussion and ask people to pipe in, it minimizes the chances of last-minute changes. Keep in mind that there can always be differences in culture, priorities, and time zones, as well as other preferences per client.

There could also be something in your meeting agenda that a client would like to discuss with you privately instead of a roomful of people. Others might prefer sending you their notes via email before the meeting so you can discuss and present them on their behalf. Or there may be something in your agenda that a client finds offensive or unnecessary. Being flexible in asking for opinions and feedback is one of the best practices in client scheduling, and can save everyone a lot of discomfort.

Some clients will be more demanding than others. They might be the nervous type, really keen on making sure that things are being done and that they are being done on time. Assign a reliable, responsible, and professional team member as a dedicated client manager so you have one person to liaise with them on a regular basis. Their client manager can also give clients regular updates on the completion of tasks and projects. Doing this calms their nerves while also reassuring them that their project is on its way to a timely completion. From there, you can schedule monthly or bi-monthly catch-ups directly with you for general reviews and major updates.

7. Use your meeting time diligently

A great way to show your clients you are capable, reliable, and stable is to make good use of your meeting time. Break down the hour (or how long the meeting is scheduled for) evenly, to ensure that everything that needs to be discussed is covered. It would also be great if you have time left over for questions, concerns, and clarifications. With a structure like this, you will find that having to coordinate schedules with clients is a lot easier in the future.

Pay attention to how you divide the meeting time, making sure to give everyone a chance to add anything to the conversation if they need to. Stick to the topic and don’t go off on unnecessary digressions to keep the discussion relevant. If you or someone else points out a problem, prod the room to seek out solutions as a team.

Here is a sample meeting breakdown timeline that you can use:

• A rundown of matters to discuss

• Acknowledgments of attendees

• Discussion proper

• Agreeing on a solution or plan of action

• Time allotted for questions, concerns, and clarifications

• Recap

• Setting up the next meeting

Once the meeting is wrapped, get your note-taker to finish up on the meeting notes and polish them up. Send it to every person in your invite list – whether they were present or not – so everyone is on the same page at your next assembly.Store all the relevant files in your team drive so anyone who needs to can access and review them.

Coordinate schedules with clients using Bitrix24

When it comes to client satisfaction, the key is efficiency. Whether it’s having to coordinate schedules with clients, identifying problem areas in a project, or a simple weekly progress check, everything should be done quickly and with purpose and precision. There are a lot of tools, apps, and software available out there, but your best bet for finding everything you need in one place is Bitrix24.

Bitrix24 is the ultimate solution hub for help on how to coordinate with clients better. Staying connected saves time, prevents misunderstandings, and keeps tasks completed within deadlines. Elevate the quality and efficiency of your coordination and communication with clients. Sign up today and let Bitrix24 take care of your client appointment scheduling needs.

FAQs

The best tools for coordinating schedules with clients are:

• Calendars that can be edited and shared online

• Appointment scheduling app or software

• Communication tools for audio calls, instant messaging, and video conferencing

• Business email to send out your agenda through

• A team drive to store meeting notes in

You can effectively manage overlapping schedules with multiple clients by:

• Prioritizing

• Using an online calendar

• Delegating

• Negotiating to reschedule

• Establishing fixed schedules for meetings and check-ins

The following strategies can be used to handle last-minute changes in client meetings:

• Give allowances beforehand

• Prepare a contingency plan just in case

• Communicate changes with your team and clients right away

• Make the necessary adjustments

• Announce postponements and delays as soon as possible