PWD Zara Documentation

👋 What Is Zara?

Zara is your virtual booking assistant. She lives on your WhatsApp number and handles customer messages automatically — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, even when you're busy with a client or fast asleep.

When a customer messages your WhatsApp, Zara replies within seconds. She answers their questions, checks if the appointment time is free, confirms the booking and adds it to your Google Calendar — all without you lifting a finger.

⚙️ How Zara Works

Here is exactly what happens from the moment a customer sends a message to when the booking is confirmed.

🛠️ Your Tools

Zara uses three services to manage your bookings. All three belong to you and are set up in your own accounts.

📅 How Bookings Work

Here is a real example of a booking conversation your customers will have with Zara.

✅ The CONFIRM Word

Zara will never create a booking without the customer's explicit go-ahead. This is by design — it protects both you and your customer from accidental bookings.

At the end of every booking conversation, Zara sends a summary and asks the customer to type the word CONFIRM to proceed. Nothing is booked until that word is sent.

If the customer changes their mind before typing CONFIRM, no booking is created and nothing is logged. They can simply start over or ask a different question.

📱 Viewing Your Bookings on Your Phone

You only need two free apps on your phone to see everything Zara books. Both are from Google and take about five minutes to set up.

🗓️ Using Google Calendar

Every booking Zara confirms appears in your Google Calendar automatically. Here's what you'll see and how to get the most out of it.

What each booking shows

When you tap on a booking in Google Calendar, you'll see:

• Title — for example: "Happy Hair — Hair Cut — Sarah"
• Date and time — the confirmed appointment slot
• Description — service type, customer name, WhatsApp number and any notes

Useful calendar features

• Day view — see all bookings for a specific day at a glance
• Week view — plan your week and spot busy periods
• Reminders — Google Calendar can notify you before each appointment
• Share with staff — you can share your bookings calendar with a colleague or staff member so they see the schedule too

📊 Using Google Sheets

Your Google Sheet is your booking register. Every interaction Zara handles is logged here — bookings, cancellations and human requests.

What each row contains

❓ Customers Asking General Questions

Zara is trained on your business information and can answer common questions without any help from you.

🔄 Reschedule and Cancellation Requests

When a customer wants to change or cancel an appointment, Zara handles the conversation professionally.

Rescheduling

Zara will ask for the original booking details and guide the customer through selecting a new available slot, following the same booking process from the beginning.

Cancellations

Cancellations are handled by a human. Zara will acknowledge the request, let the customer know someone will confirm the cancellation, and log it in your Google Sheet with Status = "Cancelled" so you can see it and follow up.

🙋 When a Customer Wants to Speak to a Human

Zara knows when to step aside. If a customer asks to speak to the owner or manager, or if they have a complaint or a request Zara can't handle, she responds empathetically and logs the request for you.

What Zara does:

• Acknowledges the customer warmly
• Lets them know someone will be in touch shortly
• Logs the request in your Google Sheet with Status = "Human Request" and a summary of what the customer needed

🌍 Afrikaans Support

Zara automatically detects when a customer is writing in Afrikaans and switches to Afrikaans for the entire conversation — including booking confirmations, availability messages and all replies.

The magic confirmation word in Afrikaans is BEVESTIG instead of CONFIRM. Zara will always use the correct word based on the language the customer is writing in.

If a customer switches languages mid-conversation, Zara adapts accordingly.

💡 Tips & Best Practices

Keep your calendar up to date

Zara reads your Google Calendar in real time. If you have a personal appointment, a day off or any blocked time, add it to your bookings calendar so Zara doesn't offer that slot to customers.

Check Google Sheets once a day

Spend two minutes each morning scanning your Google Sheet. Look for any Human Request entries from the previous day — these are customers waiting to hear from you.

Let Zara handle it

If a customer messages and Zara is already replying, you don't need to step in. Let the conversation run. If it ends up as a Human Request, that's your cue to take over.

The RESTART command

If a customer ever types RESTART, Zara will start the conversation fresh from the beginning. This is useful if a conversation gets stuck or confused.

🆘 Support

If something isn't working as expected, or if you have questions about Zara, get in touch with us directly.

Contact details: your contact details