If you run a business where you schedule appointments with clients, offering a variety of appointment types is key to keeping your calendar full and your customers happy.
For example, if you run a medical clinic, you might offer 1-on-1 medical checkups, walk-in appointments, or emergency bookings. If you're a marketing consultant, you could set up options for a free discovery call, monthly client check-ins, or strategy sessions.
The point is, there are tons of appointment types you could be using—but are you making the most of them?
If not, don’t worry—we’ve done the homework for you. In this guide, you’ll learn:
Let’s get started!
Let's start with the most common type of appointment: time-specific booking. This appointment type allows customers to reserve a set time in advance, ensuring that both you and the client know exactly when it will take place.
📅 Best for: Pretty much any business that runs on the basis of appointments at specific time slots.
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Time-specified scheduling is ideal for one-on-one services with fixed durations, ensuring structure and dedicated client attention. But if your business thrives on walk-ins—think car tire shops or barbershop—you may need a more flexible system.
Here’s an example of a simple booking page from business coach Gareth Marlow. As you can see, he offers straightforward one-hour slots for his clients.👇
Want to create a similar booking page? Use YouCanBookMe—an intuitive online scheduling tool that saves you time and allows your clients to book with you effortlessly. It also sends automatic meeting confirmations and reminder emails, so your clients don’t miss their appointments!
This is the most common type of appointment in hospitals, urgent care centers, and high-traffic service businesses like nail salons or barbershops.
Walk-ins operate on a first-come, first-served basis, meaning customers arrive without a pre-scheduled time and are seen in the order they check in.
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📅 Best for: Medical centers, hospitals, nail salons, barbershops, and other high-traffic businesses.
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Use walk-ins to accommodate clients who need last-minute service but don’t use them at the expense of guaranteed, time-specific bookings.
Open-hour scheduling is a lot like walk-in appointments—clients don’t have to book a specific time, and they’re helped on a first-come, first-served basis. But instead of a completely open-ended system, businesses set specific windows of time when customers can drop in.
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If your business doesn’t require a ton of prep work and clients just need a general time frame to drop by, this system makes life easier for both sides. It works best when a little flexibility is okay, but you still want to control the flow of customers instead of being completely open-ended.
To set it up, block a time range (e.g., 10 AM–2 PM) for drop-ins, leaving the rest of your schedule for structured appointments.
Some customers don’t plan ahead (or simply can’t because of an emergency)—they need an appointment today. If you can’t fit them in, they’ll probably find someone who can.
Same-day appointments give clients the flexibility to book a time slot on short notice while allowing you to fill gaps in your schedule.
📅 Best for: Businesses that can handle quick turnarounds, like salons, massage therapists, personal trainers, medical clinics, and home repair services.
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Great for businesses like chiropractors, car detailing, and salons where clients need quick service. But if your work requires prep, planning, or a detailed intake—like legal consultations or therapy—same-day booking may not be the best fit.
You’re probably thinking, “Whoa—why would I want to double-book myself? Won’t that just cause a scheduling nightmare?”
Hear us out!
Double booking doesn’t mean overloading yourself to the point of stress—it means maximizing your time strategically.
Let’s take a hair salon as an example. I first saw this concept in action at a hairdresser’s in the United Kingdom. I was booked in for a root touch-up at the same time as another client.
Here’s how it played out:
Boom! Two clients served. At the same time.
Of course, you need to be skilled at this. At no point should your customer feel like you’re rushing them or that the quality of your work is suffering.
📅 Best for: Businesses that can manage two clients at once without sacrificing quality.
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Double booking is most effective in industries where clients don’t require full attention the entire time.
You can also take a slightly different approach by advertising the service as designed for two people, making it ideal for friends or partners who want to book together.
Take a look at Align & Unwind's massage booking page, where you can book a relaxing massage for two. 👇
If double booking is about maximizing downtime, then cluster scheduling takes it a step further by grouping similar appointments together into dedicated time blocks. Instead of squeezing in two clients at the same time, you batch a set of appointments back-to-back.
Say you’re a photographer working at your own studio. You could offer cluster scheduling for headshots from 10 AM – 12 PM and family portraits from 2 PM – 4 PM.
📅 Best for: Professionals who handle different types of appointments and want to group similar tasks together for better efficiency. Ideal for doctors, recruiters, consultants, photographers, and tutors who need structured scheduling.
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If your business involves different types of services that require separate workflows/setup, this system helps you organize them better.
To set up cluster scheduling, divide your calendar into dedicated time blocks for specific types of appointments (e.g., new client consultations in the morning, follow-ups in the afternoon) to stay organized and work more efficiently.
If you’re sprinting between appointments with no time to breathe, buffer time is your fix. Built-in breaks let you take notes, prep for the next client, or just grab a coffee.
📅 Best for: Coaches, therapists, medical professionals, consultants, hairstylists, and service providers who need transition time between appointments.
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If your work requires prep time (like a consultant reviewing client notes), buffers keep your day running smoothly. But if you rely on back-to-back bookings (like a nail salon), they might limit capacity and revenue.
To add buffer time, schedule short breaks (5–15 minutes) before or after appointments—easy to do with YouCanBookMe!
Group bookings allow multiple clients to schedule the same appointment slot instead of booking separate individual sessions. This approach works well in industries where clients benefit from shared experiences, such as fitness classes, tutoring sessions, or business coaching.
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Use it when your service naturally accommodates multiple clients at once. Avoid it when your clients expect customized, one-on-one attention—such as therapy, legal consulting, or highly personalized coaching. In these cases, private bookings will provide a better client experience.
To set up group bookings, create a single appointment slot in your calendar and set a maximum number of participants. With a scheduling tool like YouCanBookMe, you can set the number of participants anywhere from 2-50 people.
In this system, appointments are booked back-to-back with minimal or no gaps, ensuring a steady flow of clients throughout the day.
This stream scheduling is ideal for quick, structured services where each appointment takes roughly the same amount of time. It’s commonly used in high-demand, fast-paced industries such as:
📅 Best for: Businesses that want a steady client flow with no gaps in the schedule.
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Use it when your service is structured, repeatable, and in high demand. It’s best for businesses where every appointment is roughly the same length.
To set up stream scheduling, arrange back-to-back appointment slots with little to no gaps in between.
Lindsey and Brian Pickowicz of The Fitness Project use stream scheduling to let clients book discovery calls. 👇
From that first call booked through YouCanBookMe, I want clients to feel supported. YouCanBookMe helps us turn those initial conversations into transformational journeys.”
Wave scheduling is letting a small group of clients arrive at the same time and working through them in a steady, organized flow. Instead of strict one-on-one time slots, you schedule multiple people at once and rotate them through different parts of your service.
For example, a dentist’s office might schedule four patients for 9 AM—one goes straight to X-rays, another sees a hygienist, and the other two wait briefly before rotating through.
📅 Best for: Businesses that handle multiple clients at once but need time to rotate between them. Ideal for medical clinics, barbershops, car repair shops, and any high-traffic service business.
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Best to use it when your business naturally serves clients in stages—like a medical clinic where patients go through check-in, exams, and treatments, or a barbershop that rotates between haircuts and shaves.
To set up wave scheduling, open up a specific time slot (e.g., every 60 minutes) and limit the number of clients who can book in, allowing multiple people to arrive at once and move through different stages of service efficiently.
A recurring appointment is when a client books a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly session that automatically repeats. It’s a standard practice in businesses that rely on ongoing client relationships, like psychologists, personal trainers, tutors, business coaches, and accountants.
📅 Best for: Businesses that rely on ongoing appointments for client progress.
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If your business depends on seeing the same clients regularly, recurring appointments save time and keep your income steady.
To set up recurring appointments, create a repeating time slot in your calendar and schedule clients in advance, ensuring they automatically have a reserved spot without needing to rebook each time.
Not every appointment is about delivering a service, though. Sometimes, you need to set aside time for things like free discovery calls, client check-ins, or quarterly reviews—appointments that help build relationships and keep your business growing.
That’s why we separated them from the rest. They might not bring in cash right away, but they help build relationships and keep clients coming back.
If you’re a consultant, therapist, or online tutor, you’re always on the lookout for new clients. Once you get a lead, you’ll need to hop on a quick discovery call—a common practice in service-based businesses.
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A discovery call gives potential clients a low-risk way to connect with you before committing to a paid session. Instead of expecting them to book right away, you offer a short, no-pressure chat where they can ask questions and see if you’re the right fit.
The best setup for these calls is time-specified scheduling with buffer time, so you stay organized and have space between calls.
For example, relationship coach Ana Loiselle entices new clients by offering a free 30-minute consultation on her booking page. 👇
If you work with clients over a period of time, regular check-in calls are expected. They’re a way to update clients on progress, address any concerns, and make sure they’re happy with your work. More than just a status update, these calls help strengthen relationships and build trust.
Clients who feel supported are far more likely to stick around—and much less likely to disappear without warning.
The best way to set these up is through time-specified scheduling or recurring bi-weekly/monthly calls, depending on what works best for you and your client.
A quarterly or annual review is your chance to prove your value and keep clients committed. Instead of assuming they’ll renew, you use this time to show them real progress, discuss what’s next, and reinforce why they should continue working with you.
They’re especially useful for consultants, agencies, financial advisors, and service providers with ongoing contracts.
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Here’s how to make these meetings extra good: ✅ Bring receipts: Clients love hard numbers, so show real progress—performance stats, milestones hit, money saved, whatever proves your impact. ✅ Check in on their goals: Businesses change fast. Ask what’s working, what’s not, and where they need more help—you might find an easy upsell. ✅ Lock in the next steps: End with a plan. Clients should walk away knowing what’s coming next and why sticking with you is the smart move. |
These calls are a must for consultants, agencies, financial advisors, and any service provider with ongoing contracts. Best way to handle them? Set them up as recurring meetings.
Don’t thank us for all these new appointment ideas to help you meet client needs (and boost revenue)—you’re welcome!
Now, let’s make sure you can actually manage them without losing your mind.
Keeping track of different appointment types—whether it’s one-on-one calls, group sessions, walk-ins, or recurring bookings—gets overwhelming fast. That’s why you need a smart scheduling system that does the heavy lifting for you.
With YouCanBookMe, you can:
To set up your booking page and offer all these appointment types, follow these steps:
Step 1: Sign up for a YouCanBookMe account or log in if you already have one.
Step 2: Create your booking page.
Step 3: Select “Additional options” on the left, then click “Appointment types.”
Step 4: Click "Create new appointment type." Fill out the details and save your changes.
Step 5: Connect Stripe to collect payments upfront for paid sessions (optional).
And you’re good to go!
Offering the right appointment types removes friction from scheduling and makes it easier for clients to book, show up, and return. With YouCanBookMe, you can:
The best way to see how it works? Try it for yourself!
👉 Create your free booking page now