The Secret to Growing your Business: Power Scheduling

Scheduling need not be stuck in the dark ages

The art of scheduling has changed considerably since the dawn of the computer.  Most executives still rely on Outlook or Google to manage their calendar and contacts.

With over 100,000 hours of service supporting executives, Prialto has observed three key scheduling mistakes:

• Treating everyone the same: Why should you provide a casual acquaintance the same access to your calendar as a vital client?
• Focusing on in-bound meetings: Do you primarily schedule with people that ask for your time or are you pro-active in getting meetings crucial to growing your business?
• Doing it yourself: Why are you dealing with the back-and-forth Ping-Pong?

If the questions above resonate with you, remember, the tools you are using aren’t broken, just the way you are using them.  By integrating CRM and a remote assistant team into your process, you can quickly address these mistakes and maximize every moment on your calendar.

› Continue reading

Tags: CRM Optimization, Productivity Assistant, scheduling management

How Smartsheet Powers (& Empowers) Virtual Assistants

Smartsheet is a versatile cloud collaboration tool that turns dead-end spreadsheets into dynamic team projects. The cloud app marries the ease of use and flexibility of a spreadsheet, with sophisticated project management features.

Teams easily manage and collaborate in real-time on projects and tasks, attach files, set alerts to remind when dates come near, view in Gantt or calendar views, and include threaded discussions. The web app is used by organizations of all sizes for managing a broad array of work, including projects, task lists, business processes, sales pipelines, marketing programs, and more.

Check out the case study on how Prialto leverages Smartsheet to create a scalable project management system: Smartsheet Blog

Tags: project management, smartsheet

Scheduling with Success

Having a human scheduling appointments on your behalf sets you apart from the crowd more than ever in a world of web-published calendars and do-it-all mobile devices

Technology-powered tools now available for scheduling are amazing:

• Web apps like Tungle.me and timebridge provide slick functionality for publishing your calendar to the world of people who’d like to select a time to meet with you
• Apple’s Siri takes key scheduling steps on your voice command without you even having to click or swipe

But simply saying “I’ll have my smart phone call your smart phone,” has some key limitations.

Relying entirely on these tools naively implies a business environment in which all parties have an equal interest in meeting.  Your most important contacts will appreciate a more personal touch, and human input is critical to navigating the art in that the back-and-forth of “scheduling Ping-Pong”.

So how do you empower your remote admin in the complex and subtle game of business etiquette that starts when two busy people decide to meet and then need to lock down place and time?

› Continue reading

Tags: calendar management, CRM Optimization, Productivity Assistant, time management