Appointment Scheduling Mastery

Master appointment scheduling, calendar sync, and appointment reminders. Keep your schedule organized with these techniques.

Step 1: Create Your First Appointment

1. Click Appointments in the sidebar
2. Click the "New Appointment" button
3. Fill in the details: Client, Date, Start Time and End Time (or Duration), Title, Location, Notes
4. Save the appointment

Step 2: Understanding Appointment Statuses

Scheduled Blue

• The appointment is booked and upcoming
• If its reminder is switched on, the reminder goes out before the appointment

Confirmed Green

• You have confirmed the appointment, or it was booked through your booking page in Auto-Confirm mode
• The status does not change by itself when a client replies to a reminder

Completed Gray

• The appointment has happened
• ClientFlow offers to add a session note when you mark it completed, and you can record the payment

Cancelled Gray

• The appointment will not take place

No-Show Red

• The client didn't attend
• Track no-show patterns with the No-Show Rate on a client's Appointments tab and in Analytics → Performance
• If the appointment type has a no-show fee (set under Settings → Appointment Types), marking a no-show creates an unpaid payment record for that fee. It is a record only: ClientFlow does not charge the client.

Step 3: Calendar Views

• Day View: See hourly breakdown of one day, perfect for detailed planning
• Week View: Overview of the current week, drag scheduled or confirmed appointments to reschedule
• Month View: Big picture of your schedule, identify busy and slow periods
• Agenda View: Chronological list of appointments, which you can filter by status and client

Step 4: Appointment Reminders

Reminders are set on each appointment:

1. Create a new appointment or open an existing one
2. Tick the "Reminder" option
3. Choose how long before the appointment it goes out: 5, 10, 15 or 30 minutes, 1 hour or 1 day
4. Choose the channel: Auto (WhatsApp first, then email), WhatsApp only, Email only or WhatsApp + Email
5. Save the appointment

Each appointment has one reminder. Email reminders go out automatically. On PRO and above, with your own WhatsApp Business number connected, WhatsApp reminders go out automatically too. On Free and Starter, ClientFlow prepares the WhatsApp message and you send it with one tap from the send queue. There are no SMS reminders.

Step 5: Calendar Integration

Google Calendar Sync

1. Go to Settings → Integrations
2. Click "Connect Google Account"
3. Sign in with your Google account and allow access
4. Select which calendar to sync and click "Connect Calendar"
5. Under Sync Settings, choose the sync direction: Two-way Sync, App → Calendar or Calendar → App

Calendar sync needs the Starter plan or above and is not part of the free trial. It runs in the background every 15 minutes, so a change made in one calendar appears in the other within about that time rather than instantly. An iCloud calendar can be connected from the same Integrations page.

Step 6: Recurring Appointments

Set up daily, weekly, monthly or yearly recurring sessions:

1. Create a new appointment
2. Under "Recurrence", choose Daily, Weekly, Monthly or Yearly (the default is "Does not repeat")
3. Set how often it repeats (for example, every 1 week) and, for weekly, which days
4. Choose when it ends: after a number of occurrences, on a date, or never (a series is limited to 100 occurrences)
5. Save the appointment

Example: Sessions every Tuesday and Thursday at 6 PM for 3 months:

Recurrence: Weekly
Every: 1 week
Repeat on: Tuesday, Thursday
Time: 6:00 PM
Duration: 1 hour
Ends: After 24 occurrences

When you later edit an appointment in a series, you choose whether the change applies to that appointment only or to it and the future ones.

To remove a series, open one of its appointments and choose Delete: you can delete just that appointment, that appointment and the ones after it, or the whole series. Deleting from an appointment onward leaves the earlier appointments in the series as they are; deleting the whole series removes every appointment in it that is not completed, earlier ones included. Either way, completed appointments are kept, and so are ones with a part-paid payment, a payment on an invoice or a paid no-show fee. A payment already paid in full stays recorded on the client.

Step 7: Managing Conflicts

• Automatic Detection: ClientFlow warns you when a new appointment overlaps an existing one. You can still choose "Create anyway".
• Buffer Time: Set a buffer in minutes on an appointment type (Settings → Appointment Types) to keep time free between that service and your other appointments, for preparation or travel

Step 8: Let Clients Book Online

Let clients book their own appointments:

1. Go to Settings → Booking Page
2. Turn on "Enable Booking Page" and choose your URL
3. Set the booking rules: how far ahead clients can book, the minimum notice, and whether bookings are confirmed automatically or need your approval
4. Set your working hours, days off and holidays under Settings → Availability
5. Share your booking link on your website, email signature or social media, or embed the booking form on your website

Best Practices

1. Confirm New Clients - Message first-time clients yourself to confirm the time
2. Block Personal Time - Add vacations, breaks, and holidays as exceptions under Settings → Availability so they are not offered for booking
3. Set Clear Expectations - Include location and preparation instructions
4. Track No-Shows - Document patterns and address recurring issues
5. Use Color Coding - Give different kinds of appointments different colors

Next Steps

• Remind clients automatically - Switch on a reminder for each appointment
• Stop rebuilding your schedule by hand - With recurring appointments and calendar sync
• Let clients book themselves - With your booking page

Your schedule is now in good shape!

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Read time: ~10 minutes | Difficulty: Beginner