Other time

What to do when a customer asks for a different time than the ones offered?

When a customer asks for a different time than the ones offered, accept it if it is free, without sending new slots. A Muzau agent knows all your free times in the next 14 days, not just the slots offered: if the customer writes "Friday at 4 pm", it can accept it. Muzau first checks that the time fits entirely within a free time. Then the agent books the appointment on its own, or submits it for your approval, depending on your setting.

Why a different time often costs the appointment

You offered Tuesday 10:00, Wednesday 2:30 pm and Thursday 11:30. The customer replies: "None of them work, how about Friday at 4 pm?" You then have to reopen the calendar, check, reply, sometimes offer something else, then wait again. Each exchange gives the customer time to move on to something else, and the almost-booked appointment goes back to being a pending request.

The customer who suggests their own time has still done half the work: they looked at their own calendar and said when they can come. Answering with three new slots asks them to start over. When the time is free, the right reply fits on one line: "Friday at 4 pm, noted."

How the agent goes about it

Input

A customer's reply asking for another day or time

It does

Recognizes the requested time, compares it with everything that is free, has it checked before booking it

It delivers

The appointment at the customer's time, booked on its own or submitted to your team

The agent knows all your free times, not just three slots

The three slots a Muzau agent offers first are only an opening proposal. Behind them, the agent knows every free time in the next 14 days, within the hours you have set: open days, start and end times, appointment length, minimum notice and buffer around your appointments. When the customer writes "Friday at 4 pm", by email or in your site's chat, the agent can accept it.

The requested time is checked by Muzau, not by the AI

The AI understands the request; it does not decide on its own that the time is free. Before booking the appointment, Muzau checks that the chosen time fits entirely within a free time. Take the default settings: 30-minute appointments, between 9 am and 6 pm. A customer who asks for 5:30 pm gets it; 5:45 pm would run past the end of the day. The 15-minute buffer before and after your existing appointments counts too. A time outside the free times is refused, and nothing is booked.

A lunchtime appointment, if the customer asks for it

Its starting slots avoid 12 to 2 pm, but if the customer asks for 12:30 pm and the time is free, the agent can accept it.

Checked on your calendar or your hours, booked on its own or after your click

With Google Calendar or Outlook connected, the check is made on your calendar, of which the agent reads only the busy times. The appointment is booked there and the customer receives the invitation; by email, the agent also confirms the time to them in the same thread (see offering slots in Outlook or Gmail). Without a calendar, it is made on your hours and on the appointments Muzau has already booked: see appointments without a connected calendar. By email, you choose whether the agent books the appointment on its own or submits it to you in a "To approve" card, which one click books. In chat, if your settings do not let it book on its own, the agent passes the request to your team.

Replying to a customer who asks for another time: the method

With or without a tool, the same approach avoids the back-and-forth.

• Check that the requested time is free in full: the length of the appointment, plus the time you need before and after.
• If it is, accept it as it stands, without going back to your starting slots. Repeat the day and time in full, "Friday at 4 pm", to rule out any misunderstanding.
• If it is not, reply with the free time closest to their request: the same day a little earlier, or the same time the next day. A customer who said "late afternoon" expects a late afternoon. One sentence is enough: "Friday 4 pm is taken. I can see you Friday at 3 pm, or Monday at 4 pm."
• If they ask for a time when you never see anyone, say so once, simply, with what you are opening instead.
• Send the confirmation straight away, with the location or the video link: a time accepted without an invitation is not yet an appointment.

After two exchanges without agreement, change method: a booking link lets the customer choose on their own from your availability, see how to send a Calendly link. And to avoid the question from the start, see how many slots to offer in the first message.

What it does not do

• It does not move or cancel an appointment that is already booked: a customer who wants to change the time of a booked appointment goes through your team.
• It only opens the next 14 days, within your hours and on Paris time: a time beyond that, or outside your open days, is not booked.
• Without a connected calendar, it cannot see the appointments you noted elsewhere: only those booked by Muzau block a time.

Frequently asked questions

How to reply to a customer who turns down all the slots offered?

Ask them when they are available, then accept their time if it is free. A Muzau agent knows all the free times in the next 14 days within your hours: it can accept the time the customer suggests, once Muzau has checked that it fits entirely within a free time.

How to tell a customer that the requested time is not available?

In one sentence, followed straight away by the free time closest to their request, rather than three new slots. With Muzau, a time that does not fit entirely within a free time is refused, and no appointment is booked.

What to do when a customer wants an appointment in several weeks?

Set the date yourself with them. A Muzau agent only opens the next 14 days, within your hours: a later time is not booked, and the date is set with your team.

How to book an appointment with a customer in another time zone?

Write the time with its time zone, "4 pm, Paris time", to rule out any misunderstanding. A Muzau agent always counts on Paris time: the slots it offers and the time it checks are on Paris time, and no other time zone can be set.

Do you need to approve the time chosen by the customer?

It is up to you. By email, a Muzau agent books the appointment on its own, or submits it to you in a "To approve" card that one click books while sending the confirmation. You make this choice just before creating the agent.