In some business scenarios, manually confirming appointments is essential for keeping control over your schedule and making sure each booking meets your criteria before it's finalised. Whether you're managing limited availability or simply prefer to review each request, the manual confirmation process lets you vet and approve bookings individually.

Before getting into the detail, it's worth understanding the overall process of manual appointment confirmation within the CRM. This method involves several key steps, from disabling auto-confirmation to manually approving each appointment request.

Utilizing Custom Forms for Detailed Information

Access the form builder section of the CRM.

Create or select a custom form to gather comprehensive information from leads.

Custom forms can be used in conjunction with the booking widget to collect more than just basic contact details, enabling a thorough review of each appointment request.

Disabling Auto-Confirmation

Go to the calendar settings within the CRM and edit the calendar you'd like to modify.

From the Forms & Payment section, find the Auto-confirm new appointments switch. Make sure it's toggled off as shown below.

By disabling auto-confirmation, you retain control over which appointments are approved, allowing for a review of each request.

Then, select the form you created from the dropdown menu to make sure it's displayed during the booking process.

Managing Appointment Requests

When a lead submits an appointment request through the booking widget, they receive a confirmation message acknowledging receipt of their request and letting them know the appointment will be confirmed shortly.

The appointment will also be marked as "action required" in the appointments tab, indicating that it needs to be manually confirmed.

Confirming Appointments

To confirm the appointment, go to the appointments tab within the Calendars section. Appointments pending review will be marked as "action required" in the Status column.

Manually confirm the appointment by changing its status to confirmed.

Setting Up Notification Workflows

To streamline the manual confirmation process, you can set up notification workflows within the CRM.

  • Appointment Request Workflow: Set this workflow to notify you when an appointment status is new, indicating a pending request.

Use actions such as Send Internal Notification to tailor the workflow to your needs.

  • Confirmation Workflow: Once you manually confirm an appointment, another workflow can automatically add the lead to the appointment reminder sequence and update the opportunity status if required.

By disabling auto-confirmation, using custom forms, and setting up effective notification workflows, you can manage and review appointments efficiently, keeping the process straightforward and professional.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: I can't find the option to disable auto-confirmation. What should I do?

  • Make sure you're in the Forms & Payment step of the calendar setup process.

Q: Can I manually confirm appointments scheduled by me?

  • Appointments scheduled directly by you within the CRM are automatically confirmed. Manual confirmation is primarily for appointments requested through the booking widget by leads.

Q: How do I ensure I'm notified of new appointment requests?

  • Make sure you have set up the appointment request Workflow correctly. Check your notification settings to make sure you're alerted promptly.