The problem
Many inquiries to a small practice turn into a free site visit that never becomes a project. If an architect does 6 free first visits a month at 3 hours each including travel, and 4 of them go nowhere, that's 12 unpaid hours a month.
What the AI does
Calendly gives you a booking link that shows your free time. On Standard and above you can take payment at booking through Stripe or PayPal and send reminders. Offer a paid first consultation, say $200£150€179A$288C$282 credited against your fee if the client appoints you. Serious clients still book, and those who don't go ahead have paid for your time.
A worked example
A sole-practitioner architect in Brighton gets about 6 inquiries a month for extensions and loft conversions. The architect starts charging $200£150€179A$288C$282 for a first site consultation through a Calendly booking link, deducted from the fee if the client goes ahead.
Before
6 free visits a month, 4 of which go nowhere: 12 unpaid hours
After
If 4 of the 6 still book and pay $200£150€179A$288C$282 2 appoint (fee credited) and 2 don't: $399£300€357A$576C$564 paid for those 2 visits, and 2 fewer visits a month
What it's worth
About $718£540€643A$1,037C$1,015 a month, against about $11£8€10A$15C$15 to $12£9€11A$17C$17 for Calendly. $399£300€357A$576C$564 is paid time from the 2 visits that don't lead to work (billing for work done, almost all labor, so counted in full), and $319£240€286A$461C$451 is the 6 hours of visits no longer made, at an assumed $53£40€48A$77C$75 an hour. It depends on 4 of 6 enquirers still booking when asked to pay, an assumption to track. Cost: Standard is $10 (about $11£8€10A$15C$15) a month billed yearly or $12 (about $12£9€11A$17C$17) monthly, plus Stripe or PayPal fees.
How to set it up
- Decide your consultation offer: length, what the client gets, and that the fee is credited if they appoint you.
- Set up Calendly Standard with a consultation event, travel time as a buffer and the area you cover in the description.
- Connect Stripe or PayPal and require payment at booking.
- Put the booking link on your website and in your reply to every inquiry.
- Send clear, written terms of engagement before any further work, as Standard 4.1 of the ARB Code expects.
What goes wrong
- Some people won't pay for a first visit. Track how many inquiries drop off, and change the price if good projects stop booking.
- The free plan has no payments or reminders, so this needs Standard, priced per seat in dollars.
- Stripe and PayPal charge their own fee per payment on top of Calendly. Check their UK fees.
- Say in writing what the consultation covers and what it doesn't, so a quick view on site isn't mistaken for formal advice.