# What you can build

The [Cliento API](https://developers.cliento.com/docs/api.md) connects Cliento to the other systems a business runs on.
These are the integrations businesses ask for most.

| You want to | Typical systems |
|---|---|
| [Keep customers and their visits in your CRM](#crm) | Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive |
| [Send the right message at the right time](#marketing) | Mailchimp, Klaviyo, Brevo |
| [Get sales into the books without retyping](#accounting) | Fortnox, Visma, Business Central |
| [Sell gift cards in your web shop](#web-shop) | Shopify, WooCommerce |
| [See every location in one report](#reporting) | Power BI, Looker Studio, a data warehouse |
| [Put bookings in your own app](#own-app) | A members' app, a customer portal |
| [Connect a system you built yourself](#in-house) | Membership, records, payroll, access control |
| [Answer the phone knowing who is calling](#phone) | A telephony platform, an AI receptionist |
| [Automate without writing code](#automation) | Zapier, Make, n8n |

> **The Cliento API is under development**
>
> We welcome your feedback. Tell us [in the chat](https://developers.cliento.com/docs/help.md) what you're missing, or what your business
> needs.

<a id="crm"></a>

## CRM and sales

Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive.

- **One customer record, in both systems.** Create and update customers from the CRM, and
  bring customers created in Cliento back. Store the CRM's own id on the Cliento customer as
  `externalReference`, and look the customer up by it later.
- **Visits on the contact's timeline.** Show each booking as an activity: what was booked,
  with whom, at which location, and whether the customer came.
- **From lead to first booking.** When a deal is won, book the first visit from the CRM.
- **Follow-up on what did not happen.** A cancelled visit or a no-show becomes a task for the
  account owner.

<a id="marketing"></a>

## Marketing and loyalty

Mailchimp, Klaviyo, Brevo.

- **Segments from what customers actually do**: the services they book, how often they come,
  how long it has been since the last visit.
- **Timed messages**: a reminder to rebook six weeks after a haircut, a welcome series after a
  first visit, a birthday offer.
- **Consent travels with the customer.** Whether a customer accepts marketing is part of the
  customer record, so both systems agree on who may be contacted.

<a id="accounting"></a>

## Accounting and ERP

Fortnox, Visma, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.

- **Daily sales as accounting vouchers**: revenue per VAT rate and payment method, posted to the right
  accounts.
- **Gift cards as a liability**: what was sold, what was redeemed and what is still
  outstanding.
- **Invoices for business customers**, created in the accounting system from what was sold in
  Cliento.

<a id="web-shop"></a>

## Web shop and gift cards

Shopify, WooCommerce, your own checkout.

- **Sell a gift card online, redeem it in the salon.** The web shop takes the payment and
  [imports the card](https://developers.cliento.com/docs/api.md) into Cliento, where it is redeemed like any other.
- **Show the balance.** Let a customer check what is left on a card from your own site.
- **Products and stock in step** between the shop and the point of sale.

<a id="reporting"></a>

## Reporting and business intelligence

Power BI, Looker Studio, a data warehouse such as BigQuery or Snowflake.

- **Every location in one model.** A chain gets bookings, sales and customers from all its
  locations side by side.
- **The measures a chain runs on**: how full the calendar is, revenue per staff member, the
  share of customers who come back, no-shows.
- **Cliento next to everything else**: marketing spend, payroll, footfall.

<a id="own-app"></a>

## Your own app or customer portal

A members' app, a customer portal, a page inside your intranet.

- **A customer's upcoming and past visits**, shown where they already sign in.
- **Booking, rebooking and cancelling** from your own interface.
- **Staff tools**: today's schedule in a format made for your business.

A public booking flow for anyone on the web is what the [Widget API](https://developers.cliento.com/docs/widget-api.md) is
for. The Cliento API is for systems acting on a business's behalf.

<a id="in-house"></a>

## In-house systems

Whatever you have built or bought for your own trade.

- **Membership and subscriptions.** A member in your system is a customer in Cliento, and a
  visit counts against the membership.
- **Records.** A clinic's patient record or a workshop's vehicle history opens from the
  booking, and the booking from the record. A customer can be found by personal identity
  number, organisation number or a vehicle's registration number.
- **Payroll and commission.** Hours worked and sales per staff member, without a spreadsheet
  in between.
- **Access and resources.** A booked time opens a door, unlocks a locker or starts a machine
  for exactly that period.

<a id="phone"></a>

## Telephony and AI assistants

A cloud telephony platform, a contact centre, an AI receptionist.

- **Know the caller.** Look the customer up by phone number as the call arrives, and show the
  next booking before anyone answers.
- **Book on the phone, without a person.** An assistant finds a free time, books it and
  confirms, at any hour.
- **Hand over cleanly.** When a person takes the call, the customer and their bookings are
  already on screen.

<a id="automation"></a>

## Automation platforms

Zapier, Make, n8n.

For a connection that does not justify a project of its own: add each new customer to a
spreadsheet, post to a channel when a gift card is sold, create a task when a customer has not
been back for three months. The platform calls the API with a key, like any other client.

## Starting one

Every integration starts the same way: [create a key](https://developers.cliento.com/docs.md#cliento-api) with the scopes it
needs, and try the calls in a sandbox before pointing it at a live organisation.