How to Replace Your Appointment Scheduling Software in 8 Easy Steps

A thorough guide for banks and credit unions considering a switch to Coconut

There are two things to know about replacing your appointment scheduling software:

  1. You stand to gain more efficiency, more high-value appointments, and happier staff from switching out an appointment scheduler that’s not working for your financial institution.
  2. Implementing a new tool may seem daunting at first—but it’s manageable when you partner with the right team who can guide you every step of the way.

Coconut has more than a decade of experience working with financial institutions (including helping them migrate from previous systems), and we’ll hold your hand every step of the way.

Before you jump into the process, this guide will describe it for you in detail. By the time you finish reading, you’ll understand how to seamlessly and easily make the switch.

What’s Inside

How Do I Know When It’s Time to Replace My Appointment Scheduling Software?
8 Steps for Replacing Your Appointment Scheduling Software
5 Best Practices for a Smooth Software Replacement
Helpful Checklists

Starting from scratch with appointment scheduling software? 💻 👀

Read: Rollout Kit for Appointments and Queuing Software

How Do I Know When It’s Time to Replace My Appointment Scheduling Software?

If you’re reading this guide, you’re probably well aware that your current appointment scheduling software isn’t quite cutting it. Here are the eight most common signs it’s time to replace your current software—if you’re nodding along with at least a few, you’ll know you’re in the right place.

🚩 Your administrators can’t perform simple tasks without support tickets.

🚩 Your customer support ended after initial onboarding.

🚩 You can’t track where your high-value appointments are coming from.

🚩 You can’t create your own custom BI reports or alerts.

🚩 Your appointment scheduling software doesn’t integrate well with your other software.

🚩 You’re seeing too many appointment no-shows.

🚩 You can’t offer video conferencing designed for financial advice.

🚩 Your appointment scheduling software isn’t built specifically for financial institutions.

Need more information on why these red flags may be holding your FI back? 💻 👀

Read: 8 Signs It’s Time To Replace Your Appointment Scheduling Software

8 Steps for Replacing Your Appointment Scheduling Software

Once begun, the rollout process typically follows eight steps:

 

STEP 1:

Map Dependencies and Timelines

To get started with replacing your software, you’ll be set up with your own dedicated implementation manager. Your team and the Coconut team will meet several times to discuss scope, timelines, process, and dependencies.

From your team, you’ll likely want to gather:

  • A project manager who specializes in branch operations
  • An IT/security manager
  • A retail/services manager

During a project kickoff, you’ll map out what needs to happen and when for a successful tool replacement. For replacement implementations specifically, you’ll focus on these items and clarify how long they’ll take:

Existing contract with current vendor: Before cutting over to a new appointment scheduler, it’s important to have a clear understanding of your contract terms and cancellation timelines.

Existing appointment resources: In an ideal world, your team will upload existing appointment resources—location, staff, and services—as a CSV file rather than entering them manually. To get your data, you may need to submit a customer support ticket with your old vendor at least a month in advance.

Existing appointment reporting data: If you’ve relied on your old appointment scheduler for appointment reporting data, you’ll want to get your hands on this data. This may not be necessary, however, if your financial institution relies on its own internal analytics database.

Optional—service review: Some financial institutions see the replacement of their appointment scheduling software as an opportunity to review which services are presented to their customers, how they’re bundled, and how they’re described. If you’ve ever wished you could improve the way you present your services, now would be the ideal time for a refresh. The Coconut team supports this process with best practices on how to choose and define services

Data Collection

STEP 2:

Perform an Audit on Existing Appointment Scheduling Touchpoints

Your existing appointment scheduler likely has customer touchpoints in various places, both in-branch and online. All of these will need to be switched over during your transition to a new tool, both visually as branding and logistically as links.

Your operations manager will contact all branch managers (or all regional managers if you’re a larger FI), website owners, and mobile app owners to help perform an audit on your existing software touchpoints at each branch. This means identifying:

  • Printed signage, brochures, etc.
  • Generic website links
  • Custom links for specific advisors
  • Custom links for ongoing marketing campaigns
  • Custom links for appointment reminders (ex. mortgage renewal)
  • Email signatures
  • Queue kiosks
  • Mobile app
  • Other online widgets

Some financial institutions can perform complex audits quickly with the involvement of their technology teams. Other financial institutions are able to perform simple audits because their previous tool wasn’t customized beyond standard links.

STEP 3:

Configure Branding and Data

“From a platform perspective, Coconut is easy, accessible, modern, and customizable. It really put us in the driver’s seat.”

—Partners Federal Credit Union

 

After your audit, you’ll receive your software login and configuration will begin.

 

First, the fun part: branding. To make your new appointment scheduling software a seamless part of your branding, you’ll start by customizing it with your:

  • Logo
  • Favicon
  • Colors
  • Email header graphic
  • Email messages

 

Next, the meat and potatoes: the data. Return to the data collected from your old provider and configure appointment information for:

  • Staff profiles: Titles, services, time zones, languages, and permissions
  • Services: Names, descriptions, meeting length, and instructions for customers
  • Locations: Addresses, contacts, and opening hours

STEP 4:

Set Up Integrations and Client View Settings

Integrations

The Coconut team will work with your team to make sure the integrations you depend on work perfectly with Coconut. To make that process as smooth as possible, we’ll discuss the following questions:

  1. Are your existing integration licenses active or do they need to be renewed?
  2. Do your integrations need to be updated to take full advantage of all features?
  3. Who on your team is responsible for each integration platform?
  4. What kind of lead time does the platform team require for the switchover?
  5. Does the platform team have competing priorities that could cause switchover delays?
  6. Do your desired integrations rely on other external integrations that also need configuration?
  7. Do you require any custom integrations?

If your FI doesn’t need custom integrations beyond standard integrations, the final step to complete the configuration is simple: your system administrator for each integration platform will log in to Coconut and establish the API connection with their credentials.

Coconut standard integrations include:

If you need custom integrations, Coconut will provide your team with developer documentation for our open APIs. Coconut’s solutions engineers will then act as consultants to explore the potential of those custom integrations.

Blue Line

Client view settings

As part of the configuration process, the Coconut team will help you configure your client view settings so that you’re providing the best appointment booking experience possible. To start this process, the Coconut implementation team will send you a worksheet to fill in so we know how to tailor your settings to your customers’ needs.

Client view settings include:

  • Default language
  • Service language options
  • First booking step (i.e. service or location)
  • How services are displayed
  • Desired search radius distance
  • Service staff options
  • Service assignment (i.e. random or most availability)
  • How available times are determined

In addition to these general settings, your client view settings include cancellation reasons, booking policies, custom messaging, booking shortcuts, staff details, and notifications (i.e. whether the client will receive email or text notifications, or both).

Want to see a complete list of client view settings? 💻 👀

Read:  Client View: Setup from the Coconut Help Desk

STEP 5:

Update Learning Documentation and Train Staff

Change management is one of the most important parts of moving to a new solution, and the Coconut team is dedicated to supporting customers through this process.

Happening either concurrently with configuration or soon after, your implementation team will need to update all software resources—your LMS, FAQs, and videos—for staff as you train them to learn your new appointment scheduler. Here’s a quick step-by-step process for getting started with training:

  1. Six weeks before launch, lean on Coconut’s customer success team for preliminary training. They can introduce your new appointment scheduling software and clarify how staff can get the most out of it.
  2. Coconut will train your project team and administrators. They’ll need to learn the system well enough to act like owners. We’ll teach them how to manage the tool as each different user: advisors, managers, contact center representatives, lobby managers, and of course, system administrators.
  3. Start full functional training. This is when we’ll get into the specifics of using the tool closer to launch.
  4. Update your LMS and FAQs as you train your administrators. Involve them in editing all resources with beta testing.
  5. Roll out training to other users, and use a messaging platform like Yammer or Slack to crowdsource further updates to resources. Allow for a two-week incubation period for staff to practice setting up appointments, troubleshoot scenarios, and solve IT issues.

Blue Line
Recommendation: Create a resource—written or video—that trains staff on what can now be done with your new appointment scheduler that couldn’t be done with your old one.

Want advice on how to communicate well with your team during implementation? 💻 👀

Read:  8 Change Management Strategies for Smoothly Navigating FinTech Rollouts

STEP 6:

Perform the Cutover (Flip the Switch!)

Think of your cutover like switching internet providers. To avoid downtime, you want your new vendor to switch on services before you turn off your old provider’s services.

It’s the same with your appointment scheduling software. To avoid downtime for your customers and staff, your cutover will ideally allow you to book new appointments without disrupting appointments already booked in your old software. This is what makes for a transition your customers won’t notice.

The first thing you’ll need to decide after you map out dependencies is whether you’re opting for a soft cutover or hard cutover:

Soft cutover: You cut over to your new appointment scheduling software while your old software is still running.

Hard cutover: You cut over to your new appointment scheduling software as your old software is turned off completely.

Blue Line

Recommendation: We recommend a soft cutover with an overlap period of one or two weeks. Only opt for a hard cutover if your previous contract can’t overlap with your new appointment scheduling software contract. Otherwise you’re opting for a complex cutover with less room for error.

 

 

STEP 7:

Promote the Software Switch

You typically don’t need to promote your appointment scheduler switch to customers—they shouldn’t notice the switch at all—but it’s a good idea to promote the switch internally to staff. (An exception would be if you’re adding new ways to interact with advisors, like video banking or lobby functionality. In these cases, you’ll want to inform customers.)

 

If you choose to promote the switch to staff, here are some starting points for key messaging:

  • We’ve invested in a new tool that will make your appointment process with customers easier.
  • The new appointment scheduler will reduce cancellations and no-shows—so you can enjoy a more predictable schedule.
  • The new tool captures information from customers in advance so you can better prepare for meetings and tackle them more quickly.
  • For administrators: With our new appointment scheduling software, you’ll be able to get more done without submitting customer support tickets. Changes that used to take weeks will now take a couple minutes.

Some Coconut customers have even thrown fun, tropical-themed launch parties to get their teams excited—like this launch party thrown by Kindred Credit Union.

STEP 8:

Take Advantage of Ongoing Support for Performance

Congrats! When you’ve reached this step, your appointment scheduler replacement implementation is officially complete.

Blue Line

“Coconut Software offers top-notch support, making it effortless for our team to manage appointments efficiently and provide our clients with an exceptional experience.”

—Your Neighbourhood Credit Union (YNCU)

 

The bulk of the work is now done—but your partnership with Coconut has only just started. Our team is committed to supporting you in getting the most out of your investment.

By streamlining the appointment booking process and empowering representatives to deliver better service, your FI is well equipped to start selling more products and services. Your dedicated Coconut customer success manager will work with you to find new ways to contribute to your FI’s growth.

1:1 Customer Support Menu

Tech support

  • Feature requests
  • Sync assistance with Microsoft Exchange or Google Workspace
  • Audit requests 
  • Configuration help

Business review

  • Usage improvement advice
  • Service review
  • Scorecard goal guidance
  • Next steps for better efficiency

Analytics review

  • Total appointments and walk-in traffic
  • Staff vs. customer bookings
  • Popular appointment types
  • Staff engagement and usage
  • Average wait times and no-show rates
  • Customer experience survey results
  • Impact on financial metrics and goals

Want instant advice on your analytics strategy? 💻 👀

Read: Banking Analytics Guide: 32 Metrics for CX Leaders

5 Best Practices for a Smooth Software Replacement

Now that you understand the process of replacing your appointment scheduling software, here are some tips on how to make it a smooth ride.

1. Review Your Contract with Your Current Vendor (If Applicable)

Before you start the process of replacing your software, review your contract with your current vendor for:

  • Termination clauses—to understand how much notice you need to give your current vendor of service cancellation
  • Extension possibilities—to understand whether you can extend your contract month-to-month to allow for soft cutover overlap
  • Data handling—to understand the process of retrieving your appointment data and analytics from your vendor

2. Overcommunication Is Better than Undercommunication

The Coconut team wants to know when things are going well during the implementation process—but we’ll especially want to know if things could be better. During the implementation, feel free to communicate:

  • Dependencies putting the implementation at risk
  • Contract obstacles with your current vendor
  • Security and API quirks that could delay launch
  • Data specifics for appointments at your unique financial institution
  • How your staff currently uses your existing appointment scheduler

3. Set Up Redirect Links from Previous Appointment Software

Whether you’re doing a soft cutover or a hard cutover—which is less common—redirect links are your new best friend. You may need them especially in cases where your FI was unable to secure an extension with your old vendor and you were obligated to cut off service completely.

Redirect links make sure your customers don’t land on inactive links and are still able to book appointments in your new scheduler without interruption.

4. Review Permissions Again before Cutover

You’ll set up permissions for all users during the configuration stage, but you’ll want to review them again just before you go live. Depending on how long your implementation took, permissions may have been shuffled several times for training purposes—and before you know it, you’re going live with permissions that aren’t appropriate for all users.

As part of your QA process, review all permissions to make sure all users have an appropriate level of access before you hit the switch.

5. Take the Opportunity to Review Your Services

Some financial institutions see appointment software replacement as an opportunity to review the types of appointments they offer. Your FI may not need this review if you’re happy with how your services are presented, but if you’ve ever wanted to improve communication, you can:

  • Split a service into several distinct ones
  • Clean up erroneous services
  • Package the service differently for a better customer experience

There are several reasons why you wanted to replace your current appointment scheduler, and those reasons may not all be technical. You may want to find out how you can use the replacement to tweak how your FI is run at its core.

Helpful Checklists, Templates, and Launch Resources

Want to speed up your implementation and roll out like a pro? Ask your software partner for resources, and check out the templates and checklists below.

Change Management Tips

Without staff buy-in and usage, you won’t get customers or members using the system. To help ease the transition to using new software, try to get as many of the items on this checklist done as possible before, during, and after the launch process:

☑️  Create an ‘FAQ’ for the initial introduction (See sample questions to the right)
☑️  Create a table showing roles and responsibilities for frontline staff, managers, advisors, etc.
☑️  Clearly outline policies for appointment reminders, wait times, notifications, rescheduling, etc.
☑️  Host live in-person and/or virtual training sessions for questions and demonstrations
☑️  Create your own “how to” videos for folks to watch outside of formal training sessions
☑️  Add instructions or training tools to your learning system or training documents
☑️  Create formal training with a quiz to show certification with the system
☑️  Have super user/manager feedback sessions planned to learn about challenges or get feedback
☑️  Provide prizes or other incentives to staff who use the system, get the most appointments booked
☑️  Nominate a platform expert at each branch to help train others and handle questions
☑️  Regularly promote customer or member success stories internally

Internal Staff FAQ Sample Questions to Answer

  • What is the purpose of this platform?
  • How does it work, at the highest level?
  • What are the benefits it will bring to our organization? Our customers/members?
  • How will this impact my day-to-day tasks and responsibilities? (Based on role.)
  • How flexible is the system? What settings can we change ourselves?
  • What kinds of services will be available through this new system?
  • What do I do if I experience an issue or need help?
  • How and/or when will we receive training? What resources are available?
  • What is the launch day? What is required of me by this date? 
  • Are there any goals or metrics I will be responsible for?
  • How does this change our in-person experience? Our virtual experience?
  • Are there other options if customers or members decline to use it?

IT Team Task Checklist

☑️  Active Directory sync instructions
☑️  SSO sync instructions
☑️  Video software sync instructions
☑️  Allowed IP addresses list

Ready To Make The Switch? The Coconut Team Is Here To Help

“From the initial demo, it was clear that there was a willingness to invest and partner with us… the other vendors felt inflexible….”

—Rogue Credit Union

 

✅ Introduce self-serve appointments and queuing quickly and easily.

✅ Built for banks and credit unions

✅ Seamless customer and customer experience

✅ Launchable within weeks or months (not years)

✅ Industry-leading privacy and security standards

✅ Continuous innovation and improvements

✅ Unmatched support and strategic guidance

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