How to set up priority booking in Clovo

Some classes don't sell themselves evenly — the popular ones go in minutes while the rest sit half empty. Priority booking gives that demand a bit of choreography. It lets your best-fit clients book early, then opens the class to everyone once the priority window closes.

It earns its keep for premium memberships, loyal regulars, small-capacity reformer classes, and launch periods where you want to reward the people who showed up first. This guide walks through who to give early access to, how to switch it on, and the timing decisions that make it feel fair rather than fiddly.

Decide who gets early access

Clovo builds the priority list from three sources, and you can mix them however you like. A client only needs to match one of them to qualify, so there's no need to add the same person twice.

• Individual clients — pick named clients by hand, ideal for a short list of VIPs or long-standing regulars.
• Membership plans — anyone on a selected active plan gets in automatically, which keeps the list current as people join and leave.
• Client tags — tag a group (for example, founding members) and grant the whole tag early access at once.

Plans and tags are the low-maintenance choice: the list updates itself as memberships renew or lapse, so you set it once and stop thinking about it.

Set it up, step by step

1. Open the schedule you want to protect

   Priority booking is configured per schedule, not studio-wide. In Clovo Studio, open the schedule you're creating or editing — apply priority booking only to the classes where demand justifies it.

2. Turn on priority booking

   Enable Priority Booking on the schedule. This is the switch that holds the class for your chosen clients before it opens to everyone.

3. Set the priority window

   Enter how many hours your priority clients get a head start. This is the head start before general booking opens — keep reading for how to choose a sensible length.

4. Choose your priority clients

   Select the individual clients, membership plans or tags that should get early access. Combine them freely; matching any one of them is enough to qualify.

5. Save the schedule

   Save your changes. From now on, classes on this schedule open to your priority list first and to everyone else when the window ends.

Choose a useful priority window

The priority window can run anywhere from 1 to 168 hours — one hour up to a full week. The right length depends on how hotly contested the class is.

• Shorter windows (a few hours) suit classes with regular, steady demand — enough of a nudge for keen clients without holding spots open too long.
• Longer windows (a day or more) suit premium access or special one-off classes, where the early-access perk is part of what members are paying for.

Pair it with a class release time

Priority booking works best alongside a set class release time. The release time is when bookings for a class open at all, and the priority window counts down from there. Together they make access predictable: priority clients in first, everyone else a fixed number of hours later.

Know what bypasses the window

Priority booking governs the normal booking flow, but two things can still get a spot during the window. Direct one-off purchases and staff-created bookings both bypass it.

That's deliberate. A casual client paying for a single class keeps your drop-in revenue flowing, and your team can still place a booking by hand when someone calls or walks in. The window shapes self-service demand without tying your hands.

Common questions

What to remember

• Priority booking is set per schedule and gives selected clients, plans or tags a head start before the class opens to everyone.
• The window runs from 1 to 168 hours — short for steady demand, longer for premium or special classes.
• Pair it with a class release time, and remember direct purchases and staff bookings can still bypass the window.