How to organise a hair salon's agenda with several stylists

In a salon with two, four or six stylists, the agenda usually lives in three places at once: the reception notebook, the Instagram messages and the phone that rings while someone has their hands in a client's hair. The notebook does not know that Marta has colour at half past ten. The Instagram message promised a cut at a quarter past ten with the stylist who was already busy. By the end of the week nobody knows how many people did not show up.

This guide is for whoever runs that salon. By the end you will have five moves that make the agenda tell the truth: services with their real length, one shared agenda where each stylist has their own hours, clients who pick a stylist or anyone available, walk-ins in the same slot as online bookings, and a status for every appointment.

1 · Services with their real length

A colour is not a cut. If every service takes the same slot, the agenda looks full when it is not, or it breaks at midday when an hour-and-a-half colour lands on top of two cuts. The hairdresser catalogue starts with three reference services: cut and style at 45 minutes, colour at 90 and styling at 30. Adjust them to what you actually do, in the time it really takes you, not the time written on the label.

Add the cleanup time of each service too: the margin to rinse, sweep and prepare the chair. That margin sits after each appointment: it is not added to the length the client sees, but the page does not offer it as a slot. The next client does not arrive at a chair that is half cleared, and you do not start a colour with the clock already behind you.

In Reserrva: the service catalogue keeps the duration, the price (or "Free") and the cleanup time of each service; the booking page shows the name, the duration and the price. Changing a service does not rewrite past appointments. If you have not set up your page yet, the setup guide walks you through the services step.

2 · One agenda for the whole salon

An agenda per person looks tidy until you need to see the whole Saturday. Put the whole team in one view. The salon's appointments are arranged in lanes where they overlap, each with its stylist's initials, and the day reads from top to bottom: you can see at a glance where there are gaps and where things overlap.

Each stylist also has their own hours. The person who opens at nine does not work the same shift as the one who closes, and one person's holidays should not block everyone else. Before the week starts, check each stylist's breaks and time off: a free day that is not entered is a gap someone can book.

In Reserrva: the team agenda shows the day on one shared timeline, with the team's appointments in lanes where they overlap and each professional's initials, and it has a week view. Each person has their own hours and time off: a weekly schedule, breaks and days off, and the booking page respects them immediately.

3 · Clients pick a stylist, or anyone

Some clients always come back to the same person and do not want anyone else touching their hair. Let them choose. Others only want the time that suits them. For them, "anyone available" lets them pick a free time without choosing a stylist first. Both options avoid the same back-and-forth message: "who can I book with?".

Each stylist can also have their own link. Put it in their Instagram bio or send it to their regular clients, and they book straight with that person.

In Reserrva: the booking page asks for service, professional, day and time, and offers anyone available: a free time without choosing a stylist first. Each person on the team has a link per professional, in the form reserrva.app/en/con/your-handle, which opens their page to book with them.

4 · Walk-ins in the same agenda

Someone who calls or walks in also wants a time. If their appointment lives on a scrap of paper, the slot looks free and you end up giving it to someone else. Write it in the agenda the moment it is agreed, in the same slot a client would see online. Then the agenda has one version of the truth, and the booking page stops offering that chair.

Double booking should not depend on someone remembering to look, and it does not: the database rejects it.

In Reserrva: manual appointments from the panel take the slot just like an online booking. A database constraint rejects two appointments for the same professional at the same time, wherever they come from. Try it: enter a walk-in now and check that the time can no longer be booked from your page.

5 · The status of every appointment

Visits become completed automatically after their reserved time, including any cleanup buffer, has passed. Cancelled appointments, no-shows and bookings still awaiting a deposit keep their status. Review the exceptions: if someone did not attend, record a no-show. If the visit already completed automatically, use Return to confirmed, then mark it No-show or cancel it. You can correct an automatic completion after midnight too, unless the client has reviewed it.

In Reserrva: Visits complete automatically after their reserved time; record no-shows and cancellations so the stats reflect what happened. The business stats are computed from those statuses.

If reception is working blind, start with 1 and 4: services with their real time and walk-ins inside the agenda. Moves 2, 3 and 5 make the week reliable. The full list of what Reserrva does is on features, and if you want to see how it all fits together, read how Reserrva works.

• ✓Every service has its real duration and its cleanup time.
• ✓Every stylist has their weekly hours, breaks and time off entered.
• ✓Every stylist has their link, and you know which clients you give it to.
• ✓Today's walk-ins are in the agenda before the salon closes.
• ✓Completed visits are automatic; no-shows and cancellations are recorded or corrected.

Frequently asked questions

What happens if two people try to book the same slot at the same time?

The database accepts one of the appointments and rejects the other for that stylist at that time, whether it comes from the page or the panel. Two appointments never overlap.

Can a client book without choosing a stylist?

Yes. With "anyone available" they pick a free time without choosing a stylist first.

If I change the price of a service, do booked appointments change too?

No. Catalogue edits never rewrite past appointments.