The problem
Someone searches for nails near them, finds your salon on Google Maps and can only ring, while every tech has a client's hands under the lamp. They tap the salon down the road that has a booking button instead. If 25 booking calls and messages a week take 3 minutes each, that's 75 minutes a week, about 5.4 hours a month (75 × 4.3), and if 4 bookings a month at $47£35€42A$67C$66 go elsewhere, that's $186£140€167A$269C$263 of takings.
What the AI does
Booksy's UK pricing page lists Reserve with Google among the features in its $53£40€48A$77C$75 a month plan, and its online booking page says clients can book straight from Google Search and Google Maps. Booksy's guide describes how it works: the client chooses the service, the time and the team member from your Google listing, the appointment goes into your Booksy calendar and the client is added to your client list. It needs a free Google Business Profile connected to Booksy. Booksy also lets clients pick more than one service in a booking, add add-ons and leave a booking note, so set each service with its real length: soak-off, builder gel infill, a full set of extensions, nail art. You can set how far ahead and how late on the day people can book, and require your approval for bookings if you prefer.
A worked example
A 4-tech nail salon on a high street in Croydon already books regulars through Booksy, but its Google listing only shows a phone number. The owner connects Booksy to the salon's Google Business Profile and sets every service's length and price.
Before
About 25 booking calls and messages a week at 3 minutes each, and an estimated 4 bookings a month lost to salons with a booking button
After
15 of those 25 book online, saving 45 minutes a week, and 4 more bookings a month come through Google
What it's worth
About $189£142€169A$273C$267 a month, against $73£55€65A$106C$103 plus VAT for Booksy. That's $112£84€100A$161C$158 in profit from 4 more $47£35€42A$67C$66 bookings ($186£140€167A$269C$263 at an assumed 60% margin after gel, files and card fees) plus 45 minutes a week of booking calls saved (about 3.2 hours a month, times 4.3), worth $77£58€69A$111C$109 at $24£18€21A$35C$34 an hour. Booksy is $53£40€48A$77C$75 plus 3 extra techs at $7£5€6A$10C$9 each, $73£55€65A$106C$103 a month plus VAT ($88£66€79A$127C$124 with VAT); if the salon already uses Booksy, Reserve with Google costs nothing extra, and the Google Business Profile is free. The 4 extra bookings are an assumption.
How to set it up
- Check your Google Business Profile: the right name, address, opening hours, phone number and photos of real sets.
- In Booksy, give every service its real length and price, including soak-off, infills, full sets and nail art add-ons, so an online booking can't squeeze a full set into a 45-minute gap.
- Connect Booksy to your Google Business Profile for Reserve with Google; Booksy's guide says it can be done in the app, and its support team can help.
- Set your booking rules: how far ahead clients can book, a same-day cut-off, and whether new clients need your approval for long appointments.
- Book a test appointment from your own Google listing on a phone and check it lands in the right tech's column at the right time.
- After a month, compare how many bookings came through Google with the number of booking calls.
What goes wrong
- If you turn on Booksy Boost, a new client's first visit can be charged a one-time 30% (minimum $7£5€6A$10C$9). Ask Booksy whether bookings through Google count as Boost clients before turning Boost on.
- Wrong service lengths mean double-booked techs. Check every service before connecting, and again whenever you change the menu.
- A client who books online hasn't spoken to anyone. Keep your history questions and patch test rules for new gel and acrylic clients, and check them before the tech starts.
- Booksy says clients must enter and verify their contact details to book, and some will give up. Keep the phone number on your Google listing.