How To Self Diagnose What's Not Working In Your Business

Hello, my friend. Welcome back to the Modern Hairstylist Podcast. This is gonna be one of those episodes where I keep it 100% with you, and I probably tell you some things that you don't wanna hear. But as much as I would like to talk to you about the most sexy, most innovative thing, which I think a lot of us would like to hear, you know?

I think, especially if you're listening to this podcast, you're a hairstylist, an entrepreneur who wants to hear the latest, the greatest, the most innovative situation. Um, you wanna hear what's happening right now, what's good for the future, et cetera, et cetera. And that is all fine and dandy and great, but what we all too often do is forget about the fundamentals, the constants, the things that are boring and the things that bring us the biggest, greatest changes in our results, and the things that we all too often distract ourselves from because they're uncomfortable or they're not sexy. So I'm gonna be talking to you a lot about those things today.

I mean, my, my listens will go down. You know, my downloads of this podcast will go down. People who listen to this all the way through is gonna go down. But I would so much rather show up in integrity and actually share with you information that will truly be helpful for you versus just BS you and get, tell you, like, this brand-new beautiful strategy and this magical unicorn answer that's gonna solve all your problems, because it's just not the truth, and it's not gonna happen.

I actually give a shit about making a difference, and I hope that you are, you know, ready to show up as the CEO of your business today and understand that sometimes the boring shit, the non-sexy shit, the really uncomfortable stuff is actually what brings you the most success and brings you the most growth in your journey. So if you're ready and you're, if you're down for this journey with me, and if you want me to spill all the tea and keep it 100 with you, then let's get into it. Let's go. What's the tea, friend?

My name's Hunter Donia, industry business educator for hairstylists, but my friends just call me Hunty. Whether it be growing your clientele, making more money, or automating and streamlining your systems, in the next 20 minutes or so, you'll be hearing realistic, actionable strategies to create a beautiful career for yourself behind the chair. So if you're ready to get into it, welcome to the Modern Hairstylist Podcast. Today, we're gonna be talking about how you can diagnose and troubleshoot what is going on in your business that is holding you back from achieving your goals or that is not getting you desirable results.

I'm gonna start with the tangibles first. I'm gonna be sharing with you, like, what you actually do to figure these things out, right? To figure out, like, what is it in the business that you should really be focusing on to fix, quote-unquote, to plug the hole of, right, right now to make sure that it's not bleeding out anymore, or to make sure that it is, um, as optimized as, as it can possibly be? The way that we figure out, and the way that I believe that we should figure out what, uh, what is going on and what we should focus on and where we're bleeding out or what needs to be addressed is with data.

It's with numbers, and numbers suck. I get it. They are uncomfortable. They're annoying.

They're a nuisance. It's not what we got into this business to do, but guess what? Your business is not here to entertain you. It's here to make you coins, and you can't make the coins unless you know what the hell's going on in your business.

So tracking your numbers and understanding your numbers is really powerful and important, and all too often, you know, w- when we talk about looking at our numbers, we think, like, of the basic ones. We think about our service revenue. We think about the, um, amount of clients that we get and the amount of new clients that we get booked, and all that stuff. But truly, like, there is so much power and so much more detail and nuance that we can get into when it comes to your numbers that are really illuminating for you as an entrepreneur that we definitely do not track in this industry.

Like, 99% of people do not track the numbers that I really recommend that you track, because they will be so helpful for you in figuring out exactly what is it, right, what is the thing that could be the difference for you, that could be the big changemaker for you. I have a whole episode about this. It's, uh, five unique KPIs and numbers to track to help you and your business. It's some- it's called something like that.

I'll leave the link in the show notes to it. But I talk about your conversion rates in there. So for example, okay? Like, let's say that you have a digital journey, right, which the majority of us have and would be really powerful if we did, a digital journey for how we get new clients into our chair.

So let's say that your digital journey of choice is Google MyBusiness, and then they go from your Google MyBusiness listing to your website, and then they go to a digital form, and then they go to, uh, your online booking site to book their first appointment. Let's say that that's your journey. When you have that type of journey, you're able to see and check every single touchpoint, and you're able to see what the conversion rate was between your Google MyBusiness, your website, your form, and if they actually book an appointment or not. That's really powerful.

And I'll go more deep into that in just a moment. On the flip side, let's say that your, that your digital journey for your customer looks something like this. Let's say that Google MyBusiness is how people find you, you have a website, and then your next call to action is book online immediately or call or text me. Here's what you lose if you don't have those high-touch digital points where you can truly see the data.

Here's what you lose. So for example, I... Let's say that y- let's say that you worked really hard on your website. Like, let's say that you've done everything right with your website.

Let's say it's beautiful. It speaks really well to your ideal client. Let's say that it's just really well built out. And you're like, "Damn, why am I not getting any new clients?

Like, my website is excellent. I have busted my ass to make this website look amazing. Why am I not getting any new clients?" What you can do is, is you can actually see if your website truly is excellent with the numbers of what's actually happening.

And no, that doesn't look like the butts in your chair, okay? That's not what this translates to. What it does translate to is how many website visitors did you have and then how many of those website visitors actually wanted to take the next step with you?And if you're sending them right over to your online booking, or if you're sending them into your phone, right, into, to call you or text you, then you're never gonna know how many of those website visitors actually converted and wanted to take the next step with you.

But if you have something such as a digital form in place, you're able to then see how many people viewed my form after viewing my website. And then you're able to actually see the effectiveness and track the effectiveness of your website and if it's actually working for you or not. Okay, great. So let's say that you're, your website conversion rate is amazing.

Like, let's say that a lot of the people who view your website also want to take the next step with you, and they view your f- digital form, let's say, right? Let's say that your website conversion rate is fantastic, but you're still not getting any new clients in your chair. And that's why I'm saying that we should be tracking more than just your new clients, okay? You need to understand the why behind this, that you, we, we just end up looking way too much at surface level.

Let's say that you're not getting any new clients in your chair, but your website conversion rate's amazing. You can go even further back into the top of your funnel and look at your Google My Business listing. How many views are you getting on your Google My Business listing, and how many of those viewers are actually going to your website? And you can discover two things here.

You can discover how many views am I actually getting, and then how many are actually going to the website, right? If your views on your Google My Business are really low, then you're not ranking in search results and you're not showing up at all. So then you're not gonna have any traffic. You're not gonna have enough traffic to actually see your website to actually get an appointment with you.

So if you don't have any eyeballs on your Google My Business listing, then nothing's gonna work for you. Let's say that your Google My Business listing is, is, has a lot of views, but for whatever reason, people don't want to click on the button to go to your website, right? So then your Google My Business conversion rate is low, and then you understand that you need to work on that to make it so people go further down your funnel. So that'll look like getting more reviews, adding more pictures, making it more built out so that way it looks more trustworthy, right?

So now you understand these numbers, and now it literally tells you on paper exactly which part of your funnel is broken, quote unquote, or what you should be focusing on or what you could focus on to optimize it as much as possible. So we will take, like, a concept that is like, we expect, like, these magical unicorn answers. Like, we expect, like, all the sudden for, like, oh my god, this is it. Like, this is the issue.

We hear it from one client or we hear it from one influencer or one other hairstylist. We're like... And we, we come up with these theories like, oh, I think I'm not getting any new clients because my prices are too high or because I have this type of pricing model or whatever it may be. But we don't actually look and see what the customer's journey is and where they're falling off or where they're staying and sticking and, and, uh, wanting to continue working with you.

And once you understand these numbers, you're able to stop with the guessing work that is not data-driven. And there is guessing work that happens after you have this data, which is theorizing, right? So you can theorize if it's a data-driven theory, right? So scientists, right?

We learned this in high school or whenever the hell we learned this. I don't freaking know. In middle school, elementary school. I don't freaking know.

Long time ago. We learned in science class that scientists will come up with a hypothesis, right? But that hypothesis is data-driven, it's science-driven. It's, there's some reason why somebody came up with a theory.

Like, you don't just automatically come up with a theory or listen to one person, right, to come up with a theory Like, there has to be some substantial things for you to actually want to come up with a theory and then actually test the theory and see if it's right or wrong. So that data-driven theory, right, now that you have that data, is gonna be something that's worth testing for you. Let's say that you are like, okay, well my Google My Business listing is really low. Like, my viewership on that is very low.

I'm not ranking, so I think it's because I don't have enough reviews on my Google My Business. So now you created a theory. Your theory is, I don't have enough reviews on my Google My Business, that's why I'm not ranking high and not getting a lot of views. So now your action that you're going to take is going to be a test of getting more reviews on your Google My Business to see if that changes your results or not.

If it doesn't change your results, then you know that's not the problem, and now you need to theo- make a different theory and try something else. Let's say that you think that your website needs to be changed with different colors or different copy or whatever it may be. Maybe that's your theory. So you change it and then you test it and you see if it works.

So you give it a fair bit of time, and then let's say you don't get any changes, or let's say that it absolutely skyrockets your results and you, now you know, right, now you have, now you have illuminated the, that the theory is proven to be correct, that if you change that on your website, now you're gonna get a higher conversion rate, right? Or maybe your conversion rate goes even lower, right? So now you know, okay, this type of copy doesn't resonate with my audience very well, so I'm gonna stay away from doing that and speaking about that, and I'm gonna go back to what I was doing and try it in a different way. That's what data helps you do.

That's what number all- numbers allow you to do, and especially when we get into nitty-gritties like this And when you have the system set up, like the systems that I teach my students in my programs, you're able to have those digital touch points and understand how to see them, read them, and then theorize and then test and move forward, and also get personalized feedback from me and your peers, experienced ones who actually understand this stuff, right? So the data and the numbers don't lie, and that's truly how you can make a, a smart analytical decision or diagnosis or understanding of what you actually need to focus on when you're not getting the results that you're looking for. This also looks like feedback from clients, right? So feedback surveys are really great.

It's something that I see a lot of people implementing recently, and I think that there's a right way and a wrong way to do that, but that's a whole other episode. But I think that when you get, can get a, a, a great data set from the majority of people who are coming to see you, specifically the ones that you enjoy serving, like the ideal clients, right, the people who are spending the most money with you, the people who are most loyal, the people who you really love and getting the services that you specialize in, then you're able to see common patterns across the board that will then illuminate to you the things that you work on or the things that you're doing well and you may want to do more of, right? So yet another way that you can use data to actually focus on the things that you really truly should be working on, 'cause what I all too often see is we get distracted. We want some magical answer, or the thing that we need to work on is boring or uncomfortable.

We don't want to learn about it or we just don't want to do it. We're just so sick of itAnd because we're so sick of it or it's uncomfortable, we want to figure out what this magical unicorn answer is. So then we focus on a problem that's not even actually a problem and we waste a bunch of time doing it, and nothing changes. Nothing changes, because you're just focusing on some bullshit instead of going back to the fundamentals.

And the fundamentals, the constants, the things that do not change and the things that are on paper, the numbers that don't lie, that's the shit that we should be focusing on. Period. Period. I said what I said.

And as painful as that is, you just gotta do it, you just gotta be willing to focus on it, because the boring shit is what will make you money, honey, okay? The stuff that you really don't want to do, the stuff that burns you out, that's the shit that will actually grow you the most the majority of the time. And when you put in some short-term sacrifice to focus on that stuff, later on you, it, you can delegate it. You can make it easier.

It won't be as hard, right? But for now, it's the shit that you have to focus on. But we'll, like, we'll hear one thing from one client and then we'll make a massive assumption and then we'll remove something or add something and change something, and it's just not what you actually should be focusing on. So just make sure that you are using your own data from your own business to make your own decisions, all right?

To make sure that you're focusing on the right things as well too. And you have those systems set up to be able to track that data as well. So going back to focusing on the fundamentals. I think what also ends up happening is that we skip over those fundamentals and don't dive deep into them as much as we should.

For example, understanding basic marketing theory, understanding how to create an excellent client experience. And sometimes it's truly the basics, like the basics of the basics. Like, maybe you just need to take a class. Like, maybe you're not delivering the results that you really could be delivering or should be delivering to make somebody happy with the service that they're getting, right?

Um, maybe you need, like, somebody who's gonna be honest with you and experienced, and come in and shadow you for a day and see how you go about your client experience. Or get some feedback on, you know, the hair that's actually walking out the door too. That's why having a community of peers who can reflect with you is so powerful, and that's why I love hosting those spaces within my programs. Like, having somebody else who can have a outside perspective of what's going on and look at it from a non-biased standpoint is just so powerful.

And so going back to the basics of, like, am, and this is where, you know, getting that feedback from your clients is really helpful and illuminating as well, like, do my clients like their freaking hair? Like, how many redo requests am I getting, right? Things like that is all, a- a- and am I showing up on c- uh, consistently on social media? I mean, people will come to me and say, like, "Oh, I'm not getting as new, as many new client requests as I was," and I'll say, "Okay, what changed between before and now?"

And they're like, "Oh, well, I haven't been as consistent on social media." And I'm like, "Okay, well, that's your answer. Like, you aren't doing the thing that was bringing you success before, so what do you expect to happen? Like, what else do you want to focus on?

Like, what other answer are you looking for?" Like, it's just the basic, consistent shit that we don't want to do again, right? So my friend, the moral of the story here is, I, I believe, is stop with the shiny object syndrome and use the data and the things on paper for your own business to make your own decisions. Make data-driven theories and test things out and look at the results on paper instead of getting other people's opinions or, like, one opinion or listening to everybody else or looking at everybody else and copying what they're doing.

Because truly, like, truly, truly, truly, you are so unique and your market is so unique, the people you serve is so unique. And those foundations and fundamentals are things that we should not skip over, and they are unique to you, yes. However, there's a lot of those things that are proven and constant, right? Like, the basic marketing theory is constant, and we skip over the hard, deep work of understanding it and, and knowing it, and knowing how to fully execute it.

And then we don't spend enough time focusing on that, and then we want some magical answer as to why things aren't working when we actually really just haven't done the, the deep work and the basic boring work. So do the basic boring work and lean into your numbers and make data-driven decisions for yourself, my friend. Please. Okay.

So I hope this was helpful for you, my friend. I hope this will help you diagnose what's going on in your business and where people may be falling off in your funnel or what may not be working for you, uh, why people aren't coming back to see you, right? And I would really appreciate if you left a five-star testimonial wherever you're listening to this, because it'll help us reach more hairstylists just like you who are looking to grow their business, um, and to spill the real tea with them, to give them some authentic-ass advice that is not bullshit and not just entertaining and not just sexy, things that are actually proven to work, right? So really appreciate that in advance.

So much love to you. I'll catch you in the next episode. Peace out girl, scout. Bye-bye.

End of transcript. © 2024 Hunter Donia LLC.