Check-In & Checkout: the full procedure

Greet guests into a calm atmosphere, confirm the service and flag any contraindication for the therapist, then close with smooth payment, gratuity, a retail recommendation, and a rebook.

• Applies to: Front desk / guest services.
• Frequency: Every visit.
• Scope: Covers the arrival-to-departure desk flow for every appointment. Any health flag on the intake is passed to the therapist, who decides whether to proceed or adapt the service.

What you need

• POS / booking software
• Completed intake form
• Treatment menu
• Retail product display
• Rebooking calendar

The procedure, step by step

1. Welcome warmly and protect the quiet — Greet the guest by name and keep voices and lobby noise low — the calm atmosphere is part of the service from the moment they walk in.
2. Confirm the service and provider — Verify the exact service, duration, add-ons, and the assigned therapist against the booking before sending them back.
3. Review the intake and flag contraindications — Confirm the intake form is complete and updated; flag any allergy, injury, medication, pregnancy, or health note to the therapist before the treatment starts.
4. Hand off to the therapist — Give the therapist the contraindication flag and any client requests so they can adapt or decline the service safely — the therapist makes the clinical call.
5. Process payment at checkout — Ring up the service and any add-ons, apply packages or memberships, and present the total clearly.
6. Make gratuity easy — Offer a clear, no-pressure way to add a tip (preset percentages on the POS or a tip line) so guests aren’t left guessing.
7. Recommend one retail product — Suggest the single product the therapist noted for the client’s skin or recovery — a genuine recommendation, not a hard sell.
8. Rebook before they leave — Offer the next appointment at the ideal interval and book it on the spot, then send them off with the confirmation.

Quality check before you finish

• Guest greeted by name and lobby kept quiet.
• Service, duration, add-ons, and provider confirmed.
• Intake complete and contraindications flagged to therapist.
• Payment processed accurately with packages/memberships applied.
• Gratuity option presented clearly and without pressure.
• One relevant retail product recommended.
• Next appointment rebooked before departure.

This is a free, source-anchored standard operating procedure (SOP) you can print and hand to staff. It documents the work sequence for a Day Spa & Massage business — not safety or regulatory rulings, which defer to the cited authorities, the applicable code, and your own health-and-safety plan. Open the tool above to print it, toggle ink-saver, or (with a free ToolFluency Business account) edit it to match your own workflow.

Sources

• AMTA — Client Intake Review Each Visit (amtamassage.org)
• ABMP — Intake & Informed Consent (abmp.com)
• Mindbody — POS Checkout & Rebooking (mindbodyonline.com)