Booking 24/7: what to configure before you launch
Services, resources, schedules and rules - the four things without which the form shows the wrong times
The online booking form only ever shows genuinely free time, so the quality of a booking depends entirely on four settings: a service list with honest durations, the resources, their working schedule, and the booking rules. An error in any of them produces the same symptom - a client books a slot you cannot actually serve.
Four things, in order
| Step | What it sets | What breaks if you skip it |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Services | Name, price, duration | Slots that do not match real working time |
| 2. Resources | Who or what is occupied during a visit | Two clients on one chair |
| 3. Schedule | When a resource is available | Bookings outside working hours |
| 4. Rules | How far ahead one can book and cancel | A booking for "ten minutes from now" |
The order is not arbitrary: each step depends on the one before it.
Service duration is the main source of trouble
Set the actual duration, not the one you would like. If a haircut takes 50 minutes and you enter 30, the form sells three slots across two hours of work and the third client waits.
Cleaning, setup and the pause between clients belong in the duration too. They are not padding: without them the schedule looks full and is impossible to work.
A resource is not always a person
A resource is whatever occupancy you need to track: a member of staff, a room, a chair, a machine. If a service cannot be delivered without one particular device, the device has to be a resource too, or the system will allow two bookings on it at once.
Booking rules
The minimum worth setting on day one:
- how far ahead a booking can be made, so you do not get one ten minutes before the visit
- how far into the future the schedule is open
- whether the client can cancel or reschedule themselves, and with how much notice
The last sounds risky and works in your favor: a client who can reschedule does. A client who cannot simply fails to turn up.
Check before launch
Walk the client's path end to end: pick a service, pick a time, confirm, and look at what arrived. The usual findings at this step are a wrong duration, a forgotten weekend schedule, and a missing confirmation.
What to add after launch
- Reminders, or a share of those bookings becomes no-shows.
- Booking sources, so you know where a client came from.
- Prepayment, if no-shows survive the reminders.
Common questions
Do I need a website?
No. The booking form can act as a full site with services, prices, an address and the terms of service.
A client booked the wrong specialist. Why?
Usually because the service is linked to every resource. Link it only to the ones who actually deliver it.
Can I close part of the day to online bookings?
Yes, through the schedule and breaks. Time closed in the schedule is not offered by the form.
Why is tomorrow missing from the form?
Most often the "how far ahead" rule, or no schedule set for that date.