You can now mark appointment services as "only on request".
This means that customers won't be able to book a reservation immediately, but instead will create requests, visible to the requested staff member. Staff can manually accept, decline and/or contact the customer for more info.
What is 'on request' typically used for?
If you have higher end services that are limited or require some additional prep or time commitment (like a VIP treatment), this feature was built with that use case in mind.
Where can I control this?
From Appointments > Services > Edit any service, scroll to Booking Conditions and toggle on 'service can only be requested and not directly booked by customers.'
Services with this setting on will have a special indicator to remind you if they require approval.
In this example we've created several service variants that all fall under a service called 'Premium and specialized services.'
What's the customer experience?
On web
Customers will see this initial message to set their expectations: 'Selected service can't be booked right away. Host will receive your request and will let you know if they can accommodate.'
The final checkout page will display a button with 'request now' instead of the normal 'purchase now'.
A confirmation message will remind them a staff member will be in touch.
On mobile
On mobile, it looks like this.
Lastly, the customer receives an email confirmation stating the same 'sit tight, we'll be in touch' messaging.
What do customers see when they've been booked?
An email confirmation like this one arrives. It explains they have a reservation at the specified time & place. It includes the duration and any add-ons the customer selected earlier.
What about when they're waiting for confirmation?
On web it will look like this.
On mobile that will appear like this.
What's the staff experience?
Staff are also notified by email of any new requests.
In addition, a purple circle next to 'Appointments' indicates there is a new request.
On the Active Requests tab, a red paper plane means a customer has not yet been contacted.
The dropdown menu allows staff to contact, mark as contacted, book the appointment or decline the request. Booked appointments are cleared out to the 'booked' tab pictured above.
Contacting pulls up a prefilled form for fast outreach.
Booking pulls up a prefilled form for quickly scheduling the appointment.
Do active requests show on the schedule?
They do, as long as the customer has requested a specific staff member and desired time.
(Some businesses have special appointment scheduling settings that allow for customers to request any available staff member / location. If your business operates this way, you can always find active requests from Appointments > Requests).
An active request on the schedule will show as an appointment with raised hand icon. Note: if you have special color designations in place for each service, those will still take effect but the hand icon will remain until the appointment is booked. It will then become a red or green dot, depending on if its been paid.
Where can I see expired requests?
Expired requests can be seen using a filter called 'Show expired appointment requests' and will display as a lighter color.
The light purple line indicates the current time. In the example below, we're halfway into the requested 'would-be' appointment. So, this appointment request is considered expired.
Can expired requests be moved to a later time?
Not at this time. A new request must be made by the customer.
What's the decline process like?
Staff will get an opportunity to explain the reason for declining.
Your explanation will appear in the email to the customer next to 'Reason'.
