A gel manicure slot and ten nails of someone else's BIAB
A new client books a gel manicure online for her lunch break. She sits down and the nail tech sees a full set of builder gel from another salon, grown out, with a couple lifted. Removal will take a large part of the slot before any new colour goes on. The client has to be back at work. Either the nail tech rushes the removal, which risks damaging the natural nail, or the new manicure is cut short, or the next client waits.
It happens with regulars too. Someone who usually has a gel polish change comes in wanting to switch to BIAB, or to take everything off and have a natural manicure, and the booking says neither.
The booking asks what the client wants, not what is on the nails
- Removal is a separate service on the menu, which clients do not realise they need to add.
- Different products take different amounts of time to remove: gel polish, BIAB, hard gel and acrylic are not the same.
- Products applied at another salon are an unknown quantity.
- Regulars changing from one product to another are booked as their usual appointment.
- Nail techs find out only when the client puts her hands on the table.
Late nail columns and damaged goodwill
Nail diaries are often packed with short, back-to-back appointments, so one unplanned removal knocks the rest of the day. Rushed removal risks the natural nail and the client's trust. Charging for a removal that was not booked causes friction at the till. Clients on lunch breaks leave with half the service they wanted.
A removal question built into nail bookings
- When a client books any nail treatment online, the booking page asks one question: what is on your nails now? None, gel polish, BIAB or builder gel, acrylic or other extensions, with a short picture guide for anyone unsure.
- It asks whether it was done here or elsewhere, since your nail techs may treat another salon's product differently.
- The answer adds the matching removal service, with its time and price as you set them, to the booking automatically, using your salon software's add-on or linked-service feature through its API, or a booking front end we build.
- If the extended booking no longer fits the chosen slot, the client is offered slots that do.
- Reception bookings get the same question as a required field, so phone bookings are consistent.
- The nail tech's column shows the removal and the product type in advance, so they can have the right materials out before the client sits down.
| Currently on nails | Done where | Added to booking |
|---|---|---|
| Nothing | Not asked | No removal |
| Gel polish | Here | Gel removal, your time |
| BIAB or builder gel | Elsewhere | Builder gel removal, your time for other salons' work |
| Acrylic extensions | Anywhere | Acrylic removal, longer time |
| Not sure | Not asked | Flagged for reception to check |
Removal times, prices and whether you remove other salons' work are set by you. We make the booking ask and apply them.
Nail appointments the right length
On a normal day the lunch-break client who has another salon's BIAB is told when she books that removal is needed and how long it adds, and she picks a slot on her day off instead. The nail tech sees builder gel from elsewhere on the booking and plans the time. Regulars switching products are asked when they book and slotted correctly. The afternoon column runs to time, and removal is on the bill before anyone sits down.
Recognise your nail bar?
- Nail techs regularly discover removals the client did not book.
- Clients with other salons' products book as if their nails were bare.
- Removal is a separate menu item that clients miss.
- Nail appointments overrun because of removals.
- Removal charges surprise clients at the till.