How to switch booking systems without losing customers
What makes a switch painful is almost never the software. It's the sequence: people cancel first and discover afterwards that the customer list stayed behind. Here's the sequence that makes the switch boring — which is exactly what you want it to be.
Export the customer list before you mention anything
First step, before you create an account anywhere: export the customers from the system you're in now. Name, phone, email, and notes if you can get them out. Do it while you're still a paying customer. Your access to the data may worsen the moment cancellation is registered, and "we're unfortunately unable to retrieve it now" is an answer people receive. If you can't export at all, it's worth knowing before you build the next year on the same supplier.
Run both for two weeks
Put all new appointments in the new system from a specific date. Let the appointments already in the old system expire there. After two to four weeks the old system is almost empty by itself, and you've tested the new one with real customers while the way back was still open. It costs you one extra month's fee. That's cheap to avoid discovering in week three that the reminders aren't going out.
Tell customers once, briefly
They don't need to know you've switched suppliers. They need the new link. Update the Instagram bio, Google listing and any website the same day. Send a short message to regulars: "New booking link, same me." Keep the old link live as long as you can, and check it after a month — that's where your last bookings hide.
The checklist before you cancel
The customer list is exported and imported, and you've opened the file to check that it actually contains something. A test booking has been completed from mobile, the way a customer would do it. An SMS reminder has been received on your own phone. The booking link is updated everywhere you found it. The notice period is checked — with Norwegian suppliers one to three months is common, and it runs from when you cancel, not from when you stopped using the system.
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19 kr a month for the whole salon, whatever the number of chairs. It is still in build — claim a spot now and you keep the price.
Common questions
When during the year should I switch?
In the quietest period you have, never right before Christmas or russefeiring. You need a couple of weeks where a small mistake is just annoying and not expensive.
What if the supplier refuses to give me the customer list?
The contact information for your customers is personal data you are the data controller for. In Norway and the rest of the EEA, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) gives you the right to have it released. Ask in writing, refer to GDPR, and involve Datatilsynet, the Norwegian data protection authority, if they still refuse. If you operate outside the EEA, other rules apply — check what applies where you are.
Do I lose my reviews?
Reviews that are posted on a marketplace usually stay there — they are the provider’s content, not yours. It’s a good argument for asking satisfied customers to leave reviews on Google, which you keep regardless of what you switch to.
How long does a switch actually take?
An afternoon to set up, two to four weeks running in parallel, then a notice period. The actual work is minimal; it’s the waiting period that makes the switch safe.
Other things we made
Også for deg som driver et enkeltpersonforetak.
Også for deg som driver et enkeltpersonforetak.
Også for deg som driver et enkeltpersonforetak.
Også på norsk, laget av oss.