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WhatsApp appointment reminders for salons

A WhatsApp appointment reminder works when the client asked for it, it comes from the salon’s own number, and an email takes over when WhatsApp fails.

Published on 2 min read

A WhatsApp reminder lands where your client already is. But it only works well under three conditions: the client asked for it, the message comes from your salon’s number, and a regular email is ready in case WhatsApp does not get through. That is how HairConnect does it.

Only for clients who asked

Unsolicited WhatsApp is the kind of surprise that loses clients. Only clients who ticked the WhatsApp reminder box themselves get a message. That box is in three places:

  • in the online booking, just below the mobile number field;
  • in the client portal, where the client can also untick it;
  • on the client record, for clients who ask at the desk.

If the box is unticked, or the record has no usable mobile number, that client simply gets the reminder by email. Switching WhatsApp on never sends messages to your whole client list.

From your salon’s number

The message comes from your salon’s WhatsApp number, not a shared one. Your client can save it and recognises it next time. The text says the same as the email: the salon name, the date, the time, the services and the link to the client portal, in the language of the client record.

There is no price per message. A hundred reminders cost the same as none, so you do not have to choose which clients get one.

When does the reminder go out?

At the same time as the email reminder: 3 working days before the appointment by default, and you set it yourself. Every hour, HairConnect checks who falls inside that window.

Set the window equal to your cancellation period, or a little wider. A client who is only reminded once they can no longer cancel for free turns up annoyed, or not at all.

If WhatsApp does not get through

An integration can hiccup. The client should not notice. If sending fails, HairConnect tries three times, a minute apart. If it still fails, the regular email goes out instead.

Every message shows up in a send log: when, to whom, the full text, and whether it was delivered, read or failed. A message that did not go out is listed too, with the reason.

What goes by WhatsApp, and what does not

Messages to the client in HairConnect
MessageBy WhatsApp
Appointment confirmationyes, if the client ticked the box
Reminderyes, if the client ticked the box
Rescheduledno, always email
No-showno, always email
Portal sign-in codeno, always email
SMSnot sent

How to switch WhatsApp on is in the manual. Which other emails go out, and when, is under emails to the client.

Read on

  • A website for your hair salon: what it needs

    What a hairdresser’s website needs: prices, opening hours, address and a button to book. And how to avoid keeping that information up to date twice.

  • Client management for hair salons: what counts

    What client management in a hair salon has to do: show formula and allergy before the client sits down, tell you who to call, and let clients self-serve.

  • The app is in the stores

    HairConnect now also runs as an app on the iPad at the desk and on the phone in your pocket. What is in it, why the calendar keeps working when the network does not, and where to get it.

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