Skip to content

How to Convert a Customer Profile to a Staff Profile

There's no one-click "convert" button. The process is to add the customer's email as a staff member — Zipper links the existing account rather than creating a duplicate.

How It Works

When you add someone as staff using their existing email:

  • If they already have a Zipper account (as a customer): their existing account is connected to the staff list — no duplicate is created
  • If they don’t have an account yet: an invite link is sent so they can activate their account

Steps

Step 1: Go to Staff Management

  • Navigate to: Staff > Staff Members

Step 2: Add a new staff member

  • Click: Add staff member
  • Enter: The customer’s email address
  • Set their role (Staff, Manager, or Admin)
  • Set their pay rate (optional)
  • Click: Save

Step 3: What happens next

  • If they had a Zipper account: They’re now on your staff list. They’ll see a Staff dashboard when they log in (if their role allows it)
  • If they didn’t have an account: They receive an invite email to claim their account

After Adding as Staff

The person now has a staff profile AND a customer profile. These are separate records:

  • Staff profile: Manages their role, permissions, pay rates, and schedule assignments
  • Customer profile: Still exists in the CRM with their booking history, subscriptions, etc.

You don’t need to delete the customer profile. Many studios have staff members who are also clients — both profiles coexist.

If You Want to Restrict Their Customer Access

If you don’t want the staff member to see their own customer profiles or booking history, you can control this through their staff permissions (Advanced Permissions in the Staff edit modal).

Tips

  • Email must match exactly: Use the same email address the customer uses for their Zipper account. A mismatch creates a new account instead of linking the existing one.
  • Role assignment matters immediately: The role takes effect as soon as you save — they’ll see the appropriate dashboard the next time they log in.

Troubleshooting

Duplicate accounts were created. This happens when the email didn’t match the existing account (e.g., different capitalization or a typo). Merge the duplicate using the Contacts merge feature, then remove the incorrect staff entry.

The staff member says they don’t see a staff dashboard. Check their Dashboard View type in the Staff edit modal — it may be set to “Default” which shows the customer-facing dashboard. Change it to “Instructor” or “Manager” as appropriate.

Need a hand?

Email our team at support@joinzipper.com and we'll usually reply within a few hours.

Was this article helpful?