Home / Barbershops & salons / Walk-in wait time by text

Optional: post & answer the current walk-in wait

Walk-in customers want to know 'how long's the wait right now?' before they drive over. Answering that 40 times a day isn't possible mid-cut.

⏱ Setup: 45 minutes📶 Beginner🧩 n8n workflow

See the full setup Get the ready-to-import template

How it works

Keep one cell in a Google Sheet with the current wait (e.g. '20 min'). Update it by texting the shop's Twilio number from the owner's phone: 'WAIT 20'.
Anyone who texts the word WAIT to the shop number gets an instant reply: today's hours, the current wait, and the booking link.
The missed-call text-back reads the same cell, so every answer matches.
Optional: paste the same line into an Instagram story or a Google Business Profile post when it changes a lot (manual, free). Or skip the sheet and use a walk-in waitlist app (NextMe has a free plan; Waitwhile from $31/mo) that shows a live wait.

Tools used

Twilio n8n Google Sheets Google Business Profile NextMe Waitwhile

Realistic monthly cost≈ $6.39/mo

How we got this number

Twilio local number$1.15
Texting registration (A2P 10DLC) monthly fee$2
~300 text segments sent + received$2.49
carrier fees on ~150 outbound texts$0.75
Google Sheets$0

Assumes ~150 'WAIT' texts a month on the same number as the missed-call recipe. No AI needed. Prices are list prices checked 2026-10-26; see every source.

The full setup, step by step

8 steps in one n8n workflow. Everything below is generated from the template itself, so it always matches.

Before you start

You need an n8n account (n8n, or self-host it free) plus your own logins for: Google Sheets Twilio.

How the automation flows

When someone texts you

1Incoming text 2Config (edit me)3Acknowledge Twilio (text)4Read wait (text)5Owner setting the wait?

if yes

6Save new wait 7Confirm to owner

if no

8Reply with wait time

Tap a step to jump to its details.

Each step and what it does

1
Trigger
Incoming text
Twilio calls this webhook every time someone texts your business number.
Webhook pathYOUR_N8N_URL/webhook/incoming-sms
Then → 2. Config (edit me)
2
Settings
Config (edit me)
One place for everything specific to your business. Every later step reads from here, so this is the only node you have to edit.
Editthe settings table below
Then → 3. Acknowledge Twilio (text)
3
Reply to request
Acknowledge Twilio (text)
Tells Twilio the text was received. The reply goes out separately, so this one sends nothing to the customer.
Then → 4. Read wait (text)
4
Google Sheets
Read wait (text)
Looks up today's walk-in wait from your one-row Google Sheet.
Sheet tabWait
🔑 Connect your Google Sheets login on this node
Then → 5. Owner setting the wait?
5
Decision
Owner setting the wait?
If the text comes from the owner's cell and starts with WAIT, it's an update, not a customer.
Ruletheir phone number is your cell and their text starts with “WAIT ”
If yes → 6. Save new wait · If no → 8. Reply with wait time
6
Google Sheets
Save new wait
Writes the new wait time (whatever follows WAIT) into the Google Sheet.
Sheet tabWait
🔑 Connect your Google Sheets login on this node
Then → 7. Confirm to owner
7
Send SMS (Twilio)
Confirm to owner
Texts the owner back so they know the update worked.
Sendsthe message shown under Message copy
🔑 Connect your Twilio login on this node
End of this path.
8
Send SMS (Twilio)
Reply with wait time
Replies with hours, the current wait and the booking link.
Sendsthe message shown under Message copy
🔑 Connect your Twilio login on this node
End of this path.

Key settings to change

All of these live in the Config (edit me) node. Change them once and every text and email updates.

Setting	Placeholder in the template	Change it to
Business name `business_name`	`YOUR BUSINESS NAME`	Exactly how customers know you. It appears in every text.
Booking / calendar link `booking_link`	`https://YOUR-BOOKING-LINK`	Your online booking page (Booksy, Square Appointments, SQUIRE, Vagaro, Fresha, Calendly...). Use the short public link.
Hours `hours`	`Mon-Fri 8am-6pm`	Short and text-friendly, e.g. Mon-Fri 8am-6pm.
Your email `owner_email`	`you@example.com`	Where the 'new lead' and 'missed call' alerts go.
Your cell `owner_cell`	`+15555550100`	In +1 format (+15551234567). Texts from this number that start with WAIT update the wait time.
Twilio number `twilio_number`	`+15555550199`	The number you bought in Twilio, in +1 format. Texts are sent from it.
Wait-time Google Sheet ID `wait_sheet_id`	`YOUR_GOOGLE_SHEET_ID`	The long code in the sheet's URL between /d/ and /edit.

Message copy: exactly what it sends

Highlighted parts are filled in automatically. Edit the wording right in the node.

SMS to [their phone number] · step 7

Got it. Current wait set to: new wait

SMS to [their phone number] · step 8

Hey! Walk-ins welcome at business name. Hours: hours. Current wait: about current wait. Rather book a time? booking link

Hook it up

Make a Google Sheet with a tab named Wait and columns row_key | current_wait | updated_at. Add one row: current | 15 min | .
Fill in Config (edit me) (sheet ID is the long code in the sheet's URL).
Connect your Twilio and Google Sheets credentials.
In Twilio, set your number's 'A message comes in' webhook to YOUR_N8N_URL/webhook/incoming-sms.
From the owner cell, text WAIT 20 min to update. Anyone else who texts gets hours + wait + booking link.

Using the missed-call workflow too? It already includes this, so use one or the other on the same number.

Test it before you trust it

Fill in every setting in Config (edit me) and connect your logins on the nodes with a red warning.
In Twilio, paste the Production webhook URLs (…/webhook/…, not …/webhook-test/…) on your number, then activate the workflow.
From your cell, text WAIT 20 min to the Twilio number. You should get “Got it. Current wait set to: 20 min” and see the sheet update.
From another phone, text “what's the wait?”. The reply should say about 20 min.
Open Executions in n8n. Every run should be green. A red node tells you exactly which step to fix.
Texts not arriving? The usual cause is A2P 10DLC registration still pending in Twilio.

Skip the clicking

Get the ready-to-import n8n template

Every step above, already wired up. Paste it into n8n, add your logins, fill in your business info and you're live.

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