Calendly is a software tool to help you schedule your meetings faster and with less work by eliminating the “back and forth” between you and your invitees. The way it works is by reading your calendar and showing your full availability to the invitee in time slot durations of your choosing (10, 15, 20, 30, 60 minutes).
Setup
Calendar Connection
The first and most important step of using the Calendly app is to link your calendar(s) to it. The great thing about Calendly is that it can connect up to 6 calendars for the app to obtain your availability from but it is important to note that new meetings can only be saved to a single calendar.
Google Calendar DEFAULT
This type of calendar connection is used to connect both paid and free Google accounts to Calendly for meetings and it is one of the most ideal cross-platform solutions (Windows/Mac) out there as no apps need to be installed to your computer for the meetings to be scheduled.
When connecting your account, you will be asked to sign into Google and allow Calendly to make changes to your account on your behalf. To ensure that the appication works correctly, please grant it all of the permissions that it requests.
This should be the primary calendar connection for all MedTrainer users unless instructed otherwise
Steps to connect
Click on Account → Calendar Connections
Click on the CONNECT button next to Google Calendar
Sign in with your Google Account (use your medtrainer.com email)
Click ALLOW when prompted to give Calendly permissions
The calendar should now show up under the Calendar Connections section and if it is your first or only account, it should be added automatically to the Check for Conflicts and Add to Calendar configuration.
Calendly link
When setting up your account, you will be asked to set up a link for your Calendly. This will serve as the base url for all of your event types. You may enter any values you like in this field but it is recommended to write something memorable and related to MedTrainer if possible.
Examples
URL |
| Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Short and memorable | |
| Tells who you are and that you work for MedTrainer (helps them remember you later) | |
| Tells who you are and that you work for MedTrainer (helps them remember you later) | |
| More detailed than the last 2. Tells the customer that you are from MedTrainer (helps them remember you later) | |
⚠ | The association with MedTrainer is great but it could be improved by adding your name. | |
| The name isn’t clear and there is no association with MedTrainer in the link. It’s too generic. |
/ 
Event Types
This is where the Calendly app really shines; it allows you to create multiple event types on your account based on different types of meetings that you want to have. Each event type can have its own distinct duration, availability, invitee questions and meeting link. You can access your event types from the Home tab.
You can have as many event types as you wish on your acccount; There are some people that will opt for a catch-all 30 minute meeting while others will use the default 15 minute, 30 minute and 1 hour event types. Calendly can even be set up as a list of different meeting types that you offer. This last option can be very useful for teams to schedule demos for a diverse catalog of products much like what we offer at MedTrainer.
Event Type Setup
New event types can be created by using the New Event Type button on the Calendly account page.
You will be asked to choose the event type that you want to create. Event types are split into four categories:
One-on-One BEST FOR MEETINGS
This even type lets your invitee pick a time with you for a personalized session tailored to them. This is useful for product demos and status update meetings.
Although the type of meeting is One on One, the invitee can share the meeting with other users and invite them during the scheduling stage though they will have to confirm that the additional invitees are available at the time of their choosing.
Group BEST FOR TRAINING SESSIONS
Under a group event type, you can send your Calendly link to multiple invitees and have them schedule you on the same day. This is an ideal event type for when you are giving training sessions or talks that follow a set agenda (webinars, product updates).
Collective BEST FOR UPSELLS
The Collective event type looks at the schedules of all organizers and determines when you are available for the meeting for the invitee. It is most useful for product demos where you aren’t the product expert but someone else is. When the invitee goes to schedule you and your product expert, it will look at both of your calendars to find time slots where you are all available to present them to the invitee.
Round Robin BEST FOR SUPPORT
The Round Robin event type allows you to create an event type with a pool of organizers that will rotate after each meeting that is scheduled. This event type is particularly useful when you have a team of experts that are all knowledgeable in a subject matter and can provide the same level of service for invitees. This is an ideal event type for customer support teams and for general sales questions.
Setup Procedure (Create Event)
Select CREATE next to the One-on-One event type
Name your event
Select the location options
Add a description/instructions
Set up the link to the event
Select a color for your event (Optional)
Click NEXT
Setup Procedure (Scheduling)
Select the date range for the meeting. You can choose from the following options:
# of [calendar days, business days]
Date range
Indefinitely into the future
Select availability for the event type
Existing schedule
This option allows you to set a schedule for the account globally and add it to the event type.
Custom hours
This option allows you to set specific hours for the event regardless of the schedule set on the account.
Specify a duration for the meeting
Basic options include 15, 30, 45 and 60 minutes
Custom duration in minutes/hours
Set up your buffers for before and after meetings
Add Additional rules for your availability:
Select timeslot increments with Show timeslots in increments
Options include 5min to 60 min
Set Conditional scheduling
Scheduling notice
Prevents invitees from scheduling meetings within X amount of hours (gives you time to prepare)
Max number of events
You can take as many or as few of each type as you want.
Set the Time Zone settings. The default behavior for this is to detect the invitee’s time zone and adjust your availability accordingly. RECOMMENDED
Click NEXT
Additional Options
Invitee Questions
Invitees can be asked questions before the meeting and Calendly will send their responses within the calendar invite. They will also be shown in the Scheduled Events section of the Calendly page.
Question types include:
One-line (single line request)
Multiple line (Paragraph, good for details)
Radio buttons (Presents options, pick one)
Checkboxes (Presents options, pick multiple)
Phone number (requests phone plus area code)
Notification & Cancellation Policy
Here you can personalize the email that is sent to invitees after they schedule you. The default template works for most but you can tweak it as needed.
You can also select to send reminders via email before your event to ensure that your invitee will show.
A follow-up email can also be triggered after the meeting if you want to activate this flow. This is great for following-up on upsells.
Text (SMS) reminders can also be opted into by the invitee.
Confirmation Page
The default Calendly confirmation page redirects invitees to a page that thanks them for taking the time to schedule time with you but you can use this page as an additional marketing tool if you use it correctly.
The MedTrainer webpage (medtrainer.com) already contains many of the necessary marketing resources to assist in sales calls. For example, a QuickCred sales demo can redirect to medtrainer.com/credentialing which is a page that highlights the benefits of the QuickCred platform. For a list of useful links for the confirmation page, check APPENDIX B
Schedules & Availability
The availability module allows you to set a schedule for your meetings based on your preferences. The benefit of setting up multiple schedules is that you can specify which event types it is applied to. For example, let’s consider this scenario with a customer service representative:
Event | Event type | Days | Times | Exceptions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Working hours | One-on-One | Monday - Friday | 8am - 6pm | Holidays |
Customer Meetings | One-on-One | Monday - Friday | 9am - 12pm | Holidays |
Upsells & Product demos | Collective | Monday, Wednesday, Friday | 3pm - 4pm | Holidays |
Best practices sessions | Group | Tuesday, Thursday | 12pm | Holidays |
These times can be translated into schedules within the Calendly application and applied to different event types to better manage availability. You can even add exceptions for days where you’ll be unavailable such as holidays or days that you’ve requested as time off.
The schedule interface has two views: list & calendar. The list view is better for setting a schedule for the week while the calendar is better for at-a-glance data for the month. This document will focus more on the list view as it is more user friendly than the calendar view.
Schedule Setup Procedure
Click NEW SCHEDULE
Give your schedule a name
Select the days that you are usually available by clicking the checkbox on the left column.
Select the times that you’re available on the selected days.
Add exceptions on the right-hand column.
Apply to event types
APPENDIX A: Calendly Location Options
Calendly allows for a wide variety of location options with more constantly being added to the platform in the form of integrations. At the time of writing the following are available for use:
In-Person Meeting
This will prompt you to select a location on the map for where you and the invitee will meet. This is useful for meeting with clients locally.
COVID-19 note: Due to current world events, this is actively discouraged. If you must meet in person, please wear appropriate PPE at all times.
Phone Call
The phone call location has two options: you can call the invitee or they can call you. If you choose to call the invitee, Calendly will require that the invitee provides a valid phone number for you to call them during your scheduled time. If you decide to set the phone call settings to have the invitee call you, you must set your phone number in Calendly and once they have scheduled, your number will be provided to them.
Google Meet RECOMMENDED
This integration is added once you link a Google Calendar to Calendly and should be the default for most users at MedTrainer. Once your invitee schedules a time with you, a link to Google Meet is created along with an entry on your calendar at the appointed time.
Zoom
This integration works the same as the Google Meet integration except that the meeting link that is sent is for a Zoom meeting instead. A Zoom account is needed for the integration to work.
GoToMeeting
Meetings scheduled through this option will include a GoToMeeting link instead of Zoom, Microsoft Teams or Google Meet link. An active GoToMeeting subscription is required for this to work.
Microsoft Teams
Meetings scheduled through this option will include a Microsoft Teams meeting instead of Zoom, Google Meet or GoToMeeting. An active Office 365 and Microsoft Teams account are required for this to work.
Custom ALTERNATIVE
This allows you to use other web conferencing methods that may not be supported by Calendly out of the box such as RingCentral Meetings. To link your RingCentral Meetings to Calendly, be sure to set up your personal meeting link and paste it into this box.
Ask Invitee
Ask Invitee is similar to the in-person meeting except that the invitee chooses the location.
COVID-19 note: Due to current world events, this is actively discouraged. If you must meet in person, please wear appropriate PPE at all times.
APPENDIX B: Useful MedTrainer Links for Confirmation Redirects
Name | URL |
|---|---|
Credentialing | |
Exclusion Monitoring | |
Primary Source Verification | |
Enrollments | |
Privileging | |
Compliance | |
SDS Management | |
Safety Plans | |
Incident Reporting | |
Equipment Lifecycle Management | |
Document & Policy Management | |
Contract Management | |
Accreditation |