Hairdressers: plan colour appointment times online

A root touch-up takes an hour and a full balayage takes most of an afternoon. If clients book "colour" in a generic slot, your day runs late or a chair sits empty. With Book, you create one service per colour job, each with its own slot length, so clients book exactly the time the work needs and your day stays on schedule. This guide shows how to set colour services up on your booking page.

On Book, each service has a name, a price and an optional description, all shown on your public page. Each slot belongs to one service, sits within one day and has its own capacity. So the clearest set-up is one service per colour job, named the way clients understand it, with the slot length set to the full time in the chair.

Durations and prices are examples: set your own from how long each job takes you, including blow-dry.

The slot length should cover the whole visit: application, processing, rinse, toner if needed and finish. If you set only the application time, the next client arrives while the first is still processing. Time a few of your usual jobs end to end and use those numbers.

Slots of different services can overlap. If you want to fit a quick cut while colour processes, open a short cut slot inside the colour slot, at the time processing usually starts. Only do this where you're sure of the timing, and keep it to one service so you don't double up.

Use the description of each service to say what the price covers and what it doesn't:

The same job takes longer on long, thick hair. Rather than one service with a range, create two: "Balayage, short to medium" and "Balayage, long or thick", each with its own slot length and price. Clients pick the one that fits, and you get the right amount of time.

For new colour clients or big changes, offer a short consultation as its own service, free or priced. If you do patch tests, create a short patch test service and say in the colour descriptions how long before the appointment it must be done. After the consultation, book the colour yourself from your bookings list; with an email, the client gets a confirmation with a calendar file.

The booking form takes first name, last name, email and phone, plus an optional note. Ask clients to say in the note their current colour, when it was last coloured and the result they want. The note reaches you in the new booking email and appears in the client's calendar file.

Corrections are hard to time without seeing the hair. Don't put them on your page as a bookable service with a fixed length. Instead, ask clients to book a consultation first, then create the correction booking yourself with the time you need. Slots can last most of a day, as long as they sit within one day.

Root touch-ups come back every few weeks. Before the client leaves, book the next touch-up from your bookings list. They get a calendar file, and you keep your colour days predictable.

Book has one booking page per business and no staff field. In a salon with several stylists, create colour services per stylist, such as "Balayage with Lea", so each stylist's day keeps its own times.

Book doesn't take deposits or payments and sends no reminders. Clients can't move or cancel online: they contact you, and you move the booking from your list. Rescheduling works across services, so a client can switch from a full head colour to highlights. Book costs €5/month, everything included: unlimited services and bookings, no commission, no contract.