Salon Swagger

Brie (00:00.848)
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 Bree, and I'm here with the lovely Chandra. Chandra, how are you doing?

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (00:10.002)
Hello, doing good.

Brie (00:12.976)
Awesome. How's your morning been?

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (00:15.09)
It's been a little crazy, but it's good. Children are off of school, so.

Brie (00:18.156)
Yeah. Hi, Philia. So we had like a horrible storm this morning, like tornado. And so I had to chase down the trampoline, which is now in our front pasture somewhere. And everything from my back patio is all out with the cows in the back pasture. So it's been fun. Yeah, it's been very interesting. Well, with that being said today, we are diving into the final steps.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (00:36.114)
my gosh, that's crazy.

Brie (00:45.968)
The final steps of our client journey. I think it's been a ride and I really hope that our listeners have gotten a ton of value from this series. I think that this is very, very important and that it's something that a lot of salon or spa owners don't really take to heart or we start out with really good intentions. However, we kind of let it go as time goes on. And so for those new salon owners out there, I think this is great. For those who maybe haven't ever thought of something like this, I think it's really good.

And for those OGs like you and I that have kind of let things just go downhill a little bit, I think it's really great. Now, before we get into the nitty gritty, like we always do, I think we should do a quick recap of everything that we've covered so far, from setting the stage with killer social media and website vibes, to ensuring that you have a warm welcome and that thorough, thorough consultation. We cannot say the word consultation enough throughout this series.

We also kind of laid the foundation for that unforgettable client experience because it really is one of the only ways to set yourself apart from every other salon or spa out there. We emphasize the importance of consistency with SOPs and training your team, every single person on your team. And now it's really just time to kind of tie it all up with a bow. So we are going to first talk about sealing the deal.

So your client service is done. They are feeling fabulous, right? And now it's time for that final close. And I think saying it that way is very, very important because a lot of times we just see it as that, that client, but almost a friend type relationship when salespeople see it more as the final close, right? They are closing the deal. And I think that's where we as salon and spa owners need to have that mindset shift.

because we are those salespeople, we are closing a deal, and so we've got to think about it from that standpoint. I feel like this area is where I was really, really able to generate a ton of money for my studio and see things just start skyrocketing, really. It took a ton of training on my part to work with my team. However, once we kind of figured out the play -by -play, we really, really started to see those numbers go up.

Brie (03:12.016)
My employees were making more money, the business was making more money, and everybody was just happier all around. The beautiful thing about this too, and we're gonna get into it a little bit and people are gonna understand, but the clients were happier as well because their hair was well maintained at home. So going throughout this closing process is very, very important. I know that I kinda shared my...

process with you when I was coaching you kind of what we were doing to see those retail numbers go up and it's all during this this area of the close right and I think you guys kind of use that now as well so I'd love to kind of share the process that we do in my studio real quick and then here kind of how you took it made it your own and what you do because I think that's really important we see this in the coaching aspect all the time right we give people templates or we give them help or whatever it is

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (03:38.194)
Mm -hmm.

Brie (04:06.128)
but they never put their twist on it. And that's so very important because that's the only thing that's ever going to make you unique is putting your own culture, your own value, your own unique self into whatever you're doing. So for us, it looks something like this. Now, something that I do feel like we didn't say last week when we were talking about the service was,

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (04:08.274)
Mm -hmm.

Brie (04:33.296)
We talked about letting people feel, smell, hold, right, those retail products. One part that I feel like I forgot to mention is that is where my team does their pre -booking is during that service. So whether the client is sitting there processing their color or we're just chit chatting with them, that is where we now do our pre -booking so that we can assure.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (04:36.722)
Mm -hmm. Yeah.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (04:44.178)
Mm -hmm.

Brie (04:57.904)
that they are getting pre -booked before they leave. If they're not ready to commit at that time, we can do it at a later time before they leave. But it's something that people really need to think about because it's not something that a lot of people do. So let's talk about that really quickly before we talk about kind of our retail and close process. When do you guys actually pre -book?

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (05:19.41)
So we're always still trying to get this into that right space sometimes. But for us, because we do have a bigger team, and I think that's what's great about UNI is we have kind of two different setups as far as our team goes. And so for us, we really try to have it happen in the chair at the same time, but we have the assistants usually going around and doing that because we have those people in the business.

If for some reason we don't have them that day or they're too busy, we have it set up so that it happens at the desk. But I agree. I think it's way better when it can happen at the chair because we notice a huge increase in our pre -booking numbers when we are consistently getting that pre -book done while they're still sitting in that hair chair.

Brie (06:04.688)
Well, here's the thing, right? If they're sitting and processing their color, when you think of it outside the box, they have time to look at their calendar. They have time to sit there and commit. When they're at the front desk and ready to check out, they are ready to go. They want to go show their new hair, their new skin, their new nails, whatever it is, right? They've got places to go, people to see, and they don't really have that time. So for the listeners out there, if you are not pre -booking while the client is in your chair, start doing it.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (06:09.682)
Yeah.

Mm -hmm. Yeah.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (06:18.034)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Brie (06:32.656)
start tracking those pre -book percentages and see what they look like. That is probably my biggest challenge to everyone today. Now, with that being said, what we do with our retail process is just a little bit different. And our retail is really our big close because that's where we are able to tack on 100, 200, $300 per ticket. And so the way that we do it is everything that we are using on the client.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (06:40.21)
Yeah.

Brie (07:01.2)
My team really has their favorite products and they keep those at their station at all times. So let's say that you came in to see me, right? I just got finished up with another client. You got checked in, you're fixing to sit in my chair. I'm going to have my favorite products sitting on my station to be able to use for you. Now I know that we're not always going to be able to pick the perfect products because sometimes we have new clients and we don't know, but it's still, it works, right?

So we are having those sit in front of the client every single second that they are in our chair. They're looking at them. They're asking about them. They're curious about them, right? So let's say that I got done with you. You are beautiful. You are ready to go to the front desk. I am going to grab those products with me and I am going to take them up to the front desk. I'm going to grab three products. Here's the deal. People don't usually buy all three or all four, but they usually buy one or two of them.

And so this is where we were really able to see a drastic, drastic difference in our retail numbers. And I mean, we went from $3 ,000 a month to over $50 ,000 a month in retail sales with a very small team, which is massive. So that's kind of what our process looks like. We carry the retail products up to the front desk. We let them know, this is what we used on you today. This is how you use it at home. Here it is.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (08:15.634)
Mm -hmm.

Brie (08:26.896)
It's not that it's putting the client in a bad position. It's more about the education, right? We're telling them, this is how you have to maintain your hair at home if you want to create the same look that we created for you to make you feel as good as you do. So that's just the short part of how we do it. Let's hear yours and see how you've put a twist on what we did to ramp up those retail numbers.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (08:38.994)
Yeah.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (08:52.402)
Yeah, I mean, ours is pretty similar, actually. So we do the same thing. We have to bring the product to the front desk. We keep the products in front of them at all times. We do a styling lesson so that they get to play with the products and actually maybe put them in their hair, get to use them themselves so we can teach them exactly how much to use, how much to put in their hair, and they get to play with it and smell it. And then we do have them bring at least three products to the front, the same kind of process.

And again, it's the same thing. I think as a consumer, if I go somewhere, I'm excited about the products. I want to use the products. I want to buy the products. But so many times in our industry, we're so anti salespeople. I feel like that we don't want to have that finish part. We don't want to take it to the desk or we don't want to take it, you know, and put it in front of the client because we feel like we're being pushy salespeople. But really, I mean, it's about that. Like.

experience and I want those things. Like if I'm in the chair and you're doing my hair and it smells really good and you're like, here's those things I used on you. When I get to the desk, I'm probably going to buy all three because I'm terrible at stuff. I'm a sucker when it comes to that, but I love that stuff because they're making them excited in the chair. So our process really is about setting that whole thing up so that when they get to the front, they would just already want it. They already are excited about it. They want to take it home and

instilling that in them, I think, is the most important piece that gets missed. And so we really try to do that in the chair with our team, with our stylists, our assistants, and close that sale once they get to the front.

Brie (10:24.432)
I love that. So since you've started using this process, how have your retail numbers changed?

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (10:31.442)
Our retail numbers have increased a ton, I would say by at least 20 % or more even. it just, the consistency is the hard part, right? And that's where we can tell when we're on point and we're doing it, like everybody's supposed to be doing it the way they're doing it. Our retail that month will be way higher than, than it normally would be. And so when it starts to falter, I can tell immediately because those sales drop. So when you are following those processes, you can definitely see an increase like immediately. Like.

every single day.

Brie (11:04.304)
I love it. I love it. So that's something to think about for all of the listeners out there, right? There's a different way to go about it. And we've said this before, but I'm going to say it again. We all are selling ourselves every single day. Whether you are doing hair and selling zero retail, doing Nels and selling zero cuticle oil, you're still selling yourself every single day. So at the end of the day, every single person that has a job is a salesperson when it comes down to it.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (11:16.114)
Mm -hmm. Yep.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (11:23.346)
Yeah.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (11:31.282)
Yeah. Yep.

Brie (11:32.816)
Now, when you're training your team, you have to make sure that you're emphasizing the importance. We're still talking about the close here about asking for referrals and reviews. So all of your technicians need to be doing that within the process and confirming one last time that the client is happy with their service outcome. That is how you leave that lasting impression and you set the stage for their next visit. So with that being said, we are now to the fun part.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (11:44.658)
Yeah.

Brie (12:01.648)
the checkout process, right? So your service provider, they've done their part. They thank the client. They've bid them farewell. And now it's, it's really up to the front desk to kind of take over. It is vital that you have a process in place for your front desk and that they are trained on everything. Something that I think salon and spot owners miss a lot on is they don't train their front desk on product knowledge, right?

When they are left with those products at the front, the client may still have a few questions. If there's three in front of them and they can't afford all three, but they definitely want two, how is your front desk going to answer questions if they don't know? So if you are not training your front desk on product knowledge, definitely something to think about. It's just a really, really key point. Your guest experience area,

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (12:52.178)
Yeah, for sure.

Brie (12:57.616)
Aka your front desk. They have to understand more than just the simple CRM system. They really, really, they are your closers at the end of the day, right? They are salespeople, whether they like it or not, whether you like it or not, whether anybody likes it or not. Not only do they have to be familiar with the products, they have to be familiar with the services. They have to be trained on pre -booking recommendations with upsells.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (13:06.13)
Yep. Mm -hmm.

Brie (13:24.784)
They have to be trained on how to gain reviews and referrals, and they have to be trained on how to make sure the client is not only happy, but they are ecstatic and that they are able to check that client out seamlessly. So what does your process look like at the checkout point?

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (13:44.082)
Yeah. So our front desk, we really treat it like a profit center because it really is, because that's the products that they're helping you sell or the services they're helping add on. That's where you really can increase your sales. And so we, we have those lovely SOPs, like we talk about every single time for our front desk staff as well. So they have a very specific criteria that they have to go through. So once the stylist brings the products up to the front,

They might even tell them, like, if they're only going to buy this and this, this is the most important thing so that they will know exactly which product to recommend from what the stylist is wanting them to use. And then they have, we never, we train them to not say certain things. So for instance, like, you know, do you want to get these today or, you know, using words like that, that's going to make most people kind of decide not to purchase. So we have them say things like, these are all the things that, you know, so -and -so used on you today.

You know, I think your hair looks amazing. You know, which of these products would you like to take? They can still say no. And so we try to set it up so that their verbiage is always going to be, you know, in a positive, happy way and not kind of like, do you want these today? These products. Cause you can set all of that up and have that perfect seamless experience. And then the front desk could destroy it. Right. And that's going to be frustrating for the, for the service providers. Cause they did their part. Right.

Brie (15:01.648)
Right?

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (15:05.874)
So making sure they know that product knowledge, making sure that they know those sales, we put them through sales training as well. Like these are, you know, certain ways that you can close the sale. We give them like three or four different ways that they can close the sale depending on how that client's kind of personality is, or kind of the questions they're asking or what they're saying. So creating scripting for them so that they know how to handle certain questions and just ensuring that they are using that proper verbiage so that they're not closing down the sale instead of, you know, getting a sale out of it.

Brie (15:34.928)
Yeah, 100%. I think it's so important that people understand that a lot of people role play that's become really big when it comes to training your team. And I love that. But what we tend to do a lot of times is we role play with just our assistants or just our associates, and then our technicians, and then our front desk, instead of putting it all in one cycle, right? So with our training, we don't do it individual. Yes, we have individual training.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (15:35.826)
Mm -hmm.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (15:42.514)
Mm -hmm.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (15:51.922)
Mm -hmm.

Brie (16:04.144)
but we do it all together. So we'll put people, when I had the bigger team, we would put them in threes, right? So you would have it from the assistant or the associate to the technician to the front desk. And they would go through the entire role play scenario seamlessly together so that they could learn how each technician sold, what they did, how they provided services, what they would say about products, things of that knowledge. And they really learned.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (16:09.874)
Mm -hmm.

Brie (16:32.112)
It was a great team building exercise. They learned how to read off each other, right? I knew how to sell for Nicole or Nicole knew how to sell for me or Tatum knew how to sell for Nicole or vice versa. And so it works out really, really well. So as you're creating these scripts, you need to think about the way each service technician does things as well, because it's the only way that your scripting is going to work. Yes, you can have generic scripts upfront.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (16:33.842)
Yeah.

Brie (17:00.176)
100 % that everybody has to follow. But it's very important in my opinion that your team knows each other, they knows each other's personalities and the way that they sell. What do you say about that?

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (17:10.642)
Yeah. Yeah, for sure. I think that's going to be the best way that you can make that seamless, flawless experience because everybody's working together in the same kind of cycle instead of not knowing or not doing it just because they don't feel like they understand what that person, what that service provider wants or, you know, vice versa. So yeah, absolutely.

Brie (17:31.952)
Absolutely. That final touch point before clients walk out the door is one of the most important. So if you are not taking advantage and not in a bad way, but if you're not taking advantage of that final touch point, it's something you really need to dissect in your business and take a close look at because your numbers could drastically change from one month to the next. If you will start doing some of these touch points that we're talking about today.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (17:42.034)
Yeah.

Brie (18:00.976)
So now let's talk about going beyond the studio, right? So many people think that that final touch point is them checking out and then just waiting to see them the next time they come in. But that's not how it is. The client journey doesn't end when they leave your studio. You gotta keep the momentum going with like a killer, killer follow -up process. That's the only way I know to put it. Whether that is a phone call, an email, a survey, all of the above.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (18:10.802)
Yeah.

Brie (18:29.008)
You have to reach out and gather feedback on what the experience was, in my opinion. I know people say, well, I send out surveys once a year. Great. Good. You can't do that, right? You have to put the personal touch on it as well. And so I think it's really important to do it in different ways, phone calls and emails and texts and surveys and, and all of those things. It's the only way to know if the client is happy. And if they're not,

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (18:43.314)
Mm -hmm.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (18:49.394)
Yeah.

Brie (18:54.768)
And then you also have to make sure that just in case that client isn't happy, you have a plan in place, right? And if they are happy, you're able to capitalize on that positivity by asking once again, if they didn't leave a review or send a referral for those things. So what does your process look like, beyond the studio after they leave?

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (19:01.202)
Yep. Yep.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (19:18.482)
Yeah, so we have kind of quite a few different processes for this actually because it depends on the situation. Because sometimes if you have a new client, it might be a different process than for an existing client, for instance. And so for a new client, we follow up with every single new client within 48 hours of their appointment. And we try to have the service provider call them as much as possible. If they get busy, we do have a front desk call or our manager will call. But I think it's important for the.

the service provider to also follow up and create that touch point and that trust in them as well. And so they always follow up, make sure everything's good with their hair, check in on the products that they purchased. If they didn't pre -book, that's a huge opportunity to then say, okay, awesome, let's get you on the schedule. Or, you know, could you leave us a review? I'm so glad that you're happy and love your service. And so we try to definitely have them follow up. If we don't get a response from that client, we do have someone else follow up that's either.

in leadership somewhere because we want to make sure maybe they didn't call back because they were unhappy or something like that. So I feel like with this one, you do kind of need to have a lot of little things to cover yourself. For existing clients, whenever they make a change in their hair or they buy a new product, we always follow up with them as well. So if they made a change or they purchased a new product, we want to make sure that they like it, that everything's going good. And so we have that. And then we do have those...

recovery, service netting, we call them in the salon in place if somebody is upset. And so if they're upset, we've got to be able to handle that conversation in a way that can get them back in and get them to a place where they're happy with their service and happy with their hair. And I think when you create that experience going beyond the door, once they leave, that experience keeps going and that communication keeps going, you continue to create that trust and they feel so much more comfortable with.

what you're offering.

Brie (21:13.776)
Yeah, I agree with that. I think one thing that people overlook so much in this day and age is everything having to be digital, right? I can tell you that I knew COVID was going to stir things up. I knew it was, it changed everything, right? It changed all of our lives, especially as business owners forever. And so something that I did during COVID that really, really set me apart was I started reaching out personally to each, and I had a big team at this time to,

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (21:22.002)
Mm -hmm.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (21:27.794)
Yeah.

Brie (21:42.544)
every single one of our clients. I booked over 1800 appointments during the time that we were closed for COVID. That is almost unheard of. We were booked out for almost a year. Like it was insane. And so I think for those people that are relying CRM systems are great. Excuse me, email, great. Text messages, great. But you've got to bring that personal touch back into things just a little bit. And so,

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (21:53.842)
Yeah. Yeah.

Brie (22:12.496)
I know that's something that you and I talked about a year ago, two years ago, and it really does work. Some people aren't going to respond to a phone call. I absolutely get it. Some are going to respond to a text, right? Some aren't going to respond to a text. They're going to respond to an email. And so I think that's why your system works so well is because you have so many different options and so many different ways to get a hold of the guest. Let's talk about the surveys for just a second because.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (22:15.89)
Mm -hmm.

Brie (22:42.704)
I think a lot of times from coaching, what we find is maybe somebody gets a bad survey back. They don't know what to do with it. And so a lot of times they'll just ignore it. And that's not the way to go about things. So let's say that Bri came into Ohana Salon and I saw Sammy and I had just not a great experience, right? Like loved Sammy, but it just wasn't, it wasn't a great experience. And so I fill out the survey.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (23:00.306)
Mm -hmm.

Brie (23:11.536)
And what does it look like on your end when you get that negative survey back?

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (23:17.074)
Yeah, we immediately follow up. We give them a call to try to find out exactly what happened to get more information because sometimes people won't even put that on the survey. They just might give you a bad rating or say, you know, thing. They might check the boxes that are like, not good, not good, but they're not going to necessarily give you that information. So we always want to follow up because we want to know what happened. It could have been a simple little thing that wasn't a big deal, but it was upsetting to that person, you know? And so we always start there.

And then depending on the situation, if it was like a service adjustment or something like that, then we have the stylist call. We would have Sammy give you a call and be like, Hey, no, I'm sorry to hear that. You know, your hair is not the right tone or whatever that is. We can totally fix this for you. Absolutely. No problem. I want to make sure you're good and then handle it that way. And so I think you have to have to get in front of it because those things are going to blow up at, to some degree that person might quietly go away, but then that person might continue to get more and more upset.

and then leave you a bad online review or end up, you know, bad -mouthing you across the community or whatever that it looks like. And so you have to get in front of those things. So that's what our process, we get in front of it right away.

Brie (24:28.144)
I love that. And I just want to say this for everybody out there. Sammy is a real hairstylist at Ohana, but she is phenomenal. I was just using her name because I adore her. So I just want everybody to know that. I want Sammy mad at me. She, she's amazing. So, just wanted to make sure I threw that out there really, really quickly. Something else that our coaching members do quite often is they don't know how to handle, let's say you get this negative review, right? Or this negative survey back.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (24:32.466)
I'm sorry.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (24:39.826)
Yes, she's amazing. Yes.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (24:47.378)
All good.

Brie (24:58.224)
and the client just doesn't want to see the original provider. How do you go about handling that?

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (25:05.842)
It depends on the situation because sometimes it could be a personality conflict more than anything. And so once we sort of find out exactly what happened, if we know it's something that that service provider can make better and can...

solve, resolve the issue, make it good for the client, then we still will stress them. We will talk them into going back to that service provider. Usually that's not too hard. Once you reassure them, it's going to be fine. If for some reason it was like a personality conflict or something weird happened, we always put them with someone else because we want to make sure that they're happy. But our first point is to try to get them back in because all of our...

you know, if you train your team well, they want to do good. They want it to be a good experience and they don't want that person to have a negative opinion about them for some reason. And so we try to do that first, but you know, sometimes it doesn't work. So we will put them with someone else if we have to.

Brie (26:01.968)
Yeah, I think you hit the nail on the head there and that's what I was going to go into next, which is a little off topic, but it does all come down to your culture. When your culture is good and your team believes in your mission and your vision and your values and they are trained well, they want to do well. They want to know why the client's upset. They want to get them back in. They want to get the adjustment made because it matters to them, right? And so,

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (26:09.97)
Mm -hmm.

Brie (26:26.)
I think for salon and spa owners out there, that's something you need to look at internally with your team. If you have technicians that don't want to see that client again for some reason constantly or are having a lot of adjustments or things like that, you need to really look at your culture and your training to kind of figure out what's going on there.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (26:44.082)
Yep. Yep, agree. Yep.

Brie (26:48.72)
All right, well, let's circle back to something that we've been hammering home throughout this entire series, and that's the trust factor. Building trust with your clients, it's, once again, it's not just nice to have, right? It is a must have if you want to have long -term success and sustainability. When you deliver an amazing guest journey and you stay consistent with your client experience, you are going to set yourself up for greatness all the way around.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (26:53.85)
Yep.

Brie (27:18.896)
all the way around. So I know that we talked about this almost at the end of every series, but let's explain. I want to hear it from you. I think it's really important to hear from you because you've been through the coaching side of things, right? You've been an owner. You've been in the industry forever. You've been through the coaching side of things. So why do people need to start implementing a guest experience journey like this, like we've been talking about for the last four weeks? What is the importance of it?

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (27:24.498)
Mm -hmm.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (27:47.826)
Well, I think definitely building that trust. If you think about it, like from your own life, for instance, if you go to any business, any type of industry, any type of business, how many times do you get like subpar service? Almost all the time. Like it's very unusual that you leave a business and you're like, my gosh, that was amazing. And if you do leave that business feeling that way, you're going to go back.

and you're going to tell people about it. And you're going to give grace if something bad happens, because you know that that company stands by their values and that they will take care of whatever it is. And so I think when you put yourself in a position to be that type of business, you stand out from all the other ones that are out there because it's so unusual. It's so rare. Most of the time, that's not the experience people are getting. And so I think it's so important for that.

trust factor to happen because of those things. And then it also, it grows your business as your business. Like we've kind of talked about this before, instead of those, those clients, if a stylist leaves or something happens, instead of those clients leaving to follow them, they might try it, but they're not going to get the same experience because it's not going to be run that way 90 % of the time and they'll be back. And so keeping that customer loyalty high, that client retention high.

is so important that you're doing this because you will keep people. I mean, I've always kind of ran my own business behind the chair with that experience in mind when I was just doing hair and my clients stayed with me for 25 years and they trusted me and they would do anything I told them to do. I tell them to book, I tell them to buy product because they will do anything that I tell them to do because they know that I have their best interest at heart and that I want to make them happy. And so you will build that within your team and within your salon as a whole.

if you follow this guest journey process and if you put this in place and execute it consistently, that's the hard part. We even still like, you know, it's a constant thing that you have to constantly keep trying to work on because it's one of those things that there's a lot of moving pieces. And so once you get the flow in there and everybody's doing it and it becomes habit, it becomes super easy, but it's still one of those things that you have to constantly do just cause things are going great.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (30:05.682)
That doesn't mean you should quit following up with clients or you should quit doing those other processes because it becomes easy to stop doing that when things are going good. And so it's keeping that consistency, I think, and that importance of that is going to blow your business out of the water. Like you will be so much busier than every other salon in your area, for sure.

Brie (30:26.416)
Yeah, I agree. It's that consistency and then leveling it up, right? Like every year thinking of something bigger and better that you can do to add to it. And so I think when you do that, your team stays consistent because they know there's gonna be something new added or whatever that be. And when you're paying attention as the owner like you should, which is one reason that you need to be present in your business, right? And not just...

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (30:30.386)
Mm -hmm. Yep.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (30:36.338)
Yeah.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (30:41.17)
Mm -hmm.

Yep.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (30:51.858)
Mm -hmm. Yeah.

Brie (30:53.68)
providing services all the time. It's the only way to better all of these processes all the time. So many people think that the ambiance is what sets them apart, right? I have the best shampoo chairs or I have the best whatever. And it's so not what it is. I'm telling you, I ran a $2 million salon out of a pretty crappy building, to be honest with you. Like it was not ideal. I was stuck in a lease. It was what it was.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (31:04.786)
Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm. Yep.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (31:17.874)
Mm -hmm.

Yeah.

Brie (31:22.672)
but it was a $2 million salon because of this huge piece. And that was the guest experience journey, the journey that we had set for our clients. That is why they were so loyal to us and why they trusted us so much. So if you're the type that you're about, it's all about the decor and the ambiance. Those things matter a little bit, not a whole lot, right? But.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (31:28.146)
Yeah. Yeah.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (31:37.202)
Yeah.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (31:43.602)
Yeah.

Brie (31:46.384)
It's more about the processes and the systems that you are doing to build this trust and gain this trust from your clients. So definitely, definitely need to think about that. Well, guys, there you have it. We've covered everything from the first hello to the final goodbye and really everything in between. Today we've wrapped up with focus on closing checkout and really the followup process and emphasizing the importance of each step in creating that unforgettable client journey.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (31:50.738)
Yeah.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (31:54.386)
Yep.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (31:59.314)
I'm going to go to bed.

Brie (32:16.4)
So thanks for joining us on this ride of creating that stellar guest experience journey in your studio. We really hope that you found value out of each and every one of these sessions or episodes that we did. We would love to hear from some of you guys who have actually gone through this with us and put these steps into place. Chandra, how can they reach out to us and tell us a little bit about what they implemented or what their new guest experience journey looks like?

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (32:31.346)
Mm -hmm.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (32:37.042)
Yeah.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (32:44.306)
Yeah, we would love to hear about that. So definitely shoot us a message on social media. You can follow us at the Beauty Biz Agency on Instagram. You can find us on Facebook as well, or just even send us an email at admin at thebeautybizagency .com and let us know how it's going or if we can help you out in any way.

Brie (33:01.936)
Yeah, I think that would be so cool to hear. Remember the key to success literally is delivering exceptional experiences every single step of the way. Well, thanks for kicking it with us today on Salon Swagger. Now go out there, create a guest experience journey that really, really sets you apart and make some boss moves. Don't forget to subscribe to our podcast for strategies, interviews with industry experts.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (33:10.45)
Mm -hmm.

Brie (33:29.328)
and these in -depth discussions that we have all the time. If you have any topics that you would like us to cover in future episodes, you can reach out to us. Chandra, give us that info one more time.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (33:31.034)
Yep.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (33:39.186)
You can reach out to us on Instagram at the Beauty Biz Agency or send us an email at admin at the beauty biz agency calm Love to hear from you

Brie (33:47.12)
Awesome. Yeah. Please follow us on social media guys. I'm telling you, we have some amazing free resources and strategies that you can implement literally immediately that will help you level up your studio. So take advantage of those, visit our website, go find those, the beauty biz agency .com until next time, keep slaying those business goals with style, sass and a whole lot of swagger.

Chandra-The Beauty Biz Agency (33:53.458)
Yeah.