Describe your salon, services, and consultation process. Makeform turns the details into a welcoming new-client intake form that gathers contact information, hair history, current routine, preferences, inspiration, and appointment context before the first visit.
Send new-client details to Google Sheets, Slack, and Zapier.
Sample prompts for the builder
Choose a complete prompt, adapt it to your service menu, or send it to the Makeform builder. The structure shown is an example you can edit.
Audience
First-time cut, color, and styling clients
Format
Mobile-friendly intake with conditional service questions
Prompt size
510 chars
Example form structure
Mobile-friendly intake with conditional service questions
Contact details and preferred contact method
Which service are you visiting for?
Recent color and chemical treatment timeline
Current hair and inspiration photos
What would make this appointment successful?
Suggested routing tags
Color consultation
Cut and style
Texture services
Ask when the client last used color, bleach, relaxer, keratin, or extensions. A dated treatment timeline gives the stylist more useful context than a single yes-or-no question.
Step 1
Inquire
client shares service, timing, and contact details
Step 2
Review
stylist checks history, goals, and photos
Step 3
Prepare
client receives the right arrival instructions
Step 4
Consult
the visit starts with useful context already collected
Before the first visit
A focused intake replaces scattered direct messages with one organized record of what the client has, what they want, and how they care for their hair.
Ask which color, bleach, smoothing, relaxing, or extension services were used and approximately when, so the stylist can review the sequence before discussing an approach.
Show color-history fields for color clients, curl-routine questions for texture services, and extension details only when those choices apply.
Pair inspiration photos with questions about length, shape, tone, maintenance, and the outcome that would make the visit feel successful.
Fit your service menu
Begin with shared client details, then branch into the history and preparation questions that help with the requested service.
Capture current length, daily styling habits, desired change, non-negotiables, and how much maintenance the client wants at home.
Collect dated color history, home color use, current photos in natural light, desired tone, upkeep expectations, and available appointment time.
Ask about wash day, detangling, shrinkage, protective styles, heat, products, usual finish, and whether technique education is a priority.
Reveal method-specific questions about current hair, past installations, desired fullness or length, routine, and consultation availability.
Build the intake
Describe the consultation your salon already wants to have, then turn it into a structured form clients can complete before arriving.
List the appointments you accept, the client context each stylist needs, and any preparation or booking information you want clients to see.
Use your salon's language, set required fields thoughtfully, add service choices, and remove anything your team will not use during the consultation.
Keep the form concise by revealing blonding, corrective color, extensions, or curl-care questions only after the client selects that service.
Send the link after a first inquiry, embed it on your booking page, and notify the right stylist when a completed intake arrives.
Form vs messages vs generic intake
The best intake does more than collect a phone number. It organizes service-specific history, goals, photos, and preferences for review before the appointment.
Field guide
Use these six sections as a practical starting point, then adjust the detail and wording to match your services and how your stylists prepare.
Client details
Collect the client's chosen name, pronouns if relevant to your welcome process, phone, email, preferred contact channel, and referral source. Ask for the upcoming appointment date when one is already booked so the response can be matched quickly.
Service request
Use a clear version of your service menu rather than a broad question such as what do you need. The answer can trigger targeted follow-ups and help the team distinguish a routine appointment from a request that may need consultation time.
Hair history
Ask clients to describe their natural and current hair, then list previous services with approximate dates. Separate color, lightening, smoothing, relaxing, perming, and extensions so important details do not disappear inside one vague answer.
Routine & preferences
A result has to fit the client's routine. Ask how often they wash and style, which tools and products they use, how much daily styling time feels realistic, and how frequently they expect to return for maintenance.
Goals & photos
Let clients upload well-lit images of their current hair as well as references. Follow each upload with a text question about what they like in the reference, because tone, shape, movement, and length can be interpreted differently.
Visit preparation
Finish with service-specific preparation, booking, and cancellation information written by your salon. Ask clients to acknowledge that they have read it, offer a place for questions, and avoid using the intake as a substitute for the in-person consultation.
Related tools
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Open toolFAQ
Practical answers for owners and stylists creating a smoother first-visit intake.
It is a pre-visit intake that gathers a first-time client's contact details, requested service, current hair, previous color or chemical services, home routine, goals, preferences, and useful photos. The stylist can review one organized response before beginning the consultation.
Start with name, contact method, appointment or service request, current hair description, recent service history, routine, desired result, and anything the client wants the stylist to know. Add photo uploads and targeted questions when the selected service makes them useful.
Ask for the type of color, lightener, box dye, henna, smoothing, relaxer, perm, or extension service and the approximate date. A timeline is easier to review than one yes-or-no question. Keep space for clients to explain uncertainty rather than forcing exact dates they may not remember.
Yes. Use conditional paths so a cut client sees shape and styling questions, a color client sees treatment-history and maintenance questions, and an extension client sees method and consultation questions. Shared contact fields stay at the beginning while irrelevant sections remain hidden.
Yes. Add file-upload fields for current photos from useful angles and separate uploads for inspiration. Include a text field asking what the client likes about each reference, since the important detail may be the tone, length, shape, movement, or finish.
Yes. Makeform provides unlimited free forms and responses, so you can generate, edit, publish, and collect salon intakes without a response cap. The paid tier removes the Makeform badge.
Ask only for information the stylist will review or use. Put the service choice early, branch into relevant follow-ups, use multiple choice for stable options, and reserve long-answer fields for history and goals. Group related questions and explain why detailed uploads or timelines help.
Send it after a first inquiry or booking and give the stylist enough time to review it before the visit. You can link it from a booking confirmation, email it directly, or embed it on a client page. Add your own deadline and follow-up process if preparation depends on the answers.
Make the first consultation feel prepared.
