5 Genius Ways to Pair Your Email Signature with Your Business Calendar

Have you ever realized after returning from a meeting, business trip, or vacation that your email signature has been misleading your contacts? Perhaps you've been getting calls at work that should have gone to your cell, or emails expecting a quick response when you were away for the day? The calendar of a modern professional can get pretty hectic, and even if you run on a predictable schedule, you can't expect every contact to know what that schedule might be.

Your company email signature is a great spot to fill in the gaps for your business contacts. Many people indicate their regular working hours, alternate forms of contact, and even their current availability status. This, combined with helpful out-of-office messages, can ensure that no wires get crossed and no one is left waiting for a response when you're not immediately available.

Calendars and Email Signatures: Better Together

It's incredibly useful to pair your email signature with your active work calendar. If you think about it, it makes sense. Whether your daily hours change from week to week, you travel a lot, or you simply want to let people know when you're out to lunch, your calendar can be used to make sure your email signature always gives accurate and helpful information to your business contacts. Here are five fantastic ways to pair your calendar to your signature in a way that is fun and helpful for all.

Alternate Contact Details

In a busy professional life, the best way to get in touch with you outside of email can change significantly from day to day and often from hour to hour. Should contacts call you on your work phone, your cell phone, or at your home office? You may be more available through social media or only available via text message for emergencies and quick questions.

You can't expect your contacts to infer the best form of contact from your list of details in a generic email signature. But a smart email signature can tell them when paired with an accurate work calendar. Email signature management software can alter your signature based on what is written in your calendar, letting your contacts know how best to reach you at that very moment.

Example:

• "Current Phone (home office): 555 292 8826"

Available Hours

Not everyone has the same working hours each day of the week. These differences mean that contacts can't always know when you will be available. By pairing your email signature with your work calendar, you can ensure that your current schedule is the one that appears below each email you send (as well as those used in your out-of-office message automation). Whether your schedule changes daily, weekly, or based on your current working location, this feature will keep your contacts in the loop without bulking up your email signature with too much scheduling information.

Examples:

• "Hours Today: 8 AM to 5 PM. Hours Tomorrow: 10 AM to 7 PM"
• "Hours Jan 5 - Jan 10: 9 AM to 1 PM - 2 PM to 6 PM"

Availability Status

For professionals who email with coworkers and clients regularly, your moment-to-moment availability status may be something that matters. This is especially true if you're expected to be available to consult on projects or answer questions. You could consider elaborating on whether you are out to lunch, in an appointment, stuck in meetings, or currently available. The amount of details you choose to include can vary, but having the ability to customize the email signature matters. Pairing your email signature to dynamically update based on your work calendar can clue-in contacts on who get direct and out-of-office messages on when they can expect a response.

Examples:

• "I'm out to lunch right now but will be back by 1:15 PM to check messages and get back to you!"
• "On an Airplane"
• "In a meeting"
• "In Office and Available"

Out-of-Office Details

A variation of your current availability status is the broader out-of-office details. Some professionals like to keep their whereabouts private, while others find it useful to keep their contacts in the loop on where they are and why they are out of the office. Along with your universally friendly out-of-office message, a calendar-linked email signature can let your contacts know how available you might be through other channels. There is, for instance, a big difference between being at a work conference for four days and taking the same time off for a personal vacation. If your signature is connected to your work calendar, it also can automatically update the generalized out-of-office message to convey relevant information.

Examples:

• "Out on Vacation: Call cell for emergencies"
• "Meetings Monday: I'll get back to you after lunch"
• "Home for the Night: I'll get back to you in the morning"

Inviting Contacts to Self-Schedule a Meeting

Finally, and this one is a crowd favorite, you can make your calendar available to contacts through your email signature. By creating a link to your scheduling page, you can invite anyone to schedule their own meeting, service, or consultation with you without having to discuss it or go back and forth in a conversation.

For sales professionals and entrepreneurs, this is an invaluable way to cut out intermediate steps in converting a new contact into a motivated client. Even just between coworkers, self-scheduling can allow any contact to claim a slice of your work schedule (or at least pencil themselves in) and let you know that they'd like some time to meet in person. When you pair a self-scheduling calendar link with your current availability details, your email signature becomes a wonderfully helpful window into your professional life.

Examples:

• "Want a personal consultation? Let's book a meeting - schedule here!"
• "Next available meeting time: 2 PM - 4 PM, Aug 9. Schedule?"

From clients to to customers to colleagues, everyone can benefit from email signatures that update themselves based on what you have entered in your work calendar. With the right email signature management software, your email signature can become the key to customer conversions, smart meeting scheduling, and always-accurate availability updates whether you are in or out of the office.

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