If you’re in any customer-facing role, you know that while meetings or appointments are constant, the way they're scheduled continues to change, especially with the evolution of technology.
Despite this universal reliance on appointments, the actual booking process differs across industries and departments. While emails and phone calls are the norm, advancements in scheduling software and AI are rapidly transforming the way appointments are scheduled.
At Zoho Bookings, we wanted to know more. We partnered with CINT, the world's largest global research marketplace, to survey professionals from various departments—like healthcare, finance, professional services, ecommerce, IT, and more. Our goal was to understand how teams around the world schedule meetings and appointments.
Here's what we found:
- Nearly 45% of scheduled meetings are for sales, service offerings, or consultations.
- 79% of businesses schedule meetings daily or weekly.
- 43% of sales and marketing professionals regularly schedule one-on-one meetings with prospects
- 41% of sales and marketing teams use appointment scheduling software to streamline their booking processes.
- 30% of businesses using scheduling software book appointments in less than an hour.
- 65% of companies now offer both in-person and virtual appointments.
- 30% of businesses saw an increase in sales and revenue after adopting scheduling software.
- 66% of organizations believe that AI will enhance scheduling automation.
Businesses are switching to scheduling software
It's no surprise that nearly 79% of businesses around the world schedule meetings daily or weekly. Even with the rise of new technology, approximately 73% of respondents continue to use email for scheduling, and 52% rely on phone calls to schedule meetings with leads or customers.
But this conventional approach has its setbacks. Time-consuming coordination and calendar conflicts are two of the most common problems. Our study confirmed this: 44% of businesses cited back-and-forth scheduling as a major scheduling challenge, and 36% of respondents found double bookings as the next largest challenge.
Interestingly, similar trends prevail across different departments within an organization.
Appointment scheduling challenges across various departments
Department
Sales and marketing
HR and recruiting
Finance
Customer success
IT
Admin and operations
Scheduling meetings daily or weekly
84%
80%
75%
82%
86%
72%
Scheduling via email
70%
69%
75%
70%
77%
73%
Scheduling via phone call
57%
48%
56%
57%
52%
47%
Back-and-forth scheduling
45%
45%
45%
45%
45%
41%
Double bookings
36%
36%
38%
40%
44%
29%
45%
of sales and marketing professionals cited back-and-forth scheduling as a major scheduling challenge.
Customer-facing teams switching to scheduling software
Among the many ways to schedule appointments, 42% of businesses utilize appointment scheduling software to streamline booking processes.
This trend indicates a shift away from manual and complex booking systems in favor of more reliable tools.
Scheduling software like Zoho Bookings enables customers to book their preferred time slots directly through a booking page, eliminating delays. It also prevents double bookings and conflicts by syncing with your calendar.
How scheduling software benefits businesses
- 44% of businesses reported improved appointment scheduling automation after switching to scheduling software.
- 60% of businesses find they manage their meetings well with scheduling software.
- Businesses that implemented scheduling software saw a 30% increase in sales and revenue.
- 42% of businesses saw an increase in employee productivity through better appointment management.
- 41% of businesses enhanced their customer experience by automating the appointment booking process through scheduling software.
Benefits of using appointment scheduling software across various departments
Department
Sales and marketing
HR and recruiting
Finance
Customer success
IT
Admin and operations
Using scheduling software
41%
43%
43%
51%
51%
35%
Improved scheduling automation
45%
39%
38%
43%
44%
45%
Better meeting management
63%
54%
69%
54%
60%
57%
Improved team scheduling and coordination
31%
46%
44%
54%
48%
48%
Increased employee productivity
36%
46%
44%
39%
47%
44%
Enhanced customer experience
35%
45%
42%
51%
41%
42%
Providing an exceptional customer experience is a necessity
Based on our study, we found that 50% of businesses schedule between one and five appointments every day, and 29% of businesses schedule between five and ten appointments every day.
Imagine spending hours scheduling each appointment with prospects instead of automating it with scheduling software. This wastes valuable time and delivers a poor booking experience.
In fact, 40% of organizations take more than one hour to schedule appointments via email, and 23% of them take more than six hours! That's a lot of time for you to lose leads to competition.
30%
of businesses using scheduling software book appointments in less than an hour, and 41% have seen an increase in customer experience.
As a bonus, 27% of organizations reduced administrative costs by automating crucial tasks related to meetings that would otherwise require manual human intervention.
Overcoming scheduling challenges with automation
Although 48% of businesses that schedule appointments manually are satisfied with their current setup, there are hidden obstacles that slow their growth.
Here's a data comparison highlighting the challenges businesses face with manual scheduling and the benefits they gain after switching to scheduling software.
Challenges of manual scheduling
Benefits of adopting scheduling software
27% report higher no-show rates
35% reduced no-shows
21% face inefficient resource management
41% simplified resource management
25% experience uneven team schedules
35% successfully streamlined appointments
18% struggle with payment delays
26% automated payment collection
Interestingly, we also found that scheduling meetings internally came with its own set of challenges:
- 56% of businesses collaborate internally on messaging apps or emails to schedule meetings.
- 45% manually check availabilities with other stakeholders.
- 36% still rely on spreadsheets to check meeting availability.
- 47% have a shared calendar setup to check colleagues' available times.
45%
of businesses saw improved team scheduling and coordination after adopting appointment scheduling software.
As a bonus, 27% of organizations reduced administrative costs by automating crucial tasks related to meetings that would otherwise require manual human intervention.
Welcoming AI-assisted scheduling
As AI becomes increasingly integrated into almost every sales and marketing app, it's amplifying productivity and impact across the funnel. 32% of organizations already use an AI tool or feature to schedule meetings.
66%
of organizations believe that AI could enhance scheduling automation.
Imagine AI routing meetings to sales reps, configuring email workflows, or suggesting meeting times based on your booking history. That offers an excellent advantage for your customer-facing teams.
Organizations are optimistic about AI-powered scheduling recommendations: 63% say that they are comfortable with AI suggesting meeting times or helping reschedule meetings if necessary.
Although businesses are welcoming AI, there are a few concerns that could be roadblocks to their adoption of AI-powered scheduling:
- 41% of businesses have concerns about privacy and security.
- 40% of businesses are worried about losing a human touch when offering preferred meeting times.
- 36% of businesses are unsure about the accuracy and reliability of AI suggestions.
- 36% of businesses are concerned about the lack of control over the decisions made by AI.
A well-integrated tech stack
Similar to how team collaboration fuels business growth, an integrated tech stack increases productivity and offers actionable insights. For sales and marketing teams, this means more efficient operations.
Our study suggests that 43% of organizations using scheduling software expect more integrations with other business applications—particularly CRMs—so that meeting data is synced properly across their tech stack.
Are you ready to meet the future of scheduling?
The right scheduling software can make a world of difference in how your sales and marketing teams connect with leads. With minimized back-and-forth, they can qualify, engage, and convert leads more efficiently across different channels.
63% of organizations say scheduling software helped them streamline and manage their meetings more constructively.
Get started with Zoho Bookings and empower your teams to close deals faster with automated scheduling.
Sign up nowAppendix
Zoho Bookings conducted a study on the future of scheduling appointments in collaboration with CINT, the world's largest global research marketplace.
The survey ran from March 2025 to April 2025, with responses collected from 1,733 working individuals across different regions, company sizes, roles, designations, departments, and industries.
