What would you rather do? Flipping through a paper appointment calendar that has lots of handwritten scribbles, eraser marks, and illegible notes? Or use easy-to-read appointment scheduling software that allows you to quickly schedule appointments? Let’s compare the differences between a paper appointment calendar and appointment scheduling software.

A paper appointment calendar is easy to use: all you have to do is pick up a pencil. However, it can take a long time to search through all the pages to find an open appointment time. There is not much space to write appointment details about the services to be performed. Messy handwriting and information about double bookings that are squeezed into the same space on the calendar can be difficult to read. A paper appointment calendar can be easily destroyed. A spilled cup of coffee can cloud months of dating. It could catch fire or even eat it to your dog! Although a paper appointment calendar sounds easy, it certainly comes with a lot of risks.

Appointment scheduling software can be as easy as a paper appointment calendar. It is very intuitive as it is simply an electronic version of an appointment calendar. You can back up your appointments, so you don’t have to worry about losing your appointment information. You can color code appointment types to help schedulers and employees see at a glance what type of services are scheduled. You will be able to collect more information about your customers, including contact information that can be used to communicate with them. For example, you can call or email appointment reminders to customers to prevent no-shows.

You’ll also be able to create a waiting list and call clients to fill open time slots from cancellations, so their appointment calendars are always full. Since appointment details are stored electronically, you’ll be able to run many reports that will show you which services are the most popular and if you have employees who are having difficulty filling calendars. When time is short, you can use customers’ contact information to send coupons and other promotional items to entice them back to your business. If you have a very busy company, you may want to have more than one scheduler to schedule appointments. You can use the appointment scheduling software on more than one computer and have multiple schedulers book appointments at the same time.

There are many more advantages to using appointment scheduling software compared to using a paper appointment calendar. And appointment scheduling software is just as easy to use.