Chalkedin

Chalkedin is a web app for getting a client to agree to a meeting time you propose. Most scheduling tools hand your client a page of open slots to choose from. Chalkedin works the other way: you pick one specific time, send it in your own email or text message, and your client answers in one tap.

It suits salespeople, account managers, tradies, inspectors and anyone else whose week is spent asking busy people for their time.

How it works:

• Create a request with your client's first name, the day and the time.
• Copy the ready-made email into Outlook or Gmail, or the short text message into your phone, and send it from your own address or number.
• Your client opens the link in any browser, with no account or app, and chooses "That time suits me", "That time does not suit" (ticking the days that would suit better) or "Please call me".
• You're emailed the answer straight away, and send the calendar invitation only once they've said yes.

Features:

• Requests sent from your own email or mobile, so they read and land like you
• Follow-up flags and one-click reminders on the same link
• One-click rescheduling, with the client's preferred days carried over
• Auto-expiry, so an unanswered offer closes and frees the time
• Calendar view of active and answered requests
• Email and SMS templates in your own wording
• In-person or online meetings
• Never signs in to your mail, calendar or CRM, so it works where corporate IT blocks outside apps
• Keeps very little about your clients, and clears it on a schedule you set
• Short codes for links that company mail filters rewrite

Chalkedin is an Australian business. It is currently in beta and free for at least three months, with no card needed. After the beta, plans start at A$25 per user per year, GST included.