Call protocol
Salon booking script: how the AI books an appointment
Short answer
When a client calls your salon to book, a 100% AI receptionist answers, says it’s an AI and follows a short salon booking script: which service, which stylist, whether they’re new or returning, and which open time suits them. It books straight into your calendar, confirms the appointment only once it’s saved and can text the client a confirmation. You get a summary of every booking, change and cancellation.
It only quotes the prices you’ve approved, the way you quote them. This is the protocol we start from for salons and spas; you adapt it to your menu and your team, and approve it before it answers.
Free setup · No contract · Cancel anytime
Example call: a new client books cut and color
Velvet and Vine Salon · A new client books cut and color
- AI
- Velvet and Vine Salon, this is AI Receptionist, the AI assistant. How can I help?
- Caller
- I’d like a cut and color. It’s my first time.
- AI
- Welcome! For new color clients we do a quick patch test first. Maya has Thursday at 4.
- Caller
- Perfect. Emily Carter, 555-0117.
- AI
- You’re booked with Maya, Thursday at 4, patch test included. We ask for 24 hours’ notice to cancel. Shall I text you the details?
- Caller
- Yes, please.
Summary sent to you
- Booked
- cut and color with Maya, Thursday 4:00 p.m., patch test first, saved in your calendar.
- Client
- Emily Carter, new client, 555-0117.
- Done
- cancellation policy read; confirmation texted.
The script, step by step
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Book, change or cancel?
The first question sorts the call, when the client hasn’t said already. Changes and cancellations follow your policy; new bookings continue below.
The AI says: “Would you like to book, change or cancel an appointment?”
-
Which service?
From your service menu. Services that take longer, or go together, such as cut and color, are booked as one appointment of the right length.
The AI says: “Which service would you like?”
-
Which stylist?
A favorite stylist, or the first one available. If the stylist doesn’t do that service, it offers who does.
The AI says: “Do you have a stylist you’d like, or the first available?”
-
New or returning?
New clients get the questions you set, such as a patch test before color or a consultation. Returning clients are asked for their name and number first, so the AI can find them in your calendar.
The AI says: “Have you visited us before?”
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Find the time
It offers open slots from your calendar and books the one the client picks. If the calendar doesn’t save it, the client hears that the salon will confirm.
The AI says: “Maya has Thursday at 4 or Friday at 11. Which works?”
-
Details, confirmation and your policy
Name, number, the booked time, and your cancellation policy in your words. Then a text confirmation if the client wants one.
The AI says: “You’re booked. We ask for 24 hours’ notice to cancel. Shall I text you the details?”
What happens with each kind of call
For a salon, these are the rules we start from. Yours replace them.
| Situation | What happens |
|---|---|
| New booking | Booked in your calendar, confirmed once saved |
| Change or cancellation | Done in your calendar, or taken as a request, by your rule |
| Unhappy client or a complaint | Put through to the manager, or a message |
| Reaction to a product | Put through to the manager, or a message marked urgent; no advice. Trouble breathing or swelling: told to hang up and call 911 |
| Gift cards, group or bridal bookings | Message, or put through |
| Price questions | Your approved prices, quoted the way you quote them (“starting at”, by stylist level); the stylist confirms in the chair |
What it never says on this call
- Advice about hair, skin or a product reaction.
- A price that isn’t on your approved menu, or a discount you haven’t set.
- A confirmed appointment that isn’t saved in your calendar.
- Anything about another client’s booking.
What you decide
- Your service menu, how long each service takes, which go together, and how prices are quoted.
- Your stylists, what each one does and when they work.
- New clients: a consultation or patch-test question, if you use one. If you ask new clients for a deposit, the AI tells them how your salon takes it; it never takes payment itself.
- Changes and cancellations: done by the AI, or taken as requests.
- Your cancellation policy, word for word.
- Spanish-speaking clients, booked in Spanish on the same line; see the Spanish-speaking caller protocol.
We set it up with you, and you approve it.
Why this protocol works
Our call protocols come from nearly two decades of running phone reception for small businesses. In a salon, the phone rings when everyone has their hands in someone’s hair, and an unanswered call is often a booking that goes to the salon down the street. It asks what matters, and nothing more, so booking stays quick for the client. It never promises what you don’t: no unapproved prices, no appointment that isn’t really in the book. More on our method, on appointment scheduling and on answering clients in two languages with a bilingual AI receptionist.
Questions salon owners ask
Can it book a cut and color as one appointment?
Yes. You tell us how long each service takes and which ones go together, and it books the right length in one block with a stylist who does both. If your menu books color and cut as separate blocks, it books them that way. The summary shows exactly what was booked.
What if the client wants a stylist who’s fully booked?
It offers that stylist’s next open times. If none work, it offers another stylist who does the service, or takes the client’s name, number and preferred days as a message so your front desk can call back if something opens up. It doesn’t promise a slot that isn’t in the calendar.
Can it handle cancellations and late changes?
That’s your rule. It can move or cancel the appointment in your calendar, or take the request and leave it to your team. Either way, it reads your cancellation policy word for word, so late cancellations hear the same thing every time, and the change shows in your summary.
What if a client calls about a reaction to a product?
It doesn’t give advice and doesn’t guess at the cause. It puts the client through to the manager, or takes a message marked urgent with the client’s details and what they said. If the client describes trouble breathing or swelling, it tells them to hang up and call 911 first. Your team follows up.
Put this protocol on your salon’s line
Send us your service menu, your stylists’ hours and your cancellation policy, and we build your booking protocol as part of your free setup. You approve it before calls are forwarded. No monthly fee on Pay As You Go, $0.99 per answered call; plans are on pricing. More examples in the call protocol library.
Free setup · No contract · Cancel anytime