The problem
Corporate inquiries come from office managers and PAs who are hard to catch, and the planner is often on site. Arranging each discovery call takes about 4 emails and 20 minutes, and some enquirers go cold while waiting. With 15 inquiries a month, that's 300 minutes, 5 hours a month.
What the AI does
Calendly is an online scheduling tool: you share a link and the enquirer picks a free slot from your calendar. Standard adds unlimited event types and automated meeting reminders, and connects Stripe or PayPal if you ever charge for a planning session. Make a 30-minute 'Discovery call' event, block your event days and site visits, and put the link in your reply to every inquiry and in your email signature. In the reply, ask for the date, guest numbers, budget range and venue ideas so you come to the call ready.
A worked example
A two-person corporate event planner in Birmingham gets about 15 inquiries a month from offices planning conferences, launches and summer parties. They reply to each with a Calendly link on Standard, with reminders on, instead of offering times by email.
Before
About 20 minutes arranging each call: 15 × 20 = 300 minutes, 5 hours a month
After
About 3 minutes per inquiry to send the link and check the booking: 45 minutes a month
What it's worth
About $141£106€126A$204C$199 a month saved, against about $11£8€10A$15C$15 to $12£9€11A$17C$17 for Calendly Standard. That's 4.25 hours (300 minus 45 = 255 minutes) at an assumed $33£25€30A$48C$47 an hour. Standard is $10 (about $11£8€10A$15C$15) a seat a month billed yearly or $12 (about $12£9€11A$17C$17) monthly. Inquiries that no longer go cold while waiting aren't counted.
How to set it up
- Connect the calendar you use for events and site visits to a Calendly account on Standard.
- Create a 30-minute 'Discovery call' event and block event days, set-up days and site visits.
- Turn on reminders and read what the enquirer receives.
- Reply to every inquiry with the link and three questions: date, guest numbers and budget range.
- After each call, send a short written summary and your proposal date.
What goes wrong
- The free plan has one event type and no reminders. Check you need reminders before paying.
- Standard is priced per seat. If both planners take calls, that's two seats.
- A link can feel cold to a large client. For big corporate inquiries, ring first and send the link as a follow-up.
- Enquirers' details are personal data under UK GDPR. Use them for the inquiry, not for marketing without consent.