Skip to content
All case studies

Diell's barbershop · Barbershop and lounge · Taylor Street, Chicago

A barbershop where the phone answers itself and regulars come back on time.

Diell is opening a high-end barbershop in an old bank building on Taylor Street: four chairs, a bar, and a lounge that hosts events after hours. Every barber's hands are busy all day, so I am building the front desk that works without one.

Client
Diell, owner
Sector
Barbershop and lounge
Built
AI receptionist, customer texts, owner's phone panel
Status
Being built for opening day

The problem

Nobody can answer the phone with clippers in their hand.

A four-chair shop runs on the phone, and the phone rings mid-cut. Barbershops miss a big share of their calls, and a caller who hits voicemail books with the next shop on the map.

The rest slips too. Thank-you texts, review asks and "you're due for a cut" reminders only happen when someone remembers, and holiday messages go out from a personal phone, if they go out at all.

Diell wanted all of it handled, in his voice, without adding a single app for the barbers to learn.

What I built

One system, and Square stays the boss.

Everything runs through the Square account the shop already uses for payments, so bookings, customers and payments stay in one place and the barbers change nothing.

  1. A receptionist answers every call

    Day or night, in a warm British voice. She handles hours, prices and parking, and books the barber the caller asks for using his real openings in Square. The barber gets a text. Say "Diell" or press 0 and it rings his cell.

  2. The booking lands in Square

    No second calendar. Barbers are bookable in Square Appointments, so walk-ins, online bookings and phone bookings all sit in the same book.

  3. A thank-you they actually read

    Thirty minutes after they pay at the terminal, the customer gets a text with their name, their barber and a Google review link. Everyone gets asked, which is Google's rule.

  4. "Time for a cut"

    Right before a customer is usually due back, a text offers their barber's open slots. They reply with a day and it's booked. It stops the moment they book on their own.

  5. Diell runs it from his phone

    A private panel that works like an app: edit any message, switch holiday texts on or off, send a fight-night blast, and read every call summary.

Phone calls
Card terminal
Online bookings
Square
Barber texts
Customer texts
Diell's phone panel
Every call, payment and booking lands in Square, and Square drives every text. Nothing new for the barbers to learn.

What changed

What opening day looks like.

Every call gets answered, including the ones at 11pm. Every customer gets thanked by name and asked for a review, which is what moves a new shop up the map. Regulars get nudged back on their own rhythm instead of whenever someone remembers.

Diell owns the words and the vibe. I keep it running on time. It goes live on his phone first, and he pays for setup only once it works.

Under the hood

How it’s put together

  • Square Bookings, Customers and Payments APIs, with webhooks on every payment
  • Voice receptionist with a British voice, booking into named barbers' real openings
  • Texts from the shop's own registered number
  • Review asks go to every customer, no filtering
  • Press 0 or say the owner's name to reach his cell
  • Owner's phone panel for messages, holidays and blasts

More case studies