A booking bot: salons, clinics, car services

In short. A booking bot is an administrator who never sleeps: the client picks a service, a specialist and a free slot, the bot records the booking, reminds them of the visit and notifies you. The range is 6 000–14 000 ₴, the timeline from 2 days after the start. Online prepayment and a CRM are separate price-list rows that can be added later.

Bookings in direct messages or a paper notebook, an administrator who does not answer in the evening, clients who forget their visit — a familiar picture for a salon, a clinic or a car service. A booking bot covers exactly that: it takes bookings around the clock, keeps the schedule and sends reminders. Below is how it works, what the range includes, what is priced separately and what to prepare so the launch does not drag on.

What it looks like for the client

1. Opens the bot from a link and sees the list of services.
2. Picks a service and a specialist.
3. Sees the free slots in the schedule and picks a convenient one.
4. Gets a booking confirmation in the chat.
5. Gets a reminder before the visit — if it is in the spec.

At that moment you or the administrator get a notification about the new booking — in Telegram or in a work group. Bookings come in at night and at weekends too, when nobody is sitting by the phone.

What changes for the administrator

• Bookings do not get lost. Every booking is recorded in the bot and arrives as a notification instead of staying in private messages.
• One schedule. The bot only shows free time, so two clients cannot end up in the same slot.
• Evenings and weekends are covered. The bot takes bookings when the administrator no longer answers and covers the evening and night requests.
• Reminders instead of calls. The bot reminds the client of the visit on its own, if reminders are in the spec — the administrator does not have to ring everyone the day before.

Who it suits

Any business where a client books a time with a particular person or for a particular place:

• a beauty salon — a service, a specialist, the length of the procedure;
• a clinic — a doctor, the type of appointment, free slots;
• a car service — the type of work and the drop-off time;
• a tutor — lessons and the schedule;
• a cafe or a restaurant — table reservations.

A website for such a business makes sense when clients look for you on Google. If they already write in Telegram, a bot alone does the job, and for ads a combination works well: a landing page collects requests, the bot handles the booking. More — in the article a Telegram bot or a website.

What the range includes and what is fixed separately

Included: the list of services, choosing a specialist, free time from the schedule, a confirmation to the client, a notification to the administrator about a new booking.

Fixed separately in the spec — these items move the price within the range:

• reminders about the visit and how long before it they are sent;
• rescheduling and cancelling by the client;
• syncing with Google Calendar;
• the number of specialists and the schedule rules — breaks, days off.

Not included: online payment and prepayment through the bot, a CRM, the texts describing the services, hosting.

What it costs

Booking with payment is already a separate price-list row: a booking bot plus the “online payment” add-on, +5 000–15 000 ₴. The merchant account is registered in your name, and the payment provider's fees are yours too. Work out the range for your own schedule and number of specialists in the calculator.

Start with a basic version

There is no need to put everything into the first version. Services, specialists, free slots, a confirmation and a notification already make a working bot that takes bookings. Reminders, rescheduling, Google Calendar and prepayment can be added in later stages, once it is clear how clients use the bot. Each stage is estimated separately, and fitting the scope to the budget is a normal conversation: a smaller scope, not a smaller price for the same one. What else a bot can take on besides bookings — in the article a chatbot for business.

What to prepare before the start

The clock starts once the prepayment and the materials are in, so it is better to collect everything in advance:

• a bot created in BotFather in your own account — then it is yours from day one;
• where bookings should go: your Telegram or a group;
• the list of services with their duration;
• the list of specialists and who does what;
• working hours, breaks and days off;
• how long before the visit to send a reminder, and whether Google Calendar is needed.

A finished spec is not needed — we write it together, and that is part of the project. Describe the task in the brief in your own words, or as a voice message in Telegram. One detail: you need one person on your side who looks at the demos and accepts the work — otherwise every demo waits for an answer and the timeline slips.

How we price and how you pay

A 50 % prepayment before the start, the rest after delivery and acceptance. Revisions within the spec are included; revision rounds per stage: up to 4. After delivery — the source code with no exceptions, a guide and a 7-day warranty on fixes. Hosting — yours, or ours at $15 a month or $150 a year. Other kinds of bots and their ranges are in the article how much a Telegram bot costs, and everything about bots is on the Telegram bots page.

The figures in this article come from our price list: they are filled in automatically and match the calculator. It will work out the range for your task in 30 seconds.

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