Add your first client

This guide shows you how to create a client record so the client is ready to be booked and messaged. For a fuller reference on the screens involved, see Clients and Client details.

Most clients create their own record: the first time someone books on your booking site, go flow adds them to your client list. Create a client yourself when someone books by phone or at the desk.

Before you start

• You need Manage access to Clients (see User details). Without it, the Clients page has no create button and client records open read-only.
• The fields the dialog shows come from your organisation's client fields (see Template fields). Set them up first if the standard ones are not enough.

1. Open Clients

From the main menu, open Clients. This shows the clients already in your organisation. If this is a brand new organisation the list may be empty, which is exactly what you would expect before adding your first client.

2. Check that the client does not exist yet

go flow does not warn you about duplicates: it saves a second record with the same email address without asking. Type the person's email address or name into Find client first. If they are already listed, open their record instead of creating a new one. See Avoid duplicate clients below.

Find client searches the client fields marked Searchable in your field definitions. If an address you know is on file is not found, check that the email field is searchable.

3. Create a new client

At the top of the Clients page, click the plus button (Create client). The client dialog opens with a blank Details tab, ready for you to fill in.

4. Enter the standard and custom fields

Start with the standard fields, for example First name, Last name, Email and Mobile. These are the identity fields go flow relies on for booking and contacting the client:

• Email is how the client signs in on your booking site and the only way go flow emails them. Enter the address in lower case (see Avoid duplicate clients).
• Mobile is needed for SMS reminders, when your organisation sends them. The country code starts with your organisation's country.

Below the standard fields you see any further fields your organisation has defined — for example an option field such as a membership group. Fill in what is relevant; you can complete the rest later. A field marked as required is highlighted while it is empty; go flow does not stop you saving without it, so fill it in.

5. Leave consent and process fields as they are

If your organisation has defined consent or process fields (for example a marketing opt-in or a liability waiver), you will see them listed below the other fields, each showing a status icon and its heading. These can only be signed by the client, so there is nothing to set for a brand new client: unsigned fields show "This field can only be set by the client", and once the client signs, the entry shows the date and time it was recorded. You cannot tick these on the client's behalf, but you can see at a glance where the client stands.

The dialog does not offer a way to upload a profile photo. If the record already has one — for example a picture the client added themselves through the online booking pages — it is shown at the top of the dialog, and you can remove it with the delete button on the picture.

go flow has no free notes or tags on a client. To keep a lasting fact about a client, such as an injury or a billing arrangement, your organisation can add an internal client field — see Hand over the day.

6. Save the client

When the record is complete, click the save button in the toolbar. It stays disabled until you have changed something; it does not check that required fields are filled in. The dialog closes and your new client appears in the Clients table straight away. go flow saves the client on your device first and uploads it with the next synchronisation (the cloud icon in the top bar).

7. Confirm the client was created

To double-check, look the client up with Find client at the top of the Clients page. You can also open the Advanced filter to narrow the list by a field you just filled in. Seeing the client in the results confirms the record was created and is ready to be booked and messaged.

What the client receives

Creating the record sends the client nothing. Messages start with what you do next:

• A booking. When you add the client to a session or appointment, go flow sends a booking confirmation when the resource's Confirmation email switch is on and your organisation has the confirmation template — see Resource details.
• A hold. Hold places with Email the client the link to book ticked emails a link that books the held places.
• Your own email. See Compose an email.

The client can sign in on your booking site with the same email address: go flow emails a one-time code, and the client then sees their bookings there. Fields you keep for internal use are not shown to them.

Invited clients

When you hold places in a session for an email address that belongs to no client (Hold places, then type the address and choose Hold for that address), go flow creates a client with the status Invited. Its record holds only the email address. In the Clients table it shows an envelope icon instead of a picture, with the tooltip "Invited: places held for this address, not signed in yet".

• An invited client becomes an ordinary active client when the person books with that address on your booking site. If you open the record and save it — for example after adding a name — it becomes active as well.
• Until then, an invited client is not offered as a recipient in the email composer.

See Session participants for holding places.

Avoid duplicate clients

go flow cannot merge two client records, so prevent duplicates:

• Search before you create. Look the person up by email address with Find client. Someone who has only signed in on your booking site and has not booked yet is not listed — when in doubt, ask whether they have signed in before.
• Enter email addresses in lower case. The booking site matches the address a client signs in with only in lower case. A record you save with capitals, for example Anna.Muster@Example.ch, is not found when Anna signs in, and go flow creates a second record for her.
• When holding places, pick the existing client from the search list rather than typing their address.

If you find a duplicate that has nothing attached — its Journal tab is empty — delete it: open it, click Mark for deletion (the bin icon in the toolbar) and save; if go flow asks, choose Delete the client record and Continue. Keep a duplicate that has bookings, orders or payments: go flow cannot move them to the other record.