Your appointment book is the cornerstone of your success, as it is for every salon, spa, and medical spa. Every booked appointment is a paying client who, hopefully, will return and deliver a high lifetime value to your business.

But does your appointment book have more gaps than you’d like? Is your front desk having to call guests to minimize those gaps? Are you losing customers to competitors with smarter booking features you don’t have?

Here, we explore five aspects of Zenoti software that can help salons, spas, and medical spas boost revenue by better managing their appointment book. These features actually increase bookable time and help you deliver a better experience to customers.

You’ll also find insights from our webinar on how to maximize appointment book capacity, featuring two industry leaders (watch it now):
‍
‍Isabel Steward, Director of Guest Services and Operational Support at Douglas J Salons, a chain of Aveda hair salons and spas in Michigan. The Douglas J brand includes cosmetology schools with locations in Michigan and Illinois.

Sampath Thodupunuri, VP of Product Management at Zenoti, with the beauty and wellness industry’s most complete software platform designed to grow revenue.

Read on to see how these five features help salons, spas, and medspas manage their appointment book better.

1. Personalized service times

With this booking software feature, you can set service durations for each client-service combination. As an example, a bang trim every three weeks doesn’t need a full 60-minute hair appointment. Similarly, a client with waist-length tresses needs more time for a braided balayage than a guest with shoulder-length hair.

By offering personalized service times, you give clients a better experience, too. That bang trim guest who knows they’ll be in and out in 30 minutes can plan their day better.

This Zenoti feature replaced Douglas J Salon’s manual process: leaving notes in guest profiles, hoping that staff would see them when scheduling appointments.

“It comes in very handy,” said Isabel Steward, Director of Guest Services and Operational Support for Douglas J Salons. “It’s bulletproof. We also have the ability to customize the price, as well. Often in our salons when we book an extra-long haircut or somebody needs double time, we’ll actually charge them a little bit more, too, for that time. This way, whether they’re booking in-store or online, the system just takes that into consideration and does it for you, so it’s been really great.”

Whether future bookings are managed by the front desk or online by the client, the software “remembers” the client’s specific service time and pricing, simplifying the booking process for both the client and the staff.

2. Grouping related services

This feature supports grouping related services under a single appointment. Sampath Thodupunuri, VP of Product Marketing at Zenoti, notes that the development of this feature was driven by the booking needs of waxing salons, a type of business that often performs related services together.

As an example, when a guest books brow waxing online and adds two more areas – say, chin and upper lip – the software adjusts the total appointment length intelligently. Instead of reserving 15 minutes for each appointment booked separately, for a total of 45 minutes, it blocks 30 minutes (or the duration the waxing salon specifies for that combination). This modification opens up 15 minutes of bookable time – and additional revenue. The prep time to get the treatment room and supplies ready is the same for one service or all three.

Grouping related services like this creates additional bookable slots in your appointment book, but it benefits guests, too, setting real expectations around appointment length.

Salons using Zenoti can also automate recommending related services to clients booking online, increasing the chance they will book additional treatments. A nail salon guest can add extensions or nail art to a gel mani, for example, boosting the ticket size ahead of their appointment.

3. Preferred provider reassignment

Do you have loyal guests who book with the same stylist or technician repeatedly? A carefully designed Zenoti feature takes their preference into account when new guests book with that provider.

Here’s how it works: When a client requests a specific provider, and that provider is already booked by someone without a preference, the system automatically moves the pre-existing booking to another provider.

In the most immediate sense, this software feature keeps both visits. On a larger scale, it’s a powerful customer retention strategy, honoring guest preferences with ease.  

As Sampath notes, this feature applies only to online bookings. The system conservatively makes such reassignments only if the new guest’s timing and pricing preferences are met, and they have not already been told which provider they’re going to see.

With six price levels in Douglas J Salon’s pricing model, the Zenoti system considers a guest’s chosen price level when reassigning them to other providers. “In the first week we had it on,” says Isabel, “we had 12 [automatic reassignments]. This happens in the background, so it’s pretty cool.”

This Zenoti feature was made to replicate the logic and actions of your best receptionist, but it works behind the scenes to streamline and speed up the process. Your front desk is freed up from time-consuming phone calls and can focus on other in-store activities.

“So often we find that if people can’t do it online, and they don’t see what they want immediately, they just go somewhere else. They’re not going to pick up the phone and always call us. This just ensures we’re a little bit closer to getting them what they’re looking for.”
– Isabel Steward, Director of Guest Services and Operational Support, Douglas J Salons

4. Simultaneous-service bookings

A simultaneous mani-pedi is the best example of this booking optimization. A nail salon that offers simultaneous services can give guests the option of combining the two, to be delivered at the same time. What’s most important is that time is freed up within the appointment book, properly representing what really happens during service, and opening another slot to be filled.

This Zenoti feature gives guests booking online a choice: they can book simultaneous services to speed through their appointment or stay with separate appointments if they view getting their nails done as time to relax.

When guests book simultaneous services, it frees up more than appointment slots – it also opens up treatment stations and rooms, boosting hourly and per-chair revenue for your business.

Sampath highlights the consistency of simultaneous-service booking: “If a customer calls the front desk or uses online booking, the technicians, the front desk, and the guests are all clear on the time savings that they are going to get by booking two services to happen at the same time.”

5. Minimizing gaps between bookings

Empty slots in your appointment book are revenue leaks. Small blocks of time – 15 minutes here and there – add up to full slots that could accommodate additional paying clients. This feature helps you fill such gaps efficiently.

For instance, a salon might limit guests to booking only at the top or middle of an hour. Salons and spas can also add in break time, giving providers a more predictable schedule, too.

Isabel credits this feature with helping Douglas J Salons manage appointments better.  

“We had so many gaps and wasted time on our books,” she said.” “We were running around calling the guests, trying to get them to come 15 minutes earlier or 15 minutes later, trying to minimize some of those gaps. This just takes care of it for you. It’s awesome... you’re looking at the books and there are no gaps in there – at all of our locations.”

Conclusion

Managing your appointment book efficiently and intelligently is a challenge. If not done right, it can negatively affect your revenue. As reviewed in the webinar on how to maximize appointment book capacity, Zenoti software features like offering personalized service times, grouping related services, and minimizing gaps between bookings help improve appointment book management. It’s the first step to real revenue growth, creating more bookable time for your staff – and your clients.  

Watch the webinar: Ramp up your revenue growth - How to add appointments and earn more per hour. ‍

Explore the benefits of an appointment booking system that does so much more.