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FAQ / Hair salons

Hair salon questions

Can I …? Asked by hairdressers.

Clients who have followed one stylist for years, a tint that needs a patch test first, a bride with five bridesmaids and one Saturday morning. Here is how NextSlot runs a hair salon — each answer shown on your side of the chair and on your client’s phone.

Acme Salon is a demo hair salon running on NextSlot — its website and its booking page. Take the tour →
Your stylists

The right stylist, at the right price.

Can clients choose their stylist first, then the service?

Yes — your booking page asks who first. “Choose your stylist” comes before the menu, because salon clients follow their stylist. The client who has seen Holly for years taps Holly, then sees only the services Holly does, at Holly’s prices.

Anyone else taps “Don’t Mind”, picks from your whole menu and gets the first free time with anyone on the team. Tick which services each stylist does on their profile, and nobody is offered a balayage by someone who doesn’t paint one.

Included on all plans

Can my salon director charge more for a cut and finish?

Yes. Give each level in your salon its own price — Stylist £52, Senior Stylist £62, Salon Director £75 for a Cut & Finish — and NextSlot charges the right one automatically. Leave a level blank and it charges your normal price.

A client who picks Nina first sees £75 from the start. One who taps “Don’t Mind” sees “from £52” with the whole ladder underneath, then the exact price the moment they pick a time with Nina. No surprises at the till.

Included on all plans

Can I charge more for long hair?

Yes. Add a “Hair length” choice to any service, each option with its own price and time — a Blow Dry at £32 for short hair, £38 for medium and £45 for long, with long hair booked for a full hour.

Clients see “from £32” and choose their length in one tap. Not sure what to charge for extra long? Leave the price blank and it shows as “Contact us” — on your menu, but booked through you.

Included on all plans
Colour

Colour, done safely.

Can I make sure a client has had a patch test before a tint?

Yes. Mark Root Colour, Balayage or any tint as needing a patch test. A client with no valid test on file is asked to book a free patch test at least 48 hours before, right there on the booking page.

You choose how long a test stays valid, and clients are reminded before theirs runs out. Record each result on the client’s card. Your team can still book a colour from the calendar, and they see a warning when a test is missing.

Included on all plans

Can I ask colour clients consultation questions before they book?

Yes. Attach your own questionnaire to any service — start from a blank form and ask what you would ask in the chair: box dye, previous colour, any reaction to a tint. Clients answer it as part of booking, and you can add a consent statement and a signature.

Choose whether a worrying answer blocks the booking or flags it for you to review, and how often returning clients are asked again.

Included on all plans

Can clients add a toner or a bond treatment to their colour?

Yes. Create add-ons once and attach them to the colours they go with. Make a scalp massage complimentary and it shows as “Free”; make a toner or a bond-repair treatment a paid upgrade with its own price and time.

Clients tick them right under their colour, and the total and the length of the appointment update on the spot. Your diary holds the extra minutes, so nobody runs late.

Included on all plans

Can I keep four-hour balayages off my Saturdays?

Yes. Give Balayage its own online booking hours — Tuesday to Thursday, nine till five, say — and it only books online inside them. Your Saturdays stay free for cuts and blow dries.

The booking page tells clients when it is available, so nobody is disappointed. You can still book a balayage at any time from your calendar — for the bride who can only do a Saturday.

Included on all plans
Bigger visits

Colour and cut, brides and bridesmaids.

Can a client book a colour and a cut in the same visit?

Yes. Tick “Customers can add this on top of any other service” on Root Colour, and a client booking a Cut & Finish can add it in one tap — one appointment, with one stylist.

The times and prices add up before they confirm: a Cut & Finish with Holly and a Root Colour come to 150 minutes and £120. Bigger baskets, fewer back-and-forth messages.

Included on all plans

Can a bride book hair for herself and her bridesmaids?

Yes. Set your largest group — up to 10 people — in Settings, and a bride can book herself and her bridesmaids in one go. Groups above three all have the same service, and NextSlot seats them in waves across your stylists, as close together as it can.

She sees her waves before she confirms, and you can ask groups to pay a deposit to hold the seats. Smaller parties of two or three can each pick their own service, at the same time or one after another.

Included on all plans
Running the salon

Records, regulars and the retail shelf.

Can I keep before and after photos of a client’s colour?

Yes. Open the client’s profile, go to Photos and add a picture — on a phone it opens the camera. Mark it Before, After or Reference, add a caption if you like, and it is there next time they sit in your chair.

Keep the inspiration picture they brought in, and a before and after of every balayage. Photos are for your own records — customers never see them.

Included on all plans

Can NextSlot nudge clients who haven’t been back in a while?

Yes. Switch on “We miss you”, choose how many weeks after their last visit it goes, and send it by email or text. It only goes to clients with nothing already booked, so a regular with her next colour in the diary never gets it.

Three more send themselves beside it: “Happy birthday”, a “Thank you” after a visit, and a request for a review. They go to clients who agreed to hear from you, and you see how many booked afterwards.

Included in Pro and Max

Can I sell shampoo and styling products at the till?

Yes. Add your retail shelf with prices and barcodes, then sell at the till by searching or scanning — on its own or alongside the colour. Your stylists can earn commission on what they sell.

Every sale, delivery and bottle of backbar used on a client is counted, so your stock levels stay right, and each morning you get an email of what is running low. Products are sold in the salon, not through the booking page.

Included in Pro and Max
Still wondering?

Ask us anything. We’ll show you.

We are opening NextSlot a few businesses at a time, and we set every one up personally. Join the waiting list and tell us how your hair salon works.

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