To enable this feature, simply click “Settings”, then click “Appointment Settings” in the left hand navigation. You will see a new drop down menu for “Client Name Display”. Simply select “First” or “Last” name first. Simple as that!

http://www.ksee24.com/programming/cvt

Add Services to reminder / confirmation emails

1. First, navigate to the “Services” page in the main menu.
2. Click on the first Service in your service list that you would like to make appear in the confirmation / reminder email
3. Click on the “Edit this Service” button and the Edit Service dialog form will appear.
4. You will notice there is now a new drop down menu labeled “Display in Emails?”, by default this will be set to No, so change it to “Yes”.
5. Click “Save Changes” on the dialog box to save the changes.
6. Repeat the above steps for each service you want to be made public (show up in confirmation / reminder emails).

The above steps are for services that have already been created.  If you are creating a new service, the process is the same, however you would just specify wether or not it should appear in the emails at the time of creation.

Pencil’em Desktop:

1. Select “<Personal Time>” from the “Select Client” drop down menu item.
2. From the “Personal Time” drop down menu item, select “Entire Day” to signify you would like to block out the entire day.  At this point the “Select Time” menu settings will disappear since the entire day will be blocked out, there is no need to specify the start time.
3. Continue on to add your Appointment Label and any neccessary notes.
4. Click the “Create Personal Time” button and the personal appointment will be scheduled.  It will appear in your daily view as a personal appointment starting at 12:00 am and lasting 24 hours.  You can still book other appointments on this day, however you will need to confirm the booking conflict.

Pencil’em Mobile:

1. Click on “Schedule” to access the scheduling page.
2. Click on “Personal Appointment” in the secondary navigation bar.
3. Set the Date you would like to block out.
4. You can skip the “Start Time” as this will be an all day appointment, and the start time will be automatically set for you.
5. From the “Length” drop down menu select “Entire Day”.
6. Add a label and notes and click “Schedule”.

For many stylists, missed appointments means lost revenue. With this in mind, I’m guessing that a majority of you are taking personal time to make calls, send emails, or send text messages to remind your clients of upcoming appointments. If the client is aware that your expecting them, they are less likely to cancel or no show. So how much time does it take to make these calls, write the emails, and type the text messages? I would also ask, if you weren’t spending the time to make this contact, what else could you be doing? Developing new clients, building your business, spending time with family / friends?

On average, we find the stylists that use Pencil’em manage between 75 – 150 clients (or more!). Now, lets assume that on average, a stylist books 6 appointments per day (5 days a week). That’s 30 appointments a week. If we were going to calculate the time it takes to make contact with each of these clients (assuming 5 minutes per contact) that would come to 150 minutes a week, 600 minutes a month, 7200 minutes a year!

Cost of scheduling calculation

So, as you can see above, stylists are leaving a lot of money on the table, just to manage their schedules! This is the main reason that we’ve created Pencil’em. At just $14.95 a month, Pencil’em is the most affordable business management tool available today. With Pencil’em, you will spend a fraction of the time / money you are currently spending managing your appointments, so you can spend more time on your clients, your business, and your life. Pencil’em helps to eliminate this schedule management by automating the process of appointment reminders. Since you won’t have to spend as much time on the phone, you can focus on what’s really important, the client in the chair!

Benefits of Pencil’em Scheduling Software

• Access anywhere, from any computer with an Internet connection.
• Pencil’em Mobile lets you manage your appointments from your web enabled mobile device.
• Not tied to one book (what if you lost your book?), your data is safely secured on our servers.
• Connect with clients in new ways!
• Bring your business up to date and embrace technology to make your life easier!
• Spend less time reminding customers of upcoming appointments.

If your still not convinced, we ask that you give Pencil’em a try, for free! Sign up for a free trial (no credit card required) and you will see first hand how this great tool can help you build your business.

The new settings page.

Also of note, we’ve moved the “Logout” button into the main header, opposite the logo, to make room for the Settings button.  We think these new changes make Pencil’em Mobile even more flexible and efficient.  As always, we appreciate your comments!

Editing Client Appointments

Editing appointments is extremely simple in Pencil’em Mobile.  Simply click on the “View Schedule” screen, where you will see a list of appointments for the current day.  You will now see a pencil icon next to the red x to the right hand side of each appointment.  Click this pencil icon and the “Edit Appointment” screen will open.  The details of the current appointment will be filled out for you, allowing you to change the neccessary details.  As you edit the current appointment, Pencil’em will always check to make sure that no conflicts have resulted with the new date, time or service.  See below for screenshots:

Pencil'em Mobile - Editing Appointments

Mobile Personal Appointments

We’ve now added the ability to create your personal appointments from the Pencil’em Mobile.  From the “Schedule” screen, simply click on the “Personal Appt.” link found in the secondary navigation bar. Fill out the form for the personal appointment and click “Schedule”.  All booking conflict rules apply, so you will see a booking conflict screen if the personal appointment conflicts with any other appointment.  Also, your personal appointments will show up in a red font on your “View Schedule” screen, as well as the “Week-at-a-glance” screen.  More details below:

Create personal appointments in Pencil'em Mobile!

Client List

We’ve changed the way the “Clients” button works to make it a little more user friendly.  Clicking the “Clients” button now displays your entire client list.  You can scroll through the list and click on a client who’s information you would like to see.  The new client screens look something like this:

New Client List

New Scheduling Features

We’ve also made some changes to the way you interact with your schedules.  We’ve added a delete appointment function that you will find when viewing your daily schedule.  Click the “View Schedule” button and you will be taken to a screen with today’s appointments.  (You can select a different day by changing the options in the drop down menu at the top of the page and clicking “Go”.)  Notice, there is now a red x floating off to the right hand side of each appointment.  Clicking this X will bring up a confirmation screen, so you don’t accidently delete an appointment you didn’t mean to.   This looks like this:

Delete Appointments from your mobile device.

New “Appointment Quickview”

We’ve added a new feature from the same “View Schedule” screen that gives you a more detailed look at any particular appointment.  To open the “Appointment Quickview” click on “View Schedule” in the main navigation.  Click (or press) on the client name and the “Appointment Quickview” will open.  This view gives you a more in-depth view of the appointment, service being performed, client information, and appointment notes you’ve left for yourself.  See below for more details:

New "Appointment Quickview"

Pencil’em Mobile was built for ease of use and portability of your schedule.  If you haven’t already, check it out!  If it’s your first time accessing Pencil’em Mobile on your mobile device, simply enter the web address below in your mobile web browser.

http://m.pencilem.com

You will see a log in screen where you will enter your email and password.  Once logged in you will have full access to your schedule, client list,  and appointment creating functions.  Everything will be auto-synced to your desktop version, so any changes you make on your mobile device are available to you online as well.

Don’t hesitate to contact Pencil’em Support at “support@pencilem.com” with any questions or comments you might have.