The problem
A massage therapist can't answer the phone with oil on their hands and a client on the table, and a 60 or 90-minute treatment is a long time for a caller to wait. Many ring the next therapist instead. If that loses 1 booking a week at $73£55€65A$106C$103 that's about $315£237€282A$455C$446 a month ($73£55€65A$106C$103 × 4.3).
What the AI does
Fresha's AI Concierge is an add-on to its booking software. Its page says it answers calls and replies to messages, books and reschedules appointments in the Fresha calendar, answers common questions from a knowledge base you add, transfers calls to a number you set and passes on messages it can't handle. Every call is recorded and transcribed. Load it with your treatments, prices, opening hours and parking, and set it to take a message for anything about injuries, pregnancy, recent surgery or medical conditions, so you call back and decide whether a treatment is suitable. It costs €94.95 a location a month with 200 minutes and 500 messages included.
A worked example
A solo sports and remedial massage therapist in Cheltenham works from a treatment room above a gym and misses about 6 calls a week while treating. They move their diary to Fresha's Independent plan, add AI Concierge and set every health question to become a message they return between clients.
Before
About 6 missed calls a week, with roughly 1 booking a week going elsewhere
After
Every call answered and routine bookings made straight into the diary, worth about $315£237€282A$455C$446 a month in treatments
What it's worth
About $251£189€225A$363C$355 a month in profit, at an assumed 80% margin after oils, laundry and card fees on $315£237€282A$455C$446 of extra treatments (1 more $73£55€65A$106C$103 booking a week, times 4.3). That is against €94.95 (about $109£82€98A$157C$154) a month for AI Concierge if you already use Fresha, or about $126£95€113A$182C$179 with the Independent plan at €14.95, shown in local currency on Fresha's page. At 6 calls a week of about 3 minutes, use is about 77 minutes a month, inside the 200 included.
How to set it up
- Set up Fresha with your treatments, durations, prices and working hours, then add AI Concierge.
- Fill in the knowledge base: what each treatment involves, prices, parking, what to wear and your cancellation terms.
- Set every question about injuries, pregnancy, medication or medical conditions to be passed on as a message for you to return.
- Ring your own number from another phone and test a routine booking, a reschedule and a health question.
- Read the call summaries each evening for the first fortnight and fix the knowledge base wherever it got something wrong.
What goes wrong
- Callers often mention injuries or conditions, which is health data under UK GDPR. Recordings and transcripts sit in Fresha, so tell callers the call is recorded, update your privacy notice and limit who can see them.
- It must never tell anyone a massage is safe for their condition. That is your decision, made in your consultation.
- Fresha shows prices in local currency; check the pound price on its page, and watch the 200-minute allowance in busy months, as extra minutes are €0.57 each.