Guides › Appointments & front desk

Booking a walk-in client

How to put a walk-in client on the calendar with New Walk-In, what happens to their customer record, and how to take them from the door to the chair.

A walk-in is a client who turns up without a booking. Putting them on the calendar, rather than just ringing them up at the till, holds the stylist's time so nobody double-books them, and gives the client a customer record for next time.

Book the walk-in

1. On Appointments, click New Walk-In at the top (the dashboard has a New Walk-in button too). Or click an empty slot under the stylist who is free, so their name and the hour are filled in for you.
2. The Book Appointment window opens with New Walk-In selected. Check the Branch box shows your branch; if it does not, close the window and switch branch at the top of the screen first.
3. Type the client's First Name. Last Name and Phone are optional, but take the phone whenever you can.
4. Set the Date and Start Time. A booking cannot start in the past, so choose a time a minute or two ahead of the clock. If you clicked a slot, the time is the start of that hour, which has usually already gone; change it.
5. Under Service & Staff, type a few letters in the filter box to find the Service, then pick from Staff. The list shows only people who do that service and are free at that time.
6. Add Notes if needed and click Confirm Booking.

The walk-in appears on the calendar as Scheduled, and a customer record is created for them with a note that they were added as a walk-in.

From the door to the chair

The client is already in the salon, so you can skip confirming:

1. In the Working Queue, find them under Arriving Today and press Check In.
2. Press Start when the stylist takes them.
3. Press Checkout when they are done and take payment; see checkout.

More on the queue in the Working Queue.

Clients who have been before

Always ask. If the phone number you type already belongs to a customer, StyleDesk refuses the walk-in with A customer with this phone number already exists. Switch to Existing Customer, search for them by name or phone, and book them as normal (see booking an appointment). Their visit then joins their history, loyalty points and notes.

A walk-in booked without a phone number gets a new customer record every time, because there is nothing to recognise them by. That is how a client book fills up with five people called Ayesha.

Selling without a booking

For a product sale, or a quick service when you do not need the stylist's time on the calendar, use the Manual POS Terminal instead; see the POS terminal. Bear in mind that a service sold there does not appear on the calendar.

Owners, managers and receptionists can book walk-ins.