How can I book multiple clients for a single service at the same time?

Many industries offer services for multiple clients at the same time. Some examples include Pilates Pros offering Duet and Trio services, Massage & Bodywork Pros offering couples massages, and Dog Trainers offering private lessons for owners with multiple dogs. 

In This Article

Solo Pro

When creating or editing a service, you can set a capacity for that service in the Capacity field on the edit screen. Here’s the step-by-step Settings > Services > Service Name > Edit > Capacity.

 

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From the capacity screen you can select the capacity for this service. The default option is "Same as business" which should be used for standard services being booked for one person at a time. This option takes into account your double booking settings (Found under Settings > Scheduling, turned off by default in all Pro accounts). 

The second option is "Single capacity". This option should only be used for services that use a limited resource such as specialized gym or salon equipment. It is particularly important for Pros with double booking turned on under Settings > Scheduling. For solo Pros with double booking turned off under Settings > Scheduling, "Single capacity" and "Same as business" operate the same way since your availability only allows one client to book you at a time. 

The remaining options allow you to set a specific capacity for that service. For example a couples massage would have a capacity of two. When a service has a capacity greater than one, that means that multiple clients can book you for the same service for the exact same time slot while still protecting you from being double booked for other services. 

How service capacity works on the Premium Plan

For Solo Pros with double booking turned off, setting the capacity of a service to greater than one means that multiple clients can book you for the exact same service at the exact same time, but you can't be double booked for any other service during that time. For example, if Service A has a capacity of 2, if a client books Service A for the 8-9am slot, a second client can also book Service A for the 8-9am time slot, but they cannot book any other service that overlaps with that time slot. The second client also cannot book Service A for a partially overlapping time slot, i.e. 8:30-9:30am, they could only book for the 8-9am time slot (or an available time slot later in the day).

Team Plan

When creating or editing a service, you can set a capacity for that service in the Capacity field on the edit screen. Here’s the step-by-step Settings > Services > Service Name > Edit > Capacity.

 

IMG_13DB98AD6297-1.jpegIMG_7C3E0A3E2CE1-1.jpeg

 

From the capacity screen you can select the capacity for this service. The default option is "Same as business" which should be used for standard services being booked for one person at a time. This option takes into account the team members eligible for the service (if on a team account) and your double booking settings (Found under Settings > Scheduling, turned off by default for all Pros). 

The second option is "Single capacity". This option should only be used for services that use a limited resource such as specialized gym or salon equipment. This option is primarily intended for team accounts and Pros using double booking and means that even when there is team member availability for multiple clients at the same time, this resource can only be booked once per time slot because it requires a limited resource such as a special type of gym equipment.

The remaining options allow you to set a specific capacity for that service. For example a couples massage would have a capacity of two. When a service has a capacity greater than one, that means that multiple clients can book you for the same service for the exact same time slot while still protecting you from being double booked for other services. 

How service capacity works on the Team Plan 

For Pros with a team, setting the capacity of a service to greater than one means that each team member eligible for the service can be scheduled up to that capacity at any one time. For example, let's say Team Member A is eligible and available for Service A which has a capacity of two. Then let's say a client could book Team Member A for Service A from 8-9 am. A second client could then only schedule Team Member A for Service A for the exact same 8-9 am time slot. The second client could not book Team Member A for a different service from 8-9 am or book Service A for an overlapping 8:30-9:30 am, they could only book Team Member A for the exact same service at the exact same time. 

Now let's say Team Member B is also eligible and available for Service A, two additional clients would also be able to book Team Member B for Service A from 8-9 am, for an overlapping 8:30-9 am time slot, or a different service entirely. Each team member's calendar is treated separately, so when you have multiple team members the total capacity for that service at any one time is the service capacity multiplied by the number of available, eligible team members.

If the service also requires a limited resource, you should continue using the "Single capacity" option which ensures that only one client can book the service at any one time, regardless of which team members are available. If you have a service with a capacity greater than one but it still requires a limited resource, such as Pilates Studio with two reformers for a duet private lesson, a workaround to continue offering the lesson with a capacity of two is to create a team member under Home > Team > '+' called "Resource" using Google Voice or other VoIP number and make this new "team member" the only one eligible for the service. When only one team member is eligible for the service, it can only be booked up to it's capacity once. You can then assign additional team members manually if needed. 

FAQs

Does this mean I can book multiple clients in the same workflow? 

No, each client or sub-account must be scheduled separately. This allows you to collect separate forms and contracts as well as keep separate booking notes for each client or sub-account in the booking. 

How does pricing work when clients book online?

Each client will be charged the full price of the service. Continuing from the examples above, if Service A is priced at $100 under Settings > Services, both clients booking that service will be charged $100. We recommend determining the total amount that you want to charge for the service and dividing that by the capacity to get the price you set in PocketSuite.

How does pricing work when I book my clients? 

By default, scheduling clients yourself works just like online booking, the price set in Settings > Services will be charged to each client when you schedule them into the appointment. You have more flexibility though when scheduling yourself. Particularly if the same client is paying for everyone booking the service and you are scheduling the sessions yourself, you can schedule one slot at the full price and schedule the remaining with a full discount. This is great for a couples massage or a dog owner with two dogs not wanting to pay separately. 

 

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