Doodle Meeting Scheduler via Calendar Poll for Many Attendees

Doodle is an online scheduling tool to find a date and time to have a meeting. Unlike other meeting schedulers for which many persons use for only one-on-one meetings, you may prefer Doodle for agreeing on dates for meetings that involve numerous multiple people (and not just one other person). Additionally, another unique characteristic is that Doodle allows numerous dates and times to remain open for multiple meeting attendees until the manager of the schedule selects a final meeting time.

First you suggest dates and times for the meeting from which participants can. Doodle then creates a polling calendar that you may send to participants for feedback on those proposed dates and times. Since each participant see your proposed meeting times in their time zone, it is ideal even for virtual teams that work across time zones. As each participant selects convenient dates and times, Doodle aggregates the responses and tells you which option works best for everyone.

Disadvantages of the free trial version

• Unlike other meeting schedulers whose free version allows you to select the finally agreed time and sends (email and or SMS) reminders to participants automatically for you, Doodle's free version only allows the meeting participants to see their commonly available dates and times.
• Doodle's polling calendar has so many ads that the presentation is very tacky and unprofessional. 

Steps to set up a polling calendar for a meeting for virtual team members 

• Click the 'create a Doodle' button (as pictured below)

• Enter the event name (example 'Meetup with Jessica', as pictured below)
• Specify the location. As you can see, it can be linked a webpage, to several apps (like Skype), physical address and so on.
• Enter a message with an event description, instructions, time zones and how participants will know the final time. Example: 

We wish to schedule a welcome meetup for Jessica, our newest ABC Writer. To this end, please select as many dates and times when you are available for certain (single click) and tentatively (double click).

NB. The time zone will automatically convert to that of your current location.. -- OR -- The time zone is fixed to only UK time.

We will announce the common or most popular date and time that we will use for the meeting in tomorrow's meeting. 

• Select the month or week view. 
• Click a date. If the time will be the same for all days, select multiple dates before the next step (to select times)
• Enter as many time slots for that date as you wish.
• Time zones 
• If you want each participant to see their own time zone, leave the default setting (which should display your time zone) just below the time slots.
• Sometimes you may want everyone to see only one time zone. Scenarios include preferring to use the time zone of a physical location where currently globally dispersed participants will eventually meet or the time zone used for reports. Tell everyone that the time zone is fixed (and will not automatically convert to their current location). This is sometimes useful to avoid conversion issues if participants must manually report the meeting's dates and times which are in a time zone other than their own. For instance, they may need to update the minutes of the meeting somewhere outside of Doodle. NB. Once set, you will not be able to change this setting.
• Click 'continue'

• On 'poll settings' page (pictured below), make the following selections
• yes, no, if need be ... (to allow participants to tick next to a date and time)
• hidden poll (if you do not want participants to see each other's entries)
• Continue

• Enter your name. If some participants do not know you, it is advisable to write  your name in a descriptive way like 'Jacqui from The Writing Club'
• Enter the email address of whomever will monitor the dates and times. Doodle will send automatic notifications whenever a participant makes an entry. For virtual assistants for whom I sometimes create calendars with third parties, I enter their (not my) email address and teach them how to do the following tasks. 
• delete the current participants
• Select 'More' (on top of the page of the calendar poll manager's poll view)
• 'Delete all participants' 
• edit the dates and times
• Select 'edit' (on top of the page of the calendar poll manager's poll view) 
  
• Continue
• Change the dates and times
• Click 'Finish'

• Copy the link and paste it where participants can easily click it to access the survey -- and / or -- select 'email' below the 'invite participants via ...'. You will need to enter the email addresses of all participants. For virtual team members, I do both (ie pasting the link on a notice board and emailing it in a group email), to allow polling access to all participants, including the one who will manage the poll.

• As the creator of the calendar poll, you may opt to also
• scroll down and select your available time slots (as pictured below).
• Write a comment (which will be sent as an instant email to the inbox of the person managing the poll and made public to all participants on the scheduling board).

• Each participant will see the scheduler like the image below (if the poll results settings are open / not secret).
• Each participant will be able to enter his / her name and click on available time slots, once to confirm available and twice for tentative.
• Notice the tally of votes for confirmed and tentative availability (next to the 'send' button. 
• Notice the green vertical bars that highlight dates in green when dates are confirmed versus yellow when dates are tentative

Based on the settings above, each participant can change his / her original entries. To do this, they must revisit the page which will usually recognize them. For instance, Peter (a participant in the calendar poll pictured below) can click on the edit icon (the image of a pencil) next to his name. Failing this, Peter (or anyone else) may enter a new entry by clicking the '+'.

Unlike other participants, the poll's manager has the option to select the final time slot (in the top section of the calendar poll, as highlighted below.

By default, the system suggests the best time and places a star there (like 8 to 8:15 am on 30th October below). However, you may select a time for which there are tentative responses (like 8:30 to 8:45 am, 26th October).

You can simply send an email that manually advises the date or post it on a public messaging board. Note the time zone written on the screen. Alternatively, you can send the results to everyone using the following selections.

• More (below the 'choose final option' button highlighted above)
• Print
• copy and paste the URL into an email for everyone to visit

CONTENT RELATED TO USING DOODLE TO SCHEDULE MEETINGS

• Use this tool as part of the onboarding process of new employees. Your new recruits can meet with onboarding buddies and the rest of your virtual team.
• Apart from using Doodle for polling times for upcoming meetings, you can use Doodle for polling anything. For instance, if you are catering an event and need to know how much of each item to prepare, you can use Doodle to ask attendees to select their meal preferences

Calendly Meeting Scheduler SetUp

Calendly is scheduling software. It can help you to save time by eliminating the old-school way of going back and forth with email and calls to schedule meetings. Previously, we discussed HubSpot's CRM meeting scheduler. If you are keen on trying Calendry, its free trial version differs in the following ways from the free trial version of HubSpot's meeting scheduler. Although its free version prevents you from doing many wonderful things (like sending free text messages to attendee mobile phones - which is fantastic assurance) and so on, you still get a good feel for how wonderful it is to use this scheduling program.

• You can embed Calendy's meeting scheduler directly onto your website (instructions are below)
• Calendly currently allows more options regarding attendee questions. For instance, you can add new questions outside of the usual requests for the attendee's name and email address. For instance, if attendees can select among sales representatives, you can include that as an additional question. (instructions are below ***)

Steps for Setting Up a Calendly Meeting Scheduler

• Set your account settings. Click the 'calendly/[your account name]' option (in the top right menu). Must do items here include the following.
• Ensure the 'name' field appears as you would like it to for email, the heading of your scheduler (as pictured at the end of this post) and other notifications. Consider writing your name like 'Jane from Cakes Next Door Inc'. It will help your customers to recognize you much faster than entering only your name.
• Ensure that your time zone has been set up correctly. Calendly automatically sets your time zone based on how its scheduler has detected your location. Do not worry about setting the time zone(s) of your recipients as Calendly will automatically convert to and display their time zone.
  
• Make your calendar connection. Find this option by following the steps above for the 'account settings', except that, as the image immediately above shows, the 'calendar connection' option is directly above the 'accounts setting' option. Calendly can automatically allow you to sync the scheduled meetings with a calender like Google calendar for instance. Rest assured, you can change the calendar later if you like.

• Select an 'event type' ***. Calendly offers different 'event types' based on the planned duration of the event (such as 15-min, 30-min and 60-min meetings). To access this option, do the following.
• Click 'Dashboard' in the top menu
• Choose 'Edit' from the settings drop down menu (as highlighted in the image immediately below).

• Complete all of the sections in turn. The options include the following.
• The section named 'What event is this' allows you to enter basic information like the event's name and description.
• 'When people can book this event?' allows you to provide your available times.
• In addition to establishing your available time ranges, use the 'Advanced' options to ensure there are buffer periods between meetings, etc.
  

• After having set up the event settings above, ensure the event type is turned 'on'. 
• Click 'Event Types' in the top menu
• Select 'edit' from the dropdown menu of the event
• The setting is in the top right corner of the editing page.

• Embed Calendly's meeting scheduler directly onto a webpage, do the following.
• Click 'Event Types' in the top menu
• Select 'edit' from the dropdown menu of the event
• The setting is in the top right corner of the editing page.

Once done correctly, this is what your attendees will see.

• To check on the list of upcoming scheduled events, do the following. A list of your upcoming meetings will appear along with the name of the attendee.
• Click 'Dashboard' in the top menu
• Select 'edit' from the dropdown menu of the event
• The setting is in the top right corner of the editing page.

CONTENT RELATED TO SCHEDULING MEETINGS WITH CALENDLY

• As an alternative, you can schedule meetings directly within your CRM using HubSpot CRM. However, one noteworthy thing that Calendly boasts that HubSpot's meeting scheduler does not is the free mobile phone reminders.
• Compare with Doodle's meeting scheduler which is especially useful for numerous attendees, especially if it is ideal to keep the options open and adjustable for a while before finalizing the meeting time.

Schedule Meetings in HubSpot CRM

The Hubspot CRM meetings tool allows you to schedule meetings with contacts to eliminate the time-consuming back and forth usually required otherwise. For instance, if you want to set up a first meeting with a contact, you can insert an automatic link into your invitation email with the meeting invitation. Your contact will see only those dates and time ranges within which (s)he can book a starting time. The times will even appear in your contact's time zone (ie the current location of your contact's computer). Furthermore, if you connect your CRM with a calendar like Google calendar or Outlook 365, it can also consider other prior engagements to prevent double booking. The contact’s booked meeting time will be automatically logged not only in your CRM but also your connected calendar(s) like Google calendar. Finally, if you set it accordingly, the CRM tool will even send reminders to each attendee.

HubSpot CRM also allows you to include a pre-meeting ‘lead qualification’ form. This facility is possible even for the free version of the HubSpot CRM. However, the free version allows you to create only 1 type of meeting. Consider using the first meeting to rank your leads into tiers. For instance, tier 1 will be the most potentially valuable clients while tier 3 clients are potentially least valuable.

Step 1: Connect your HubSpot with Google calendar

• Sales
• Tools
• Meetings. 
• You should get a prompt requesting that you connect with your calendar (like a conference line, Google or Outlook calendar). 
• Follow the instructions

Step 2: Set up the details of the meeting

• Make the following selections within your HubSpot CRM
• Sales (from top menu)
• Meetings
• Create meeting
• Edit

• In ‘Details’
• Upload your logo or head shot
• Enter a ‘meeting headline’ like ‘Your Solar System Needs'.
• Enter the ‘meeting name’. The default usually specifies the time duration (like '15 min meeting'). I usually qualify with something like ‘15-min intro meeting’.
• Duration.
• Save
• In ‘Configure’
• Enter the ‘location’ as a link for a live chat page, Google maps, etc
• In‘Invite subject’, enter the email’s subject line. I like to personalize the message by inserting the contact’s first name as follows. By clicking the ‘contact token’ dropdown menu, you can select the first name (and or a few other fields). Keep the messaging as short as possible, especially considering that the word ‘invitation:’ will precede your subject line.

Use the ‘description’ field for a short description, agenda of the meeting and or instructions for attending (like the need to click a given link at the time of the meeting)..

• In ‘Availability’
• Set a time zone. Regardless of the time zone you select for this meeting’s time range, HubSpot CRM will automatically convert the time range according to each invitee’s local time zone. CKED. However, when you receive email confirmations, the Gmail inbox email confirmations may use the meeting’s pre-set time zone, and NOT that of your current location while the HubSpot CRM will use your local time. Avoid confusion by setting the meeting time to you current time zone.  
• To adjust the time range, you will need to drag the edge of the bars that cover the bars on the time graph.
• In ‘Form Questions’
• This section can be adjusted only for paid versions of HubSpot CRM
• Adjust your qualifying questions. 

Step 3: Invite leads to schedule a meeting

You can invite leads to schedule meetings in multiple ways; 1) send an email link 2) insert the hyperlink onto a webpage or contact form and or 3) embed the form into a webpage. NB the embedding option is available for only the paid version.

Make the following selections

• Sales
• Meetings
• In ‘Actions’, select as follows
• ‘Copy link’ to insert the hyperlink onto a webpage, contact form or into an email (via manually pasting the link).
• ‘embed’ to embed the form onto a webpage

To send an email invitation (without having to copy and paste) the link

In Gmail, click ‘compose’ to create an email

Click ‘Meetings’ link (that appears in an embedded menu bar as pictured below)

CONTENT RELATED TO SCHEDULING MEETINGS IN HUBSPOT CRM

• Leads VS prospects. Scheduling meetings with leads can help you to qualify them as noteworthy prospects.
• As an option, schedule meetings using Calendry.