Keap and Infusionsoft users already know how valuable it is to help them engage new customers and keep up with existing subscribers, and as a Small Business CRM Coach, I’ll attest it’s a wise choice.
Today, I want to share ways you can integrate appointment scheduling with Keap using complementary software.
First, let’s take a look at Acuity Scheduling, then I’ll show you options for connecting it back to Infusionsoft.
Acuity was born in 2006 when Gavin Zuchlinski developed a software to help his mom have fewer headaches booking appointments for her massage business.
Gavin was interviewed by business productivity expert Nancy Gaines in 2018 – for a little more on his story check out that episode of her podcast here.
Anyway, over the past 12 years Gavin’s cloud-based booking system has evolved. It works well for anyone who wants to allow their clients to book appointments online.
We’ve seen it work for a variety of business types, but a few common use cases are those who have regular client appointments – lawyers, consultants, or any type of coaches (business, health, etc).
Acuity boasts a lengthy feature list. Here are a few of the highlights:
- Set up recurring appointments. One of our business coach clients uses it for this all the time
- Collect payment from clients at the time they schedule their appointments, through integration with Paypal and Stripe.
- Configure group classes. We use it when we schedule meetings with client teams that include several persons. This way, all team members get the meeting reminders. Others use it to book classes. (A yoga studio we work with uses it this way.)
- Sell gift certificates and packages of appointments or classes.
- Apply labels within each appointment. This is a brand new feature in Acuity and it comes in handy if you want to flag when someone confirmed the appointment, checked-in or completed the appointment.
- Configure text message reminders in addition to emails. (This feature is available at the Growing Business subscription level.)
- Integrate it with Zoom and send a Zoom link with your appointment reminders.
Honestly, I don’t have much to criticize – it’s a really solid product. I attribute that to the fact that Acuity team members really listen to their clients and they update their product based on feedback they receive.
The screenshot above is Acuity. The light green areas are appointments synced from my Google Calendar and the dark green ones have been booked directly with Acuity.
Acuity pricing is based on the number of calendars, not the number of users.
The “Freebie version” gets you started and it’s, um, free.
- An Emerging subscription includes one calendar for $15/month.
- A Growing Business subscription includes two to six calendars for $25/month.
- The Powerhouse subscription supports businesses that need more than six calendars, up to 36. It costs $50/month.
At each level, you have the option of adding features. For all the details, check out Acuity’s pricing page.
Linking Keap and Acuity
Now for the magic: You can make Acuity Scheduling and your Keap App work together by using either Zapier or Mocknick Apps connector app called Scheduler Link. Let’s look at each.
Connecting Infusionsoft and Acuity with Zapier
Zapier features include the ability to configure an action in Infusionsoft that corresponds with particular action happening in Acuity. Unfortunately there are drawbacks:
- Zapier doesn’t allow you to add the appointment information to your Infusionsoft app.
- Zapier will create an order in Infusionsoft, but not a paid one.
- Configuring these corresponding actions is challenging because you must create a “zap” for each scenario you want to handle.
Infusionsoft is a premium connection for Zapier, so it would require a paid subscription – their starter plans start at $20/month.
Connecting Keap and Acuity
Back in 2016, one of our Small Business CRM Coach clients wanted to use Acuity and Keap (formerly Infusionsoft), so we created Scheduler Link. It uses Acuity API to talk to Keap API in its own language.
Scheduler Link includes these cool features:
- When an appointment is scheduled in Acuity, Scheduler Link creates a corresponding appointment in Infusionsoft.
- Appointments made with payments in Acuity generate a paid order in Infusionsoft.
- With Scheduler Link, you can map appointment data to your contact record. For example, we have clients who map the appointment date to custom fields to trigger campaign events a few hours before or after the appointment.
- Scheduler Link can use Acuity forms to collect additional information and map it to corresponding fields in Keap.
- You can apply tags based on appointment types. The tags can be used to trigger campaigns and automations in Keap.
At this point Scheduler Link only handles one-way appointments; what’s scheduled in Acuity will also get set up in Keap.
Price points for Scheduler Link correspond to Acuity’s pricing structure:
- One calendar for $10/month
- Two to six calendars for $15/month
- More than six calendars for $20/month
Acuity Scheduling is loaded with features. From my own experience, I know the Acuity team is very customer-focused. They’ve been a great partner to work with as we developed our Scheduler Link connector.
The bottom line is that if you’re going to use a scheduling tool – Acuity is a good one.
And if you’re going to use Acuity, then a connector between Infusionsoft and Acuity will multiply your efficiency (and help keep you sane).
This type of organization is critical for not only your business but also the experience you’re creating for your customers.
Scheduler Link was designed specifically to bridge the two systems. Once you’ve created an account with Acuity Scheduling, then check out Scheduler Link; or reach out to our team with any questions.
Update: Since SchedulerLink is no longer a suppported solution, the option we recommend now is from PlusThis.
We appreciate the opportunity to contribute to Monkeypod Blog!
