Do not ask "When are you free?" That hands the other person a job. Ask for availability by offering two or three specific windows, with the time zone written out, and say how long you need. If you are the one with the booking link, send the link and one fallback window. The rest of this page is wording for each case.

Asking for someone's availability is the smallest step in booking a meeting, and it is where a surprising number of them die. A busy person does not answer a question that needs a calendar check and a typed list. They answer a question that needs one word.

Three ways to ask, ranked by how often they get answered

  1. Propose windows. "Does Tuesday between 10 and 12 or Thursday after 2 work?" The reply can be "Thursday."
  2. Send a booking link plus one window. Good for people who live in their calendar. Include the window for anyone who dislikes links.
  3. Ask an open question. "What does your week look like?" Use this only with someone who has already said yes and is clearly engaged, such as a client you work with.

The reason the first one wins is simple. It costs the reader a glance at their calendar and one word back. The open question costs a glance, a decision about which times to reveal, and a typed list.

What every request needs

  • The length. "Twenty minutes" is easier to say yes to than "a call."
  • The format. Phone, video or in person. If video, say which tool.
  • The windows, with the time zone. "Tuesday 10 to 12 Eastern." Writing both zones is kind when you span coasts: "10 to 12 Eastern (7 to 9 Pacific)."
  • The reason. One line on what you will cover, so they can judge whether to bring someone.

Email: asking a prospect

Subject: 20 minutes on your onboarding backlog

Hi Marisol,

I would like 20 minutes by video to walk through how other clinics cut intake paperwork. Would either of these work?

Tuesday, Nov 10, 10:00 to 12:00 Central
Thursday, Nov 12, after 2:00 Central

If neither fits, send me two times that do and I will work around them.

Thanks,
Dev

The last line matters. It gives her a way out that does not require a rewrite of your plan, and many replies to this email will be a single time from her own week.

Email: asking a client you already work with

Subject: Kickoff for the lobby refit

Hi Hal,

Can we set a one-hour kickoff next week with you and whoever signs off on the drawings? I am free Monday and Wednesday mornings and Thursday after lunch. Which of those suits you both?

Here the open style is fine, because the relationship has room for it. The ask still names the people who must attend. A meeting that has to be moved because the decision maker was never invited is the common failure.

Text message

A text is shorter and should be answerable in one tap:

Hi Marisol, it is Dev from Brightline. Could we do 20 min Tuesday at 10 or Thursday at 2:30 (Central) for a quick video call about intake forms?

Only text people who gave you their mobile number for this purpose, or who have texted you first. For a cold contact, email is the better first move. The wording for a text between two people who already know each other is covered in professional text message examples.

Using a booking link without sounding robotic

A booking page lets the other person see your real openings. Google Calendar's help page on appointment schedules shows what you can set: a duration, availability windows with a time zone, buffer time between appointments, a cap on bookings per day, and a minimum lead time. It lists a default 4-hour minimum lead time, which stops someone from booking a slot that starts in an hour. Those settings do the polite work that wording would otherwise do, such as keeping a gap after a long call.

When you send the link, write a human line above it:

Hi Marisol, easiest is to pick any open slot here: [link]. If you would rather I propose times, Tuesday at 10 or Thursday at 2:30 Central both work for me.

A bare link with no sentence reads as a form. A link with one fallback reads as a person. A longer treatment of setups that skip the link is in booking into Google Calendar without a link.

When the other person gives you a huge window

Sometimes the reply is "Anytime next week." Do not accept that. Pick the time yourself and confirm it: "Great. Let's do Wednesday at 11 Central. I will send the invite now." You have turned a vague agreement into a booked meeting in one message. Send the calendar invite in the same minute, with the video link in it, then follow the steps in how to book meetings with prospects for the reminder and the agenda line.

Mistakes that cost replies

  • Offering six windows. Three is plenty, and more makes the person do the choosing work you were trying to save them.
  • Leaving the time zone off. Half the "no shows" on a cross-country call are somebody reading 2 p.m. as their own 2 p.m.
  • Putting the ask at the end of a long email. State the request in the first two lines and the windows right after it.
  • Not saying how long. People assume an hour and decline.

Back-and-forth over times is the part of selling that is easiest to hand off. Rocketship's AI salesperson offers meeting times when a buyer replies with interest and books the meeting on your calendar, so nobody types "does Thursday work?" a fourth time; the 7-day trial takes a card to start, and pricing lists what each plan includes.