Tattoo booking software is a studio purchase, made when a shop has more than one artist and the front desk can no longer keep the diaries in a notebook and a group chat. This page says what a tattoo booking system has to do for a studio that a single artist's app does not: several diaries on one screen, deposits held per artist, consent forms attached to every booking, and reminders that go out under the studio name whoever is doing the work. It compares tattoo studio booking software with tattoo appointment software on the phone, and prices the choice at the published rates. The free reminder template on this site sizes the reminder load from your own diary first.
Several artists, one diary, one deposit policy
The first thing a studio needs from a tattoo booking system is a single view of every artist's day, so the desk can offer a client the next free sitting with any artist rather than the one they asked for. The second is a deposit policy that is applied the same way for every artist, taken at booking and stated in the confirmation. Dantas et al. 2018 found lead time to be one of the two main determinants of a no-show across 105 studies, and studio bookings run weeks out, so the deposit and the reminder are where the revenue is protected.
Consent, references and placement travel with the booking
Tattoo studio booking software should attach the consent form to the booking and hold it signed before the client arrives, along with the reference images and the placement notes, so the artist opens the day with everything in front of them. A studio that keeps consent on paper and references in a message thread loses the first part of every sitting to admin, and cannot prove consent was signed if it is ever asked. A booking system that cannot attach a document to a booking is a calendar, whatever it is called.
The reminder under the studio name
Kheirkhah et al. 2016 measured a mean no-show rate of 18.8% and an average cost of $196 per missed appointment in the clinics they studied; a studio sitting is worth more. The Cochrane 2013 review found mobile text reminders raised attendance from about 67.8% to 78.6%, risk ratio 1.14. The reminder has to come from the studio, not from an artist's personal phone, so it survives the artist leaving and the client knows who to call. Acuity Scheduling publishes multi-calendar plans at $34 a month for up to six calendars; Recallvia Pro is $20 a month to send the reminders under the studio name, record who confirmed and keep the list of clients who have not rebooked, alongside whatever booking system the studio runs.
Questions people ask about tattoo booking software
Do we need tattoo studio booking software or can each artist keep their own app?
Each artist keeping their own app works until the desk cannot see the whole day and a client is offered a slot that is already taken. Studio software exists to give the front desk one screen and one deposit policy.
Does the reminder need to mention the deposit?
Yes, once and plainly. The reminder is the last moment the client can move the booking inside the window, and a reminder that restates the window turns a no-show into a rebooking more often than one that only says the time.
What is the difference between tattoo booking software and tattoo appointment software?
Vendors use the names for the same thing. What you are buying is what happens after the booking: the deposit held, the consent attached, the reminder sent and the confirmation recorded.
Does Recallvia hold deposits?
No. It sends the reminders, records the confirmations and keeps the recall list from the diary you already run; the booking system and the deposit stay where they are.
Sources
- Dantas et al., No-shows in appointment scheduling, a systematic literature review, Health Policy 2018
- Kheirkhah et al., Prevalence, predictors and economic consequences of no-shows, BMC Health Services Research 2016
- Gurol-Urganci et al., Mobile phone messaging reminders for attendance at healthcare appointments, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2013
- Acuity Scheduling, pricing