Four stylists, eight chairs, two colours processing and one front desk mid-blow-dry. Stella answers every call, books into real stylist-and-chair availability, reminds, reschedules and back-fills — and knows a colour is three phases, not one block.
Good afternoon, Salon Nova, this is Stella — how can I help?
None of this is a scheduling-software problem. It's a front-desk problem: somebody has to pick up, know the whole book, and know how each of your stylists works.
Stella answers as part of the salon, listens, and books into the real gap — the one inside the processing time.
The universal six, and two that only matter if you own scissors.
No menus, no “press one”, no hold music, no disclaimer wall. Place, first name, how can I help — in one breath. Then she listens instead of interrogating. And she's there at 7:40 in the morning and 9 at night — when the parent thinks of it, not when you open.
She searches actual availability — who is where, doing what, for how long, in which chair or room — and never double-books. If she offers 2:20, 2:20 is free.
Reminders go out ahead of time. When someone can't make it, she handles the flustered call with warmth and finds the next time without drama.
A cancelled four o'clock is the one slot you can't sell tomorrow. The moment it frees, she offers it — by text — to the people who've said they'd take short notice, who wanted earlier, or who owe a make-up. First yes takes it; nobody else hears about it.
A four o'clock cancels? She asks the five o'clock if they'd like to come earlier. Nobody is obliged, and it cascades — you finish at five, not six.
Someone turns down a 9am; she stops leading with mornings for them. Preferences, never rules — and when she checks, she uses very few words.
Apply (hands on), process (hands free, chair held), rinse and style (hands on). She books a cut into the wait — same stylist, another chair — and never lets two people need the same chair.
She won't rank your team. She'll say who does balayage, who's senior, who speaks Spanish, what each stylist says about themselves — and let the client choose.
She takes the cancellation the moment it comes, whatever the hour — nobody waits for the desk to open. Runway is money: the earlier she knows, the more people she can offer the slot to once your outbound hours open, and the likelier it fills. Your policy — notice period, deposit, fee — is yours; she states it plainly, applies it the same way every time, and stays kind about it.
Everyone on the short-notice list asked to be on it. Nobody is nagged; nobody hears another client's business.
Rain, a burst pipe, a birth, the autoclave, the hall double-booked — the whole block moves, and it's your call, not the client's. You say it once; she works out who's affected, offers each person the right alternative in their own words, waives the fee, logs the reason, and reports back. When it's an overrun rather than a closure she works by who can still act: the people who haven't left home yet get the call and the choice; the people already in the room get the honest ETA and a coffee; nobody further out is touched until the delay is still growing. Nobody hears why; nobody rings the desk.
The boiler's gone — no hot water till two. Move every wash before two, offer cuts and consults instead, and tell people it's on us.
Most booking tools blank out ninety minutes and call it a day. Stella models the service the way you actually work it — so the processing wait becomes bookable time for a cut, a fringe trim, a consultation.
Nobody books a colour expecting the stylist to stand behind them for two hours. Your calendar shouldn't either.
A panel by the basins says who's next at every chair and what changed. Nobody has to stop, dry their hands, and open an app — and the owner sees the whole floor.
And when a rep calls about a new product line, or someone selling card terminals — you'll never know. That's the point.
No “press one”. No “your call is important to us”. No recorded disclaimers before a human word. Warm, short, present — and honest if you ask what she is.
She offers what's in your catalogue and staff profiles. She won't crown a “best” anyone or promise an outcome. A time she offers is a time that's free.
A moved client hears “we need to move your Tuesday — let me find you another time.” Never who, never why. And once moved kindly, they're not yo-yo'd back.
She doesn't lead with it and doesn't apologise for it. Ask, and she'll tell you plainly: she's the assistant. She helps; that's what people remember.
Your services as recipes, your stylists and what they do, your chairs, your hours per location. She's configured by hand for the first salons — which is why we're going slowly.
Stella is in early access with a small number of practices and salons. Tell us about your phone and we'll tell you plainly whether she fits — and when.