Appointment booking
Book it in the chat, remind twice, fill the gaps.
Clinics, salons, workshops, tutors, consultants: the diary is the business. We put booking inside WhatsApp, capture the fields you need, send reminders that cut no-shows, and refill cancelled slots from a waitlist.
The Zimbabwean situation
What usually goes wrong
The receptionist books in a paper diary and on the phone at the same time. Two patients arrive for 09:00. Three do not arrive at all, and nobody knows until 09:20. The workshop has a bay standing empty because the 11:00 cancelled by WhatsApp voice note at 10:50 and nobody heard it.
Zimbabwe adds its own details: a clinic needs the medical aid society and membership number before the visit; a tutor's calendar follows the school terms (first term 2026 ran 13 January to 1 April); a deposit "via the link" fails for anyone on a WhatsApp bundle.
What we build
What gets built
- Booking in the chat. Service, then a numbered list of open slots from your calendar, then the fields you need, then confirmation. No links required.
- Reminders. 24 hours and 2 hours before, with reply-to-confirm and one-tap reschedule.
- Waitlist. Cancelled slots offered automatically to the next waiting customer.
- Deposits, two ways. Paynow link for those who can open it; EcoCash merchant-code instructions for those who cannot; the booking confirms on the payment notification.
- Counting. Bookings, no-shows, fill rate and lead time reported monthly.
How it works
The flow, end to end
What it needs from you
- Your services with durations, and who or what each one needs (room, bay, practitioner).
- Access to the calendar(s), or a decision to start one.
- The fields you must capture before a visit.
- Your cancellation and deposit policy, and your Paynow or EcoCash merchant details if deposits apply.
- Reminder wording, hours, and public-holiday handling.
Timeline shape
| Phase | Typical span | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Scoping | 1 week | Services, durations, resources (rooms, bays, staff), fields to capture, deposit policy, reminder timing. |
| Build | 2–3 weeks | Calendar connection, WhatsApp booking flow, reminders, reschedule/cancel, waitlist, deposit path. |
| Pilot | 2 weeks | Staff book alongside the system; no-show and fill rates measured from day one. |
| Run | ongoing | Monthly: reminder timing, slot lengths, seasonal hours (school terms, public holidays). |
Spans are typical shapes, not quotes. The process page explains what moves them.
What it costs
What drives the price
A single-calendar booking flow with reminders is a small project. Multi-practitioner rosters, deposits and specialist software are what move it.
We do not publish package prices because the drivers below move the number by multiples. The pricing page lists every driver with sourced platform costs.
| Driver | Effect on cost |
|---|---|
| Number of resources | One calendar is simple; five practitioners with different hours and rooms adds configuration. |
| Deposit handling | No deposit is cheapest; Paynow/EcoCash confirmation matching is a small extra build. |
| Practice or workshop software | Google/Microsoft calendars connect directly; specialist systems need a connector or a manual bridge. |
| Reminder volume | Reminders inside the 24-hour window are free utility messages; outside it they are charged per template. |
| Fields and rules | Medical-aid numbers, vehicle registrations, first-visit vs follow-up durations each add logic. |
Questions we get asked
Can patients or customers book without leaving WhatsApp?
Yes, and they must be able to, because a customer on a WhatsApp-only bundle cannot open a booking page. Slots are offered as a numbered list inside the chat; the confirmation, reminders and reschedule all happen in the same thread.
Can we take a deposit?
Yes, with a caveat. Paynow supports EcoCash express checkout and card payments, but a payment link is still a web page. For bundle-only customers we send merchant-code or USSD instructions instead and confirm the booking when the payment notification arrives. Both paths are built; the customer picks.
Does it work for a clinic that needs medical-aid details?
Yes. The booking flow asks for the fields you need (medical aid society, membership number, reason for visit) and stores them against the appointment. We do not touch claims submission; that stays with your practice software.
How are no-shows reduced?
Two reminders (24 hours and 2 hours before, as utility templates), a one-tap reschedule, and a waitlist that offers freed slots to the next person. You will know your no-show rate because the system counts it.
Which calendars does it connect to?
Google Calendar, Microsoft 365 and Cal.com directly; practice or workshop software with an API by connector. If your bookings live in a paper diary today, the calendar becomes the diary.
Next step
Scope it before you book it
Fill in the scoping worksheet (five minutes, no sign-up). It produces a summary you can paste into WhatsApp or email, so the first call starts with the actual work.