Mastering Studio Schedules: tools, templates and real-world workflows

Calling studio owners, managers, and schedulers — share concrete, copier-ready systems you use to: coordinate instructors, fill classes (including recurring series), manage waitlists and last-minute cancellations, and sync bookings with payments and calendars.

Please reply with real, tactical detail so others can test or copy quickly. A helpful reply will include these sections:
1) Tools & setup — name the booking/payment/calendar tools (and integrations) you used. Be vendor-neutral if possible.
2) Step-by-step workflow — day-to-day and event-driven steps (e.g., how a new series is published, how instructors are assigned, how waitlist moves to confirmed). Include timing and role responsibilities.
3) Automation snippets/config — Zapier/Make/Shortcuts API examples, SQL/gsheet formulas, or webhooks you run. Paste the actual conditions/triggers/actions (no private keys).
4) Messaging templates — confirmation, reminder, waitlist promotion, and cancellation SMS/email/DM copy and send timing.
5) Rules & policies — cancellation windows, auto-cancel rules, waitlist priority, instructor swap rules, pricing tiers for peak/off-peak.
6) Metrics & outcomes — before/after numbers (fill rate, churn, no-show rate, revenue per class, admin hours saved). Share measurement period and sample size.
7) Assets to download — schedule templates, instructor-rotation sheets, notification text, automation recipes, or screenshots (link to Google Drive/Docs/Notion/etc.).

What worked, what failed, and any trade-offs you learned are especially valuable. If you can, include the platform(s) you used and the rough monthly studio size (students/classes) so others can judge fit. No need to be polished — first-hand, practical detail matters most.