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Customer Booking Experience

This page describes what customers see when booking an appointment through your public scheduling page.

Overview​

The booking flow guides customers through these steps:

  1. Project Type Selection (if required)
  2. Appointment Option Selection (if enabled)
  3. Time Slot Selection
  4. Contact Information
  5. Confirmation

The exact steps depend on your scheduling group configuration.

Booking Flow Steps​

Step 1: Project Type Selection​

When shown: If the scheduling group has Require Project Type enabled.

What customers see:

  • Your company branding (logo, colors)
  • A list of project types to choose from
  • Option to select one or multiple types

What happens behind the scenes:

  • Selected project types filter which team members appear
  • Only team members assigned to those project types show availability
Returning Customers

If Route Returning Clients is enabled, the system recognizes customers by email and shows their previous team member's availability first.

Step 2: Appointment Option Selection​

When shown: If the scheduling group has Use Appointment Options enabled.

What customers see:

  • List of appointment types (e.g., "30-Minute Phone Call", "In-Home Consultation")
  • Duration displayed for each option
  • Virtual or in-person indicator

What happens behind the scenes:

  • Selected duration determines available time slots
  • Virtual/in-person affects calendar invite details
  • Travel time (if configured) blocks additional calendar time

Step 3: Time Slot Selection​

What customers see:

  • Calendar view of available dates
  • Time slots for the selected date
  • Only times when team members are available

What the calendar shows:

  • Available dates highlighted
  • Unavailable dates grayed out
  • Maximum booking window (typically 60 days out)

What affects availability:

  • Team member availability schedules
  • Existing appointments and calendar events
  • Buffer times before/after appointments
  • Schedule constraints (weekly limits)
  • Company holidays
Load Balancing

Unless you're using the "Show All" strategy, customers don't see which team member they'll meet. The system assigns someone based on your load balancing settings.

Step 4: Contact Information​

What customers see:

  • Your lead intake form (or basic contact form)
  • Required and optional fields
  • Your company branding

Form fields may include:

  • Name (first, last)
  • Email address
  • Phone number
  • Address
  • Custom fields you've configured
  • Project details

What happens behind the scenes:

  • System checks if email already exists in your contacts
  • For returning customers, some fields may pre-fill (if configured)
  • Spam protection validates the submission

Step 5: Confirmation​

What customers see:

  • Success message
  • Appointment details:
    • Date and time
    • Duration
    • Meeting type (virtual/in-person)
    • Team member name (if applicable)
  • Note about calendar invite

What happens behind the scenes:

  • Contact created or updated in your CRM
  • Activity created on team member's calendar
  • Travel time activity created (if applicable)
  • Confirmation email sent with calendar invite (.ics file) to both primary and partner email addresses

What Gets Created​

When a customer completes a booking, the system creates:

ItemDescription
ContactNew or updated contact record
ProjectOptional - if project creation is enabled
ActivityThe appointment on the team member's calendar
Travel ActivityOptional - blocks time before in-person appointments
Calendar InviteSent to customer's email
Confirmation EmailSummary of the booking

Calendar Invite Details​

Customers receive an email with:

  • Subject: Your appointment with [Company Name]
  • Date and time in their timezone
  • Meeting type indicator (virtual/in-person)
  • Team member name and contact info
  • .ics file attachment for adding to their calendar

Automatic Email Updates​

When staff members modify or cancel a booking, customers automatically receive updated calendar invites.

Reschedule Notifications​

If you change the date, time, or location of a booking:

  • An updated calendar invite is sent to the customer
  • Both primary and partner email addresses receive the update
  • The customer's calendar is automatically updated

Cancellation Notifications​

If a booking is cancelled:

  • A cancellation email is sent to the customer
  • Both primary and partner email addresses receive the notification
  • The appointment is automatically removed from the customer's calendar

Cancellations can happen when:

  • The activity result is set to "Cancelled"
  • The activity is deleted

See Activity Emails for complete details on when emails are sent.

Booking Confirmation Page​

After submission, customers see a confirmation page with options to:

  • Add the appointment to their calendar (download .ics)
  • View appointment details
  • See your company contact information

If configured, they may see:

  • Custom completion message
  • Redirect to your website

Managing Bookings​

Customer Cancellation​

Customers can cancel their booking by:

  1. Using the link in their confirmation email
  2. Contacting your company directly

When cancelled:

  • The activity is marked as cancelled
  • The time slot becomes available again
  • Travel time activity is also removed

Rescheduling​

Currently, customers must cancel and rebook to reschedule. The original time slot becomes available once cancelled.

Branding and Appearance​

What Uses Your Branding​

  • Page background and colors
  • Button colors
  • Form styling
  • Company logo
  • Calendar accent colors

Where Branding Comes From​

  1. Group-level branding (if configured)
  2. Company branding (fallback)
  3. System defaults (if nothing configured)

See Company Branding to configure your brand colors.

Mobile Experience​

The booking page is responsive and works on:

  • Desktop browsers
  • Tablets
  • Mobile phones

The calendar and forms adapt to screen size automatically.

Troubleshooting the Customer Experience​

"No Available Times"​

Customers see: Message that no times are available.

Possible causes:

  1. All team members are at their constraint limits
  2. No team members handle the selected project type
  3. All team members are fully booked
  4. Booking window is outside allowed range

Solutions:

  1. Check schedule constraints
  2. Verify team member project type filters
  3. Review team availability schedules
  4. Check minimum/maximum booking notice settings

Form Submission Errors​

Customers see: Error message when submitting.

Possible causes:

  1. Required field missing
  2. Invalid email format
  3. Rate limiting triggered (spam protection)
  4. Domain not in allowed list

Solutions:

  1. Check required field configuration
  2. Ensure email validation works
  3. Wait and retry (rate limits reset)
  4. Add customer's domain to allowed list

Calendar Invite Not Received​

Customers report: No email confirmation.

Possible causes:

  1. Email in spam folder
  2. Email address typo
  3. Email template not configured
  4. Email sending failed

Solutions:

  1. Check spam/junk folder
  2. Verify email address in contact record
  3. Configure email template on scheduling group
  4. Check email delivery logs

Testing the Booking Flow​

To test your booking page:

  1. Open the public booking URL in an incognito/private browser
  2. Complete the booking flow as a customer would
  3. Use a test email address you control
  4. Verify the appointment appears on the team member's calendar
  5. Check that confirmation email arrives
  6. Test the cancellation link
Test Bookings

Remember to cancel test bookings so they don't affect real availability.