NextUp
HighLevel does not have a built-in waitlist on the calendar. Shops keep one with a waitlist tag on contacts who want an earlier time. That list fills cancellations. It is not an email list for a product launch. When someone cancels, NextUp texts whoever has waited longest from your number, and the first person to tap Accept takes the appointment.
Why do shops keep asking HighLevel for a waitlist?
Because the calendar will take a booking but will not keep a line. Shops have asked HighLevel for a waitlist on their ideas board for a long time, and it is still not on the calendar.
You feel this on a Thursday when the 3pm cancels and you know three people wanted that hour. The calendar shows a hole. It does not show who asked first.
Until HighLevel puts a waitlist on the calendar, you make one yourself.
How do shops keep a list anyway?
Shops keep a waitlist in HighLevel with a tag called waitlist on contacts who want an earlier time. That tag is the list. Run the Add to waitlist action on the contact, which applies the tag and saves when they joined. Keep a phone number on the contact so they can be texted.
Some shops also keep a note on the appointment. Some keep a paper list at the desk. The paper list works until the person who wrote it is off, and then nobody can read the handwriting.
A tag is better because the person is already in HighLevel, with their number and their join date. You are not copying a number off a sticky note at 4pm. How to build a waitlist in HighLevel is the setup walkthrough. How do people join the waitlist? explains join order.
What does NextUp add when someone cancels?
NextUp texts the person who has waited longest on that list, from your number, when someone cancels. They tap Accept and they are booked. You stay with the person in the chair.
HighLevel will not send that text by itself. The tag sits there. The cancel sits there. Someone still has to notice, and that someone is usually you, already with a customer.
The link lasts 15 minutes. If they tap No thanks or the time runs out, we text the next person. Only one person holds a live link at a time, so the same slot never goes to two people. People with SMS Do Not Disturb on are skipped.
A no-show works the same way, and What happens when a HighLevel appointment is a no-show covers it. For the cancel-moment version, read How to fill a last-minute cancellation in HighLevel. How to automatically text your waitlist when someone cancels is the setup in order.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to wait for HighLevel to add a waitlist?
No. Run the Add to waitlist action on people today and that tag is your list. NextUp texts whoever has waited longest from your number when someone cancels. If HighLevel ships a calendar waitlist later, you will already know who wanted an earlier time, and in what order.
Will a waitlist tag change how I book people?
No. You book people on the calendar the way you already do. The tag only marks who asked to come in sooner. When a time opens, we text the next person on that tag. Your usual booking flow stays put.
Can I run this on more than one location?
Yes. NextUp is $19 a month per location, after a 14-day free trial. Install it on each HighLevel location that has its own calendar. Each shop keeps its own waitlist and texts from its own number. A cancel in one shop never texts the list in another.