A full column with an hour of nothing hidden in it
Look at a therapist's Wednesday. Brow shape at ten. Lip wax booked at twenty-five past, because that was the time the client picked. Underarm wax at eleven. Lash lift at quarter to twelve. In between: a ten-minute gap, a fifteen-minute gap, another ten. The day looks full on the screen, and the therapist is busy, but add the gaps up and a good chunk of the morning has gone to waiting.
Someone rings wanting a brow tint and shape together. There is no single gap long enough, even though the total free time is more than enough.
Clients choose times, and nothing guides them
- Online booking offers every start time at short intervals, so clients pick whatever suits them.
- Short treatments of different lengths do not tessellate on their own.
- Cancellations leave holes in the middle of the day that only fit something of the same length.
- Reception fills gaps by phone when it has time, which is rarely.
- Nobody measures the gaps, so the problem is felt rather than seen.
Beauty salons feel this more than most because so many treatments are short. A hair salon's colour appointment or a spa's long treatment hides small gaps inside long bookings. A beauty column of fifteen-minute waxes exposes every one.
Unsold time that nobody sees
Gaps are therapist time you pay for and cannot sell. They also make the salon look fully booked online when it is not, so clients who would happily come go elsewhere. Therapists find a fragmented day more tiring than a steady one, and the start-stop rhythm makes overruns more likely.
Steering bookings and filling what is left
- We read each therapist's diary from your salon software through its API, such as Fresha, Phorest or Timely, and measure the gaps: how many, how long and when, over the last few months.
- Using your software's settings where possible, or a booking front end we put in front of it, online booking shows start times that sit next to existing bookings first, and hides start times that would leave a gap too short for any treatment.
- A gap finder lists every open gap for the next few days and matches it to treatments that would fit, using your menu's real lengths.
- Clients who are due a short treatment, such as a brow shape or lip wax, and who have agreed to messages, can be offered a matching gap. Clients on a cancellation list for that therapist are offered first.
- Reception sees the gap list on one screen and can fill slots by phone with the right treatment in mind.
- A weekly figure shows unsold gap time per therapist, so you can see whether the changes are working.
| Gap | Fits | Offered to |
|---|---|---|
| 10 minutes | Lip wax, brow tidy | Clients due those treatments |
| 15 minutes | Underarm wax, brow shape | Cancellation list, then due clients |
| 25 minutes | Brow shape and tint | Cancellation list, then due clients |
| Too short for anything | Nothing | Prevented at booking where possible |
A column that fits together
On a normal week, a client booking a lip wax online sees quarter past ten offered first, straight after the brow shape, rather than twenty-five past. A cancellation at two leaves a twenty-five minute hole, and a message goes to two clients due brow shape and tint; one books within the hour. Therapists have fewer dead minutes, and the day feels steadier.
The weekly figure tells you whether unsold gap time is going down, which is the only honest way to know if the rules are right.
Is your diary like this?
- Therapists' columns look full but include many short gaps.
- Clients can book any start time online.
- Longer treatments cannot be fitted even when total free time is enough.
- Cancellation gaps are rarely filled.
- You do not know how much gap time there is each week.