An online booking system for your hair salon: what to look for
What a booking system for a hairdresser has to do: slots that fill your diary, processing time, cancelling within your window, and fewer no-shows.
A client who books online wants to know when it fits, with whom, and whether it is confirmed. You want something else: a full diary without gaps, and no empty chair because someone forgot to come. A good booking system for a hair salon does both. Here is what you should find in it.
What the client needs to be able to do
- Choose what they want done, and combine more than one service in the same appointment.
- Choose with whom, or say "no preference".
- Pick a time from a short list.
- Enter their name, email address and mobile number.
- Confirm, with your cancellation terms right there.
That is how the HairConnect booking page works, in five steps. Signing in is possible but never required: a new client has no account yet and should simply be able to book. Someone who does sign in finds their details already filled in and can rebook a previous treatment with one tap.
Not every gap is a good slot
A system that offers every free quarter of an hour leaves your diary full of leftovers. A ten-minute gap between two clients never gets filled. That is why HairConnect ranks the free slots instead of simply listing them:
- A slot that fills a gap exactly comes first.
- A slot that follows on from an existing appointment comes next: the hairdresser keeps working instead of waiting.
- The start and end of the day count, so the day is not stretched out.
- A slot that leaves an unusable leftover drops down the list.
A slot that fits exactly between two appointments gets the label "Fits neatly" on the booking page. By default the client sees fourteen of them. A short list helps people choose; a long one makes them hesitate.
A colour is not a two-hour block
While the colour develops, the hairdresser can cut another client. A system that sees a colour service as one long block keeps that time occupied for no reason. In HairConnect a service has a duration and a processing time: the processing time does not occupy the staff member, but it does occupy the client. If a cut follows, it only starts once the colour has developed. More on this in the article on processing time.
Cancelling and moving: your window
| Setting | Default |
|---|---|
| Cancel themselves | up to 2 working days before |
| Move themselves | up to 2 working days before |
| Book ahead | up to 3 months |
The shorter you set that window, the more last-minute gaps you have to fill yourself. The longer it is, the more often a client phones instead of clicking. After the window the client can still let you know, and you want them to: an hour you hear about in time can still be taken.
Fewer no-shows
- Have the email address confirmed. The client gets an email with a single link, and only after that click does the appointment appear in your diary. That way nobody with a typo in their address ends up with an appointment and no reminder.
- Send a reminder. By default it goes out 3 working days before. Set it equal to or slightly earlier than your cancellation window: a client who is only reminded once they can no longer cancel for free comes angry, or not at all.
- Add your cancellation terms. They appear on the last step of the booking and at the bottom of every email to the client.
A late cancellation can be charged. That is off by default, and it never happens on its own: only when the hour really stayed empty does the case land on your work list, and you decide.
When nothing is free
A client who finds no slot should not end up on an empty screen. They can join the waiting list or ask to be called back. When an hour frees up, HairConnect does not email the whole list on its own: for one free hour, ten people would get a message and nine of them would be too late. You choose whom to notify; HairConnect finds the slots that match that request.
What it does not do
There is no deposit or payment at booking, and no text messages go out: every message to the client goes by email, with your name, logo and colours. If you must take a deposit, this is not the right package today.
Where clients find you
Your booking page has its own address. Put it behind the button on your website, in your Instagram and Facebook profile and under your emails, and print the QR code for the front desk. No script or widget is needed: a plain link is enough.
How to set up the booking page is in the manual. What else the package does is on the features page.