Creating A Highly Referable Client Experience (For High Ticket Clients)

Okay. So a few weeks ago, we talked about how the old-school referral program is dead, right? And asking your clients to send you their friends and family and, you know, they get 20 bucks off their first service, then your client gets 20 d- dollars off their next service, all that stuff, it is all dead in 2026 and beyond. And so we talked a lot about creating a brand ambassador program, which is an excellent thing that you can implement into your business.

So if you haven't listened to that episode yet, I recommend tuning into that after you're done with this one. But what we didn't talk about is the fact that organic referrals that are not incentivized still happen all the time in 2026 and are very much possible for you to make happen more if you are intentional about it. And so in today's episode, we're gonna be talking about creating a highly referable client experience, but not just referable for anybody, more so referable for high-ticket clients. Because high-ticket clients and ideal clients in general, they are going to behave traditionally in a little bit of a different manner.

And what's gonna make them click the Book Now button and actually trust you and want to invest in you is a little bit different than just the general person walking on the street who could be anybody, right? And I would assume if you're listening to this, my friend, you probably maybe possibly have higher prices already and you are already nervous that you are out-priced, you know, in your market because everybody else charges less than you. And so how do we get organic referrals that are willing to pay our higher prices when we didn't necessarily have anything to do with the marketing upfront, right? Like, we didn't gain this lead ourself.

We are now having our people talk- talking about us to these people, and so how do we make it so w- these, our own clients talk to those other people about us more often and equip those other people with what they need to trust us enough to actually book with us? So that's what we're gonna be talking about today. And with me, as per usual, we have Jodi Brown on the podcast, keeping my life and my brain together so that way, you guys don't have to hear me go into a million different directions and topics. So hello, Jodi Brown.

How are you today? Hello, my friend. I am good. How are you?

I'm good. Thank you. I think the best place to start is, what is a referable experience? Like, what does that look like?

So I tell this story a lot, or, like, I paint this picture for people a lot. So let's say that you have a client. Her name is Suzie. You love Suzie, and Suzie loves you.

And Suzie decides to go out to dinner with her friend, Karen. So Suzie is your client. Karen is Suzie's friend. Suzie is going to dinner with Karen.

Suzie ha- is not naturally going to bring you up in conversation if Suzie does not think that you are an interesting point of conversation, right? Because nobody wants to just talk random shit to their other- their friends or their family to waste their time, right, and their energy. And so in today's day and age, where a scalp massage, where a shampy- a sh- uh, a shampy? What I meant by that is a sha- a fancy shampoo bowl, um, or the amenities, so, like, snacks or coffee or whatever, maybe all that stuff, that extra shit that you maybe have in your salon, all of that stuff is, yes, interesting, but it low-key becomes the standard in today's day and age.

Because Suzie is assuming that Karen, who also maybe is a high-ticket client, goes to a high-ticket luxury salon as well, and that luxury salon is prob- probably also doing the same things. However, if Suzie was so confident that you were doing something actually different and actually worth talking about, like something that completely blew her mind, something that was, like, built specifically even for her, then Suzie would be much more likely to bring you up in dinner conversation or to be immediately, after the experience, texting and FaceTiming all of her friends and being like, "Holy shit, dude. You will not believe this experience that I just had with this stylist," right? And so creating a highly referable client experience looks like creating a client experience that nobody else in your area delivers.

And there's very specific and tailored ways that we do that, and our 2026 survey data, where we surveyed specifically high-ticket clients, illuminates to us exactly what those points of contact in our client experience actually could be and where we could be improving a lot to deliver that type of experience so Suzie is willing to talk about you without you even having to incentivize her and talk about you often to her friends and family or even post you on social media or whatever it may be. So that is what a- a highly referable client experience actually is. Yeah. I think this is like- I- as you were talking, I'm literally thinking of, like, I travel with my family all the time.

We stay in a lot of really nice hotels, like, you know, to treat ourselves while we're doing this over the past, like, 10 years, and I'm thinking about the only hotel that I've literally talked to or talked about to everyone that would listen after it was because of personalized details. Like, I've never stayed anywhere that puts out your slippers when you go out for dinner, that comes and, like, pulls out the sofa bed and puts a little kid-sized robe on it when they know that we're staying there with our son. So those, like, tiny little details, I literally did not shut up about for probably a year after we went there. And, you know, so- but there was fancier things that happened, for sure, and, like, nice amenities, but the things that stand out are the things that are, like, out of the norm and super personal.

Um. Yeah. And we wanted to talk about, there's actually a really great example of this from one of the stylists that you have worked with about kind of their specific methodology surrounding how they educate their clients on retail. So I think we should get into that, because I think it illustrates really beautifully what something that you would actually talk to your friends about looks like.

Yeah, dude. And like I alluded to, the survey results really, really showed us how important personalization actually is. Like, people said that generic extras, like tho- all those amenities that I brought up, are forgettable. But personalized ones are actually memorable.

So, 62% of clients who talked about their salon visit mentioned the experience, not the hair. So, it's not about when Suzy goes to dinner with Karen. It's not talking about how much you- th- that she loves her hair. It's about the experience.

But more particularly, what they also shared with us is 20% of those clients called out personalization as to what made that appointment feel worth it and probably what made them want to talk about it in that referr- And now, a word from our sponsors. When I went out on my own as a hairstylist, I quickly realized that running your own business is more complex than most people anticipate, right? There's no roadmap and honestly, the last thing you need is tools and technology that make it harder to figure out. That's why GlossGenius was the clear choice from day one.

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So, I think that that is super illuminating- illuminating to how important and powerful actual personalization is, and I'm gonna give you guys a very simple example. My students, we bring this to, like, a whole new level. Like, we put advanced things into place and things that are automated and don't require a lot of setup and time and manual labor to- to provide that personalization. But one really simple thing that you guys have probably heard about, seen maybe before, or maybe not, is when people have, like, a little sign that says- says, like, "Welcome," and then it says your- the- the client's name on it for their appointment.

So like, "Hello, Hunter. Welcome to..." whatever salon. And that person walks in.

They see that their name is on this board or this screen or whatever it may be. It's like they- they now under- they now can see that you actually care. You went out of your way to do something specifically for them. And one thing that's interesting, or one thing that is kind of, I guess, known, I guess, in all industries, especially for, like, client experience design, is that personalization is not very scalable.

It's something that requires, like, specific effort and labor. But what we're gonna be teaching at Client Experience Glow Up Party and what I've been teaching my students for years and the new strategies that I'm teaching them moving forward, I try to blend together the personalization, but also making it so it's actually attainable and realistic for you as somebody who- who has a very busy full-time job. Like, you just doing the day-in/day-out is enough, right? Like, that is a lot for you.

So, to remember to have to update the screen with all of your clients' names is a lot, right? Even just that one little simple task. And so, what we teach you how to do in my programs at Client Experience Glow Up Party coming up soon is, we teach you how to do all of that stuff and then some in an automated way where you're still delivering the personalization but you're not sacrificing your time and energy to make it all happen. One other thing that I think is also really helpful in creating a referable client experience, again giving somebody something to talk about, and also making yourself really seem like the established expert and worth paying more for, is creating your own ideology or your own methodology around the actual service you're delivering, the specific problem that you're solving, and the solutions that you offer to solve that problem or fulfill the desire.

So for example, one of our Mastermind members, Brandy, who does such a good job at creating this type of experience, she has her own method for every single client every single time how she tackles hard water in her specific area. So, her specific area really struggles with hard water, and so she has created her own method for how she attacks this so she can make her clients aware of what the problem is, why they're struggling with it, and then why Brandy's method is the elite one to go with. And so, these people now have some sort of identity, right? Like for example, like, when people are doing a- a diet, right?

People are like, "Oh, I'm on the keto diet," right? So, like, that's, like, now, like, a part of their lifestyle. It becomes a part of their identity, right? Like, um, if you guys have ever read Atomic Habits, like, one thing that really stuck with me from Atomic Habits was how when people are changing habits, people need to change their thinking and their identity instead of their behavior.

So, for example, like, if you're trying to quit smoking, you're not trying to quit smoking. You have to start believing you are not someone who smokes cigarettes, right? Now, I'm butchering the direct quotes and the actual, you know, teachings of the book, right? But I th- I...

That really stuck in my brain, and I thought that was so fascinating. And so, similarly, it's like you're, you're, you're making it so your clients are making your brand a part of their identity because they're subscribing to this method. So, when the, the next time that somebody compliments their hair, or the next time that somebody a- uh, uh, talks to them about their own problems with their hair, and they're like, "Yeah, like, I just, I just keep struggling with all this frizz. My highlights turn green all the time.

It's what, what comes with living in Phoenix, Arizona," then your client can say, "Oh, well, well, I follow the Brandi methodology and it makes it so this doesn't happen for me anymore." And so then the other person is like, "Oh, what is this methodology?" It makes it just sound like more than just a stylist who solves this problem. It makes it sound like there's something to subscribe to, you know?

And I think that that is, like, really sophisticated brand strategy that a lot of people don't really think about or focus on, and also, what I would also just kinda just throw out there, I, I, I also don't think that everybody is necessarily prepared for or ready for, but when you have a little bit of momentum in your marketing and when you have a good understanding of what your messaging is and all that stuff, and maybe once you start to get to ano- your- the next level of being a hairstylist, right? I think that looking into something like that is something really powerful and ex- it's exactly what Brandi has done, and it has really helped her with increasing her retention, her new client referrals. Hence, you know, why we're bringing it up in this vid- in this, uh, episode, and then also doubling her retail sales. And, like, just completely increasing her income in a very, very big way.

Well, and I think it naturally lends itself too to the other piece of that client experience and, you know, which is gonna increase retention. It's gonna increase people talking about you, and that's that consistency of experience, right? 'Cause when you do have those, that methodology or that client experience framework, you know that they are getting that experience every single time. Yeah, I, I, I will...

We have... A lot of the time, we have our, um, stylists, uh, do market research within their own clientele, and a huge thing that is a very similar pattern between all of their clients, and then, of course, in our own surveys as well, what we see all the time is people are craving reliability and consistency, and inconsistency will be your number one reason for people actually leaving you. But it will also be a huge reason why people actually stay with you as well. And so, again, we're talking about a highly referable client experience for high-ticket clients.

I think that for people who are willing to pay a lot of money, they're normally willing to pay a lot of money to not have to think or worry about if they are going to get this type of consistency and a reliable result every single time they come to visit you, right? And, like, the one or two times that you are off or that you don't follow that same system and that you're not ex- you're not delivering on what is expected in exchange for their money or their expectations, then it can really make that person start to look elsewhere, right? Because now you aren't living up to that expectation. Yeah.

And again, I love that you married these two concepts together for us, Jodi, because, like, having that type of method, it's like, okay, I'm following this clear system that is, like, in every single client every single time that my stylist has built for me. And I think, like, giving people a plan, like, just gives people hope. It makes people feel organized. I think every human, from a primal perspective, craves that type of stability in every aspect of their life, including how they're spending their money, who they're going to, et cetera, et cetera.

So, not only is it about, like, having that method and giving that, that feeling of consistency, reliability, and, uh, that, setting that standard, I guess. But also, making it so that you are delivering that same type of quality every single time too, and that's where the documentation and the systematization of your client experience, even just for yourself, not even from a client-facing perspective, where you know that every single step of your journey, your client journey, it is all written down tangibly, and it's one that you can follow step by step by step down to the, the words that you say to your clients. And I'm gonna give you guys a great example. Chick-fil-A, okay?

Hate them, love them, I don't fucking know. Great business, okay? Jodi, I don't... Do you guys have Chick-fil-A up in Canada?

Okay, so I've never gone to Chick-fil-A, but they are opening one. Literally, I was driving down the street, like, a week ago, and there is one opening. Okay, so I'm gonna ma- I'm gonna challenge you. So, I'm, I'm not sure if you'll know this.

Instead of saying, like, thank you or you're welcome or whatever it may be, what do the employees normally say all the time?... do you know? No, I have no idea. I've never been to one.

Okay. Well, the majority of listeners here probably know that it's ... they say, "My pleasure." Like, you can always expect the- the- the person to say, "My pleasure."

They ... it's like, it's like they are indoctrinated to say it, like, "My pleasure." And there's actually, like, memes and, like, TikToks out there that it's like, like, it's like, the Chick-fil-A employee delivering an order, whatever it might be- Mm-hmm. and they don't say, "My pleasure," and they're like, "You're welcome," and then a van pulls up and they, like, kidnap them, and they're like, "Oh, no," like, "I meant to say ..."

So, it's like, it's like, it's like, that brand, right, that brand identity and the fact that they've ... they, they take that consistency so seriously. Like, they're delivering that same quality of client interaction and client experience every single time. There's obviously a real-life example outside of our industry of how valuable that is.

Mm-hmm. And so, what a big part of Client Experience Glow Up Party is, and a whole module in our program is, is literally just documenting and optimizing and systematizing what that client journey looks like, from the, from when they're a new potential client, all the way through to the end. And so documenting and delivering that consistency is so much more important than I think people give it credit for, and it can't just be something that you rely on your memory for. I believe it has to be something that's written down, that you can follow step by step.

Jodi, I'm sorry for putting you on the spot for Chick-fil-A. Oh, that's okay, but I'm gonna be checking now when it opens. Yes. Literally- Uh- ...

you will ... It's, like, scary. Like, they all- I will text you. say, "My pleasure," and, like, no ...

I ... Please text me, and I literally, like ... I will tell you, you know, no matter how many times you go- Mm-hmm. I'm kind of outing myself as a Chick-fil-A fan here.

Every time I ... No matter how many times you go, hearing, "My pleasure"- Mm-hmm. It just, it still makes you ... I- it really elevates that, like, that feeling.

It- Right. really makes you feel like somebody is taking care ... And it's such a small linguistic switch- Totally. but I swear, every single time, it really does, like, tickle my brain in a, in a, in a weird way.

Right. And it ... I, I, I just really ... It's very ...

it's an interes- ... It's a very interesting thing, as, like, a marketer, as a client- Mm-hmm. experience designer, and as a consultant to you guys. Like, I think it's not something to be taken for granted, and it really relates back to this theory that I've had for years.

Yeah. Which is, having a consistent documented client experience down to the words that you say, I think, is very important. I think ... I agree with you, and I think there's another piece to it, too, which is like, when you think about a high-ticket or luxury experience, like, part of that is feeling, like you just referenced, like, taken care of and almost, like, led through the experience.

Like, you don't want to have to come there and your stylist be like, "So, what do you want today?" You know what I mean? Like, that doesn't feel like a luxury high-ticket experience. But being led through a process and knowing what to expect, like, that's a completely different vibe, and it does make you feel as though you were in expert hands.

100%. I mean, I'll even sh- ... I'll share from you ... I'll share with you from my own perspective of being somebody who has experience of having a team and having s- ...

a lot of different things to think about, right? And being suc- ... a successful business owner. Like, I have so many things to think about, that, like, the last thing I want to think about is, like, wh- ...

w- ... uh, the r- ... I ... Okay.

I think ... I have a theory. Not even a theory. My own experience and what I've studied and learned from so many people who are successful and spend a lot of money, okay?

Is that they hire people who know what the fuck they're doing, so that way, they can relax and allow other people to pick up the slack for them. That is 100% a true statement, right? Yeah. And so, for example, I have Jodi on this fucking podcast to help me think through my shit, but more importantly, have her think for me, because I really trust her and she knows what the fuck she's doing.

And so that way, I can just focus on doing what I do best, right? And that is exactly what your high-ticket, particularly, clients want from you, too. They want to be able to sit down and for you to be the expert and for you to lead them through the appointment. And I really, really appreciate you bringing that up, Jodi, and it's actually something that was illuminated to us in last year's survey, was that so many people said, "I wish that my, my hairstylist took more initiative for me."

I ... People do not want to think. They want a consistent, reliable situation with an expert that they trust, and they want you to give them the suggestions, and they want you to lead. And I will even go as far as to say that, again, we're talking about ideal clients here.

I think non-ideal clients ... And it's kind of funny how the lower-ticket clients, or the people who are asking for discounts, oftentimes are the biggest micromanagers. They'll bring a TikTok video and they'll be like, "I want you to do this." The, "I want you to do this exact, uh, service on me."

Yeah. And it's like, it's a, it's an actual tutorial of, like, how to do hair, right? Yes. That's normally the demographic that brings those things to you, right?

But the high, the high-ticket client, for the reasons that I've already shared, they are going to want you to lead, and they're going to trust you as the expert, so you need to meet them halfway, and the majority of the time, we're not. And again, building that into our documented client experience and delivering that consistently can be very powerful and create that highly referable experience. So, hopefully, you guys got some good tips from today. However, we can bring all this stuff to the next level and make more sense of it, and I can give you more strategic strategies.

And also, I'm building, for you, the actual framework for where and how you can document your client experience in, in Client Experience Glow Up Party. So, at the time of recording this, we have Client Experience Glow Up Party coming up this weekend, okay? At the, at the time of releasing this, and, uh, I would really love to see you there. It's gonna be badass.

It's a three-day workshop, and it's a party as well, because it's ... we ... I don't know. I didn't want to just make a same old boring webinar about business that you're just, like, taking notes through, you know?

I wanted it to be interactive. I wanted it to be fun. I wanted us to all feel refreshed and motivated and inspired instead of, like, bogged down and stressed out by business education. And so it's a three-day event where I go over the 2026 survey results for what clients want in today's day and age, particularly those high-ticket clients, and how we can deliver that in today's day and age with fresh new strategies to up-level your client experience.

So, if you want to join us, you can go to hunterdonia.com/party. We'll leave the link for you in the show notes for that. If you are listening when we don't have that going on, I'm so sorry, my friend.

DM me, and I'll point you in the right direction. But thank you for tuning in to the Modern Hairstylist Podcast. Hopefully this was helpful for you. Peace out.

Grace out. Bye-bye.

End of transcript. © 2026 Hunter Donia LLC.