For nail salons
Gel's curing. It still books.Gel's curing. The phone's ringing. The booking still lands.
Gloves on, e-file running, no free hand. StillBooked texts the caller back in seconds and, on Square Appointments Plus or Premium, books the set onto the right tech's book.
From $99/mo · No contracts · Nothing answers your phone
Illustrative walkthrough
StillBooked recovers missed calls, after-hours calls, and mid-set overflow for independent nail salons. It texts the caller back within seconds and, if you opt in, books the appointment into Square Appointments under the right nail tech. Write-back needs Square Appointments Plus or Premium. On the free plan you get the text-back and the lead.
Saturday, 1:00 PM
Every station full, dryers running, phone on the desk unanswered
The caller gets a text before she scrolls to the next salon.
3:20 PM, gel curing
Forty seconds on the lamp, gloves on, e-file in reach
She texts back 'gel mani and pedi Friday' and it's on Linh's book.
8:40 PM, after close
A wedding invitation and a Saturday deadline
She books the set by text. It's in Square when you open.
A gel set takes what it takes
Nail salon math is unforgiving. A gel set takes what it takes. You can't rush a cure, you can't file with one hand, and you can't pick up a phone with acrylic dust on your gloves. Meanwhile the phone is on the desk ringing, three techs are heads-down, and the client in front of you is watching to see if you'll break focus. You don't. The call goes to voicemail. Most people calling a nail salon want a same-day or next-day slot, and if they can't get an answer, they book somewhere that answers. The chair you had open at four stays open, and you find out about it when you check the phone at six.
What the text says
StillBooked texts that caller back within seconds of the missed call. The message is short: you're with a client, what would they like, when works for them. They reply 'gel mani and pedi, Friday afternoon.' If your salon runs Square Appointments Plus or Premium, the appointment lands on the right tech's book with the service and phone number attached. If you're on free Square, Booksy, Vagaro, or GlossGenius, the caller gets your booking link and you get the lead texted to you. Nobody answers your phone with a robot. The text comes from your salon's name and reads like something you'd send yourself between clients.
The moments you actually miss
Think about the moments you actually miss calls. Gel's curing and the timer has forty seconds left. You're mid-acrylic fill with the e-file running. You're doing a pedicure and the phone is across the room. You're painting a fine line and a twitch would ruin it. Nobody in a nail salon has a hand free for a phone; that's the whole nature of the work. Text-back means the caller hears from you anyway, in the time it would have taken them to decide to call someone else. You finish the set. The booking conversation happened without you, and you can read it when your hands are clean.
After hours is the quiet leak
After hours is the quiet leak. Someone gets invited to a wedding on Thursday night and needs nails by Saturday. She calls at 8:40 PM, gets voicemail, and starts scrolling for another salon. With text-back she gets a reply right then, picks a Saturday slot, and it's in Square when you open. Walk-in-heavy salons get the same benefit: the text can say you take walk-ins, list your hours, and still offer a slot for people who want one. You control which services are bookable by text, whether bookings need your approval before they post, and what hours the texts go out.
Not a replacement for anyone
This isn't about replacing anyone. Not your desk person, not your techs. It's about the one call a day, or the handful on Saturday, that rang while every pair of hands in the salon was gloved and busy. Plans start at $99 a month with no contract. The $199 plan writes bookings straight into Square Appointments if you're on Plus or Premium. A 15-minute diagnosis call is where we look at how your phone actually rings, which booking tool you use, and whether StillBooked would recover enough sets to be worth it for your salon.
Works for: gel manicureacrylic full setacrylic filldip powderspa pedicuregel removalnail artbuilder gelmani-pedi combo
How it works
Catch the call. Text them back. Book it.
01
Catch
A call rings out. You're mid-service, or it's after close, or the desk is three deep.
02
Text or book
Within seconds the caller gets a text from your business name, in wording you approved. They reply with what they want and when.
03
Remind
A confirmation text goes to the client right away. A reminder goes out before the appointment.
Questions
Questions owners ask first
Can it book a manicure and pedicure together?
If the combination exists as a single service in Square Appointments, StillBooked books it on Plus or Premium. If it doesn't, the request comes to you as a lead so you can book the two services by hand.
We take walk-ins and barely book. Why would we need this?
Walk-in salons still miss calls asking about wait times, hours, and whether a specific tech is in. The text-back answers the caller in seconds and gives you the number, so you can reply in one line and keep the walk-in coming.
Can the text go out in a language other than English?
You set the text-back wording, so it can be written in the language your clients use. How replies are handled in a second language depends on your setup, and it's one of the things we cover on the diagnosis call.
What if the client asks for a tech who's off that day?
On Square Appointments Plus or Premium, StillBooked only offers times that tech actually has open, so an off day never gets booked. If nothing fits, the request comes to you as a lead.
Diagnosis first
Find out where your calls are going
A 15-minute call. We look at your missed-call pattern and your booking tool, then tell you plainly whether this fits your shop.