Salon Swagger

Brie (00:00)
Hey there, Salon and Spa superstars. Welcome to Salon Swagger, your go -to podcast for all things commission -based salon and spa ownership. I'm Brie, your host for this episode, and I am here with my co -host, Chandra Hey, C how are you?

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (00:11)
Hello, hello, doing good today.

Brie (00:14)
Awesome. Well, today we are going to dive into the second segment of our guest journey series. And in this episode, we're going to be taking a closer look at really the client journey. And just, I think we need to do a recap of some of the strategies that we discussed last week as well. With that being said, I say we just jump right into it today. Last week, we talked about the significance of clear, concise communication.

the importance of verbiage, how your pricing has to be transparent, how websites are a very critical component of your business, how your online platforms really serve as the first point of contact for those potential clients. So it's vital that each and every one of us convey what our salon and spa is all about. But we also have to make sure that we're doing it in a way that isn't overwhelming. So.

I think for the people out there listening, if you are setting up or revamping your social media, your website, whatever that is, make sure that you are very, very clear in what you're doing and what you're saying. Make sure it's friendly, all of those things, and make sure that it is laid out like a welcome mat before your guest even shows up to your business. Anything you want to add to that, Chandra?

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (01:32)
I think that was perfect to recap. I think just start getting that stuff in order like we talked about last week. So I'm excited for everyone.

Brie (01:40)
Yeah, me too. All right. So now let's just say that the guest is walking into the door. What's next? Well, it's kind of about saying hello with a smile and ensuring that the client feels welcomed. Their feelings really, really matter here. So let's talk about rolling out the red carpet and the importance of having that consistent process for the greeting and the check -in of the client.

This needs to happen whether people have a front desk reception area or not. Every guest has to receive a warm welcome and really have that efficient check -in process, I think. I don't think it matters if you have a receptionist or not. Would you agree with that?

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (02:25)
Yeah.

Brie (02:26)
This consistency, it's not only there to ensure a smooth experience for the guest, but it also reflects positively on the salon or spa's professionalism in my opinion. And I think that's where people get lost sometimes, right? They are so used to having certain clients come in and out that that professionalism has just gone out the window altogether. And for me, I don't care if somebody's known me for.

40 years of my life, which I'm older than that, but we're gonna say 40 years, or if it's been a year, I want and expect professionalism when I go into a place of business. So I think today we should go through the consultation process. And the reason that I think this is so important is because so many people overlook it. And they do it for one of two reasons, right? They either don't think it's important and don't wanna do it, or,

A lot of people that we talk to or that we coach, they think that the clients hate the consultation process, and that's just not true. It's just not true. It just has to be done in a way that it gets the client involved so the client can be excited and it gives the technicians or the business the information that they need, and you can find that happy medium. So let's talk about the most crucial steps of the consultation. This is...

just, I just can't express the importance of this. I really can't. It gets me every time that people think it's not important. So I hate the stigma around it. I think that we need to get back to being professional and really performing these consultations in every single salon or spa. And I personally think that they need to be done with every single client, repeat or new. Now you're going to do them differently, obviously, but it has to be done.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (03:53)
Yeah.

Brie (04:20)
It's not just about understanding the client's needs. It is about building rapport and building trust. A thorough consultation is going to lead to a lot of things, higher retail sales, higher service sales, happier clients, fewer adjustments, AKA redo's, right? Increased retention and referrals. So with that being said, let's chat about the steps that people can take to create and implement an effective consultation process.

that also aligns with their studio's values because that's really, really important as well. So with that being said, I had a few things that I thought about that we could go through, but I would love to hear kind of your point of view from the consultation process. So I think one really important aspect is making sure that people are asking open -ended questions. They have to dive into that conversation with those open -ended questions about,

what the client's looking for. There's no other way to know, right? This kind of shows that we are interested in the needs and preferences of the client. So how do you guys go about creating that process and making sure that your team is asking open -ended questions?

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (05:36)
Yeah, I think the first thing is really making sure that you decide what questions you want them to be asking. So coming up with finding out ways that you can set it up so that they are consistently doing the same process every single time, whether that's using a tablet with like a digital form or a paper form, whatever works the best in your environment, but really having that consistent experience and then coming up with each of those questions. So for instance, it might be things like,

you know, finding out about their lifestyle, finding out about what kind of color, if it's a hair color service that they want, finding deeper questions into the guest, like, you know, do they have scalp issues? Are they worried about hair loss? Like asking them those questions so that they have to kind of start telling you and opening up about what they're doing. It's not just a straight yes or no. It's really about finding out and getting them to open up because you can learn so much more if you dig deep into that consultation.

than if you're just asking them yes and no questions. Like you're not going to always get the right outcome because you're not digging deep. So those questions I think need to really go deeper than just the basic surface outcome. So you can find out more about that guest.

Brie (06:48)
Yeah, I agree with that. I also find that with open ended questions, it makes the client feel like they're a little more in charge of that consultation process, which is really important because think about going to like a specialist, like a doctor, you're nervous, you don't know what's going to happen. And so you sit there kind of frozen and it's like, yes, no, I don't know, maybe, -huh. And so you don't want your clients to feel like that in your establishment. You want them to be able to have.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (06:57)
Yep. Yeah.

Mm -hmm.

Brie (07:16)
that conversation, you should be conversing back and forth. So I think that is a really good point. I think we also need to train our teams to listen actively. So listen to the responses, right? Attentively pay attention to the concerns, the desires, and any specific details that they mentioned about their hair, their skin, their nails, their body, whatever it is. So how do you guys go about making sure that your team is actively listening to every client?

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (07:25)
Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, we kind of set the questions up in a way so that, for instance, if they are asking them specific things about their skin or their hair or their scalp, we set them up in a way so that they have to follow up with another question. And I think that that makes them have to actively listen. Because sometimes if they're just breathing through the questions and they're just blowing through it and just trying to get through this consultation, they're not really hearing what the client is trying to say.

And so we kind of put follow -up questions throughout our consultation for them to have to dig deeper so that they have to be paying attention. And they can't just blow over it.

Brie (08:23)
Yeah, 100%. Something that I do as well as when I'm training my team on these consultations, and we're doing role plays, I make them repeat. So every second or third question, they have to repeat almost verbatim what I've said to them as the client in that role play. And that has really trained my team to actively listen to people, right? Because sometimes,

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (08:31)
Mm -hmm.

Yeah, we do that too. Yeah.

Brie (08:47)
I will throw stuff out there that is off the wall, like my dog ate my homework and they start to repeat it and they're like, wait, what? And so, but it makes them think, right? It makes them really, really think. So I think that's important. Another area is offering professional advice. So based on what my team has heard, they need to offer their professional expertise and their recommendations. So.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (08:52)
Yeah, they're not listening. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Brie (09:13)
I have them share insights of what styles or treatments would work best for the client based off of what the client has said to us. How do you guys go about offering that professional advice? This section right here is number one for building trust, right? Number one for building trust.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (09:33)
Yeah. Yeah. I think it builds the trust and it makes the client feel more confident in that particular service provider because they are giving that professional opinion. And so what we do is really when they start answering those questions, we train our team to start to know what kind of things can remedy whatever the client's issue is. So they can say, okay, you know, because you said you have, you know, dry scalp or flaky scalp, then.

I've got something we're going to try today so that we can see if that's going to help solve that problem. Or because you said your hair always pulls red, we're going to try to do x, y, z so that that doesn't happen. Or I don't necessarily recommend what they want sometimes because they might be asking for something that isn't going to work. And so it's them really understanding, like, you know what? I don't know if we should go that route. Let me recommend these options for you, and let's see what we can come up with.

Brie (10:22)
Right.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (10:30)
and really kind of working with the client. And I think that's also really important is you guys can work together as a team. Once you start digging deeper and learning more about this person, you can work together to come up with a plan that's gonna work the best for them.

Brie (10:44)
Yeah, we have to be the trusted advisor. There's no other option. And that was actually next on my list was collaborating that plan. So work together with the guests to create a customized plan that is going to meet their needs and align with their lifestyle. So often, we don't take the client's lifestyle into effect or into account. And that's because we're not digging deep enough or even doing consultations.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (10:47)
Mm -hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Brie (11:12)
When we can collaborate with the client, they are going to feel valued because they're involved. And once again, you are building rapport and you're building trust. So very important. The next thing that I think is really important is to set clear expectations. So clearly communicate what they can expect during the service, including the process, the duration, and maybe even the potential outcomes because...

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (11:30)
Yeah.

Brie (11:40)
There is nothing like transparency when you are laying your hands on someone. It helps you avoid those misunderstandings and it's going to build trust as well. So how do you make sure that your team is setting those clear expectations with guests?

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (11:57)
We always make them recap the consultation. So kind of like what you were saying earlier, like going back and kind of repeating what they said and kind of making sure that they were listening and go back through, okay, well, today we talked about this, so we're gonna do this and this is gonna take X amount of time and making sure they have time today because there's nothing worse than when the client gets in the chair, you guys agree upon some service and then you don't have time to perform that service because you didn't check those things at the end of that consultation.

So it's really kind of recapping it and making sure your expectations, you know, if you want to go from black hair to platinum hair, that's not going to happen today, right? So it's like setting up those expectations and working with the guest on that plan to know this is what we're going to do today. This is what we're going to have to do next time. This is what I need you to do at home. These are all the things that are going to give them that perfect service outcome. So really recapping.

and going back over that situation, like whatever they wanna have done, and then making sure the guest is in alignment and agreement. Don't just blow through it real fast and say, we're gonna do this today. Like really have that conversation with them face to face and give them what that expectation's gonna look like.

Brie (13:08)
Yeah, definitely. Something that we use that I think is really, really cool is we use mood boards. So as we are going throughout the consultation process, and I have yet to be, to have gone to another salon that actually does this, but we actually, our guest creates a mood board throughout their consultation process on an iPad that we have. And we use things like Pinterest, right? To pull pictures from and stuff. So we have that mood board.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (13:14)
Mm -hmm.

Brie (13:36)
That allows us to walk them through those expectations. Okay. The, the, the stylist has a mood board here. They are setting up their expectation and their mood board and the client is doing the same thing. And it allows us to compare, okay, you're not going to be this on the second phase. You're going to be orange like a pumpkin. So you've got to be okay with that. Right. It really has helped clear up any misunderstandings that our team has had. So.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (13:50)
Mm -hmm.

Yeah. Yep.

Brie (14:02)
The next step that we do is we make sure that we are addressing concerns and any questions before they ever leave the consultation area. So we encourage our guests to ask questions, express concerns that they may have. We want to make sure that none of that leaves the consultation area because if it does, you're starting off on a bad foot. So you have to take the time to address those thoroughly and reassure where needed before you ever leave that consultation area.

So what do you guys do to make sure that that happens?

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (14:36)
I mean, really it's just making sure that they have that clear expectation and understanding what's gonna happen with them today and not running away. Like I think so many service providers sometimes they break it all down and then they're like, go mix the color or they do whatever and that client doesn't have that opportunity to ask those questions. They just kind of blow through it and disappear. And so I think it's taking that extra time to ensure that they understand and they can ask any questions that they have and.

making them feel safe, you know, because it can be intimidating when you're the client sometimes and you have this stylist and they might not feel safe asking you a question. They might feel dumb to ask it or something like that. And so you want to make it feel like it's a safe, comfortable space for them to, to ask you any question that they might have and that they feel comfortable about, you know, what's going to happen during all of the process that processes that they're going to go through.

Brie (15:32)
Yeah, I think making sure that they're able to ask and then confirming that understanding one more time before you ever start that service process, right? Just getting them comfortable to move forward and making sure that is absolutely confirmed. So the next step is we've gotten through this consultation process. We've got to start thinking about how we're going to train our team on consistent service provision.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (15:36)
Yeah. Yeah.

Brie (15:59)
because this is what happens a lot of times, right? They aren't consistent. Now we're not going to go through this entire process because we're gonna talk about this a little bit more next week, but I think as people are, as owners are building the client journey, they need to be a step ahead. So starting to think about this consistent service provision is going to be important. And consistency is key. And this, just like anything else that you do in life, but even more so I think with service provision, right? Because,

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (16:28)
Yeah.

Brie (16:29)
Every service from haircuts to lash extensions to massages, they have to adhere to standardized processes. This is going to build more trust with clients and also ensure that it's seamless. That experience is just seamless and that's what you want. When you as the owner, when you have these specific processes in place for the way that the services go in your studio and there are no ifs, ands or buts about it,

It ensures that the guest is going to get a stellar treatment, regardless of which provider they see. So many of us have gotten so accustomed to, well, Sally sees Betty every six weeks and she never sees anyone else. We can't do that in our businesses. That's what happens when our businesses get turned upside down, right? We have three providers that leave. Nobody else can service Sally because they don't know what to do.

So how do we go about establishing consistency when it comes to providing those services? And top of my list is SOPs. What about you?

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (17:35)
So that I was going to say, yep, I was going to say the same thing, having those procedures really clear, spelled out as to what has to happen during every single service. Yep.

Brie (17:45)
Yeah, so you have to develop clear step -by -step procedures. And when I say step -by -step, I mean step -by -step for every single service that you offer in your establishment. Because these SOPs, they should outline everything from the preparation to the execution. Honestly, even through the cleanup, I would say.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (17:51)
Yep.

Yep, yeah, for sure. Yep.

Brie (18:10)
So when you went about creating your SOPs for every single service that you have, it takes a long time and this is where people get really frustrated, right? Was there a secret that you found? Did you have other team members help you? How did you create those?

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (18:16)
Mm -hmm.

Yeah, I mean, I kind of just created it based on more so what I wanted each service to have and include or how I wanted them to follow, like what I wanted them to follow. And then the hardest part is just the consistency, you know, because it's constantly having to make sure it's being done each and every time. And so creating not only those SOPs, but those kind of follow -up procedures too, to make sure that they're actually doing.

what you want them to be doing with every single client and spelling out, you know, every single thing from when the client's sitting in the chair, how they're draped or how, you know, literally, like you said, it has to be nailed down step by step by step. And so really just kind of doing it that way makes it easier because if, if there's gray area, then they're going to just decide to do the middle parts, however they want. And then you start to kind of lose that consistency and that trust because when.

You have a client who comes in and they get this consistent experience and then all of a sudden they come in and they don't, they can feel that and they know that and it starts to break their confidence and their trust in the business and in the service provider. So really just, I think that's the hardest part is making sure that it's consistently happening. And that's where we lose it too, because I think we train them and then we think they're good to go. And then we don't always kind of check back in and make sure it's happening. So that's where I would say is the hardest.

Brie (19:50)
Well, I think a lot of people don't train on SOPs to be completely honest with you. I think they, if they ever even create SOPs and implement them, it's like, here you go, here's the SOP. You have to train your team on the SOPs. They have to understand the importance of consistency and service delivery. So this is going to require regular training sessions and refresher courses.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (19:54)
Yeah. Yeah.

Mm -hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Mm -hmm. Yeah.

Brie (20:17)
that can reinforce these standards and they should be happening, you know, once a quarter, depending on the level of the technician, it has to happen consistently. So I think you're right, but I think this is a big piece that people miss. They don't ever train in this area. And I get it. We deal with so many salon and spa owners every day. They're like, but that's kindergarten work. And I'm like, I get it. But at the end of the day, this is your reputation, not theirs.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (20:29)
Mm -hmm. Yeah.

Mm -hmm. Yeah.

Brie (20:44)
So if you want it to be done the way that you want it done, the training is important. Something else that I think works really well is creating just service checklist. So yes, you have your SOPs, but the little checklist, right? They just kind of outline each step of the service process. And people, your technicians can carry that around with them. They may not be able to carry around the SOPs because it may be 10 pages, but a short checklist they can.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (20:50)
Yeah.

Mm -hmm. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

Brie (21:12)
This really just acts as a guide for your technicians or service providers, ensuring that they are not missing out on any step during the service. This was probably one of the most brilliant things that I created in my studio, because I would have them turn them in, especially new talent artists, to see if they really check them off. And then I had ways of going back or asking the educators or the masters, did they really do these things, right? So do you have something like that in your studio?

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (21:15)
Mm -hmm.

Yeah, yeah, we definitely do. And that's kind of that follow -up part is like having something, something in place that you can kind of keep track and make sure. And that's what we do. And I think, you know, it's true as long when you can really get your newer service providers doing that consistently, then as time goes on, it's just part of what they do. It just becomes their habit. And you don't always have to have them filling them out all the time, but when you're first implementing it or your first, you have new people starting, I think definitely.

Having those checklists and those follow -ups in places is crucial.

Brie (22:13)
Well, and I think it's important to say that when C says new people, she does not mean people out of school. She means anyone new to your studio, whether they've been in the industry five years or three decades, like they, if they are new to your studio, it has to be done. So I think that gives everybody kind of a clear idea of what they need to work on next before we get into next week's episode. I want to talk about building trust just a little bit because trust is the cornerstone of any successful salon or spa.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (22:19)
Yeah. Yes.

Yes. Mm -hmm. Yeah. Yep.

Brie (22:42)
It is literally the glue that holds everything together. When your guests trust you, they're going to keep coming back, right? And when your team trusts each other, magic is going to happen. I feel like the processes that we've kind of discussed today, they don't only create trust with clients, but also with your team. When you actually create them and implement them, right? And when everyone is aligned, they're going to be more committed.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (23:03)
Yeah.

Mm -hmm.

Brie (23:11)
to delivering exceptional services. So it's crucial that you cultivate a team of A players who prioritize the guest journey above everything else. Here's the thing, if your guest journey is on point, if you do have a little mishap, it's gonna be okay because they are going to remember that entire experience and the one.

little hair that is longer than the other, they're not going to think about as much, right? They're going to give you the opportunity to come back in and make that happen. So what are some of the things that you do to build trust, not only with the client in the guest experience journey, but also to have your team trust each other so that magic can really happen.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (23:38)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, and to your point a little bit, I think that's one of the top reasons that clients leave a salon or spa is because of the experience more than the actual service. They could have a stellar service and if their experience was bad, they won't come back. And so that it has to be, yeah, that has to be top. Yep, yeah, that has to be one of the top things for sure. But yeah, I mean, once we started implementing a lot of this structure, you know, in with the SOPs and the things like that,

Brie (24:13)
Well, yeah, there's a million good hairstylists, right? There's a million great massage therapists. Yeah.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (24:27)
The team felt more, I think they felt more safe in a way and more comfortable because they knew exactly what to do. They didn't feel like they were fumbling around or weren't confident in what they did because they knew, if I just followed this process, everything's gonna work out good. And they trusted us as a company implementing those things. In the beginning, it can be hard, right? Like sometimes they don't get it, they don't understand, they don't wanna listen, they don't wanna put in the extra work, but.

Once you get them to that point, it becomes so much easier and then they are preaching your culture to new staff members that you hire and things like that. And so creating that within your team, I think definitely builds trust for sure. And then that client consistency, like you said, one thing can happen, but they're going to still trust you as a, as a service provider, as a company, because they know how you operate normally. And so they are much more forgiving in that way. So that definitely builds that trust with the clients as well.

And I can tell you like from experience how many times, you know, if you have a service provider leave, so many salon and spa owners are so afraid they're going to take all the clients and all the clients are going to leave. But in my experience, after running our business that way, so many of the clients might leave and go try it once, but they come back because they're not getting that experience anymore and they miss that. And so it really does build that rapport to where they are really kind of.

Brie (25:48)
Mm -hmm.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (25:53)
just for your business. They only trust you guys and they only wanna come back to you.

Brie (25:57)
Yeah, it's something that can set you apart, right? Like there is nothing like a guest experience journey in a busy, beautiful salon. Small salon suites cannot offer that type of guest experience journey. And so it's really important. I want to go back to what you said just a little bit. And when I realized how important this guest journey experience was and creating these SOPs and everything,

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (26:05)
Mm -hmm.

Brie (26:25)
We had something that happened one day after the creation of all of this and after everyone was consistent in it. And we had, let's just say a technician named Carla that had to leave in the middle of a service, right? Emergency happened, had to leave because all of this was consistent and everybody knew somebody was able to step in, pick right up where she left off and everything was done to a T. Carla had been with...

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (26:38)
Mm -hmm.

Brie (26:54)
this client forever, right? But this client ended up happy as could be because all of the procedures were followed. So it affects us in ways that we don't even think about on a day -to -day basis. So I think that is really, really important. So anything else you wanna leave the people with when it comes to trust or SOPs or the consultation process.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (27:17)
I think just really kind of flip your mindset a little bit because I think a lot of owners, especially in the beginning, they think that stuff's not that important or it's too much work or my team isn't going to want to do all of this or the clients are going to be annoyed by this consultation process. And I think if you can just flip your own mindset and just start really implementing those things, then...

you'll just see it starting to work and it will be so much more magical. Honestly, I would say magical because it kind of is. Once everyone starts working that way, it's like all of a sudden things start flowing the way they should and you're not as stressed out and running around like crazy all the time putting out fires. And so I think that's what my biggest advice would just be to change your own mindset and really start looking at your business from a different perspective and implement some of these things and see how they go.

Brie (27:48)
Yeah.

Yeah, it's definitely worth taking the time to create it. It doesn't have to be created in a day. You can take your time, really create the process. But if everybody will work on it throughout the week as we're going through the rest of this series, they could have an amazing guest journey created, you know, in the next couple of weeks. So it definitely will allow you to set your business apart from every other business out there. And it will allow you the owner.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (28:16)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

Mm -hmm.

Brie (28:37)
the opportunity to step away if you ever have to because there will be consistency in everything that you do. So before we wrap up, let's just recap just really quickly. We covered the importance of kind of setting the stage, welcoming the guest, conducting those thorough consultations, maintaining consistency in service provision. Now it's really just time for everybody to take these processes and put them into action and.

elevate the guest experience even further. So make sure that you guys are joining us next week for our episode on kind of the checkout process, what that looks like a little bit through the service process. And then the checkout process, this is an area where you can absolutely make a freaking ton of money. If you do it the right way, it's gotta be done the right way though. Right? 100%.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (29:31)
Yep, absolutely.

Brie (29:33)
Well, that's what we've got for you guys today. Thank you so much for kicking it with us on salon swagger. Now go out there and make some boss moves. Don't forget to subscribe to this podcast for awesome strategies, interviews with industry experts and in -depth discussions. If you have any topics that you would like us to cover in future episodes, you can reach out to us. Chandra, how do they do that?

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (29:52)
Yeah, reach out to us on social media, follow us on Instagram and on Facebook and you can send us a message with any topic you would like us to cover. You can also send us an email at admin@thebeautybizagency.com

Brie (30:05)
Awesome, yeah, definitely follow us on social media because we have some amazing free resources and strategies that you can implement immediately that will help you level up your studio almost instantly. So until next time, keep slaying those business goals with style, SaaS, and a whole lot of swagger.