From inspiration photo to the right salon booking: how Style Match works

A client has saved a photo of the colour they want. Your booking page offers balayage, foils, gloss, root colour and several combinations of those services. They can describe the result, but choosing the appointment takes knowledge they may not have.

Style Match gives that client a place to start. On an enabled OpenChair storefront, they describe their goal, upload photos of their current hair and add optional inspiration. The AI uses that information to suggest services from the salon's menu. Depending on the request and the salon's setup, the next step can be service selection, a consultation or an enquiry to the team.

The client still needs to complete the relevant booking steps. A service suggestion is not a confirmed appointment or a promise that a colour result is achievable.

Start with the hair they have and the result they want#

An inspiration image shows the destination. Current photos give the salon and the matching flow information about the starting point.

Style Match collects both alongside the client's own words. A client can explain that they want softer regrowth, less warmth or a gradual change. That description helps distinguish requests that might look similar in a photo but involve different priorities.

For example, wanting to hide every grey hair is a different brief from wanting to blend visible silver into a dimensional colour. The client should be able to express that distinction before choosing a service name.

Clear current photos and a specific description give the flow more useful information. They still cannot establish everything a professional needs to know about previous colour, hair condition or the work involved.

A recorded example: softer grey regrowth#

In an OpenChair product demonstration, we used a test request about moving away from flat root coverage towards a cooler, dimensional blonde:

I am tired of covering my grey roots with one flat colour every month. I want to blend the greys into a cool beige dark blonde so the regrowth is softer. I am happy to stay dimensional and do this gradually rather than trying to hide every silver hair.

The demonstration supplied front and back photos of the current hair, plus an inspiration image and a note about keeping some natural silver visible. These were demonstration inputs, not a customer testimonial. The inspiration image showed a desired look, not a finished result achieved through OpenChair.

The recorded service plan contained four services from the demonstration venue's menu:

• Balayage
• Gloss / Toner
• Olaplex Add-on
• Women's Cut & Style

The screen showed a total of $605 and 3 hours 35 minutes, with three of the four selected services marked required. Those figures belong to that demonstration menu and selection. They are not a standard package, a recommended salon price or a quote for someone else's hair.

The explanation also acknowledged that the inspiration was lighter than the current hair and that a gradual approach might be needed. The useful output was a service plan the client could inspect, with the proposed work, price and time together.

The capture ends at the recommendation stage. It does not show a completed booking or a colour treatment.

What happens after a service match?#

When the flow allows direct progression, the client reviews the suggested services and continues with their selection into the salon's booking flow. Availability and the remaining booking requirements still need to be resolved.

This is where a clear menu matters. Style Match draws from the venue's services, so owners should review service names, descriptions, prices and durations before asking clients to use it. A suggestion is only useful if the underlying service is one the team can recognise and deliver.

The broader booking-page guide covers how to make the venue, team and next step clear. Style Match adds a way to explain the intended result before making that selection.

When the next step is a consultation#

Some requests need a conversation before a treatment can be selected. A large colour change, unclear information or uncertainty about the appropriate service may lead the flow to recommend a consultation.

Where the salon has a configured consultation service, Style Match can offer that service as the next step. The consultation may be free or paid, according to the salon's menu. The client must still complete the booking process for it.

In a separate demonstration at Ochre & Oak, we asked to discuss colour options before choosing a treatment. The test description included repeated home colouring with unknown products. Style Match recommended the venue's Colour Consultation and explained why an in-person assessment was needed. Following the consultation button opened the booking flow with that service selected and available appointment times.

There is also a difference between suggesting a consultation and requiring an assessment before proceeding. In the latter case, the flow prevents the client from accepting the conditional treatment plan directly. The next booking action is the consultation where one is available.

For an owner, the outcome to look for is a client arriving for the appropriate conversation with their goal already expressed. The consultation is where the professional can discuss feasibility, history, timing and expectations. The AI's assessment does not settle those questions.

When the client needs to send an enquiry#

A salon may not have a suitable consultation service available in the flow. A requested service may also be missing from the online menu, or the system may be unable to offer an appropriate booking route.

The available next step depends on the venue's contact settings. It may be a call, an inline guided enquiry or a return to manual service selection.

For another demonstration, we requested tape-in extensions, which were absent from Ochre & Oak's online menu. Style Match said the service was not listed and offered Send your details. The form carried through the original request and both current-hair photos. This happened while the venue's consultation service remained available.

When the guided enquiry option is available, the client can provide contact details, their preferred reply channel and an optional note about what they need. The enquiry goes to the venue's Inbox with the session context, including the description, inspiration text, photo links and any proposed plan supplied with the handoff.

The operator can then review that context and reply. Sending the enquiry does not reserve an appointment, confirm a treatment or guarantee a response time. It gives the team the request to assess, rather than asking the client to reconstruct it in a separate message.

What to check before enabling it#

Style Match needs to be enabled for the venue, with the relevant access and Spark funding available. Staff-only test mode is separate from making the flow available to customers.

Before opening it to clients, run through requests that reflect the work your salon actually does. Check whether the suggested services make sense against your menu, whether consultation options lead to the intended service and whether contact settings provide a useful next step when matching cannot proceed.

Review the client-facing explanation as carefully as the service selection. It should help someone understand what they are considering without presenting a photo assessment as certainty about their hair.

See the full journey in a walkthrough#

Style Match is designed to connect a client's visual brief with the salon's next booking decision. Sometimes that means selecting services. Sometimes it means arranging a consultation or asking the team to review an enquiry.

To assess it for your salon, book an OpenChair walkthrough and ask to see a service match, a consultation path and an enquiry handoff. Follow each through to its actual next step so you can judge how it would fit your menu and the way your team works.