Still taking bookings by phone and in a notebook?
Keep both. The phone is how many of your customers will always prefer to book, and a notebook has never crashed. But the phone goes to voicemail while you are with someone, and the notebook can only be in one place at a time.
The same day, two ways
The phone rings while you are with a customer
You let it ring, or you put the customer down to answer. Either way, someone loses.
The caller finds your booking link and picks a time without waiting.
A customer wants to book after closing
They cannot. The notebook is locked inside the shop.
They book online any time. The appointment is waiting when you open the notebook in the morning.
Two people want the same time
You find out when you squint at the handwriting — or when both turn up.
The second person is never offered a time that is taken.
You need to check a booking from home
You cannot. You drive to the shop, or you guess.
Open the calendar on your phone.
A customer forgets their appointment
You call to remind them — if you remember.
A reminder sends itself, two hours before.
Walk-ins and phone bookings overlap
Somebody waits, or somebody gets turned away.
Walk-ins and online bookings land on the same calendar. A clash is impossible.
A staff member is off sick
You flip through every page to find their appointments and call each customer.
Mark them off sick. Every affected customer is notified at once.
The notebook gets lost or damaged
Every upcoming booking is gone. There is no backup.
Everything is stored online. Nothing depends on one physical book.
Both can stay
Some customers will always prefer to call, and some owners like writing things down. Both are fine. The booking page handles the part neither can — taking a booking while you are busy or asleep, refusing a double-booking, and sending the reminder — while you keep running the shop the way you always have.