Salon client intake over WhatsApp: patch tests and the record
Consultation forms exist for insurance and safety, not admin. Patch test timing, contraindications, and the record you need if a client reacts.
Rebecca Pearson11 min read
On this page
- What we'll cover
- The form is a record, not admin
- Patch tests and timing
- What contraindications actually cover
- Building it with CodeWords
- Where the answers should live
- Getting it completed before they arrive
- Returning clients and what changed
- What the stylist needs to see
- The photographs clients send
- Making it survive
- Limits worth knowing about
- What to build first
- Frequently asked questions
- Related reading
A salon consultation form is usually treated as paperwork and it is closer to insurance. If a client reacts to a colour, the question asked afterwards is what you knew, when you asked, and whether the patch test happened within the window your insurer and the manufacturer require.
That reframing changes what the automation is for. It is not about saving reception a few minutes; it is about the form existing, being completed before the appointment, and being findable a year later.
What we'll cover
- The form is a record, not admin
- Patch tests and timing
- What contraindications actually cover
- Building it with CodeWords
- Where the answers should live
- Getting it completed before they arrive
- Returning clients and what changed
- What the stylist needs to see
- The photographs clients send
- Making it survive
- Limits worth knowing about
- What to build first
- Frequently asked questions
The form is a record, not admin
Your insurer expects one, and the terms of most salon policies reference consultation and testing.
Manufacturers specify testing for colour and chemical services, and those instructions are part of using the product correctly.
A reaction is when it matters, and that is the moment a missing or undated form becomes a real problem.
Verbal is not a record. "She said she was fine with it last time" is not something you can produce.
Date everything, since the timing is frequently the question rather than the content.
Check your own policy wording and your product manufacturer's instructions, because they govern rather than any general advice.
Patch tests and timing
There is a required interval before the service, specified by the manufacturer, commonly at least 48 hours.
It is not once forever. Most guidance requires retesting at defined intervals or when the product changes.
Booking is where this breaks. A colour appointment booked for tomorrow cannot have a compliant patch test, and the client finds out on arrival.
Check at booking, automatically, and offer a test appointment as part of the same conversation.
Record the test result and date, not just that it happened.
Flag the appointment that does not have a valid test in time, before the day rather than on it.
What contraindications actually cover
Skin conditions and recent treatments, which affect whether a service is safe.
Pregnancy, which changes some treatments.
Medication, particularly anything affecting skin sensitivity or healing.
Allergies, including to ingredients rather than to brands, which clients frequently cannot name.
Recent sun exposure or other treatments, which matters for several services.
Ask per service. A blow-dry and a chemical peel need different questions, and one long form asking everything is how clients stop answering honestly.
Building it with CodeWords
CodeWords connects to more than 3,000 integrations, and the connection is made once and reused.
- Open CodeWords and start a new automation.
- Describe what should happen in plain language to Cody, the automation builder: which service triggers which form, when it is sent, and what happens if it is not completed.
- Authorize the connections to your booking system, your form system and your WhatsApp Business Platform account.
- Describe the exceptions: a colour booking without a valid patch test, an incomplete form, a flagged answer, a new client.
- Run it for one week's colour appointments and check what the salon received before extending it.
You describe the outcome; Cody builds it, connects it, and deploys it. The free plan covers light use, with Pro at $39 per month and Business at $100 per month as usage grows; details are on the pricing page.
Where the answers should live
Not in the message thread. Health information in a chat is a record in the wrong place with the wrong controls.
Send a link over WhatsApp, which is what the channel is good at — reaching somebody who will look.
Collect in a system that stores it against the client, searchable and dated.
Attach it to the client record, not to an inbox, since you need to find it by client rather than by conversation.
Keep it for as long as your insurer requires, which is usually longer than people expect.
Expect clients to send a photograph of a paper form anyway, and have somewhere for it to go.
Getting it completed before they arrive
Send it when booking is confirmed, then remind a couple of days ahead.
Say why it matters, briefly, since "we need this for your safety and our insurance" gets a better response than "please complete this form".
Keep it short per service, because a long form is abandoned and an abandoned form is no record.
Make it work on a phone, which is where the link is opened.
Flag the incomplete ones the day before so somebody can chase or plan around it.
Have a paper fallback in the salon, since some clients will arrive without having done it.
Returning clients and what changed
Confirm rather than re-complete, which gets a much higher response.
Ask what changed: medication, pregnancy, new allergies, recent treatments elsewhere.
Prompt the retest when the interval has lapsed, which is the thing nobody tracks manually.
Watch for the service change. A client moving from highlights to a full colour may need a different form and a new test.
Date the confirmation, since a confirmed-unchanged record needs its own date to be worth anything.
Do not assume nothing changed from silence, which is the assumption that produces the gap.
What the stylist needs to see
Before the client sits down, not while they are in the chair.
The flags, not the form — allergy, medication, pregnancy, the failed or missing patch test.
The date of the last test and whether it is still valid.
What was used last time, which is a service record rather than a consultation one and is equally useful.
In the booking system where they already look, rather than a separate app.
Do not interpret a flagged answer automatically. Whether a service is safe is the stylist's judgement, informed by the form.
The photographs clients send
Beauty is a visual trade and clients send pictures constantly — a reference image, a picture of their current colour, a photograph of a reaction. Each is a different thing and they arrive in the same thread.
Reference images are the useful case, and they belong attached to the booking so the stylist sees them before the day.
A picture of somebody else's hair is a conversation about expectations rather than a specification, and it is worth having before the appointment rather than in the chair.
Photographs of a reaction or an injury are a record, and should be filed against the client with the consultation rather than left in a chat.
Before-and-after pictures need consent to use publicly, separately from the client sending them to you.
Do not use a client's photograph in marketing because they sent it, which is a common and avoidable complaint.
Store what you need and discard the rest, since a thread full of pictures of people is not a store anybody has assessed.
Making it survive
Never store the answers in the thread or in logs of it.
Block or flag the colour booking that cannot have a valid test in time, at the point of booking.
Handle the client who will not use a link, with a paper route that produces the same dated record.
Apply retention in line with your insurer's requirement rather than deleting on a general schedule.
Report the outcome: forms sent, completed, outstanding before appointments, and tests due or lapsed.
Limits worth knowing about
Manufacturer instructions govern the testing regime, and they differ between products.
Insurance terms differ, and yours is the one that matters.
A completed form is not a decision. The stylist still assesses.
Clients answer inaccurately, particularly about medication and previous colour.
This is not legal or insurance advice, and your insurer and product manufacturers are the authorities for your salon.
What to build first
The patch test check at booking: when somebody books a colour service, look at whether a valid test exists and whether there is time for one before the appointment. It catches the problem while it is still solvable, rather than on the day when the client has travelled and the chair is booked.
Two habits make the difference. Keep the answers out of the message thread and in a dated record attached to the client, since the whole point is being able to produce it a year later. And ask per service rather than using one long universal form, because a form that asks everything gets abandoned or answered carelessly, and a carelessly answered consultation is worse than none.
Frequently asked questions
Why do salon intake forms matter beyond admin?
Because they are a record for your insurer and for manufacturer compliance. When a client reacts, the question is what you knew, when you asked, and whether the patch test was within the required window — and a verbal assurance is not something you can produce.
How should patch tests be handled?
Checked at booking, not on the day. A colour appointment booked for tomorrow cannot have a compliant test, and the client should learn that while it is still solvable rather than on arrival.
Do patch tests need repeating?
Most guidance requires retesting at defined intervals or when the product changes. The interval and the regime come from the manufacturer's instructions for the product you actually use.
Should the form be filled in over WhatsApp?
Send the link over WhatsApp; collect the answers in a system that stores them against the client, dated and searchable. A chat thread is a record in the wrong place with the wrong controls.
How do I get forms completed before the appointment?
Send at booking, remind a couple of days ahead, say briefly why it matters, keep it short per service, and flag the incomplete ones the day before so somebody can chase.
What about regular clients?
Ask what changed rather than asking them to complete it again — medication, pregnancy, new allergies, treatments elsewhere — and date the confirmation, since an unchanged record still needs its own date.
What should the stylist see?
The flags rather than the form: allergy, medication, pregnancy, and whether the patch test is valid — before the client sits down, in the booking system they already use.
Can automation decide whether a service is safe?
No. It surfaces the flags and the test status; the stylist assesses. Clients also answer inaccurately, particularly about medication and previous colour, which is another reason the judgement stays human.
What should I do with photographs clients send?
Attach reference images to the booking so the stylist sees them beforehand, file any picture of a reaction against the client record with the consultation, and discard the rest. A thread full of photographs of people is a store nobody has assessed.
Can I use a client's photo in marketing if they sent it to me?
No. Sending you a picture is not consent to publish it, and treating it as such is a common and avoidable complaint. Ask separately, specifically, and record the answer.