Back to Blog | May 6, 2016 | 3 min

How to Improve Your Appointment Scheduling

One major complaint from law firms that use professional services is appointment scheduling. Poor scheduling does not just put a halt to your potential client intake; it also makes your business look bad in a client’s eyes.

Improving your appointment scheduling does not take much effort if you take the time to implement a few simple rules and procedures into your office operations.

Inform Your Intake Call Center of Your Personal Appointments

Your call center can only work with the information you give them. If you make a dental appointment during business hours, let them know not to schedule an appointment during that time. Too often do professionals schedule personal appointments without informing the people that set their business appointments, often leading to double-bookings and the need to cancel or reschedule a client.

Set a Firm Policy for After-Hours Appointments

Most professional businesses that operate on appointments follow normal 9 to 5 hours. Many also advertise they will hold night and weekend appointments as needed. This vague offer may be acceptable for an advertisement or on your website, but it needs to be well-defined for whoever sets your appointments.

When you first start working with a new assistant or an intake call center, you must clearly define what circumstances will qualify a potential client for the courtesy of an after-hours or weekend appointment. For instance, you may say that you will only do off-hours appointments for clients who cannot come in during the day because they are hospitalized. Or you may only hold weekend appointments every second and fourth weekend of the month. Or maybe you require approval before setting any after-hours appointments.

Set Guidelines and Keep Your Appointment Setters Informed – You Will Notice the Difference!

You are the one keeping the appointments, so you need to set the ground rules for how they are scheduled.

  • Know your limitations and preferences so you can properly inform your appointment setting team.
  • If you want at least a 10-minute break between clients, set that as a standard rule for your calendar.
  • If you know you want at least an hour free for lunch every day, make sure your call center knows this.

The more information you give your call center or appointment setter, the better your calendar will look.

Appointment scheduling is just one of the many services Alert offers to make your life easier. To learn about everything we have to offer your business, fill out our contact form or give us a call at
800-788-3934.

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