NextUp
In HighLevel, a waitlist is a tag on people who want an earlier time. It fills cancellations, not a product launch. The do-it-yourself version is a workflow: Appointment Status set to Cancelled, a waitlist tag, a text, and a booking link. It works until two people want the same hour. When someone cancels with NextUp, we text the next person from your number, longest wait first, and the first to tap Accept is booked.
How do you build it yourself?
Tag everyone who asked for an earlier time waitlist. Build a workflow on the Appointment Status trigger, set to Cancelled. Have it text the people on that tag with your booking link. Whoever books first gets the time.
For a short list, that can be enough.
Where does the do-it-yourself version get fiddly?
Join order. HighLevel does not save when a tag went on a contact. Three weeks of waiting counts the same as one day. You cannot wire that step by hand.
The 15-minute window. A fair offer goes to one person, then moves on if they pass. A workflow can wait. It cannot take the offer back from one person and hand it to the next.
Only one slot. Text ten people and several of them tap the link. One gets the time. The rest find nothing open.
How does NextUp fill the cancellation for you?
NextUp keeps your tag and your calendar and handles the fiddly parts.
- Install NextUp on this HighLevel location.
- Open the contact who asked for an earlier time and run the Add to waitlist action.
- Put a phone number on every contact on the waitlist.
- Leave the waitlist tag in place until they are booked.
The Add to waitlist action applies the tag and saves the join date. That is the step you cannot do by hand, and it is why whoever has waited longest hears first. How do people join the waitlist? covers join order.
You do not build a cancel workflow. The Offer freed slot action is optional when you want a custom rule.
What happens when someone cancels?
When someone cancels or is a no-show, we text the next person from your number: "A 2:00 PM slot just opened. Take it:" and a link. They tap Accept and they are booked on your calendar.
The link lasts 15 minutes. Only one person holds a live link at a time, so the same slot never goes to two people. What does the customer see? shows the text and the Accept page.
What if they pass?
If they tap No thanks, or 15 minutes pass with no Accept, we text the next person. They keep their place for the next opening.
We skip anyone with SMS Do Not Disturb on, including people who replied STOP. If no text went out, the NextUp note on the contact who cancelled says why. Why was no text sent? lists each note.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a second phone number?
No. Texts go out from the HighLevel number you already use. You do not buy another number. HighLevel bills those separately, usually about a penny for a short US text. NextUp does not add a per-text fee. People see a message from you and tap to book.
Does every opening fill?
No. The next person might pass, or nobody on the list can take that time. NextUp texts down the list one person at a time until someone taps Accept or nobody is left. When an opening does not fill, you did not lose time on the phone. If someone got a text they did not want, they talk to you, not to Freeman Labs.
What should the tag be called?
Call it waitlist. That is the tag NextUp reads. Add it with the Add to waitlist action instead of typing it on the contact. The action also saves the join date, and you cannot set that by hand in HighLevel. Join order decides who hears first, so a tag typed by hand sorts behind everyone who has a join date.