How to Let Clients Book Meetings Themselves in Planfix
If you want to let clients book meetings themselves instead of trading emails about possible times, Planfix can take the booking straight into the calendar you already work in. The video below shows the Planfix and Calendly pairing that does it: the client picks a free slot, and the meeting arrives in Planfix as a task through Google Calendar synchronization. It runs two minutes and covers the whole setup.
What you’ll learn: how clients book meetings in your calendar
- How the Planfix and Calendly pairing fits together, and why Google Calendar sits in the middle.
- How the setup goes, from the booking form to the connected calendars.
- How a booked meeting reaches your CRM calendar automatically, with nothing retyped.
- How to avoid scheduling conflicts when clients choose their own times.
- How the client gets a confirmation and notifications after booking.
How to set up the calendar integration in Planfix, step by step
Step 1. Prepare the calendar that will hold your meetings
Meetings need a home before anything is connected. In Planfix, a calendar is a planner list: a Full calendar carries task and data tag dates, while an Hourly calendar lays the day out in hourly blocks and shows data tags that hold a Time period field, such as Planned and Actual working time. In the list settings, the Display data section decides what appears; its first item, Task dates, shows the tasks themselves by start and due time. Tasks longer than one day are not shown in an hourly calendar.
Step 2. Turn on Google Calendar synchronization
Open that calendar in the planner, click the three dots and choose Edit. Go to the Integrations section and click Synchronize; Planfix asks permission to manage events in Google Calendar, so click Allow. Planfix adds a separate calendar on the Google side, and events belong in that one rather than your default calendar. Two cautions: do not change the calendar’s Selection parameters afterwards, or Google gets a second calendar, and synchronization works on paid and premium accounts only. More on the Google Calendar integration page.
Step 3. Connect Calendly to the same Google Calendar
There is no direct integration between Planfix and Calendly, so Google Calendar works as the intermediary. In Calendly, open the Integrations section and pick Google Calendar from the list. Then check in Planfix that the Google account and calendar selected there are the ones Calendly writes to. Miss that check and bookings land in a calendar nobody is watching.
Step 4. Set up the booking form clients will see
In Calendly, create the booking form as an event type, a face-to-face meeting for example, and fill in its details. Set how many days ahead the client may see and how long the meeting lasts, then your work schedule, your time zone and the days and hours when a booking is allowed. Choose the fields the client fills in, since that data travels on to Google Calendar and Planfix, and choose how the booking is confirmed, such as an email to the client. Save the settings.
Step 5. Send the booking link with one button
Copy the form link from Calendly. Then, instead of pasting it by hand every time, add a button in Planfix that posts a comment with the link, so a single click sends it to the client. Buttons in Planfix run prepared actions on tasks and contacts and are available on the Plan B and Plan X plans.
What the integration looks like in daily work
The client opens your link, sees only your free time and books what suits them, March 15 at 2:30 p.m. for instance. They fill in the fields, save and get a confirmation. That slot is blocked in Calendly straight away, so nobody takes it twice, and Calendly keeps the hours straight when your client sits in another time zone.
The booking then flows into Google Calendar and on into Planfix, where it appears as a task in the Planfix planner with the client’s data already filled in. Blocking time works the same way in reverse: mark a dentist appointment in your calendar and that hour stops being offered. A psychologist running online counseling used to spend around five minutes per client agreeing a time; with a link to send, it takes seconds. The longer write-up of this workflow is our case study on interactive business meeting scheduling.
Who it’s for
- Consultants and coaches: one link fills the week, with no scheduling conversation at all.
- Sales teams: a warm lead picks a demo slot while the interest is still fresh.
- Private practice and clinics: clients book their own appointments, and each one arrives as a task.
- Recruiters: candidates choose interview times from the hours you actually keep free.
- Service teams: callbacks and site visits go straight into the working calendar.
FAQ
Does Planfix integrate with Calendly directly?
No. Google Calendar sits between the two: Calendly writes the booking into Google Calendar, and Google Calendar synchronization brings it into Planfix as a task.
Can two clients book the same time slot?
No. Once a slot is taken it is blocked for booking in Calendly, and any hours you reserve in your own calendar are not offered to clients either.
Can I send a booking link from Planfix in one click?
Yes. Add a button that posts a comment containing your Calendly link, and one click sends it to the client from the task. Buttons are available on the Plan B and Plan X plans.
Start with one booking link
Pick the meeting you arrange most often, build one booking form for it and connect it to a calendar you already keep. After that, bookings fill your hourly calendar in Planfix on their own, and the hours you block stay yours. New to Planfix? Sign up to try it.
