5 Categories of a Next Level Guest Experience "In the Chair"

Hey, friend. Welcome back to the Modern Hair Stylist podcast. So, this episode is going to be, um, a part of the guest experience series that I am doing. So, if you have not checked out the past two episodes all about guest experience, I would highly recommend that you check them out first, especially the "Why Your Client Experience Is More Important Than Ever in 2022" episode.

So, go back, check that one out, and then come back to this one and we'll get into it, okay? But we are gonna be talking about the in-the-chair experience, the actual experience that your client has when they're in the chair with you, right? Like, when you're actually doing the hair, when they actually come for their appointment, all of those good things. We're gonna be talking about really unique ways that you can level that ish up and set yourself apart from every other salon and experience in your area.

So, if you are ready, then let's go. 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 Hair Stylist podcast. Now, I think it goes without saying that it can be really difficult to figure out how to make a client experience that is next level, right? That sets you apart. Especially nowadays, where there's so much education out there and, uh, everybody's doing the same thing, right?

So, like, what are you gonna do that is really gonna set you apart and also create an excellent experience for your clients when they're in that core, fundamental, in-the-chair experience, right? That make-or-break time. This is the time that you make or break whether your client is going to come back to you or not, or whether they're gonna feel as if that your prices are worth paying. That's what we're doing in the i-in-the-chair experience and in just your entire experience in general, actually, is you're making it very clear to your client that you are charging exactly what your services are worth and then some, right?

Like, your experience should be astronomically insane for the price that you are charging, right? Like, that should be, like, the perception, the perceived value of your client should they be like, "Oh my God, I would pay all the money in the world to come see you." That's how you want your clients speaking about you, because there's plenty of other stylists who charge less than you in the area. But what sets you apart?

And your experience is a really, really great way to do that, right? So, in-the-chair experience, I'm gonna give you guys five, five different kind of, like, categories and ideas, et cetera, et cetera, on how you can level this shit up, right? So, the very first category, strategy, whatever you wanna call it, is going to be personalizing your client experience. Eighty percent of customers say they are more likely to do business with a company if it offers personalized experiences.

This is more true than ever. People want control, people want choice, and people want experiences specifically tailored to them. Now, I talk a lot about having consistency, and we'll actually be talking about that in this... in this episode today as well.

But just because your experience is consistent does not mean that you cannot make it personalized, okay? Consistency is the foundations, and then you build the personalization within the foundation, right? So, because 80% of customers say they're more likely to do business with a company if it offers personalized experiences, we gotta make sure that we are somehow, someway tailoring each appointment to that person. Now, when I say personalizing the experience, I bet you what comes first to your mind is tailoring the haircut to them, tailoring the hair to them, tailoring the service to them.

That is not what I'm talking about here, okay? I am talking about literally what they are feeling, seeing, touching, and how they're interacting with you. Like, that stuff, what they are literally experiencing, not the product. Yes, of course, that's important, but that is not what's gonna set you apart.

Everybody does a custom haircut and color and style for their clients, okay? Literally everybody does that. So, what are you going to do that is gonna personalize this e-experience that s- doesn't have to do with hair? Because everybody gets so caught up in hair.

Yes, it's so important, but the experience stuff and, like, all the other things, that's what's gonna set you apart at the end of the day. That's what's gonna help you charge top dollar in 2022 and beyond, okay? So, what am I talking about then? Like, how do we personalize the experience, right?

There are so many different ways that you can do this, and I want you to think about literally the things that you can change or start based upon that person's decision and wants and likes, okay? Not just wants and likes, right? 'Cause that's, like, kinda foundational. Their decision, like, literally giving your clients the choice to change something or experience something.

Here are a couple examples. The music, right? So, I know not everybody can do this, but I'm in a suite. And in my suite, I allow my client to choose what music will be listened to, okay?

Because it's not my... it's not my experience, right? Like, yes, of course, like, I wanna be happy when I'm doing hair and... but I really don't care about the music.

I care about the conversation, I care about getting my ish done, I care about making my client happy, and everybody has different tastes, right? Oh my gosh, if you go on, like, Salon Google My Business reviews, the...You will almost always find a negative review about the music, almost always, because you know that nobody will ever be happy with every single type of music, right? Like not, you ca- will not be able to please everybody.

So therefore, having playlists, radios, songs, artists, whatever, to choose from for your clients to play with music can really create a satisfactory experience and really super set you apart, okay? Now, another one that would most likely just apply to suites, um, or like a single operator situation, or maybe just a couple, um, would be the type of TV show they watch or the movie that they watch, right? So you could have something in your suite, like a TV like I have, where you know, you have a selection of Netflix or Hulu, whatever it may be, and you give them a selection of TV shows or movies to watch, to choose from, right? Um, so that way, uh, they can really just sit back and relax and watch their favorite show, hang out with their favorite hairdresser, get their hair done, feel really good.

Like how badass would that be, right? Not everybody likes to watch the Housewives. Definitely not a lot of people like to watch the news. I used to get so mad when my commission salon that I first worked in would play the news.

Like that is literally the most negative experience, okay? However, some people might want to watch the news, right? So giving your clients the choice, right? Because everybody likes something different.

Even if you are speaking to a specific ideal client or maybe even if you are s- uh, serving a specific demographic, whatever it may be, like they all still have different opinions and different choices and different likes and different interests. So giving them the options is really powerful in my opinion. And I mean in my experience, right? And in my students' experiences.

Like once my students roll this out, right? All of this personalization, they are shook about how much amazing feedback they get. Like it's insane. And it will literally make your clients statistically more likely to want to spend more money with you.

Customers are willing to pay a price premium up to 13% and as high as 18% for luxury and indulgence servic- services simply by receiving a personalized customer experience. That's wild, okay? So, you know, those are just two ideas mostly more for suites, but let me get into the other juicy ways that you can personalize. So for people who are, uh, not in suites and maybe in booth rental salons or commission salons, whatever it may be, why not personalize this type of scents, right?

You could literally put essential oils on their towels, on their capes, um, at the shampoo bowl, on the back of your hands with an oil, right? Like you can literally have them choose what scent they are experiencing throughout the experience, and you could give them a little description of what the essential oil smells like, and then you could have them, you know, have that scent around them through the entire experience, and you can change it out seasonally if you want to. Like I think that would be, I mean, I do know, that's cool because I do it. It's awesome and my clients love it.

They think it's like a fun game, like they choose a different one every single time. Like it's cool, it's fun, it keeps things fresh, it keeps people excited to come back to you, and it makes sure that if you're using a scent, right, that it's gonna be one that they like. And also giving them the option to opt out. That's a big thing with personalization too.

You can give your clients the option to opt out of all of your shit, right, if they don't want it. Some clients don't like a scalp massage. Some clients don't want to have the music on at all, right? So giving your clients also the option to opt out is another great way to personalize the experience, right?

Um, so scents, vibes, right? So you could have a silent experience versus having a little bit more of an energetic one, right? So like instead of, you know, doing your normal chatty Kathy with Kathy, right, maybe Kathy has had a, a, a day where she's just like, "I just wanna close my eyes and relax and get my hair done," she can literally just choose to have a silent experience with you. And all of this is done non-confrontationally on a digital form with my students and myself, okay?

Non-confrontationally, because can you imagine if you had your client like go through this like checklist with you in person? It would just be weird, it would be too much. When you can do this on a digital form every single time your client comes back in and before the appointment, it is next level game-changing. It's a non-confrontational space for your client to choose and read and really give thought to everything that they are choosing with you, okay?

So next level way of personalizing the experience. There are so many other ways to do it, but those are what I'm gonna kind of keep it to. And, uh, if you think of any more, please DM me 'cause I'm all about sharing the good old personalization tips. It's my favorite part of the in-the-chair experience.

Okay, so the next way that you can create a badass in-the-chair experience is by creating consistency I've said it a million times and I'll say it again. I don't think that we as an industry really grasp how disastrous lack of consistency can be for us. Like if a person, if a client is coming back a second time, it's because they liked what happened the first time, right? And so if we're not giving them what happened the first time and the second time or more, right, then we could really lose them, right?

Because they, they, they per- their perceived value of what they paid the first time they came to see you, that m- if they came back, that meant that it matched it, right? So if you are inconsistent the next time they come in and you aren't giving them that same level of service or maybe you just like miss something that your client really loved, then you are lessening the perceived value of your service and they may not want to come back to you, right? So consistency is extremely important and so that's why I highly encourage for you to literally map out..Your journey of the in-the-chair experience step-by-step-by-step, I want you to write it down.

I know that we get into our routines and our habits and we kind of know what we're doing already, but literally when you start to write things down, and when you start to really study what you've written down, and you really have like a set standard operating procedure of how you walk into your building, and how you serve your client from A to Z, it will help you stay consistent and it will help you make edits and changes in the future so much easier, and it'll help you figure out maybe what parts are broken and what parts aren't. So, I highly recommend that you literally step-by-step-by-step-by-step write out what your experience looks like from the moment that they walk into your door all the way until they are walking out your door. And by the way, not just that. Th- that's just for the in-the-chair experience.

The whole entire experience. What is step one, step two, step three, step four for the post-visit experience? All the steps for the in-the-chair, and all the, uh, steps for the pre-visit experience. You should have these systems laid out.

That is what Forbes 500 companies do. That is what real ass businesses do, and if you wanna start to treat your business as a real mf'ing business, okay, then I highly recommend that you write out your standard operating procedures and you map out your customer journey. And then when you map out that customer journey, I want you to follow those steps every single time a client comes in. I don't care if Sally has seen you a million times, I don't care if Sally has seen you one time, you are gonna follow those steps, one through whatever, every single time they come in.

Okay? And that will ensure that you have a system to fall back on for your consistency, for your guest experience. Have a Post-it note written out on your station or somewhere where you can see it and remember it and study it and know this is how I serve my person, step one through step whatever, okay? Now, on the same topic of consistency, that brings me into my next strategy, tip, whatever you wanna call it, which is going to be always, every single appointment, having a consistent consultation.

A consistent, thorough consultation, okay? Now listen, I get it, you've been doing Sally's hair for 50 years. What could there be to talk about? Trust and believe, friend, I've been doing people's hair for like eight years at this point, and I still have a thorough consultation with them every single th- time they come to my chair, even if they tell me that they don't want one, or even if they seem like they don't want one.

Even if they're like, "Hunter, I don't know. Like, I have no idea. Like, I just come here and you do it." Like, I don't care.

I still ask them questions. I still try to get things out of them, okay? Just keep asking questions to make sure that you're both on the same page and just to show your client that you really care. It makes your client feel like you actually care and that they're not just a number.

Brit Siva says there's two reasons your clients will leave you. The number one is, it is they don't feel special anymore, and the second is if you disrespect their time. That special one, the moment that you make your client feel like a number, like you are the hair factory, right? Just in and out.

That is when you lose a client. That is when your client gets wandering eyes and they find another hairstylist with a better experience and who is gonna take better care of them in the area. So, like I said, consistent, thorough consultation. And in your thorough consultation, you could have questions that you always ask, right, to make it easy for you.

So I have my students in my programs and myself behind the chair, I have a form that I fill out every single time my clients come. Okay? It's my own digital form and it reminds me of all of the questions that I want to ask every client every single time. It has a conditional logic in there, which is a fancy term for if it's a color, then it'll remind me to ask these types of questions.

If it's just a cut, it'll remind me to ask these types of questions. Et cetera, et cetera. And then there's a space for me to put in my personal notes, and then my formula. Okay?

Here's the difference. My formula is what I'm putting on their head, the color, right? The personal notes are going to be things that they told me in the appointment. Not just hair-related, but also personally related.

So let's say that they were going on a cruise, um, after they were leaving your appointment, like the week of or something like that. The next time they come back, I have that form, it automatically saves into an organized Google Drive folder. I go back through my Google Drive folder, I find the submission of the last appointment, and I look through those personal notes and I say, "Oh my god, Suzy, how was your cruise?" And I would not maybe have remembered that unless I wrote that down in my consultation form, right?

So it's a personal consultation form for me or you as the stylist to use to hold you accountable and also help you save those really special things all in one organized place so that way when your client comes back around, you can make them feel really special and you're also always asking the right questions that you never wanna forget to ask, right? Because I know sometimes when I just wing a consultation and I don't have like a set way of going about it, I'm like, "Damn it, I should've forgot. I should've remembered to ask them this." Or, I just get scared and I don't ask them, but having like the accountability of the form and like having the words right there for me, like I can, you can even write out like little scripts or bullet points, makes it so much easier and better.

So, highly recommend to create consistency and have a thorough consultation, to have a consultation form that you fill out yourself every time you have a consultation, period. Whether your client's been seeing you for a million years or not. Every single time, period. Okay.

The next strategy, tip, vibe, category, whatever you wanna call it that I'm giving you is educating your client.We talk about educating our clients all the time, right? And I feel like sometimes it can be taken out of context, like, like, you feel like you have to explain to your client that you're, y- you don't make that much money, or you feel like you have to explain to your client, like, when they're not in your chair, you don't make any money, or you feel like you have to explain to your client literally, like, the formula that you're using on them, or, like, the technique that you're using on them. Like, yes, surface level, okay, fine, but most of that that I just listed, TMI, friend.

TMI. You are the authority of your craft, your client chose you for a reason, and there are many, many, many ways to gain the confidence and trust and set the boundaries with your client without overexplaining that shit. Your client does not care, okay? And honestly, I don't want my client to know what formula I'm using on them.

That's, like, micromanagy, and that's weird, and I don't do that. I literally will not share that with them. Now, if they were moving and they were going to a stylist who was, like, using the same color line as me, sure, I don't care. But, like, I'm not gonna be, like, like, debating with my client whether or not I should use a 6N or a 7N.

That's just weird, okay? So, you can educate, right, without overexplaining and overwhelming, and also just putting yourself in a weird, vulnerable situation. However, educating your client is super important and super impactful, and when I say educating your client, I mean speaking to them about things that are relevant to them, that make sense to them, that matter to them, such as how to take care of their hair at home, answering their questions as to why this happens with their hair. You can explain the why, but don't go all hairdressery with it.

Give it to them in client terms, okay? That way, they actually care, they actually retain the information, and they really feel like you're caring for them, right, and you're answering their questions. So, educating them on, uh, you know, what retail products you're using and why you're using them for their hair, right? Why you are moving your curling iron this way instead of that way.

Um, why the ingredients of your product are next level. Like, that is stuff that is relevant to the client. So, educating your client in a way that makes sense to them, that is relevant to them, is a really powerful way of making your client feel cared for, feel like you are the authority, like they can really trust you, right? Because you're literally proving to them that you know what you're doing, and you're also taking the time to show them that they're special and you care about them.

I, I cannot tell you the amount of times I've had clients tell me, "You're the first person to explain this stuff to me." And that just makes me so sad. Nobody knows how to do their hair. Nobody knows how to do their hair.

Like, I'm not even kidding. Like, us as hairstylists, we are the only people who know how to do our hair. I know that's an exaggeration, but seriously, like, most of, like, 90% of your clients do not know anything that they're doing with their hair. They're just trying to, like, that's just what they've always done, or they're just guessing, or they saw a YouTube tutorial.

Don't let TikTok, don't let YouTube be the authority of the craft. Let yourself be the authority of your craft with your client to your client. Period. Okay?

So, educate your client and make that a part of your s- consistent experience. Make that a part of your standard operating procedures. At what points of your experience are you educating them? When, when and where and how are you answering questions?

How are you asking if they have questions? Like, like, literally those specific things where you consistently give them a chance to be educated is so important So, I'm gonna get off my soapbox. I know I'm ranting, but I think it's a really important part that is still so overlooked, because I still have clients telling me that their, their stylist never told them this, or their stylist never took the time to even explain these things, right? Your clients just wanna know the tea, but they don't know, they don't need to know all the tea, okay?

They don't need to know what's in the tea bag. They just wanna sip the tea, okay? So, just give them the tea, period. Alrighty, next one.

Creating a unique experience, right? So, you're already creating a unique experience by doing all of the things that I just talked about, because most hairdressers aren't doing most of those things. However, what you also can do to create a unique experience is have amazing amenities, right? Um, have a next-level client experience, right?

Um, if you have, if you're, like, uh, an extensive specialist, right? Like, if you have a specialty that's a little bit longer, or you just do longer appointments in general, have snacks ready to keep them, you know, not getting hangry, and to, uh, you know, not get hungry and feel like they're just, like, antsy to get out of your chair, because then they can't really fully enjoy your experience, right? If I have a client who's sitting with me for hours, which I do, um, I make sure that I always offer them a snack, I always offer them a drink, and I have more than just water and coffee and soda. I have, um, plenty of other options for them with snacks and drinks, right?

Um, my next-level shampoo experience, they get to choose the essential oils on the hot towel. They get a hot towel every single time, complimentary. They get a nice, soothing scalp massage. I turn on spa music.

Uh, I dim the lights. Like, these types of things can set you apart, because it's more than just getting your hair done. Anybody can go and get their hair done for $20 at the shop, the chop shop down the road. They can't get that type of experience at the chop shop down the road.

They have to pay a higher price, and they will pay a higher price for that type of unique experience. Okay? So, think of ways that you can set yourself apart and make it more than just getting your hair done, right? And that is how you can set yourself apart.

Now, what I also want you to take into consideration is who are you serving and what's your specialty, and, likeThe person that you're serving, right, like, what would they really appreciate, um, as a unique experience? And also, the personalization hype kind of has you covered there because you can, like, let your client opt out of things and opt into things if they want. However, s- setting yourself apart with a unique experience that's specific to who your target market is can be really, really smart. So, like, I know of a couple stylists who are really into, like, no offense to anybody, really into, like, woo-woo stuff, right?

And so, which I'm totally not. I respect it, not into it myself though. Um, but, like, they'll have, like, crystals in their experience, and they'll have Reiki in their experience. And so if you're trying to attract these different types of people who really like this time, kind of like wellness and crystals and all that kind of stuff, bringing that into your experience will just bring you in more alignment with your ideal client and blow them away even more.

That's something where you cannot get that anywhere else, right? And you can charge a premium for that because your client wants that, and it's more than just getting your hair done, period. How many times have I said period in this, in this episode? All right, friends, so I know that this episode, we shared a lot of cool ideas and tips and tricks.

Now, I don't want you to get overwhelmed. I want you to take this episode for what it was. I hope that you took a little bit of notes if you weren't driving. And, um, I want you to go back through this, and I want you to really figure out maybe what is your priority right now where your client experience is as it is right now.

Like, do you really need to work on the fundamentals of just getting consistent and having a thorough consultation, or do you wanna start working on the personalization, the, uh, unique experience, having unique amenities, et cetera, et cetera, right? Now, a lot of this stuff I teach within my programs, and I teach how to actually create these things in your experience step by step by step. So, if you're like, "I really wanna get started with bringing my client experience to the next level," I would high key recommend that you go to the link in my bio or just go to hunterdoniell.com and check out some of the programs that I offer so that way you can really have a space that teaches you how to do this in a non-overwhelming way, a step-by-step way where you don't feel ADHD-brained and you actually get ish done, all right?

But if you enjoyed this episode, if you are excited about bringing your in-the-chair experience to the next level, I would really appreciate if you left a five-star review on whatever platform you're listening to this on, maybe a little blurb of a takeaway that you got from this episode or the other episodes that you've listened to on the Modern Hairstylist podcast. I would really appreciate it. It helps us move the movement in this industry and help us all learn together and grow and create a badass career for ourselves. So, so much love to you, friend.

I will see you in the next Guest Experience Series episode where we're gonna be talking about the pre-visit experience. So, get hyped for that. Peace out, girl scout. Bye-bye.

End of transcript. © 2022 Hunter Donia LLC.