Industries
A salon's AI assistant: price lists, 'from' prices and booking rules
Hair and beauty salons get questions about prices, durations, deposits and late cancellations, usually in the evening. Salon price lists are full of 'from' prices and stylist levels, which is exactly what assistants simplify. How to write them so the answers hold.
· 4 min read · Supa Brain
Salons answer the same handful of questions all day, mostly while their hands are busy: how much is a cut and colour, how long does it take, is there anything on Saturday, what happens if I’m late. Many of those questions arrive in the evening, after closing. An AI assistant can answer them, and help fill the book, if it reads the price list right.
Salon price lists are harder to read than they look. Prices start “from”, depend on hair length and stylist level, and come with deposits and cancellation rules. Assistants tend to flatten all of that into a single number.
What clients ask
| Question | Depends on | Source |
|---|---|---|
| “How much is a cut and blow-dry?” | Stylist level; hair length | Price list |
| “How much is balayage?” | Length; thickness; “from” price | Price list, consultation note |
| “How long does a colour take?” | Service; length | Price list or services page |
| “Do I need a patch test?” | Colour services; timing | Services page, booking rules |
| “Is there a deposit?” | Service; new or returning client | Booking rules |
| “What if I cancel?” | Notice given | Booking rules |
| “Do you have anything on Saturday?” | Live availability | Booking system |
| “Do you do men’s cuts / kids’ cuts?” | Service list | Price list |
| “Can I pay by card?” | Payment methods | Contact or FAQ |
| “Is there parking?” | Location | Contact page |
Where answers go wrong
“From” prices quoted as fixed. “Balayage from €120” becomes “balayage is €120”. The client with long, thick hair arrives expecting €120 and is quoted €190.
The wrong stylist level. Many salons price by level: stylist, senior, director. The assistant reads the first column and quotes the junior price for a senior appointment.
Duration left out. A colour that takes three hours matters to someone booking at lunchtime.
Patch tests forgotten. Many salons require a skin test before a first colour, often 48 hours before. An assistant that books a same-day colour without mentioning it creates a cancelled appointment.
Cancellation rules softened. “You can cancel anytime” when the salon charges 50% for cancellations within 24 hours.
A made-up example
A salon’s price list:
Cut & finish — Stylist €45 / Senior €58 / Director €72 Full head colour — from €85 (+€15 long hair) All colour services need a skin test at least 48 hours before your first appointment. Cancellations with less than 24 hours’ notice are charged at 50%.
A new client asks on Thursday evening: “How much is a full head colour and cut with a senior stylist? Could I come Saturday morning?”
The assistant replies: “A full head colour is €85 and a cut is €45. You can book Saturday morning online.”
The cut price is the stylist level, not senior (€58). The colour price is “from” and may be €100 with long hair. And as a new client she needs a skin test 48 hours before, which on a Thursday evening rules out Saturday morning.
The fix: write the price list so each line stands on its own (“Full head colour: from €85; +€15 for hair below the shoulders; final price confirmed at consultation”), put the skin-test rule next to every colour service, and instruct the assistant to ask which stylist level and whether the client is new before answering price or booking questions.
Setting up the assistant
- The price list as text, not as an image or a PDF. Many salon price lists are designed graphics; most assistants can’t read those.
- Every “from” explained: what makes the price go up.
- Stylist levels labelled in each line, or a short note on what each level means.
- Booking rules in one block: deposit, skin test, cancellation, lateness.
- Availability left to the booking system: the assistant links to it and doesn’t guess.
A two-minute test
Ask:
- “How much is a cut with a senior stylist?”
- “How much is balayage for long hair?”
- “I’ve never had colour with you. Can I book a colour for tomorrow?”
- “What happens if I cancel the same day?”
If any answer drops the “from”, the level, the skin test or the cancellation charge, the matching line on your price list needs rewriting. The same mechanism, a rule without its condition, is behind most mistakes we see in other trades too; see what to put in the knowledge base. Platform guides on content, such as Intercom’s, make the same point about one clear statement per fact.1
If you run a salon and want an assistant that reads your price list the way your front desk does, Assistant Setup writes and tests it; Assistant Care keeps it in step when prices change. More examples on our local services page. The UK’s NHS guidance on hair dye reactions explains why skin tests matter.2
Footnotes
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Intercom Help, “Optimizing content for Fin”, intercom.com/help. ↩