With an online booking system, your client clicks through a calendar themselves. An AI receptionist on WhatsApp works the other way round: your client simply sends a message as they always do, and the receptionist proposes times, books the appointment and handles changes in the same conversation. Both fill your calendar. The difference is who does the work: your client, or the receptionist.
How it works
You share a link or put a button on your website or Instagram. The client chooses a service, a staff member and a time, and fills in their details. That works well for clients who like to click through themselves and know exactly what they want.
If a client has a question, or wants a time that is not in the list, they still send you a message. You answer that message yourself, in between clients.
You connect your own business WhatsApp number through Meta’s official WhatsApp Business connection. When a client sends a message, the receptionist reads it, checks your calendar for free slots per staff member and proposes concrete times. Once the client says yes, the appointment is booked.
Rescheduling, cancelling and paying a deposit online (for example with iDEAL or card) happen in the same conversation. If something is unclear, the receptionist hands the conversation to you and you get a notification.
There is no right or wrong. It depends on how your clients already contact you today.
The receptionist does not make up services, prices or times. It only books what is in your price list, with the duration you set. If it cannot tell which service the client means, it asks the client instead of guessing. And clients who do not use WhatsApp cannot be reached this way.
Not for booking through WhatsApp. BarbrFlow has its own calendar with working hours and services per staff member, and the receptionist books appointments into it.
No. Your client messages your business WhatsApp number, just like today. They do not need to install or create anything.
It hands the conversation to you and you get a notification. It does not guess and does not make up an answer. You can read along and take over any conversation yourself.
Try BarbrFlow free for 14 days in your own business. After that it is €249 per month per business, excluding VAT and all-in for regular use. Billed monthly, no notice period.