Ensuring Accurate Timing: A Guide to Avoiding Scheduling Mistakes
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I'm not sure why, but ever since Covid, it has become increasingly difficult to engage clients in making selections. I remember the days when clients were highly enthusiastic, eager to take control of their outputs—designing prints, start screens, and more. Now, after booking and confirmation, clients tend to disappear. It’s baffling, but getting clients to complete questionnaires nowadays feels like pulling teeth.
This past week we had an instance where our staff showed up a day prior to the event. We checked our paperwork, and it showed a Tuesday start time. The problem? The client never completed a questionnaire and there was no checks and balance. Luckily the client was a friend of mine, so there really wasn’t any finger-pointing, just “We’ll see you tomorrow.” Upon further investigation, we ran into an email where the title of the event was Wednesday, however in the body of the email she mentioned it was Tuesday —mistakes are super easy to happen.
Things happen and there are far worse things going on in the world to focus on, however we know to be better and attempt to check the timing of the events.
In checking the events for the week, I saw another anomaly. We have a prom event for Friday morning at 8 a.m.? What kind of prom for early birds is this?! Despite having a signed contract for this early start, something seemed off. I reached out to the client—who had initially been unresponsive—and confirmed the timing. As suspected, it was a mistake on their part. We corrected the error, reconfirmed the details, and all was resolved.
There are two typical scenarios in such cases. First, if you make a timing mistake, you're likely to absorb the lost time and potentially issue a refund, especially if you miss part of the event.
Second, which is more common, you’ll have a signed contract for your start time, however the planner or the client has made a mistake and perhaps the event starts two hours after your start time. I remember I was traveling to BoothCon in Australia one year, and while I was on the tarmac, one of my team calls me and tells me the planner screwed up on the start time, and the team was ready to go and setup for two whole hours, leaving only 30 minutes of actual use time the guests would have. Now, in this instance, it wasn’t our fault, and we’re on the hook for paying our team to be on-site. The planner asked us to extend, for free. Our team advised her there would be a charge for the additional time. She refused, and tried to blame the mistake on us, even though we had a signed contract and times were confirmed ahead of time. Mind you, this was this staff member’s first event by themselves. I spoke with the team and said the decision was theirs and I would respect whatever decision they came up with. After checking emails since this happens so long ago, the team ended up meeting halfway and staying a little over.
Such scheduling pitfalls, while extreme, underscore the necessity of ensuring clients complete the requisite forms and implementing effective confirmation processes.
Implementing a Time Confirmation Process
Regularly Test Your Intake Forms: Ensure that your lead intake form functions correctly by testing it every six months. Sometimes automations fail, which can lead clients in circles.
Review Your Confirmations: Do you send a confirmation email prior to the event? Do you confirm details again via a questionnaire?
Addendum for Changes: Whenever a client needs to change a date or time, update it in the system and require a signature on an addendum for the change. This process is beneficial as it provides a tangible way for clients to commit to changes by physically typing their signature.
To mitigate these issues, increasing client engagement throughout the booking and planning process is essential. One effective strategy is to schedule periodic check-ins via phone or video calls, which can be more engaging than emails or forms. Personal interactions not only help clarify details but also build stronger relationships and trust with clients, which can lead to more involvement in their event preparations. Additionally, providing clients with visual aids, like timelines and checklists, can help them understand the process better and encourage their participation. By fostering a more interactive and inclusive planning environment, we can improve both client satisfaction and the accuracy of event details. Don’t rely entirely on automations!
Having been in this industry for a long time, I've learned that anything can happen. The key is to learn from these experiences and strive to avoid repeating the same mistakes.
