The waitlist feature for service-based appointments allows you to easily fill in any gaps in your schedule where someone might cancel or if a client is looking for their ideal time. Your waitlist is right there for you on the Calendar page or on the Dashboard, making it handy to add someone to the list or get them booked! 🙌
Additionally, once enabled, clients can add themselves to the appointment waitlist while walking through the online booking workflow,* freeing up time in your busy schedule.
Jump to a section in this article:
Enabling the waitlist
First, to get the waitlist up and running, you'll want to have the Unlimited Plan enabled. Then, you can head over to the Policies area to turn on the waitlist:
From Settings, select the "Policies" tile
Click into "Appointment Policies"
Toggle the Service Waitlist to "on"
If you want clients to be able to add themselves to the waitlist, go ahead and toggle that "on" as well
You also have the option to hold bookable waitlist time slots, so only you can book them. Or, if you’d like clients to be able to book those slots online rather than hold them for the waitlist requests, just toggle the bottom switch to “off”
Click "Save" at the bottom
Adding a client to the waitlist
When adding a client's request to the waitlist, you'll be able to:
Choose whether to send the client a confirmation for their waitlist request
Select what services the client would like to come in for and what provider they'd like to see—or pick Any Available Provider
Choose how long the client would like to remain on the waitlist (7 days, 30 days, or a specific date up to 90 days in the future)
Select the days of the week, and times of day that work best for the client
Add any important notes!
Here are the steps to get someone added! 👇
Head to the Calendar or Dashboard page
Click the Waitlist icon in the upper right corner (screenshot above)
Choose "Add to Waitlist"
Fill in your details, and be sure to hit "Save to Waitlist" at the bottom
Managing your waitlist
Once you have a client on your waitlist, Schedulicity will keep an eye on your schedule. We'll automatically match up waitlist requests with open slots in your calendar that fit the client's criteria. In addition, we'll reserve up to 10 slots per waitlist request and prevent other clients from booking those time slots so folks on the waitlist can get first dibs! If you'd rather leave those spots open for clients booking online, you can adjust that in the waitlist settings. 👍
You'll get a little red notification bubble on the waitlist icon any time a request has a match on your calendar, so be on the lookout for that, and from there, it's just a few clicks to move them onto your schedule. Check it out:
Head back over to the Calendar or Dashboard page
Click the Waitlist icon in the upper right corner (screenshot above)
Choose "Manage Waitlist"
To look at available time slots for a client, click on their name
Select the date and time you'd like to book them for
Click the "Book It" button
Editing a client's waitlist info
If you need to make adjustments to any of the criteria for a client on the waitlist, such as the available times, we make that simple as well!
Head back over to the Calendar or Dashboard page
Click the Waitlist icon in the upper right corner (screenshot above)
Choose "Manage Waitlist"
Select the "Waiting for Match" tab
Click the three vertical dots to the right of the client's name and choose "Edit"
Make your adjustments, and be sure to hit "Update" along the bottom
What's Next?
We’ve put together an email template, so you can send out a message to your clients, letting them know about the waitlist option and to reach out if they’d like to be added.
If you'd like more of a visual on the service waitlist, check out our tutorial video here.
Here is more info on how clients can add themselves to the appointment waitlist.