Online booking for hair salons: how to set it up so the day adds up

Hair salons are one of the hardest businesses to set up online booking for. Services take anywhere from twenty minutes to four hours, every stylist has different prices and different days, and colouring has processing time when the chair is free. If you set up booking too simply, the calendar either overflows or sits needlessly empty.

Service lengths based on reality

The most common mistake is to copy services straight from the price list. A women's cut does not take the same time on short and long hair. Instead of one item, set up two or three: short, medium and long hair. The client chooses for herself and you get a more accurate time.

For colour, count the whole time the client spends in the salon, including processing and washing. If you usually fit in another client's cut while the colour develops, handle that by hand in the calendar. Online booking should not offer that kind of overlap, or two demanding services will land at the same moment.

Time between clients

Sweeping up, washing the bowls, disinfecting tools and a few minutes for a coffee. If the system does not allow for this, the first delay drags through the whole day. In Termeva every service has its own time before and after the visit. The client does not see it, but the next free slot is only offered once it has passed.

Stylists and their prices

If more than one person works in the salon, each of them should have their own:

• services they do, because not everyone does colour or wedding styling,
• working hours, including a lunch break,
• days off and holidays, so nobody gets booked on them.

The client then picks a specific stylist or leaves the choice to you. Regulars go to "their" hairdresser, while new clients usually take the first free time.

How far ahead and how short notice

Two settings worth thinking through:

• Minimum notice before a booking. A booking for twenty minutes from now can catch you in the middle of work. Two to three hours is usually a sensible minimum.
• How far ahead. Too long a window means bookings that clients forget about. For a hair salon, six to eight weeks is usually enough.

Reminders and cancellations

A client who booked colour a month ago can easily forget the appointment. A reminder the day before brings most of those cases back, and a cancellation link in it gives you a chance to fill the slot again. More on this in our post on reminders. For long and expensive services a deposit makes sense too.

How to let clients know

Online booking only works if clients know about it:

• a link in your Instagram bio and on your Google profile,
• a short message to regulars: "You can now book online here",
• the link in your replies to messages, instead of a long back and forth about the time.

In the first week some clients will keep messaging you. Just send them the link and tell them they can see all the free times there. Most will do it themselves next time.

In Termeva

When you sign up as a hair salon, you get services prefilled for your trade, working hours and a website with a template you can change at any time. You only need to adjust the prices, lengths and stylists. More about what Termeva offers hair salons is on the hair salon page, and all templates are here.