Glossary
Front-of-house words, in plain English
Short definitions of the terms that come up when a salon, studio or clinic runs its phone, its appointment book and its policies. Each one says what the word means and why it matters when a client rings.
A
- After-hours call
- A call that reaches a business outside its opening hours, usually from someone booking ahead, cancelling or checking a time.
B
- Booking request
- A client's request for a service at a time that suits them, which only becomes a booking once the business confirms it.
- Buffer time
- Minutes left free between appointments for cleaning up, resetting the room, writing notes and catching up when a service runs over.
C
- Call diversion
- A phone setting that passes calls on to another number, either every call or only the ones you do not answer.
- Call summary
- A short written account of a phone call, saying who rang, from which number and what they wanted, so it can be acted on later.
- Cancellation fee
- A charge a business takes when a client cancels an appointment with less notice than its stated policy asks for.
- Chair utilisation
- The share of a chair's or room's available hours that is booked with paying clients, usually measured as a percentage over a week.
- Client retention
- The share of clients who come back for another appointment within a normal interval, rather than drifting away to another business.
- Colour correction
- Hair colour work that fixes or reverses an earlier result, such as banding, brassiness or box dye, priced once the stylist has seen the hair.
- Confirmation text
- A text message from the business that fixes an appointment's day, time and service, turning a client's request into a booking.
- Consultation
- A short appointment before a service where the practitioner looks at what the client has, explains the options and sets the price.
D
- Deposit
- Part of a service price paid in advance to hold an appointment, taken off the bill on the day and kept under stated rules if the client does not come.
- Double booking
- Two clients booked into the same chair, room or practitioner at the same time, usually by mistake and sometimes on purpose.
E
- Enquiry inbox
- One place where a business gathers questions from clients and would-be clients, from email, web forms and messages, so none go unanswered.
F
- Forwarding address
- An email address that passes every message it receives on to another inbox, so enquiries sent to one place arrive where you work.
G
- Gift voucher
- A prepaid card or certificate that someone buys for another person to spend on services or products at one business.
L
- Late arrival
- A client turning up after their appointment's start time, which shortens the service, delays later clients or forces a new booking.
- Late cancellation
- A cancellation that arrives inside the notice window a business sets, such as less than 24 hours before the appointment.
M
- Missed call
- An incoming call that nobody answered, often from a new client who then rings the next business on the list instead of leaving a message.
N
- No-show
- A client who misses a booked appointment without cancelling, leaving the time unpaid and too late to offer to anyone else.
P
- Patch test
- A small test application of a product, done some time before a service, to check whether the client reacts to it before the full treatment.
- Peak hours
- The times of the week when the most clients want appointments and the phone rings most, such as Saturday mornings and weekday evenings.
- Processing time
- The time a product needs to work once it is applied, such as hair colour, lightener or a lash lift solution, while the client waits.
R
- Rebooking rate
- The share of clients who book their next appointment before they leave, usually measured per stylist or therapist over a week or a month.
- Reminder text
- A short message sent a day or two before an appointment to remind the client of the time and give them an easy way to change it.
S
- Service menu
- The list of services a business offers, each with a name, a price and a length, used by clients, staff and whoever answers the phone.
V
- Virtual receptionist
- A service that answers a business's phone when nobody on site can, run either by a remote person or by an automated voice assistant.
- Voicemail
- A recorded greeting and message box that takes the calls you do not answer, so callers can leave their name, number and reason for ringing.
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