How to move from manual bookings to online booking
Paper diaries and Instagram threads work until they do not: a sick day, a busy Saturday, a therapist who cannot read your handwriting. Moving to online booking is less a technology project than a habit change for you and your regulars.
Set the booking website up properly first
Hours, services, durations, who can do what, deposit rules, and a page that looks like you. If the first online slot is wrong, clients will not trust the second. Bookivo can show you a branded preview before you go live, which is the point of asking for a mock-up.
Import people, not only hope
If you have a list — even a spreadsheet of names and numbers — bring it in. Email hello@bookivo.co.uk if you need import help. Regulars should not have to re-type their life.
Run a two-week overlap
Keep honouring existing paper bookings. Take all new bookings on the link. Tell regulars once, clearly, in person and on Instagram: “From this date, use this page — it stops us double-booking.” Then actually refuse to hold times in DMs.
What you should feel after the switch
Fewer evening messages, fewer “I thought I was in”, deposits on the appointments that matter, reminders you did not send by hand. If you do not feel that, the services or hours are probably still messy — not the idea of online booking.
FAQs
See what Bookivo could look like for your business
If you want to see a branded Bookivo booking website for your salon or clinic before you commit, request a free preview.