2025 Client Expectations: Trends You Need to Know and How to Respond

Hello, my friends. Welcome back to the Modern Hairstylist Podcast. Today, I'm doing something special and experimental that I have never done before with you guys, which is I'm gonna have ChatGBT interview me today. So, what I've asked ChatGBT to do is, is go through this interview with me knowing who I am and ask me about business strategy related to hairstylists, but particularly relevant to the biggest concerns that are happening and, and what we're expecting going into 2025.

So that way, it is super relevant to you right now. I am a little bit nervous 'cause I don't know what to expect from ChatGBT today. However, she's a very friendly gal and I, and I use her very often. And so, I'm sure that, uh, she'll ask us some great questions and I will do my absolute best to give great answers as I normally do.

So, if you're ready to get into it, let's go. What's going on, ChatGBT? How are you doing today? Hey, Hunter.

I'm doing great. Thank you. Excited to be here. Let's dive right in.

Looking ahead to 2025, what do you think are the biggest challenges hairstylists are facing in terms of client expectations and industry trends? So, one of the largest change in client expectations, I think, very recently and relevantly is price transparency. So, over the past couple years, I think a lot of hairstylists have done a, uh, uh, they've k- kind of pushed towards charging more and making sure that they're profitable, whether that be because of the rising cost of goods or just because they feel like they have not been charging enough, or they've seen the potential of how much more money they can make even with simple price increases. And with that being said, I think a lot of hairstylists have maybe gone i- a little bit too far in the wrong direction or too far into the right direction, too much of a good thing, in which maybe hairstylists have raised their prices so significantly that it really shocked their clients, or they didn't necessarily have the supply and demand or foundation to be able to do so.

And there is absolutely a place for that. There's absolutely a place for significantly raising your prices when there are the indicators that you deserve it, right? But what we've also seen is hairstylist influencers, like, going on TikTok and Instagram and posting this color correction and explaining why that they, they charge $1,500 for the color correction or for a simple highlight or even what, or whatever it may be. And what has ended up happening is that hairstylists are getting more strong and bold with their pricing, which I think is fantastic, but I think that we also need to make sure that we're doing it responsibly.

Because what is now happening is the general consumer is seeing all of this happen, whether it be with their own personal experiences with their hairstylist, or they're seeing this on Instagram, and they are really getting nervous about going to a hairstylist and being gobsmacked or surprised by the price. And so, they're becoming very untrusting of our pricing, particularly for, uh, for, in, in circumstances in which hairstylists aren't honest about their pricing upfront, or... I still hear to this day that a lot of hairstylists don't even let their clients know when they're doing a price increase, which is not okay. You need to make sure that you are upfront and transparent about these prices, um, in many, many, many different ways.

The main way is during the consultation. Like, you should be talking about price every single consultation that you have, okay? And the client should be able to expect exactly and agree upon exactly what they're going to pay, or at least have some sort of expectation of that and have clear, clear, you know, agreeance between you and the client. So, that's like number one.

That's like the base, and we should have been doing that all along. That's like the bare minimum. But in today's day and age, I think to even furthermore be proactive about this distrust in our prices and our price transparency, I think there's a couple things that we can do. So, um, number one is make sure that your prices are even listed on your service menu, like have a website and make sure that your prices are on your service menu and make sure that your s- prices make sense and that your service makes sense so that the client can go on that service menu and have a pretty good idea of what they would be paying for what they actually want, right, without your consultation.

Of course, once they go through your digital consultation form, you'll be able to share with them, you know, what they would be getting as far as a service goes and then give them a more accurate quote, but when the client is price shopping and when they're going around and looking for a hairstylist, they're not even going to hit you up, they're not gonna call you, they're not gonna book an appointment, they're not going to go through your digital consultation form unless they look at your overall service menu and they can g- at least get a little bit of a grasp or an idea of, "Is this person within my budget and what would I have to pay for what I want?" And so therefore, we wanna make sure that when we are creating our service menus, especially publicly facing, that we are not using too much hairstylist jargon, we wanna be using words and language that our clients would understand as somebody who did not go to beauty school and doesn't understand these things. They don't know what a toner is, they don't know what a root tap is, they don't know what a bond builder is, so stop, you know, making them do all this math and figure out, uh, all these hairstylist terms and Google and go to TikTok and find other influencers educating them upon it because it just isn't worth it. Just speak to people in their language in a way that makes sense and then that person will immediately trust you so much more, therefore your, your new client requests will increase so much because this person is like, "Oh my God, finally, pricing that I understand and that I, that I can trust upfront."

Because what they are also believing right now is that they're gonna be thinking it's gonna be one price upfront, but then you're gonna be adding all of these services and all of these other things that they weren't privy to after they actually get it, right? They're, they're expecting to be surprised right now. And so, another thing to, to take in consideration is I know a lot of us like to add, like, the little plus sign after each of our prices or the "starting at" before our prices, which I understand, I get it. I'm a hairstylist just like you and it's difficult to, you know, promise somebody like a solid price upfront.

However, somebody sees that, and in today's day and age, they immediately believe that it's not gonna just be a couple dollars more. They think it's gonna be 50 to 100 plus dollars more, right? And so, trying to remove that as much as possible as well. Maybe instead, adding a little bit of a sentence or paragraph above your service menu saying, "All of these prices are a pretty accurate quote for each service that they are relevant to.

However, upon our consultation, I will make sure that you are completely aware and clear on the price, if it may change based upon what service we're doing prior to actually executing." Something like that, right? To make it so the client at least knows that the prices up there are very accurate, um, however, may change, and you will make sure that you are both on the same page before you actually commit to that appointment, right? So, that could be something that could be really helpful with price trans- transparency.

And then the very last thing is your pricing model. I think that people are becoming a little bit continuously confused with a la carte pricing and hourly pricing. I think both of them are difficult to understand. I think that both of them are difficult for the client to trust, and so I think that a lot of my students are seeing really great results with, uh, all-inclusive session package pricing, because it has that really safe, upfront, very simple promise of investment, right?

And it's, like, there's just three simple options to choose from. You can break them down in really simple ways, and somebody is gonna be much more trusting of that and being willing to opt into those things, and even come back to see you because they don't have any distrust around it. So, like, statistics show that only 5% of people, consumers who visit salons, prefer hourly pricing, and I think that the other statistic is, like, only 29%, um, uh, trust or prefer a la carte pricing, and then the remainder prefers all-inclusive package pricing. And so, if you want to combat price transparency, those are a couple of different ways that you can do so.

Fantastic advice, Hunter. Now, shifting gears a bit. With the rise of social media and online booking platforms, how do you see digital marketing evolving for hairstylists, and what strategies should they focus on to stay ahead? Well, I think that right now, particularly with digital marketing, people are so burnt out as far as their dopamine receptors go, as far as what their tolerance to consuming short-form content looks like.

I think that people are not going to be willing to consume anything that isn't directly relevant to them. And so, it becomes more and more and more important that when we are creating content, that we are creating content that stops the scroll. Therefore, we need to be creating content that is hyper-relevant to the client and connects with them and their subconscious stories and thoughts that they're having every single day. And so, what this does not look like is majoratively talking about yourself and your client experience and your salon environment.

I've been talking about this a lot recently because I see it a lot recently. I think a lot of people are trying to prove their value and show people how sexy their, their space is and how amazing they are, when in reality, we need to be turning it around and focusing our content on the client and what their pain points are and what messaging is going on in their brain, what their thoughts are and, and feelings are around their hair. Hook them with things that are extremely relevant to them so that they feel like you understand them, you're here to serve them, you have solutions for them. Versus, you know, when you post something about your salon environment and your client experience, that's great, and I do believe that has its place every now and then.

However, it's not gonna have its place very well if the client doesn't even understand why they should trust you or give a shit about your client experience in the first place. And what's gonna make them care about that in the first place is going to be, "Do you understand my problem? Do you understand what's going on in my head and my brain and my, and my hair?" Then, once they trust you, once they see that you are knowledgeable and you understand their issue, that's when the client experience stuff comes into play, because then that furthermore justifies your prices, right?

But normally, that stuff is done on your website. It don- it's done further down the funnel versus top-of-funnel marketing, which refers to, like, Google My Business or Instagram where somebody's first gonna see you and your content or discover you for the first time. It has to be something that is hyper-relevant to this client, because they don't trust you yet and they don't have a reason to listen to you yet, so give them a reason. And the only way that they're gonna stop is if the content is very, very, very relevant to the stories and messaging that they have in their own heads right now.

That's spot on, Hunter. Making content hyper-relevant is key. Now, let's touch on another trend. In an industry that's rapidly embracing sustainability, how important is it for hairstylists to incorporate eco-friendly practices into their salons, and what are some realistic steps they can take to do so?

So, without having the statistics in front of me, right now, consumers statistically are shopping with their core values. They very much are taking some core values into consideration when they're making their purchasing decisions, particularly younger generations, right? I mean, as we can all imagine and guess. I think that, honestly, in today's day and age, like, very, very hyper relevant to 2025, I honestly think that is waning just a little bit.

I think that people are now more concerned about just getting a return on their investment more than they are being responsible about where they're spending their money or taking their morals into consideration when they're spending their money. I think that people are a little bit more just concerned about the value that they're getting in return. However, I do think that it is still relevant. And so, what I don't think is, I don't think that every single stylist has to be super eco-friendly or sustainable.

I do believe that it gives you a leg up because it can lend to the general message or belief of your client that they are supporting a business that is doing the right things and is making them feel like they're not a pro- part of the problem, so it's just, like, an extra plus for them, giving them another reason to continue to come back and show up and see you. But I do think that, you know, you should be thinking about who your ideal client is specifically. Is this an ideal client who shares a lot of the same core values that you do, right, in which sustainability would be one of those things? Or does your ideal client not really give a shit about those things, right?

And, uh, you know, I'm speaking strictly from a business perspective. If, if your client, if your ideal client is somebody who doesn't really care about this, this stuff, then I don't think that you really need to care about it very much either. If, and I'm talking, again, strictly from a business perspective, if your ideal client is somebody who very much does care about sustainability, then you absolutely should be using products and talking to your clients about how those products have sustainability missions and how they're sourced sustainably and what the ingredients are like and, and are they eco-friendly, et cetera, et cetera, right? Is the production eco-friendly?

All that stuff. Um, do you have a recycling program, right? And that will make it so not only do clients actually just trust you and feel like you're doing the bare minimum, but you actually even have a further leg up on that type of ideal client because they're gonna l- want to choose you over anybody else, right? Now, from a personal standpoint and opinion, I think that we should all absolutely be focusing on sustainability and eco-friendly, uh, practices, but from a, s- speaking strictly from a business perspective, marketing and sales respective, then, uh, I think that it doesn't really matter as much right now for you if your ideal client doesn't really care about that stuff.

However, what does your ideal client care about? What are their core values and how can you align your business and sh- a- and your, and your business's core values, your business's mission, what they invest, what you invest in? I think a great idea for salons, uh, to make an impact in something that you care about is maybe creating a raffle basket and then donating all of the proceeds from that raffle basket to a cause or charity that you care about and then sharing that with your clients on social and getting them involved. Like, that could be really massively impactful, not just from a impact standpoint because that's really cool that you're able to do that.

Like, you have the power and capability and reach to be able to do that, but it'll also increase your, uh, positive reputation within your community, within your ideal client, and that can really help you as far as your new client acquisition goes and your retention goes and your client trust overall. Those are excellent points, Hunter. Focusing on core values and aligning with your ideal client's values is crucial. Now, as we wrap up, what final advice would you give to hairstylists looking to thrive in 2025 and beyond?

My advice to hairstylists looking to thrive in 2025 and beyond is focus on your own motherfucking business. Like, have your own eyes on your own paper. And have a community or a mentor, 'cause I know with my own business, when I'm up in my own brain, there is so much chaos going on and I get really confused and distracted and I can't just see the clear picture and vision. And so sometimes sitting with a trusted mentor and going through all of my business a- and looking at the numbers and really understanding, like, what is the biggest constraint and focus that I need to focus on right now, right, can help me so much with getting out of my own head and getting back to focusing on what I really actually need to be focusing on.

But I think right now, a lot of us are so conjumbled with exactly what our main focuses sh- should be. We are f- so pulled in so many different directions because we have shiny new objects or we have somebody in our ear telling us that this is really important right now and you need to focus on it, when in reality, maybe your business has bigger priorities or a different priority than that, right? So therefore, like, make sure that you are really doing your due diligence of tracking your own numbers, of being really smart and very, uh, uh, I almost wanna say, like, non-emotional, for a lack of a better term. Like, just look at the facts of your own business.

Identify what the biggest constraints are in your business or what the biggest opportunities for growth are in your business, and then make it, make a plan to only solely focus on that for a little bit and give that your 100% attention, because whatever you give your attention is what's going to grow and be better, right? And the more that we focus on things that just feel good for us or that we think are the best thing to do just because we heard somebody else say it or because that's what our d- our peers are working on right now, the more that we're distracting ourselves from the real issue and the less, eh, we're gonna grow, and possibly the bigger hole that we're gonna dig for ourselves. That's solid advice, Hunter. Focusing on your own business and priorities can truly make a difference.

Thank you for sharing your insights today. It's been a fantastic conversation, and I'm sure our listeners will find it incredibly valuable. Thank you, ChatGPT. You are the bomb.

I use you way too often and I never expected to use you in this way, but you've been a great interviewer today. I appreciate you. And my friend listening to the Modern Hair Stylist podcast, I appreciate you so, so much. Thank you so much for tuning in to today's episode.

I hope that you found it insightful. If you have any questions for me that you'd like me to answer on the podcast, just go ahead and send me a DM on Instagram @hairbyhunty. I make all these episodes, the majority of them, with you in mind and what you need right now, um, and so let me know what that is so that way I can make content that's super hyper relevant to you, my friend. So much love.

Peace out, girl scout. Bye-bye.

End of transcript. © 2024 Hunter Donia LLC.