Contacts & Lead Management

Overview

Not every potential customer walks through your door ready to book. Some call to ask about pricing, others fill out a contact form on your website, and a few are referred by existing clients. CheckinDog's contact management system helps you capture these leads, track where they are in your pipeline, and convert them into customers when they are ready to commit.

Adding a Contact

Navigate to Contacts in the sidebar to view your contact list. Click New contact to create a new lead.

Personal Information

Start by recording the basic details of the person reaching out to you:

• First name — The contact's first name.
• Last name — The contact's last name.
• Email — Their email address, useful for follow-up communication.
• Phone — A phone number where you can reach them.

Animal Information

If the contact mentions their pet during the inquiry, capture those details right away. This information will be used when converting the contact to a customer.

• Animal name — The name of their pet (e.g., "Buddy," "Luna").
• Animal type — Select from the available animal types in the system (dog breeds, cat breeds, etc.). This uses the same breed database as the rest of the application.
• Animal breed — Additional breed specification, if needed.

Appointment Interest

Track whether the contact is actively looking to book:

• Appointment request — A toggle indicating whether the contact has specifically requested an appointment. When enabled, an additional field appears:
  • Preferred date and time — The date and time the contact would prefer for their appointment. This is carried over when converting to a full customer and appointment record.
• Preferred date — If the contact mentioned a general preferred date (without a specific appointment request), you can record it here.

Additional Context

• "Came before" toggle — Indicates whether this person has visited your salon in the past. This is useful for identifying returning leads who may not yet be in your digital customer records (for example, customers from before you started using CheckinDog).
• Message — A free-text field where you can record the content of their inquiry, any special requests, notes from a phone conversation, or context about how they found you.

Status

Every contact has a status that reflects where they are in your pipeline:

• New — The default status for freshly added contacts. No action has been taken yet.
• Contacted — You have reached out to the contact (returned their call, sent an email, etc.) but they have not yet booked.
• Converted — The contact has been converted into a full customer record. This status is set automatically during the conversion process.

Status Workflow

The contact status follows a clear progression, and each status is displayed with a color-coded badge for quick visual identification:

New (Blue Badge)

When a contact is first created, it receives the New status with a blue badge. This tells you and your team that this lead has not been touched yet and needs attention.

What to do: Review the contact's information, check their inquiry or message, and reach out to them.

Contacted (Yellow Badge)

After you have made initial contact — whether by phone, email, or in person — update the status to Contacted. The yellow badge indicates this lead is in progress.

What to do: Follow up if you have not heard back. Answer any remaining questions. Try to schedule an appointment.

Converted (Green Badge)

When the contact becomes a customer, the status changes to Converted with a green badge. This happens automatically during the conversion process (described below). The green badge gives you a satisfying visual confirmation that the lead made it through your pipeline.

What to do: Nothing more on the contact side — the person is now a full customer. Find them in your customer list to manage their appointments and records going forward.

Converting a Contact to a Customer

The conversion process is the most powerful feature of the contacts system. With a single action, CheckinDog transforms a contact into a fully set-up customer, complete with an animal record and an appointment if applicable.

How to Convert

1. Open the contact you want to convert.
2. Click the Convert to customer action.
3. Confirm the conversion.

What Happens Automatically

The conversion process performs several actions in sequence:

1. Customer record creation — A new customer is created in your salon using the contact's first name, last name, email, and phone number.

2. Animal record creation — If the contact has an animal name filled in, CheckinDog automatically creates an animal record linked to the new customer. The animal type and breed information from the contact record are carried over.

3. Appointment creation — If the contact has an appointment datetime set (via the appointment request toggle), an appointment is automatically created for the new customer's animal at the specified date and time.

4. Status update — The contact's status is automatically set to Converted and the green badge is applied.

Conversion Safeguards

To prevent duplicate records and data inconsistencies, CheckinDog enforces the following rules:

• Already converted contacts cannot be converted again. If a contact's status is already "Converted," the convert action will be blocked. This prevents accidentally creating duplicate customer records.
• The conversion is a one-way operation. Once converted, the contact record remains as a historical reference showing when and how the lead entered your pipeline.

After Conversion

Once a contact is converted:

• The new customer appears in your customer list with all the information transferred from the contact.
• If an animal was created, it is already linked to the customer and ready for appointments.
• If an appointment was created, it appears on your calendar at the specified date and time.
• The contact record remains in your contacts list with the "Converted" status, providing a complete audit trail.

Searching and Filtering Contacts

As your contact list grows, you will need efficient ways to find specific leads.

Search

Use the search bar at the top of the contacts list to search by name, email, or phone number. The search works across all contact fields, so you can quickly find a lead even if you only remember part of their information.

Filtering by Status

The most useful filter is by status. Use it to:

• Show only "New" contacts — See all leads that need your initial attention. This is a great way to start your day: check for new inquiries and prioritize your outreach.
• Show only "Contacted" contacts — Review leads that are in progress. Follow up on anyone who has not responded.
• Show only "Converted" contacts — Review your conversion history. This can help you understand your lead-to-customer pipeline performance.

Best Practices

Capture Every Lead

Make it a habit to create a contact record for every inquiry, no matter how casual. A quick phone call asking about prices today could become a loyal weekly customer tomorrow. If you do not record it, you will forget it.

Act Quickly on New Contacts

Leads go cold fast. Try to follow up on new contacts within 24 hours. The sooner you respond, the more likely the person is to book with you rather than calling the next salon on their list.

Use the Message Field Generously

Write down everything the person told you during their inquiry. Did they mention their dog is anxious around other dogs? That their cat needs a special shampoo? These details show the customer you were listening and help you prepare for their first visit.

Record Animal Information Early

Even if you are not sure the contact will convert, record the animal name and type if they mention it. This saves time during conversion and ensures the animal record is complete from day one.

Review Your Pipeline Regularly

Set aside a few minutes each week to review your contacts list:

• Are there "New" contacts that slipped through the cracks?
• Are there "Contacted" leads that need a follow-up?
• What is your conversion rate? If many leads stall at "Contacted," consider whether your follow-up process needs improvement.

Do Not Delete Converted Contacts

Even though the customer record now exists, the contact record serves as a historical reference. It shows you when the lead first came in, what they asked about, and how long it took to convert them. This data is valuable for understanding your business growth.

Example Workflow

Here is a typical lead management workflow in CheckinDog:

1. Monday morning: A potential customer calls asking about grooming prices for their Golden Retriever named Max. You create a contact with their name, phone number, animal name "Max," animal type "Golden Retriever," and a message noting they asked about pricing.

2. Monday afternoon: You call them back with a price quote and answer their questions about your services. You update the contact status to Contacted and add a note about the conversation.

3. Tuesday: The customer calls back and wants to book an appointment for Saturday at 10:00 AM. You update the contact with the appointment request toggle and set the preferred date and time.

4. Tuesday: You click Convert to customer. CheckinDog creates the customer record, creates Max as an animal linked to the customer, and books the Saturday 10:00 AM appointment. The contact status changes to Converted.

5. Saturday: Max arrives for his grooming appointment. The customer is already fully set up in your system with all their details.

Summary

The contacts system in CheckinDog bridges the gap between a casual inquiry and a booked customer. By systematically capturing leads, tracking their progress through color-coded statuses, and using the one-click conversion process, you ensure that no potential customer falls through the cracks. Combined with the automatic creation of customer, animal, and appointment records, the conversion process gets new customers into your workflow with minimal effort.