WhatsApp Appointment Booking Connected to Your Calendar
WhatsApp appointment booking means a customer asks for a time in the chat and leaves the chat with a confirmed appointment. AeroChat runs the booking against the system your diary already lives in, such as Google Calendar, Calendly, Acuity Scheduling, Phorest or Cliniko. It reads the free slots, books the one the customer picks, records it against the right customer and confirms it in the same conversation.
What happens today
A customer messages “any slot Saturday morning?” and waits. Someone at the front desk opens the booking system, checks the diary, types back two or three options and waits again. By the time the reply goes out, the customer may have booked somewhere else.
Messages that arrive after hours wait until the next morning. When the booking is finally made, someone retypes the name and number into the booking system, and a typo there means a missed confirmation later.
How it runs on WhatsApp
- The customer asks to book on WhatsApp. AeroChat asks which service they want and, where it matters, which staff member.
- It reads the free slots for that service from your calendar or booking system and offers three times.
- It looks the customer up by phone number. If no number is available, which happens when a customer uses a WhatsApp username, it asks for their email instead.
- It writes the appointment into the booking system: a new client record if needed, then the booking with the service, time and staff member.
- It confirms the date, time, address and anything the customer should bring, in the chat.
- If the request falls outside your rules, such as a treatment that needs a consultation first, it hands the conversation to your team with the details already collected.
The recipe
Copy this into AeroChat
When someone asks to book an appointment, follow these steps.
- Ask which service they want. If they are not sure, answer from our service list and prices.
- Ask if they have a preferred staff member or a preferred day.
- Check the free slots for that service in our booking system and offer three times, the earliest first.
- Search for the customer by phone number. If there is no phone number, ask for their email. If they are new, ask for their full name and create a client record.
- Check the slot is still free, then book the time they choose. Use a 60-minute slot for a first visit and a 30-minute slot for a follow-up (example values).
- Confirm the booking with the date, time, staff member and our address. Ask them to arrive 10 minutes early (example).
- If they ask for a service that needs a consultation, or want to book for more than two people at once, hand the conversation to the front desk (example rule).
Only offer times inside our opening hours, 9am to 7pm Monday to Saturday (example). Reply in the customer’s language.
Change the service lengths, opening hours and handover rule to your own before you paste it.
Connect the systems behind it
- Google Calendar: AeroChat reads when you or your staff are free and adds the booking to the calendar. Connect it by signing in with your Google account.
- Calendly: checks your free times and books the meeting, or sends the right booking link.
- Acuity Scheduling: reads open times for each appointment type and creates the appointment.
- Phorest: books straight into your salon or spa diary with the right stylist or therapist.
- Cliniko: reads practitioner availability, sets up new patients and creates the appointment.
To take a deposit when the customer books, add an Airwallex payment link to the recipe. The customer pays in the chat and the booking is confirmed once the payment goes through.
Using a different system? If it has a public API, it connects to AeroChat the same way: describe what you want, paste in its key, and it runs.
Can’t find your tool? Message us in the chat on this page and we’ll tell you how it connects.
What it costs on WhatsApp
A customer’s message to book costs nothing. AeroChat’s replies inside the 24-hour window are service messages, free up to 1,000 a month per business phone number and charged per message after that. Offering three slots in one reply instead of going back and forth keeps the reply count down, which now saves money. If the customer started the chat from a click-to-WhatsApp ad, a free window of up to 7 days opens. Rates vary by country and are set in Meta’s rate cards. AeroChat passes Meta’s WhatsApp fees through at cost.
Also on Instagram, Messenger, TikTok and web chat
The same booking workflow runs on Instagram, Facebook Messenger, TikTok (direct messages and TikTok Shop buyer chat), Telegram, the chat on your website and email, with the same calendar and booking system connections behind it. A customer who books on Instagram lands in the same diary as one who books on WhatsApp. See this workflow on Instagram and on Messenger.
Who uses it
Clinics, salons and spas take most of their bookings this way. See how it works for dental clinics (appointment booking for dental clinics), hair and beauty salons (booking with a stylist) and spa and wellness businesses (booking with a deposit).
Questions
Can customers book an appointment on WhatsApp without downloading anything?
Yes. They message your WhatsApp Business number like any other contact. AeroChat replies, offers times from your diary and confirms the booking in the same chat.
Will it double-book a slot?
AeroChat checks the slot in your booking system just before it books. Your booking system stays the record your team works from, so a slot taken at the front desk is no longer offered in the chat.
How much does WhatsApp appointment booking cost?
Messages from customers are free. Replies inside the 24-hour window are free up to 1,000 a month per business phone number, then charged per message at Meta’s rate for that country. AeroChat passes those fees through at cost.
Which AeroChat plan do I need?
Workflows via Skills are on every plan, Free included. Starter has 500 AI responses and 3 seats. Growth has 2,000 AI responses and 10 seats, and adds payment links for deposits and broadcasts. Advanced has 5,000 AI responses and 25 seats.
Take your next booking on WhatsApp
Start your 7-day free trial. No credit card needed.
On Shopify? Install AeroChat from the Shopify App Store.
Related: booking deposits on WhatsApp and appointment reminders and confirmations.