The client app and messages

Invite your clients to the NextUp app (your app link)

Your clients can use the NextUp app for iPhone and Android with your business: book, join the line, see their appointments on their own calendar, and message your team. Each business invites its own clients, so nobody sees your business in their app unless you sent them your link.

1. Open Client App in the dashboard sidebar (under Growth) and click "Get my app link".
2. Copy your app link and text or email it to clients, put it on your website and booking page, or add it to your email campaigns. Each location has its own link, so clients start at the right one.
3. Print or show the QR code at the counter (Download QR), or read out the 8-character invite code (like K7QM-2XPA). Clients can type it in the app.

Opening the link on a phone with the app installed goes straight to your business. Until the NextUp app is in the App Store and Google Play, the link opens the same screens in the phone's browser. Without the app it shows the download page; after installing, the client opens the link again or types the code. They sign in with Google or Apple, or with a code we email them (no password), and they're connected to you.

Make a new link if an old one is being passed around: the old link, QR code and code stop working, and clients already connected stay connected. Turning invites off stops new clients connecting.

Who is connected to your business in the app

Client App lists every client connected through your link, newest first, with their email and mobile number. A client whose email or mobile number matches one of your client profiles is linked to that profile, so you can open it from the list. Being on your client list never connects anyone by itself: clients connect only with your link or code.

You can remove a client (your business leaves their app; your conversations with them stay), or stop one client messaging you while they stay connected.

Messages from clients in the app

Turn on "Let clients message your team" in Client App. Clients then pick who to write to: one of your team members (for example their barber), or your business as a whole. Nobody has to give out a personal cell number.

• Owners and managers see every conversation in Messages (Operations in the sidebar) and can answer any of them.
• A team member with their own NextUp sign-in sees only the conversations addressed to them, under Messages.
• A new message shows in the bell, and on phones with the NextUp app, for the team member it's for and for owners and managers. Messages to the business go to owners and managers only.
• Your reply reaches the client as a notification on their phone.

Messaging is off until you turn it on, and you can turn it off at any time. If your account is read-only because the subscription isn't paid, you can still answer messages, but clients can't send new ones. If someone leaves your team, the client can still read that conversation but writes to the business instead. Messages are limited to 2,000 characters, and each client can send up to 60 an hour.

What your clients see in the app

The client app has five tabs along the bottom:

• Home: your business in your colors, whether you're open and the wait, their next appointment, and quick buttons to book, join the line, message you and get directions.
• Book: your own booking and check-in page, with their name and email filled in. What they book shows in their calendar.
• Calendar: a month view of their appointments and visits with you, and what's coming up.
• Messages: their conversations with your team (only when you allow messaging).
• Account: their details, visits and receipts, switching between businesses, signing out and deleting their account.

A client connected to more than one business picks which one to use from the top of the screen. Someone who runs a business on NextUp and is also a client elsewhere switches from the account menu ("My appointments") and back from the Account tab.