An interested prospect should be able to book straight away. Set up your booking link.

A prospect's interest fades within hours. A booking link lets them book the very moment they understand the problem you can solve for them.

Every hour counts to get a meeting

Your prospect reads your message and is interested. Well done! If they can book right away, you are:

7 timesmore likely to get the meeting than if they have to wait an hour to receive time slots.
60 timesmore likely to get the meeting than if they have to wait until the next day to receive time slots.

Harvard Business Review, 2011: response times measured across 1.25 million contact requests received by 42 US companies.

Without a link, the prospect has to wait for your reply. Finding a date can then take up to three or four messages. Each message costs hours, and their interest fades.

With a booking link:

  • They book right away, even when you're busy.
  • You know who's coming: the form asks for their company.
  • They don't forget: a reminder goes out the day before.

When to send it

Not in your first message. On first contact, ask whether the topic is relevant to them instead.

As soon as they say yes. Once the conversation has started, suggesting a specific time books a meeting 37% of the time, against 15% on first contact. Your link is that specific time.

Gong Labs: 304,174 emails analysed.

Which tool to choose

You may already have what you need. Outlook and Google Calendar each have their own booking page, and it works very well:

  • Outlook: "Bookings with me", included in most Microsoft 365 business plans.
  • Google Calendar: "appointment schedules", free for one booking page.
  • Calendly: well known, free for one event type.

Here we use Cal.com: it's free with unlimited bookings, works with Outlook and Google alike, and creates the Teams or Meet link for you.

→ cal.com

Cal.com in six steps

  1. 1

    Create your account

    On cal.com, with your Microsoft or Google account. Pick a short address: cal.com/firstname-lastname. That's what your prospects will see.

  2. 2

    Connect your calendar

    Outlook or Google. Cal.com will only offer your free slots. If Microsoft 365 shows "Need admin approval", your administrator approves the request; it takes a few minutes.

  3. 3

    Set your hours

    Your time zone, then your real availability, for example 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 6pm. Fewer slots beat too many.

  4. 4

    Create your event

    In "Links": a 20-minute "Discovery call", on Microsoft Teams or Google Meet. The video link is created automatically.

  5. 5

    Set limits and a question

    24 hours' minimum notice, 10 minutes between meetings, 3 a day at most. Add a "Company" question to the booking form.

  6. 6

    Add a reminder, then test

    In "Workflows", an email reminder 24 hours before. Avoid the AI phone templates: they use up credits. Finally, book yourself a slot in a private window, check it lands in your calendar, and cancel it.

All practical guidesGuide 1: your positioning