Prenotazione intelligente

With Prenotazione intelligente (Smart booking) on, a client can book, move and cancel an appointment by writing in chat in plain words (or with a voice message), with no links or forms. The assistant (The chat assistant) proposes only free slots and writes the appointment into the Calendario (Calendar) when the client confirms. It is the only switch that is on by default together with Infopoint and Previsione taglio (Comunicazioni settings).

Contents

1. What must be in place for it to work
2. The course of a booking
   1. What the salon gets
3. When there is no slot
   1. The notice when a slot frees up
4. Moving or cancelling
5. Recommending a service
6. Limits
7. What to do if
8. Related entries

What must be in place for it to work#

The assistant knows nothing by heart: it reads the program every time. So it depends on how the salon is set up:

The course of a booking#

The assistant leads the client through three steps, adapting to what they say:

1. The service, always first. If the client does not say it (even if they already say the day: «hai un buco domani?» (do you have a gap tomorrow?)) the assistant asks one single question, open-ended, in simple words («che cosa ti piacerebbe fare?» (what would you like to do?)), and narrows down the possibilities with each answer. It does not make them choose from a list of categories. Several services together are a single appointment: free times are searched considering all of them, and all the qualified operators are needed.
2. Day and time, and 3. the operator, in any order: the client can start from «sabato mattina» (Saturday morning), from «voglio con Marco» (I want it with Marco) or from no preference (in that case the assistant proposes a few good days and times). The proposed times already take into account the duration, the processing times and the appointments already taken.
3. The summary and the «yes». When service, day, time and operator are clear, the assistant summarises them with the price and asks for confirmation. Only after a clear «yes» is the appointment written. A «maybe» or silence is not enough.

If the client is not yet registered, registration starts at the moment of the «yes», before the appointment is written: then the assistant picks up where it left off (How the assistant recognises or registers a client) and checks again that the slot is still free.

What the salon gets#

• The appointment appears in the Calendario with the status In attesa (Pending) (Appointment card), without a workstation: if needed, assign it by hand (Calendar).
• If the client repeats the confirmation twice, a second identical appointment is not created.
• You cannot book in the past.
• The assistant asks, naturally, how urgent it is for the client (a ceremony, «il prima possibile» (as soon as possible), «quando c'è posto» (whenever there is room)) and records it as the appointment's urgency. It is used by the Asta prenotazioni (Booking auction) function; it does not appear on the appointment record.
• Home visit: only if service and operator allow it; the assistant asks for the address.
• After the booking the client receives in chat a summary with services, day, time, operator, location and price, as an image (one page) or PDF (several pages), then a short goodbye, and the conversation closes. If the summary cannot be sent, the booking remains valid.

When there is no slot#

The assistant does not stop at «there is no slot» and does not ask the client to look on their own:

1. If the service has no slot on the requested day, it looks for the nearest free day, looking up to a month ahead, and proposes its times, explaining in simple words why the requested day did not work (no operator on shift, fully booked…).
2. If there is no free day within a month, it looks for a similar service (same category or same purpose) with a slot on the requested day or on nearby ones, and proposes only those that turn out to be free.
3. If not even a similar service has a slot, it offers two options: come by the salon to book in person or be notified as soon as a slot frees up.
4. If the Titolare (owner) has turned on Asta prenotazioni and the client is urgent, the assistant can also propose that they free the taken slot by paying a supplement: see Slot swap (Booking auction).
5. If a service is not bookable because of how it is configured, changing the day is no use: it moves to the similar service or to the salon, and does not offer the waiting list.

The notice when a slot frees up#

If the client chooses to be notified, they are put on the waiting list for those services (and that operator, if they had named one).

• Every 30 minutes the program looks for the first free day (up to 60 days) for each waiting request.
• If it finds one, it writes to the client on the last channel used by the client (Automatic messages to clients): «Ciao Nome, si è liberato un posto per Servizio: giorno, per esempio alle … Se ti va, scrivimi qui e lo prenoto subito.» (Hi Name, a slot has freed up for Service: day, for example at … If you like, write to me here and I will book it straight away.) and closes the request.
• The request expires after 90 days from the requested day.
• If the client has no reachable channel the request is closed as unreachable.
• There is no screen that lists the waiting lists.

Moving or cancelling#

The client writes that they want to move, change operator or cancel. The assistant reads their future appointments (if there is more than one it asks which) and then:

• Move or change operator: it checks that the new time or operator is free, says what would change and, after the «yes», applies the change.
• Cancel: it first asks the reason and proposes an alternative; after a clear «yes» it moves the appointment to the Annullato (Cancelled) status.

These rules apply:

• Only appointments of the client who is writing can be touched, future ones that are still In attesa or Confermati (Confirmed). An appointment already carried out, paid or closed cannot be changed.
• A change stays at the appointment's same location.
• The assistant does not cancel or move for another client.

If the client asks for something the assistant cannot do (for example about penalties or notice, of which it knows nothing), it gives them the salon's phone number.

Recommending a service#

If the client is undecided, asks for advice or for the difference between two services, or just says «un taglio» (a haircut) when there are several, the assistant asks one question to understand what they are looking for and then presents one, two or at most three suitable services, describing the experience of each. The presentation is usually a voice message (about 60–110 words; on WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger); if the voice message does not go out, the text goes out.

Every fact (what the service includes, duration, price) is taken from the program: it does not make up ingredients, brands or results. If the service description in the price list is sparse, the presentation will be short. When the client chooses, it moves on to booking.

Limits#

• One salon at a time: an appointment has services of a single location.
• No workstations: they have to be assigned by hand.
• No payments or deposits in chat.
• No notice to the staff on booking, moving or cancelling: they are seen from the Calendario.
• No notice or penalty rules: if the client asks, the assistant does not make them up.

What to do if#

Related entries#

• The chat assistant
• How the assistant recognises or registers a client
• Infopoint
• Bots and automations