4 Ways to Elevate your Post-Visit Experience

Hello, friend. Welcome back to the Modern Hairstylist Podcast. So, as I told you last week, if you listened to the episode, we are gonna be diving deep into your guest experience and how to elevate it, so that way you can really set yourself apart from other salons and stylists in your area and raise your prices without losing clients, right? So, um, if you haven't listened to the first episode of this series, which was Why Your Guest Experience is So Important in 2022, or something like that, um, then I highly recommend that you go and listen to that episode before you get into this one.

And the next two episodes after this one are going to be, um, a part of this series as well too, so make sure to look out for those. And make sure to subscribe to the podcast wherever you're listening to this so that way you don't miss when those episodes drop, and you can go H.A.M on your own guest experience in 2022, or whenever you're listening to this.

Okay, so to start off this series, we are actually gonna be working a little bit backwards, okay? And the reason why is because I feel like whenever I have planned out a goal for myself or broken a goal down and planned out my step-by-steps, it was so much easier if I did it in reverse, right? If I figured out what the final result was and then worked my way backwards. And so therefore, I'm gonna be doing the same exact thing for you guys with this client experience series.

So, that's why we are gonna be starting off with the post-visit experience. Let me guess. You are a hustling, bustling hairstylist behind the chair, working so hard to build a beautiful career for yourself, one that gives you time, freedom, and energy to spend with yourself, your family, and your friends. But you feel like you're always working in your business, even when you're not behind the chair.

My name's Hunter Donia, and I help you automate your systems and implement really beautiful strategies so you can grow your business without the overwhelm. And this is the Modern Hairstylist Podcast. The post-visit experience is everything that happens in between the visits, okay? So, your client comes to your in-the-chair experience, and they live their best life with you.

They're looking cute, and they're gonna be due to come see you again, right? They are human beings outside of our businesses, right? I think sometimes that we can forget that, like, you know, our clients, like, actually live lives. Not just the lives in our chair.

And within those lives, right? There are opportunities for us to show up and serve them in between the visits, right? And to increase your retention, your, um, customer satisfaction, your referrals, your retail sales, et cetera, et cetera. And I'm gonna be going over some really cool strategies that you can implement into your business to make that post-visit experience next level and to accomplish all of those benefits and all of those things that I just talked about.

Now, all of the strategies that I'm gonna be sharing with you, um, are gonna be digital, okay? They're all gonna be based in technology, because that's what I'm all about. I'm all about automation. I'm all about the tech.

I'm all about using modern strategies to be able to serve your clients better, to, um, you know, hold ourselves to the standard of what it means to be a successful hairstylist nowadays without working harder and using the tools that are available to us today, okay? Because, honey, I know, okay? I get it. I feel you.

I know that writing a physical card and sending it in the mail is a badass thing to do, okay? It is, like, a beautiful, gorgeous thing to do, and I don't discourage it whatsoever, especially around the holidays, but I'm gonna be honest with you. I've never done it, okay? I've never done it for a couple reasons.

Number one, my handwriting is not cute, okay? Handwriting is not cute, not legible. It is disgusting, so that's number one. Number two, hunty don't got time for that shit.

Okay? I just don't have time, so therefore, what I do instead is I make sure that I use my digital tools to very personally get the message across to my client that I care about them, and they're not just a number to me, and I make them feel special in between the visits But I do it automatically. I do it in a very hands-off way, so that way I can go live my damn life, but I can still serve my clients at the same time, right? So that way, I can serve myself and serve them, and everybody wins at the end of the day.

So yes, I am gonna be sharing with you digital strategies, because I know that you are a busy human being. I know that you are a busy, um, business owner. I know that you're a busy stylist. I know that you have a lot of responsibilities, and all of the responsibilities of being a successful hairstylist in 2022 and beyond are a lot heavier than what it used to be, right?

And so therefore, I want to show you the light to where there are so many ways that you can hold yourself to that standard and still fulfill that standard without working yourself into the ground and without, you know, working on your time off and without sacrificing time with your friends and your family, period. So, the very first post-visit strategy that I have implemented in my business and my students have implemented in their businesses, and it is such a game changer, is a personalized post-visit email, okay? So, here is the thing. You can maybe possibly have some sort of automated setup email that goes out after your client, you know, checks out or after their appointment, right?

And you can set that up through your booking software possibly. Maybe they get a receipt. Maybe you can add, like, a custom message to it. But the problem with that is it doesn't make your clients feel special.

They are very used to an automated robot sending them an email and saying, "Thank you for your purchase. See you next time." Right? So, having a personalized post-visit email that is specifically written for them is going to be.....

really beautiful, 'cause it's gonna make your client feel special. That is the whole goal here, okay? You want your client to feel like they are not just another number. And the thing is, is if they get some automated robotic email after every single appointment, then they're not gonna open it up, right?

They're used to that, they're over that. So creating something that is super personal to them will be really beautiful, and that's exactly what I'm gonna be talking about here. Now, although this is gonna be super personalized, right, it's still completely automated in my business, okay? And that's what I teach to my students as well, but if you want to start to implement this into your business, you could totally start off doing it manually if you don't know how to do the tech set-up, all right?

So, the things that you'd wanna include in this personalized post-visit email are when to book next, what to book next, right? So making sure that they know when do you want them back, and you could specifically tell them, like, "Based upon our goals for your hair, it'd be best to see you back in six weeks from today for a toner or for your next root touch-up," whatever it may be. And then you'll wanna tell them the service/services that they will, uh, book online with you, right? And then you can give them the booking link right there.

Boom. "So the next time you need to book an appointment, here's a link right there for you, which you can also find in my salon app, which I'm gonna be talking about in just a second, um, for you to book at the time most convenient for you," whatever you wanna say, right? Then, you can go into your retail recommendations. So even if they bought from you, right, even if they bought from you that day or maybe they didn't buy from you that day, you could list out all of the retail, uh, products that you recommend that they use on their hair.

Now, if you're with a retail line that does not have some sort of affiliate link or affiliate code at this point, um, I would w- number one, I would be screaming and yelling at your sales reps, I'd be screaming and yelling at the brand. I'd be like, "Y'all need to get your ish together and give us an affiliate link, period," all right? But being able to give all of those retail recommendations and then have your own affiliate link right under those products can make sure that your client knows what your specific personal recommendations are for them and exactly how they can support you and get those products from you at the same time, in between the visits, right? Because maybe they don't need shampoo yet and you're not gonna see them for another eight weeks.

At four weeks, they're gonna need shampoo. You sent them the email, you gave them the exact name, and they have the link to go and get it from you from your affiliate link How badass is that, right? So putting that in your post-visit email is going to be really effective for, um, raising your retail sales. And also taking care of your client too, because they're not gonna remember the name of the fancy shampoo that you recommend to them in the chair, right?

Then you can give them custom maintenance instructions. So let me tell you this, girlfriend. When I go to the doctor, I need the doctor to repeat the instructions or, like, what they said, I swear, at least a million times , because everything that they say goes straight over my head and I completely forget what they s- told me to do when I was at home, right? Or, I don't know, like, if I'm, like, w- g- in therapy, and my therapist is like, "Okay, I want you to do this in between, like, now and your next appointment," I will, like, completely forget what the instructions were.

Unless there's written out notes or I took really good notes or it was repeated multiple times, um, I won't remember it and I won't do it because I don't remember it. So we, a lot of the times, we tell our clients, you know, "Make sure that you are, you know, shampooing at your roots, not your ends. Make sure that you're using your curling iron at this degree," right? We give them all of these really beautiful instructions.

At least you should be. You should be educating your client. But your client does not remember, okay? Your client doesn't remember these things.

So giving them some, like, bullet-pointed custom maintenance instructions that you maybe have went over with them in that appointment so that way they have it in written email form and they can take with them at home and, and read back if they ever need to remember what those tips are is going to be so special and helpful for them, right? It's gonna make sure that they keep take care of their hair in between the visits, it's gonna make them feel beautiful every single day, it's gonna make them feel like you really took the time to give them, um, these notes because you really care about how they are moving on from that appointment, right, in between the visits So you see, though, this is all making your client feel special, and it's giving them the resources that they need to have a really pleasant experience when they're not in your chair, so that way they want to come back to you, okay? Beautiful. The other thing that you can put in your post-visit email is asking for Google My Business reviews, right?

"So if you had a good experience with me as much as I did today with you, Karen, then, um, I would be so appreciative if you left a Google My Business review on my Google My Business. Here's the link to go do so. Thank you so much in advance." And then, last but not least, a very personalized message, okay?

So let's say Karen told you that she was going on a cruise, um, right after she left your appointment, or, like, in between now and the next time that she was gonna come back and see you. You could say, "It was so great to see you, Karen. I hope that you have a blessed time at your cruise. Uh, I'll see you in eight weeks.

Have so much fun in the sun," right? And you can literally fill this in in just one little blank square, uh, element on a form, and it'll auto-populate into this pre-written email, and it'll get sent and it'll be completely automated and easy, and, and it'll take you less than a minute, okay? But that's a little advanced. That's, like, once you get into my programs and you're ready to bring your guest experience to the next level in a hands-off way.

That's what you can set up there. But if you want to, you can have this, uh, you know, you could have maybe like a, a saved emails template that you keep in your notes that you just, you know, fill out and send to your, your customers every single time, rightThat's too much work for me. That's why I tried and figured out how to automate this and it's working beautiful and it's working beautifully for my students as well too. But it really does a lot for you, right?

Because you're getting those Google My Business reviews, you're making your client feel super special, you're making them feel like you really took the time to write out a really personalized email, although you can do it automatically, right? And save a lot of time. You're giving them everything that they need to book the next appointment, so you're increasing retention, you're increasing your retail sales. So many things you can do with this personalized post-visit email, period.

So that's number one. Number two is going to be your very own salon app. Okay, this is something I am so freaking excited about because it's kind of new in my world and in my students' world, but it is just so cool, okay? You can create your own salon app for free that your clients can have on their phone at any time, 24/7, to get the answers to the questions that they need, to not bother you, and to be able to have a more convenient experience with you.

How badass is that, right? So I'm opening up my app right now on my phone so I can talk to you about some of the ways that I suggest that you use this. So obviously, you'll wanna have your online booking link on there in one way or another, right? You'll wanna show them how to book online, um, on your app with the link.

Then you could have a place for them to manage their own appointments. I know not all booking softwares have, um, you know, a, a, a way for your clients to reschedule themselves, but some do. I know that Square does because that's what I use, so then I give them the link to go do that for themselves as well. And then you could have your affiliate link on here to order products.

You could have a link to your service menu, um, a Contact Me/direction. So you could have your Google Map direction link, an Apple Map direction link, whatever, um, a button to email you, right? Really nice and easily. You could have your own in-between-appointment consultation form.

Oh, what's that, right? What's that? That is something where, you know, have you ever had a client, um, text you in between visits and be like, "Oh my God, I just found this Pinterest picture and I'm obsessed with it. What do you think?"

And I'm, and you're like, "Girl, I am, like, it is Saturday. It is 8:00 PM and I am exhausted. I do not feel like consulting with you for free over the phone." You could have this consultation app for your existing clients in which they can put in the, uh, pho- their inspiration photos, they can type out like everything that they think about the photo, and then you can get back to them at your own time, on your own time.

And then, um, that way, you know, they're not texting you and they're not bothering you and you're setting a boundary, right? But it's a cool way of streamlining those types of things. You could have a Leave a Google My Business review, um, button, and then you could maybe give them an incentive and show that incentive on the app for that. Um, you could have a w- uh, a QR code on your app, right?

A QR code on your app so that way you're, if your clients are out and about and they're talking about you and they wanna refer you, they can just open up the app and then their friend can scan the QR code and then it can open up your website on the referral's phone How cool? You can do so many things with this app. It's badass. So I high key recommend that you have a salon app for so many different reasons.

Um, and I've talked about this on the podcast I think before and I will always in the future, but it's just another way that you can ensure that you don't have to put your online booking link on your website, right? Because... For so many different reasons. Number one, I like to make sure that I know who's coming up in my business and who has my online booking link before I give them my online booking link.

So everybody's going through an application process at first, and we're gonna talk more about that in the priv- pre-visit experience, but everybody's going through an application process first, right? And then once I approve them, they get my booking link, right? But with the salon app, I'm able to make sure that my, um, my existing clients only have my salon app and they know where to find my online booking link because it's not gonna be on my website, it's not gonna be on my Instagram, and I'm not texting them and I'm not booking their appointments myself, period. So they can have this salon app where they can get everything that they need right on their phone without bothering me, without going to my website, et cetera, et cetera.

All righty? So like I said, whole lot of opportunity with the salon app. So many different things that you can do with it, um, and I think it's really powerful. Now I teach my students in my programs how to, um, create this app, like, from scratch, like step by step by step with the technology and it's all done with JotForm.

So if you wanna take a stab at creating your own app, you can use JotForm. I know there's other app builders out there, um, but I think that JotForm is definitely the simplest and easiest way to do it. So high key, recommend a salon app. Now the next two strategies are pretty simple, however super powerful, and to automate them, you would want to connect them to your personal post-visit email in your email marketing software and kind of use that to determine your timeline for when the rest of this stuff gets sent out.

Or you can just put it on your calendar if you don't wanna get all techy and get all nerdy like me and my students do in our programs. Um, but anyways, so next two strategies, okay? Number one, reminding to book emails, right? So based upon when you want them to book next, let's say it's like four weeks out from the, uh, time range where you want them to come in next time, you could send an email saying, "Hey, uh, Susie, I just wanted to remind you that I would, uh, that you'll probably be due to get your hair done soon.

So therefore, you might wanna go ahead and book your appointment online right now for four weeks. You will most likely want to book blank services. Uh, so make sure to...... choose that correctly on the online booking link.

I am so looking forward to seeing you again sometime soon. If you have any questions, please send me an email back," yada yada yada, right? So, it's just another way that you're showing up in their lives and you're putting your face in front of their face , um, in between the visits, right? And you're giving them an easy w- with all the information that they need, an easy way to get back on your books, right?

So, this will increase retention like nobody's business and give your clients the reminder that they might need to get on your books before it's, like, the week of and they need an appointment and they can't get in with you, right? So, I think it's a really powerful way of increasing retention, taking better care of your clients. Last but not least is going to be a seven-day check-in email. Also can be automated.

Just an FYI for you, but you can totally do this manually if you want to. So, after your client's appointment, you could send them a seven-day check-in email just saying, "Hey, Susie, it's been a week since I saw you. I hope that you had such a, uh, a good of a time as I did and I hope that you are still liking your hair. Um, I'm just checking in to make sure that you are enjoying it.

If you are and everything's great, then no need to reply to this email. I don't wanna waste any of your time. However, I would like to give you a chance to give me any feedback, let me know if you have any questions or any struggles with your hair right now, and I would be happy to help you out," right? So, I actually only do this seven-day check-in email for my new clients.

I don't do it for my existing clients, um, because I think with a new client it's a little bit different, right? But, um, but I, I think that this could totally work f- with your existing and your new clients, for sure. And this will just make sure that, you know, you are giving them that follow-up. You are giving them space to let you know if anything went wrong.

Listen, a good customer service experience for clients could create a client for life. Like, a lot of clients are just too scared to tell you if they aren't feeling good about something or if they have questions or whatever it may be 'cause they don't wanna bother you, they don't wanna create an awkward conversation or a confrontation, right? And so, you taking the initiative to reach out to them and give them the space to maybe do that, that can go such a long way and you can retain that client for such a long time by giving them that really great customer service experience, right? So, I hope that you're feeling inspired to bring your post-visit experience to the next level.

Like I said, all of this stuff can be completely automated, super hands-off, low maintenance, so that way you aren't spending any time, any more time than you have to outside of your business doing this shit, right? Because yes, we want to have a beautiful experience for our clients in between the visits, but it can be really hard to do that when we have to send all of these emails and do all of these things manually, right? And so, that's exactly why I teach you how to automate this stuff, how to set up the tech within my program. So, if you're, uh, interested in doing that, if you're interested in getting step-by-step guidance and all of my templates for automating this stuff, then you can go ahead and check out the link in my bio for Pre-Visit Pathway or my other automation resources.

But in the meantime, I want you to think about how you can bring that post-visit experience to the next level, or maybe if you aren't ready to set up all this tech and if you aren't ready to automate all of this stuff, maybe how you can set up a manual system for how you remember to send these emails and to, um, give these people a space to book online with you. Maybe that's not your website. If you want to, you know, keep your online booking link only for your existing clients like me and my students. So, I hope that this was helpful for you.

I hope that you are lit up and ready to go for the next episode in which we're gonna be talking all about the in-the-chair experience, right? How to bring your in-the-chair experience to the next level to make your clients feel special and to set yourself apart from every other stylist and salon in your area. So, so much love to you. Peace out, girl scout.

Bye-bye.

End of transcript. © 2022 Hunter Donia LLC.