Attracting BETTER clients

Are you so sick of the clients who will waste your time in the DMs for, like, a whole week, right? Like, you get back to them that one day, then they get back to you the next day, then they send you the inspo pictures, and then you tell them the price and then they ghost you. Or, they actually book an appointment, and then they actually end up just canceling the appointment all together. Or, are you just generally finding that you are getting a lot of clients who are just wasting your time or are just really not ideal to be in your chair?

It is a very common experience and, in today's episode, we're gonna be talking about how we can attract better clients, and how we can make sure that the non-ideal clients, the people that are gonna be doing that to you anyway, are going to weed themselves out. So, excited to share those strategies with you. I have Jodi Brown with me, as per usual, to help keep me on track and to keep our brains going today. So, what's going on, Jodi Brown?

How are you? I am so good. I'm excited to talk about this. Gorgeous.

So h- where do you think we should start the conversation? So, the first thing, I mean, you kinda did an overview of this, but just defining, what does better clients mean? Yeah, I think everybody has to define that for themselves. So, like, a lot of the work that we do, I mean, all the work that I do in, in, in, in my programs and when I'm working with stylists is normally very data-driven.

I like to, like, get answers from, like, real things that are actually happening, and then because, you know, it's just much more linear, it just makes more sense, right? That's very much my approach with everything. So for example, actually, maybe a little bit off-topic, but just for example 'cause it happened, it's fresh in mind, it happened yesterday. Had somebody get on a call with me and she's a salon owner, and she was sharing how she keeps attracting the wrong applicants to be stylists at her salon- Mm-hmm.

and how they end up, like, churning and things like that, and so my answer was like, "Okay, well, now that you've had some experience with, you have employees who've stuck with you and they're really great, and then you have employees who have not stuck with you, they've left after three months, they were not motivated, you end up lo- uh, you ended up letting them go, now you have a track record of, like, type of employees or the qualities that those employees have that normally stick around and then vice versa," right? Mm-hmm. And that's probably what I would recommend that we do as stylists when we're trying to first define what is a, quote-unquote, "better" client or what is a non-ideal client even. And so that really is where should we, we should start, and I think that what you should be doing is you should be thinking back to, "What are the clients who stuck with me for a long time?

What are the ones that have similarities between other clients that are also, you know, great people to have in my chair? And why is that? Like, why are they actually good people?" So you need to define that and you need to get clear on what that looks like because once you get clear on what that looks like and what you can define it, you can work backwards from that and figure out, "Okay, w- what do I need to say, how do I need to say it, and where can I find more of these people based upon the qualities and the identifiers that you are noticing in these patterns?"

Also, even, d- 'cause the other part of this conversation is weeding out the people- Yeah. who are not going to be the better clients. And so then you work backwards and you figure out, okay, what needs to be said to detrack them or what needs to just very much be, like, called out and you be like- Mm-hmm. literally, like, on your website, say, "This is probably not a great service for you if X, Y, Z," right?

Yeah. 'Cause it's totally fine for you to do that and will help your, your, quote-unquote, "better" ideal clients. It'll help them self-identify with you even more and make them trust you even more and more likely to actually want to work with you. Yes.

I love that. I've actually seen a blonde specialist do this really well. I can't remember c- who this person was, but it basically was like, "If you're someone who likes an every six week to-the-root, like, blonde highlight, I'm not the stylist for you," 'cause they were, like, more of a lived-in specialist and I thought that was really clever how they called it out and they basically were like, "My schedule probably won't be a fit for you" k- type thing. So, I think that's a really good point and a clever way that you can almost, like, have people self-filter.

Yeah. Another great way to do this is just with your service menu. I've been teaching to possibly putting this on the service menu for a really long time. Like, if you want to, which is adding, like, what, uh, average or suggested maintenance would be for each service.

Mm-hmm. And of course it ranges so much, so, like, leaving a, leaving, you know, a gap, right? Like, putting a hyphen in between and giving a range is good, but, you know, like, if y- I think that it does both of those things, right? It's like, "Hey, like, if you're not willing to come in every 12 weeks, then th- maybe this isn't a great service for you," but it then also, it can tell the person that's, like, totally down for every 12 weeks or that sounds magical to them- Right.

then that really helps them. So, same situation, but just in a different way, right? Yeah. And that's the, that's a big point, I think, that, uh, we would like to make in this episode is that there's so many different touch points along that new client journey in which we're able to communicate these things either directly, such as in that post, or almost indirectly, such as, like, the suggested maintenance range for each- Mm-hmm.

of the services on the service menu. I love that. Okay, so with the bringing up the client journey for those new clients, I think, let's start with step one when it comes to attracting better clients, and that's with getting their attention. So, what can we, what can we do for that?

So, this all goes back to the foundations of, of what we do, right, is when it comes to marketing, what my philosophy is. Again, we always go back to real data. And so I walk my students through doing market research, and that allows us to take real people who are actual ideal, quote-unquote, "better" clients, right, and figure out, like, what is at the top of their head when it comes to their hair or getting beauty services done and what are the pain points, what are their desires, and also what is their language? Because...

We talk about this a lot in the podcast, but, like, if this person is using a different type of language or a different type of word for it to define certain things in their brain than what you're using, or that what you would normally to use to call them out, then you're not gonna get their attention because you're saying things that aren't, that aren't gonna resonate with them, right? Even though it may mean the same thing. So making sure that you're on the same page with the language and having actual data and research to be able to back that up, and also make you aware of it, 'cause a lot of the times, you're just not aware that the, that people may not be using that same language. But then also just figuring out, like, what is the actual things that we need to be talking about, you know?

What is top of mind for this person in their own definition? Uh, what are, what are the problems that are plaguing them every day? What are the common relatable experiences that they have that you can even, like, jokingly call out, you know, and then lead into a solution, such as, like, you know, I don't know. You could take a Reel with, like, your kids, like, grabbing your clothes and your hair in the morning, like, while you're trying to curl your hair or do your makeup, whatever.

You can be like, "Hey. Like, are you so sick of having a routine that takes so long and gets distracted and slowed down by the daily shit that you have to deal with? We give you a simple hair routine that's very quickly for you to get done," and, and whatever, you know? So that's an idea for a post, if that's your ideal client, right?

Right. Um, but you need to figure out exactly, like, what are those top of mind things? What are those relatable experiences? And where is that person in their journey as far as, like, the words that they would use to describe that- Mm-hmm.

and, like, what would their, get their attention, so that way they actually self-connect- Yeah. with the words that you're using, I guess. Yes. Okay, I love that, and I feel like this also brings up, like, the whole piece of not speaking to the people who you don't want in your chair.

Yeah. 'Cause I think sometimes if you're in this headspace of like, oh, I'm not attracting great clients. I wanna attract better clients, sometimes there can be a little bit of reactivity with, like, calling out behavior that you don't want, but that's not speaking to the people that you do want. So I think- Yeah.

that's, like, a really great way to underline that too, is making sure that it's making those ideal fit clients feel seen. Yeah, and you know, I will just say, like, I feel like as a marketer myself, like, it's so, so, so hard. It's so hard- Yeah. to really fully commit to that, to, like, it's so hard to fully commit to just talking to, like, that one person- Yeah.

and not have the natural scarcity of, like, oh, well, like, this other person or this other person or these other people aren't gonna be spoken to in this post, so that means that, like, you know, I'm gonna be leaving them out, then I'm gonna be losing business. But in reality, like, if we're not doing that, if we're not willing to, like, commit to it, right- Mm-hmm. then we're actually not talking to anybody 'cause you're not getting anybody's attention. And it's such a classic at this point in our, in our marketing, you know, knowledge and, and access to marketing theory.

Like, it's such, like, a over-talked about thing at this point, but it's still so naturally a hard thing to commit to. Yeah. And something that has helped me recently was I kind of was like, if things were, if it was easy, and if I was absolutely forced to only talk to this one person, then this is what I would say. And, like, I just, like, stopped, l- like, I, like, let go of all the scarcity.

I, like, let go of n- like, leaving people out. I was like, if I only, like, literally had to choose this one person, what would I say? And then I said it, and I was like, "That's it." Yeah.

"And that's what I'm committing to." And that's what I recommend that you guys do, because I promise you, once you make that switch, a lot of great things change for you. 100%. I love that.

Well, it's like, my favorite analogy on that is like, if someone doesn't like coffee, it doesn't matter how much you water down the coffee. Like, they're, they're not gonna like it, and then the person who likes coffee is also not gonna like it. So basically, you're just like putting way too much, you know, trying to make something that everyone likes means that no one will like it. So I think that's such a good point.

What a beautiful analogy. Thank you for sharing that. So okay. The next thing that we wanted to talk about today is we've, we've talked about getting their attention.

We've talked about, you know, self-selecting. Is there anything you wanna add on that, on the piece of saying who it is for and saying who it's not for? Not particularly. Once you've done your research and you have, like, a, like, the platforms in place, you know, like, that top of funnel place, like your social media marketing or the billboard or whatever it may be, like the place that the person first finds you, right?

And when they consume that, it speaks directly to them and their unique experience- Mm-hmm. and that you stand out from the noise. You're connecting with, with them on their language. And then once they gain trust with you, they go to your website, and you put things on your website that call those things out, weed those people out that are not ideal, but make those people who are very ideal feel like they're in the right place.

Once you've done all that, it really gets down next into, like, making sure that this person is now the best fit for you on a more, I guess you could say, like, linear or tangible or in control level besides from a marketing perspective. So once somebody goes through your marketing, they then technically go through, like, a sales process with you, okay? Mm-hmm. From, like, a general business perspective.

And that sales process is like, how can we get this person, like, now that they're interested, now that they're inquiring, how do we actually close the deal? And you, so a lot of salespeople, s- smart and experienced salespeople and just businesses who are running sales departments, they are, they put a lot of focus on making sure that the lead is completely qualified to actually go through this process, because they don't wanna waste any time with any leads that are actually not going to actually close the deal or follow through or, when they're working with them, not be a good fit for the company and then churn early, so, like, not actually stick around and, like, be a longtime customer. And so I believe that once we've done the job of actually getting attention and getting people trusting us and inquiring with us, we also have to do the job of filtering those people out- Yeah. and making sure that-...

we filter them out, so weed them out, but then also that we, maybe we take the ideal person and we recognize, what does this person need to be able to be a great lead for us and a great customer for us, who we would like to go through the process, who might not necessarily be there yet. So, there's kind of, like, the two people. It's like, we want to weed out those people who will never get there, and then we wanna wheat- and then we want to help move the person who's almost there, we wanna give that person everything they need to actually be a great customer for us. And so, a great classic way that we do this is with digital forms, right?

Right. That's why I love a digital form so much. I was just working with a mastermind student, and she gets a shit ton of requests. Like, a stupid amount of requests every month.

It is ridiculous. Like, 50 requests a month or something like that. And as she has kind of expanded her- her range of platforms that she's marketing on, she is getting more and more, like, different types of leads from all over the place, and she's still getting all of these requests in. She is really sick of wasting any time- Mm-hmm.

with any communication, even as automated as it is. She doesn't even wanna see the number on the fricking screen, right, or on paper, that like, she had an inquiry and then it didn't end up working out, or that they- this person ended up wasting their time, right? So, what we've done is we've added even more questions to the form. We're exploring, like, putting down a deposit, even just applying to be the client.

Right. Right? Like, not even with a booked appointment, just like, "You have to put down an- an- a deposit to even have access to my books," right? And adding more- s- adding smarter questions, too.

Adding smarter questions, the meat of a factor that will absolutely determine whether or not this person is the right fit or not, basically. Right. In that, then, is there a phase in someone's business that they should be looking for in a mar- as a marker for when you should start to think about, like, adding more barriers to entry, essentially, to get to your books? Yeah, 100%.

When it's- uh, when it comes to- when it comes to... I talk about a lot that we absolutely do need new clients always coming into the business. Mm-hmm. I- it- that's just a healthy business model, it just is what it is.

But what we don't want is that to harm our relationship with our existing customers. Mm-hmm. I do believe that our existing customers should always take priority. Right.

And I believe what happens when we have a shit ton of new clients coming in who are, like, really filling up the book and then taking up space where your loyal clients could be coming in, right? Mm-hmm. Because loyal clients are easier to sell to, they're more likely to refer you, right? Like, they are gonna stick with you for longer if they've been with you for longer.

Like, there's just- it- it just makes... And also, of course, just from a moral perspective, and just from like a personal perspective, we love them more, right? Like, we appreciate them more. We have a relationship with these people.

And so, I say... So like, if we have a ton of new client requests coming in and we're allowing anybody to sit in our chair, you're actually creating a less convenient experience for those loyal customers or those returning customers, because they can't get in at the times they would- they would like to. Maybe you're starting to get inventory for those people, and then so you're threading- you're spreading your im- your- your resources more thin, and then you don't have that same type of inventory for the loyal people possibly, you know? Right.

It just- the more non-ideal new people you have in the chair, the less you're gonna be able to serve the returning ideal people, I guess you could say. And so it's kind of like, I- I got to a point in my business where I was so booked and busy in which it was kind of like, it's a privilege for you to sit in my chair. Right. Right?

Right. Like, this is no longer, like, I'm begging to have clients in my chair. Like, you are lucky to be in my chair. Yeah.

And my clients treated it like that, right? The ones that I wanted in my chair, they treated it as a privilege to sit in my chair. And I think that I would very much encourage everybody listening to this, particularly the people who are majoritively in this industry, right? And I'm even gonna go as far as to say, like, women, because I believe that women are not often, like, empowered or have natural belief to like, feel like, that can be a- a belief that you have.

Like, it is a privilege to sit in your chair and get your services. Yeah. You know? And especially if you've worked your ass off for it, right?

Mm-hmm. So, I think that- that when my- I switched my brain to that, that's when I really recognized, like, you know, I have to be more selective, because I need to protect the people who understand that it's a privilege and a- and act like it's a privilege to be in my chair. And of course, it's a mutual- it's a mutual agreement. I'm gonna give you a fucking badass service- Yeah.

if you're willing to treat this space respectfully- Yeah. with the level that I'm at and the amount of demand and the amount of people I could be serving and making an impact on. Yeah, I love that, and I think from a fulfillment perspective, too, like, once you do start to attract clients who really, truly value you and understand your worth and aren't, like, nickel-and-diming you and all of those different things, like, it does change your experience of this job and of this industry. Yeah.

T- I mean, it completely takes away so much of the things that burn you out. Yeah. You know? I mean, I- e- having clients in your chair that you're, like, scared of or that you're thinking about your experience is going to be with throughout the entire week- Mm-hmm.

you know? I mean, I know that I've absolutely been there. Same. Like, I would have a client on- in my book, like, on Friday, and it would be Tuesday, and all I'm thinking about, eh, the- throughout the entire week is how much I'm dreading seeing this person.

Yeah. And like, it's just, like, not worth it, and it affects your experience with your other clients and it affects your experience in your personal life with yourself and your family and your friends and the things that actually matter the most. Yeah. And I just think it's not worth it.

You know, I- I, of course, I believe from an experience perspective, um, I think that, like, every beauty sch- beauty school student or everybody who's beginning, like, you kind of have to go through that a little bit, you know? You have to be kind of refined and you have to polish up the skills of like, being able to deal with bullshit no matter what, 'cause it's always gonna be there, right? No matter what. So you have to go through that in the beginning and- and, you know, just from a revenue perspective, you need to make money, right?

Yeah. But once you're at a point where it's like, "Well, I kind of have my choice of how I make my money and who I make my money from"- Right. then you should take advantage of that. Right.

Do you think that this is something that there's like, a... You know, w- we've talked about kind of like, once you've hit that point where you've got a ton of demand and you have those clients coming in and you're wanting to be more selective. I-Is there any of these things that you would recommend implementing, like, a little earlier in the process, Hunter, like, you know, when it comes to just building a more aligned clientele that has people who are gonna be more respectful of your time, not as likely to no-show or last-minute cancel? Yeah.

You know, a digital form, I think, at all levels is fine. I don't think that it's a massive barrier. But it depends on, like... But what the...

What... How you do it definitely can vary and can change results as far as, like, how much demand you get, right? Mm-hmm. So, like, let's say that you're super early on in your journey and you really want to just get as many people in your chair as possible and you're pretty desperate.

Well, your forms probably shouldn't be as long. Or do we have the forms sent after they book an appointment, or do we make it- Right. something that's forced to be filled out upfront before they can make an appointment, right? Right.

So you get to kind of, like, turn those levers up and down. And the more questions you have, the more strenuous of answers you're expecting, you know, all of that stuff changes the, the level of conversion and, like, how many people are actually going... Are willing to go through that process. Right.

Um, but I think regardless of, like, the forms- Mm-hmm. I think that something at every level is like a salon welcome guide. Is, I think there's... I think everybody should be doing this.

Right. And we teach this in the program. We have a template for it, for people to just plug and play, and we teach people how to customize it. And it's really, really dynamic and very fun and very cool.

It's very, like, 2026 approved because it's just so engaging and, like, I'm just very proud of it. And what's so great about it is, we were talking about, like, attracting better clients, but maybe also prep- giving this person what they need to be a better client. Yes. And I think that that's something really, really great about the salon welcome guide is, like, it teaches them, like, how you need to come to the salon prepped, right?

Like, as far as your hair goes. Like, do you want it washed? Like, do you need it detangled first? Or, like, whatever it may be.

Like, do you need to bring something, you know? Do you want to bring your current products that you have? Right. Something like that.

And it doesn't even have to be in the salon welcome guide. Like, it can just be in an email that's automated and sent, so you don't have to manually send it every single time, right? Yeah. Even just, you know, being able to prep this person with, like, where they park and what happens when they, when they get there and do you want them to wait in their car before they come into your salon suite?

Do you want them to knock on the door of the salon suite, right? Yeah. Like, all of that stuff, prepping that person with that stuff, gives you and them a better experience. And also, I mean, I remember when people, like, every now and then, would actually, like, not...

They would miss the salon welcome guide or something like that. Or that I would have, like, the wrong number. So, like, the automated text that I had, like, wouldn't send to them and tell them the instructions or whatever it may be. Right.

And whenever, like, they would get to the sal- salon suite and they wouldn't, like, have followed the instructions just 'cause they didn't get the text or whatever it may be, it was also... It was a very awkward start to the experience. And that actually sets you and the client up for a lot of just tension and not a great first impression, you know? And it's difficult to repair those things.

It's difficult to have... Go into a smooth consultation where you're both, like, communicating on the same level when you have, like, a rough beginning, like, such as that for the day. Yeah. And so, salon welcome guide is good 'cause it gives the person what they need to be the best client possible, and for you to give them the best service possible.

And then, you know, there's even more advanced strategies that I've considered that I think that a lot of hairstylists should consider, like, such as, like, a video, you know, before they get into the salon and things like that. So, yeah, I think that those types of things, like, that are more like client experience versus, like, sales process or, like, operation, I think that those... That stuff absolutely belongs at every level. Yeah, I love that.

So the last thing we wanted to talk about when it comes to getting clients that are more likely to actually convert, sit in your chair, become long-term clients was the busting through objections piece. So, any potential things that, you know, may prohibit someone from being an ideal client along that journey. Can you speak on that a little bit? Yeah, really quickly, I think it's important for your last question.

Also, deposits and, like, card on file, right? Mm-hmm. Or, like, implementing your policies. I think that's another, like, barrier boundary that will absolutely, like, determine whether or not this person becomes...

Is an ideal client and, like, is a good lead that follows through, right? So, I just really want to quick, like, quickly touch on that. Like, of course, this is another situation where it's like, it's a lever you turn on or turn off, or you, you turn it up or down, right? Right.

And depending on how much you turn up the barrier, you may get less people going through, but then you get more ideal people. Yes. Because then they're showing up, they're willing to do that, they're willing to follow instructions, they're willing to put sensitive information on the line. That means that they're very committed to the service.

But are you then putting in... But then you are risking less volume of people. So again, you just have to decide, like, at the level that you're at right now, how booked you are, how desperate you are for clients, what are you willing to sacrifice and what are you not willing to sacrifice? Right.

Okay. Objections. So the definition of objections are this person absolutely loves you, they're totally trusting you, they really want to work with you, but... Right.

And whatever the but is, is the objection, okay? So it's like what's actually fully stopping them from fully committing. Mm-hmm. And the thing about objections is a lot of the time they can just be misconceptions.

Mm-hmm. They can be myths. They can be misbeliefs. And so it's really important that we understand these because I...

This especially shows up in more specialized things, such as like extensions. Like, in extensions, there's so many objections that I can come up with off the top of my head- Mm-hmm. such as like, is this gonna damage my hair more? Or, I have fine hair, this won't work for me.

So they have this, like, this disbelief, right? And we need to make sure that we're covering that upfront. Now, the way that we can do this, I love doing this in like an FAQ section on your website- Mm-hmm. and then, of course, just like with social posts and things like that.

But what objection busting can also do, it should, first off, yes, it should, like, actually, like, make sure that this person is comfortable with whatever their objection is. So, you know, you present them with their objection, but then you present them with, like, what the opposite of that is, so that you get them, like, to, to not worry about it anymore. You remove the barrier of the objection. But-What you're also technically doing is you are telling them, like, possibly, maybe your objection is valid, right?

Right. Yeah. You know? Like, maybe you are sitting there and you're like, "Yeah.

Like, my- my hair is falling out. You know? I don't think this is gonna be the right fit for you." You'd be like, and you, so you'll say, "If my- if- if I have traction alopecia, well, is this- are these extensions or is this extension method the best fit for me?

To be honest, no-" Mm-hmm. "... but I'm open to having a consultation with you if you're down to do that," blah, blah, blah, or whatever it may be, you know? Yeah.

So it can do both things. It can make sure to remove any misbeliefs or barriers that are stopping the person from fully committing, or it can actually validate somebody's objection where it's supposed to, so it removes any time wasted on a s- a client who may not end up actually being a great-paying client. Yeah. I love that, and that's such an important point, 'cause it's like if you cannot commit to the maintenance on something like extensions, for example- Right.

then that automatically does disqualify someone from being a right-fit client, so I think that's a really important one. Yeah. You know, I'll even... Another just, like, example, 'cause it's very relevant, I was saying that we were, like, trying to really beef up the digital consultation form of the person who was getting, like, a shit ton of- of- of requests, right?

Right. Like, one of the questions on there, like, a g- good identifier of a client for this person is somebody who, like, they're willing to make a relationship with them. Mm-hmm. They're willing to, like, come back, like, on a- on a s- on a consistent basis, you know?

Right. And so, like, there's a question on there, and it- and it's literally like, "Are you looking to make a relationship with me? Are you looking to see me on a frequent basis? Like, how often are you willing to come see me?"

And the- and- and if they... Because a lot of the times, it- some people will just be like, "Oh, well, I wanted to come, like, do this for my birthday," and, like, they just wanna get their hair done once. My age. Which is awesome, you know, and maybe there's a stylist who'd be awesome for that out there to do that.

But w- again, like, we are prioritizing, like, returning loyal clients here, and if you're not gonna be, like, a super ideal client who's gonna have a lo- long lifetime customer value- Right. then you- I don't have space for you in my chair, right? Yeah. So just another question that you can add in there, and an objection buster too, right?

Yeah. So it's like, let's say that they select, like, "Oh, I'm just looking for, like, one- a one-time situation," will this person, you know, w- allow that, or would that be okay? Right. You're answering that question right there.

You could have something pop up and say, like, "Oh, unfortunately, like, we're not doing that right now. Like, you'd have to come back and see me every 12 weeks," or something like that. Right. I love that.

So the overarching, like, theme here is getting very specific on what that ideal client looks like for you, who will be the best fit for your services, and then being willing to speak way more specifically to that person, having a system for capturing the lead, and essentially qualifying them through the process. Period. Thank you for summing it up for me, Jodi. Bye-bye.

I appreciate that. Well, go attract better clients, people. You had a really hardcore crash course in this. If you want to learn this step by step, if you wanna p- put all the systems and pieces in place, this is not just a get-in-and-a-done-day project, you know?

Everything I talked about here, there's so many different touch points, right? There's so many different strategies, and they're all strung together to overall- Mm-hmm. help you attract these clients, streamline and automate your processes, and get only clients who truly value you and will be ideal people that- to actually work with in the long run in your chair, right? Um, and it's all done in the stuff that I teach in our programs.

So if you want to learn more about that, you can go to hunterdonia.com and work with me there. But thank you so much for tuning in to the Modern Hair Stylist podcast. Peace out, girl scout.

Bye-bye.

End of transcript. © 2026 Hunter Donia LLC.