A waitlist for your salon: refill a cancelled slot without double booking
A full calendar is great, until someone cancels and the client who wanted an earlier time is long forgotten. A waitlist records who wants a spot, on which days and for which treatment, so you know straight away who fits when a slot opens. Below you read how to set it up, what Salonnare does automatically and what a refilled slot earns, calculated step by step.
What is a salon waitlist, and what is it not?
A waitlist stores a client's wish for a moment that is currently booked. A sign-up is not an appointment: the client is in the queue, and only when a spot is confirmed does something appear in the calendar. Clients can sign up through the online booking page, or you add them yourself when someone calls or asks at the chair whether anything will open up.
That way requests no longer live in your head, a notebook or WhatsApp chats. Everything is in one place, next to your bookings management.
Which preferences do you record?
For each sign-up you choose the client and the treatment. If the client wants more than one treatment, add them; you see how long they take together. Then you record the preferred moment in one of two ways:
- Specific dates: one or more dates (ten at most), optionally with a from and to time. Leave the times empty if the client can make the whole day. - Fixed days per week: for example every Tuesday and Thursday, with a time window and optionally a period in which it applies.
Put a preference for a staff member in the note, so you see it when you offer a spot. Collect only what you need to offer a spot: name, contact details, treatment and preferred times. Health data does not belong in an ordinary note (GDPR, Article 9).
What happens when an appointment drops out?
When an appointment is cancelled, by you, by the client or via Google, Salonnare checks who on the waitlist fits. A client fits if:
- at least one of their wanted treatments was in the cancelled appointment; - the date matches, or for fixed days the weekday; - all their treatments together fit in the freed time, within their own time window.
If several clients fit, the one who has waited longest gets an email and their sign-up moves to Notified. You can also assign a spot yourself with Accept: you pick a day in the calendar (green is plenty of room, orange a few spots, red full) and a free start time. The start times account for the whole appointment, so double booking is not possible.
Contact opens a WhatsApp conversation, handy for a last-minute spot. Decline closes the sign-up and emails the client that it has lapsed; Delete removes it without an email. If you do not want the automatic email, switch it off in the email templates.
Worked example: what does a refilled slot earn?
Say a 60-minute treatment (€60) is cancelled and your calendar now has 90 empty minutes, from 13:30 to 15:00.
1. Client A is on the waitlist for a 60-minute treatment on that day. It fits in the 90 minutes, so she gets the email. 2. Client B wants two treatments that take 100 minutes together. They do not fit in 90 minutes, so she does not get this message. 3. Client A books the slot. It earns €60 instead of €0.
If that happens three times a month, that is 3 × €60 = €180 per month, or 12 × €180 = €2,160 per year of revenue that would otherwise have been lost. If the client pays online or by card, 0.5% is deducted with a minimum of €0.30: 0.5% × €60 = €0.30 per treatment. For comparison: Free costs €0, Starter €9.99 and Pro €14.99 per month; which features belong to which plan is on the pricing page. This is a worked example with assumptions, not a promise about your salon.
A routine your team can keep up
Agree who maintains the waitlist and how fast a client must respond. When a slot opens, check that the time is long enough for the treatment, that the right staff member is there and that the client can make it. Update the status after every contact so a colleague can see what happened. And always tell clients that signing up is not yet an appointment.
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Start freeFrequently asked questions
Is a waitlist sign-up an appointment?
No. The client is waiting for a spot. Only when an appointment is created or the client confirms a provisional appointment does the booking appear in your calendar and the sign-up close.
Who is notified first when a spot opens up?
Of the clients who fit on treatment, date and time window, the one who has waited longest. If two spots open right after each other, the second goes to the next client in line.
Can a client sign up on their own?
Yes, a client can sign up through the online booking page. You can also add clients yourself, for example after a phone call. A sign-up is a wish, not an appointment.
How do you keep a waitlist without Excel or WhatsApp?
Use the waitlist in your salon software, next to the calendar and client file. You see the treatment, preferred days and status per client, and a colleague can take over without searching separate files or chats.