Waitlist operations
A waitlist that converts
A waitlist is only useful if it actually delivers warm customers to your open slots. Goldenhour’s auto- fanout cron does the matching + the SMS the moment a cancellation frees a slot. ~30-40% of entries convert within 14 days.
What it does
Auto-fanout on every cancel
When an existing booking is canceled or rescheduled, goldenhour:
- 01Scans active waitlist entries for the same service.
- 02Filters by time-of-day match (morning / afternoon / evening / any).
- 03Filters by date proximity (within ~7 days of the newly-open slot).
- 04SMSes all matches with a deep link to the freed slot. First-come-first-served.
When to surface it
Three moments
When the date the customer wants is full
Step 2 of the booking flow (date pick). If all visible dates have no slots, surface a “Join the waitlist for this week” CTA. The booking page already does this: no extra setup needed.
When the time of day the customer wants is full
Step 3 of the booking flow (time pick). All morning slots booked? Offer a waitlist entry for a morning-only slot in the next 7 days.
Proactively: for known sold-out windows
If you know prom week, Mother’s Day weekend, or specific holidays sell out, post on Instagram + SMS the existing book inviting waitlist entries BEFORE the slot fills. Higher conversion than after-the-fact recovery.
Flexibility coaching
Coach customers toward “any” time-of-day
Most waitlist conversions come from entries that matched on time-of-day. An entry marked “any time” converts 2-3x more often than “mornings only”. In the waitlist-entry copy, gently nudge customers to expand their window (“mornings preferred, but I’ll take any time if it’s soon enough”).
FAQ
- How does the waitlist work?
- When a booked appointment is canceled or rescheduled, goldenhour scans the waitlist for matching entries (same service + overlapping time-of-day window + within ~7 days) and SMSes the matches a deep link to claim the freed slot. First-come-first-served.
- Can a customer join the waitlist without a specific date?
- Yes. Waitlist entries take a time-of-day band (morning / afternoon / evening / any) and a service. Specific calendar date is optional: most useful when the customer has a hard event date.
- How often do waitlist entries actually convert?
- Per platform-aggregated data, ~30-40% of waitlist entries convert to a booking within 14 days when the artist has regular cancellation churn. The conversion rate skews higher in services with shorter customer-decision windows (spray tans, lash fills) than longer (color correction, bridal).
- Can I turn auto-fanout off?
- Yes: Settings → Notifications → Waitlist auto-notify. Some artists prefer to text waitlist entries manually when a slot frees, especially for high-trust regulars. Default is on.