Question 1

Different stylists work different days/hours — can each have their own schedule?

Accepted Answer

Yes — every stylist gets their own calendar with independent working days, hours, off-days, and service menu. Karen Tuesday-Saturday 10am-7pm doing cuts and basic colour; Mei Wednesday-Sunday 11am-8pm doing senior colour work. A customer asking for a Friday afternoon balayage only sees stylists who actually offer balayage and are working that afternoon. The matching is automatic, atomic, and accounts for service-specific duration too — Mei's balayage might be 90 minutes while a cut is 30.

Question 2

Does the deposit go to the salon owner or the individual stylist?

Accepted Answer

Goes to the salon's Stripe account by default — that's how most multi-stylist salons run. End-of-day reporting shows you which stylist's bookings collected which deposits, so commission splits stay accurate. If you run a chair-rental model where each stylist invoices their own clients, Cadence supports separate Stripe accounts per stylist with the deposit landing in the correct one. Both models work; you pick during setup.

Question 3

We're 80% walk-in — does Cadence still make sense?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and arguably more so. Walk-ins still walk in — Cadence doesn't change your physical-door flow. But every walk-in eventually wants to message you for their next appointment, recommend you to a friend, or check what time you close. That's the inbound flood Cadence handles. For the 20% who do book ahead, you get deposit-backed no-show protection. For the 80% walk-ins, you build a WhatsApp customer base over six months that converts into pre-booked regulars over twelve.

Question 4

What's the right reschedule cutoff? Customers ask to change at the last minute constantly.

Accepted Answer

Most salons land on 24 hours — free reschedule earlier than that, deposit forfeited if rescheduled inside the cutoff. Cadence enforces whichever rule you set automatically and communicates it cleanly upfront on the confirmation message. Inside-the-cutoff reschedules can either deduct from the deposit or be allowed as a one-time courtesy (your call), and the audit log records exactly how the policy fired. Most customers stop asking once they see the policy is consistent rather than negotiable case-by-case.

Question 5

My customers speak Cantonese/Mandarin/Malay — can the AI handle that?

Accepted Answer

Yes — language detection happens automatically from the first message. A KL customer writing in Bahasa Melayu, an HDB-area aunty writing in Cantonese, and a Bukit Timah customer writing in English all message the same WhatsApp number and get replied to in their own language. Singapore-style code-switching (English with a sprinkle of 'lah', 'leh', mixed Mandarin) is handled naturally — the AI doesn't force a stilted full-Mandarin reply when the customer is comfortable in Singlish.

Question 6

Hair colour appointments are 3 hours, cuts are 30 minutes — different durations in the same calendar?

Accepted Answer

Yes — service-specific duration is configured per service per stylist. A cut with Karen blocks 30 minutes; a full balayage with Mei blocks 3 hours; a beard trim with Daniel blocks 20 minutes. The calendar respects each duration when offering slots and won't accidentally squeeze a colour into a slot that's actually a cut-sized gap. You can also configure buffer time between services (10-15 minutes for cleanup) on a per-stylist basis.

Question 7

Customers always want the same stylist — can the system remember?

Accepted Answer

Yes — every customer profile records their most-recent stylist, their go-to service, and their typical booking cadence. When a regular messages 'time for a touch-up', Cadence offers their usual stylist's next slots first, skipping the others unless asked. New customers get matched by service and availability. Over time the customer-stylist relationship deepens because the booking experience never breaks the regular's expectation — they don't have to specify what they want or who they want it from.

AI admin staff for salons where deposits stop the no-shows and every stylist runs their own day

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