While one-on-one appointments form the core of many Australian service businesses, a significant opportunity for growth and scalability lies in offering group sessions. Whether you are planning to run workshops, fitness classes, training programmes, webinars, group consultations, or even local tours, the ability to manage these bookings efficiently is key to success.

This presents a unique scheduling challenge: how do you manage bookings where multiple people can reserve a spot for the same event or time slot, all while enforcing a strict capacity limit? A standard one-to-one calendar simply will not work.

This is where Lead Monsta's "Group" or "Class" calendar functionality comes into its own. By leveraging specific capacity settings within the calendar system, you can create a powerful and automated solution for managing these multi-participant bookings with ease and professionalism. This is the perfect workshop booking system Australia based SMEs can use to scale their offerings.

The goal of this article is to guide Australian SMEs, coaches, and trainers on how to set up, manage, and promote group bookings or classes using Lead Monsta Calendars. This will ensure a smooth registration process for your clients and help you achieve optimal attendance for every event.

The Power of Group Offerings for Australian SMEs

Expanding your services to include group offerings is a smart, strategic move that can deliver significant benefits beyond just direct revenue.

• Scalability and Time Leverage: Group sessions allow you to serve multiple clients simultaneously. Instead of delivering the same information one-on-one ten times, you can deliver it once to ten people, dramatically leveraging your most valuable asset: your time.

• New, Diversified Revenue Streams: Group offerings open up entirely new ways to monetise your expertise. You can offer paid workshops, ongoing group coaching programmes, or ticketed training events, creating revenue streams that are not solely dependent on your personal, one-to-one availability.

• Powerful Community Building: Group sessions create a shared learning experience. They foster connections among your participants, building a sense of community around your brand and expertise, which can lead to greater long-term loyalty and engagement.

• Effective Lead Generation: You can offer free introductory workshops or webinars as a powerful top-of-funnel marketing strategy. This allows you to attract a wider audience, demonstrate your value, and convert attendees into paying clients for your premium one-on-one or group services.

• Increased Perceived Value: In many contexts, such as masterminds or collaborative workshops, the group dynamic itself can enhance the learning and service experience, providing value that is impossible to replicate in a one-to-one setting.

Understanding "Group" or "Class" Calendar Functionality in Lead Monsta

To effectively manage group appointments, it is crucial to understand how they differ from standard calendars.

Differentiating from One-on-One Calendars

With a standard one-on-one calendar, once a client books a specific time slot (e.g., 10:00 AM on Tuesday), that slot becomes unavailable for anyone else. With a group calendar, multiple people can book that same 10:00 AM slot until a predefined capacity is reached.

Key Concept: Setting Capacity Limits

The core principle of GHL class scheduling is the ability to define the maximum number of attendees for a specific class, workshop, or event. You set the "capacity," and the system handles the rest, automatically preventing overbooking.

How it Works for the End User

When a client views your group booking calendar, they will see the available event time slots. As long as the capacity for a slot has not been met, they will be able to select it and complete their registration. The slot only becomes "full" or "unavailable" once the maximum number of participants you defined have registered.

Setting Up a Group Booking / Class Calendar in Lead Monsta

The setup process is logical and gives you granular control over your group events.

Creating a New Calendar

You will start by creating a new calendar within your Lead Monsta settings. Depending on your version, you may have a specific calendar type like "Class Booking," or you will use a standard calendar and adjust the key settings to enable group functionality. Give your calendar a clear, descriptive name so you and your clients can easily identify it.

• Examples: "Saturday Morning Yoga Class - Elanora Studio," "Monthly Marketing Webinar for Tradies," "Group Business Coaching Q&A."

Defining Capacity: The "Appointments per Slot" Setting

This is the single most important setting for creating a multi-capacity calendar. You will find a field labelled "Appointments per Slot" or "Seats Available" within your calendar's advanced settings. Here, you will specify the maximum number of people who can book into each scheduled session for this calendar.

• For a workshop with a capacity of 15, you would enter '15'.

• For a webinar with a capacity of 100, you would enter '100'. Setting this to anything greater than '1' is what transforms the calendar into a group booking tool.

Setting the Schedule for Your Events

Next, you will define the schedule for the class or event.

• Recurring Classes: For ongoing classes, you can set up a recurring schedule. For example, you can set the event to be available every Saturday from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM.

• One-Off Workshops: For a specific, one-time event, you will set up a custom date and time. For example, a single workshop running on Friday, July 25th, from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. You will also define the duration of each session here.

Custom Forms for Group Registrations

You can attach a custom Lead Monsta Form to your group calendar to collect essential information from each participant at the time of registration. This is a smart way to prepare for your event.

• Examples:

• A fitness class might ask for "Current fitness level" and "Any injuries we should be aware of?"

• A catered workshop could ask for "Any specific dietary requirements?"

• A B2B webinar might require the "Business Name" and "Primary Industry."

Configuring Pricing & Payments

If your group event is a paid offering, you can connect it directly to your payment gateway (e.g., Stripe).

• In the calendar settings, you can enable payments and set a price per spot or ticket.

• This creates a seamless registration experience where the client books their spot and pays for it in one simple, secure transaction.

• You can also leave the price at zero to use the calendar as a free event registration SME tool for lead generation webinars or community events.

Managing Group Bookings & Attendees in Lead Monsta

Once your calendar is live, Lead Monsta provides the tools to manage your registrants efficiently.

Viewing Attendee Lists and Tracking Capacity

Within the calendar section of Lead Monsta, you can click on any specific event session to see a detailed list of all the attendees who have registered for it. This view will also typically show you how many spots have been filled and how many are still available, allowing you to monitor your capacity in real-time.

Communicating with Attendees (via Automated Workflows)

This is where you can leverage the power of automation to create a professional and engaging experience for your attendees. You can set up workflows that trigger when someone books a spot on your group calendar.

• Send Automated Confirmations: Instantly send a confirmation email and/or SMS as soon as someone registers, providing them with all the key details.

• Send Event Reminders: Schedule a series of reminders (e.g., one week before, one day before, and one hour before) to maximise attendance rates.

• Send Pre-Event Materials: Your workflow can automatically send out important pre-event information, such as a printable workbook, a link to pre-reading materials, or instructions on what to bring.

• Send Post-Event Follow-ups: After the event, trigger an automated follow-up to thank attendees for coming, provide a link to the event recording (if applicable), and request their feedback via a Lead Monsta Survey.

Manual Adjustments

The system also allows for manual control. If you need to add an attendee who paid in person or remove someone who cancelled directly with you, you can typically do so from the attendee list view.

Strategic Use Cases for Group Bookings by Australian Businesses

The applications for Lead Monsta group bookings are incredibly diverse.

• Fitness Studios & Yoga Teachers: Easily schedule weekly classes with set capacity limits, such as an "Elanora Beach Yoga - Max 20" class, allowing clients to book and pay for their spot online.

• Coaches & Consultants: Offer scalable paid group coaching programmes or run free introductory webinars to attract and nurture a larger audience before upselling them to one-on-one services.

• Training Providers & Educators: Efficiently manage registrations for professional development workshops, short courses, or online masterclasses.

• Tour Operators & Local Event Organisers: Sell a limited number of tickets for guided tours, local workshops, or special community events.

• Service Businesses Adding Value: A mechanic could offer a "Basic Car Maintenance Workshop for Beginners" as an additional revenue stream and a way to build customer loyalty.

Promoting Your Group Events & Classes using Lead Monsta Tools

Creating your group event is the first step; promoting it is how you ensure it's a success. Lead Monsta's integrated toolset makes this easy.

Dedicated Landing Pages/Funnels

Create a specific sales or landing page within the Lead Monsta Funnel builder to promote your workshop or class. This page can feature detailed benefits, testimonials, the schedule, and a prominent section where you embed your group booking calendar for direct registration.

Email Marketing

Announce your new classes or upcoming workshops to your segmented email lists. You can target past attendees of similar events or your general audience.

SMS Marketing

Use SMS to send out last-minute availability alerts (e.g., "Only 3 spots left for Saturday's workshop!") or special registration offers to drive urgency.

Social Media Posts

Use the Lead Monsta Social Planner to schedule a series of posts across your social media channels, regularly promoting your upcoming group events and directing followers to your booking page.

Tips for Successful Group Booking Management

• Clearly communicate capacity limits and booking deadlines on your promotional pages to create a sense of urgency and manage expectations.

• Make the registration process simple and mobile-friendly. Ensure your booking page and calendar are easy to use on a smartphone.

• Utilise automated reminders effectively. This is the single most powerful tool for maximising attendance and minimising no-shows.

• Have a clear and fair policy for cancellations or rescheduling for group events and communicate it clearly during the registration process.

• Gather feedback after every event using Lead Monsta Surveys to find out what attendees enjoyed and how you can improve your future offerings.

Conclusion

Lead Monsta's group booking capabilities within its Calendar system are a powerful tool for Australian SMEs looking to efficiently manage and scale offerings that serve multiple clients at once. It transforms your calendar from a simple one-to-one scheduler into a versatile event management platform.

By mastering these features, you can unlock significant benefits: creating new revenue opportunities, increasing your market reach, building a vibrant community around your brand, and streamlining your administration – all within the familiar, integrated Lead Monsta platform. If you have not yet considered offering group sessions, we encourage you to explore how this scalable model could become a valuable part of your business's future.