How to Streamline Client Communication

Hey, friend. Welcome back to the Modern Hairstylist Podcast. So today, we're gonna be talking about something that I would kind of consider to be Boundaries 101, right? The fundamentals that you need, truly, to, uh, regain time, freedom, and energy back from your business when you're not working behind the chair.

And it's something that I think that we are really scared of, but are actually really, really easy with the right mentorship, the right guidance, and the right approach, okay? We're gonna be talking about streamlining client communication. We're gonna be talking about not texting Karen back at midnight when she's asking to reschedule with you. We're gonna be talking about making sure that you're not giving your clients, or people who aren't your clients, any resources or access to you unless you want them to have it, right?

We're gonna be talking about how to make sure that your clients have all of the resources that they need to conveniently get the answers they need without having to reach out to you, okay? We are in a world, right, where we have digital resources, we have the internet, we have Google, where people are starting to get very self-reliant. People are getting very comfortable with learning how to get shit done by themselves. It's so much easier t- for me to go ahead and pay my bills online through, like, online portals than it is to, like, you know, write a check and mail the check or it is for me to have to make a phone call, right, and actually talk to somebody and go back and forth and give them my information and all of these things.

And so we're really starting to get used to those type of things, and that's why it's really important that us as an industry start to take note of how our general consumers, right, and consumer behaviors, um, are changing, and how we need to adapt as a service industry to those changes to not only serve our clients better, but to increase the productivity of our business and to set boundaries and have more time and freedom and energy in our lives, okay? So I'm gonna be breaking down streamlining client communications up in this episode. Let's get into it. 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 Hairstylist Podcast.

So I think a really large misconception that I feel like I talk about a lot, um, is that we think that when we set boundaries or that when we utilize technology to create more efficiency, productivity, and boundaries in our business that it means that we're not serving our clients to the same caliber or to an excellent caliber, right? Because we're not giving them that, like, one-on-one concierge service that we're so used to. But it's quite the contrary, my friends, for so many different reasons, and I really want you to ask yourself, if Karen is texting you at midnight, right, trying to get her appointment rescheduled with you, and you're, like, exhausted and about to hit the hay, are you gonna be able to, like, reply to her with all of your love, passion, and joy, get her in at a time that is, you know, convenient for the both of you, um, not just wanna, like, give her a time where you're gonna have to come in early or stay late just so that way, you know, you can get the conversation over with? Are you gonna be able to type out a really nice, professional, like, message?

Um, no. You're gonna be tired, you're gonna be exhausted, you're gonna be resentful. And then when Karen texts you the next time and the next time and the next time, you're gonna be pissed off about it even more and more and more, and then you're gonna be resentful of Karen even walking into your door. Then you're not gonna serve her as well, and that's not okay.

So it's not okay for you to be miserable in your business because you won't be able to serve a client when you're miserable. You can't pour from an empty cup, and so using resources to take all of that b- all of those burdens off of us, using, uh, digital resources and the tools and education that's available to us today to really make sure that we are serving ourselves and our clients better, because it's possible. It's gonna be really important moving into the future, okay? That is how businesses are operating nowadays.

We are using digital customer experiences to make sure that we are not working 24/7 and that our clients aren't having to get annoyed that w- they have to wait for us to get back to them, right, and they can do things by themselves. So, I'm gonna be breaking down a couple different ways that you can streamline client communication, a couple different categories, subjects, things, et cetera, et cetera. And the first thing that we're gonna start off with talking about is having resources, having digital resources that your client can go and visit whenever they want on their own time and get the answers to their questions. Now, these digital resources could look like the following: Google Drive folders, Google Docs, client-only Facebook groups, your client-only app.

It could look like, um, FAQ autoresponders on your Instagrams and on your Facebook. It could look like FAQs listed on your website, although I don't really coach to having, like, general FAQs on your website unless it's specifically for your new clients, but that's another episode. So having spaces, right, where your clients can get everything that they need without reaching out to you, okay? So in my ...

I have an app for my clients. It's actually very easy to build, and I teach my students in my programs how to build an app for free.Um, I have an app in my business, and, m- in my app you can find my booking link, you can find where to order product, you can find an existing client consultation form in which, you know, if, uh, one of my clients wants to talk about their hair and, like, what they can do with their hair and what their plans are for th- the next appointment, whatever it may be, they can actually fill out a form instead of me having to go back and forth with them and text them back and forth. Um, you can also figure out, you know, my address, my salon, uh, address, and where to park.

You can figure out what my service menu looks like, what my pricing is, and what service is the right fit for you most likely. You can look at what my salon amenities are on my menu, just in case somebody would wanna see that. You can find a QR code in which, if, uh, somebody is out and about and they are talking about me and they wanna refer one of their friends to me, their friend can scan a QR code and it will bring them directly to my website right off of their screen. It has my Google Business review link, just in case your client- my client wants to leave me a Google Business review.

So you have all of these different resources and places that will not only give your clients what they need, but also grow your business, just within my one app. So that way, if somebody has a question, they know that they can just go to my app on their phone, find exactly what they're looking for, and then it's done, and then we're good to go. Okay? So that way, they don't have to reach out to me and wait for me to get back to them.

I think that that is so powerful. It's definitely been powerful in my business, it's been powerful in my students' businesses, and I highly recommend that you have some sort of space you can send your clients to to get the information that they need, okay? Specifically your existing clients. I am really, really a big believer in having two different, very separate spaces and funnels for your new clients and your existing clients.

They are two different audiences. They are two different people with two different needs, right? So your new clients, they don't need to know, like, how to book another appointment. They don't need to know where to order products yet, for the most part, right?

They don't need to know all of this existing client shit. All they need to know is, how can they get to your new client application, or whatever you wanna call it, free digital consultation, right? How can they apply to being a c- a client with you? Where do they start that- that process?

That is exactly what your new client needs to know. Every single road in your marketing should lead to that. Period. Your n- your website should be clean and it should be specifically made for new clients, and then you should have a separate space, a separate digital space, for your existing clients to easily find everything that they need, specifically for them, 'cause their needs are different.

What they need to see is different. Operationally, to roll things out to them is gonna be easier and a better, more efficient way of doing it, because if you're bogging down your messaging to your new clients with a bunch of shit that does not- that's not relevant to them, they're gonna not want to book with you, i- the more that you bog them down with that stuff, because you're distracting them from the main mission. You're distracting them from your beautiful marketing. So, I highly recommend that you have some sort of resource that specifically is for only your existing clients, period.

So, the next way that you can really streamline your client communication and set boundaries for yourself and your business is by having a dedicated business phone number. You can do this with separate apps on your own device that separate all of that communication, have its own dedicated phone number, and has some really special gizmos and gadgets that can serve your client better and make sure that you are really separated but you're still serving your client at the same time. So, for example, there's a couple different apps out there that you can get started with. The most user-friendly one and the most accessible one, and free, the only one that's free, is Google Voice, okay?

Google Voice does not have the gizmos and gadgets or nearly as many features as the next two that I'm gonna talk about. But Google Voice, um, will actually have its own dedicated free phone number for you to be able to use, and you'll be able to text your clients back and forth on the Google Voice app. The cool thing about this is, is you're able to turn off those notifications on your phone whenever you want to. So if you're taking the weekend off or the week off, you can turn off notifications just for that specific app, so that way, you know, you're not getting bombarded with, uh, texts from your clients and you don't have to turn off all of your nortica- notifications on your own personal phone number, right?

So instead of having to, like, go and buy a whole new phone, I highly recommend just getting yourself a second phone number that you can put into an app on your phone. Google Voice is a really great way and free way to start that. It's super simple. Um, it can sync to the contacts on your phone, I believe, and then I believe that you can also actually import a CSV sheet into those contacts as well in your Google Voice to actually get all of your clients' phone numbers into the app, um, if I'm not mistaken.

There's two other apps that are a little bit more fancy, okay? The one is called SimpleTexting. SimpleTexting is amazing. It's really good for marketing.

Um, it's really good for if you want to have advanced automation and text marketing in your business. Um, it's really great for blasting and all of those good things. Um, I personally don't use it. I am just now currently trying to test it out and see how it works.

Um, but it seems like it's gonna be my new favorite eventually, once I actually fully test it. Right now, I am using Sideline. So Sideline is freaking awesome. The only problem with Sideline is the pro version is not available at- at this time I'm recording this to people outside of the United States, and it's also not available to Android users.

So it's very non-inclusive, and that's why I recommend that you either check out Google Voice or SimpleTexting. They got you covered, um, if you're outside of the US and if you have an Android. Otherwise, if you do have an iPhone and you do live in the US, Sideline is freaking awesome. It has auto-reply, it has do not disturb, it has short, uh, shortcut texts.

It has everything that you need to really streamline your business and keep texting clients very quick, fast, efficient, and professional. All right? So...How do we actually transition from a personal phone number over to a business phone number?

A lot of people are like, "Should I make an announcement? Should I send an email out? Should I let every single one of my clients know?" For me, no, that's too much tuna.

What I think that you should do is as you move forward in your business, you just start to slowly transition everybody over. So if you need to text one of your clients, you text them from your new business phone number. You give them an introduction telling them, "Hey, Karen, uh, this is Hunter Donia speaking. I just wanted to let you know that I have a new phone number, and this is it.

So make sure that you save this one to your phone and delete the old one, and then this is what I need to talk to you about." Right? Because you had to talk to her about something. I'm not saying that you should send this to everybody all at the same time, unless you want to.

You could if you wanted to. But, you know, if you needed to text Karen because you had to cancel an appointment or whatever, li- or whatever else, or you could just, you know, slowly transition everybody over that way. Then when your clients text you, right, then you say, "Hey, Karen, thanks for reaching out." You answer their inquiry, and then you give them your new business phone number and say, "For all future communication, please text me at this number.

Save this number, delete this old one, and, uh, uh, talk to me over there." And then if they keep texting you on your personal number, do not answer. Do not answer. Just answer back on your professional number.

Okay? So you can have this slow transition. It doesn't have to be this massive announcement. So that way it's an easy transition and smooth for you, but also for your clients.

Your clients, it- there, there might be a little bit of confusion when you first, like, roll it all out. To me, the easiest way is just to slowly transition everybody over one by one, and eventually you'll get everybody on over to the new number. Now, I feel like we're finally moving into an era where a lot of people are starting to realize, like, the power of online booking and starting to trust it a little bit more, but still probably don't have it set up in a way where it makes sense and it actually makes everybody's lives easier. Um, because it really does take having, like, proper systems and proper fundamentals that is gonna make the client's experience doing that easy, fast, and convenient, and, uh, for you to still have control over what's going on, right?

Because, you know, that's the whole entire reason why we're so scared of online booking if, if we are, is we're so scared of losing control. We're scared of our clients being pissed off about it. And maybe you do have online booking in your business right now, but you re- you feel like no- none of your clients ever take advantage of it, and you feel like your clients, like, don't like having to do it. I would bet money, friend, that if you just had set up your online booking in a little bit more of a user-friendly way, then your clients wouldn't hate it and you wouldn't be so scared of it, right?

The way that I have online booking and the way that my pre-visit pathway, uh, students have it set up as well is in a way in which you still have full control over what is going on, and your clients actually have an enjoyable, very simple and easy process going ahead and doing that. Okay? And it really comes down to not having a million options to book online. It comes down to having very, very small amount of options, making sure that your existing clients know exactly what they need to book when they go book online, and making sure that your new clients are going through an application process in which you can automatically and very quickly tell them what they need to book for, and then they can go ahead and book that, right?

So literally, you can take care of both of those clients, the new client and the existing client, just by having literally one, maybe, it's pushing it, maybe two buttons that they have to push to book the correct thing online. When you have it set up where your client has to book a partial foil, a toner, an Olaplex treatment, a shadow root, it's like, your client is not going to do that. Like, no ma- no wonder we're so scared of online booking. Your client doesn't even know what a partial foil is.

Okay? Your client literally does not know what a partial foil is. So using a hairdressery language in those services as well, it does not help your case. So we need to simplify the process for our clients, and we can be a little bit more comfortable with letting go of control because we're confident that we've set it up in a way that our clients are gonna book the right thing and they're gonna be happy about it.

So what does that actually look like? What that looks like is creating time blocks for your online booking. It doesn't mean that you have to change your pricing, although having package pricing really does make this a lot simpler. But you could just have booking blocks that are specifically for your clients to book online with, just so you're reserved for the right amount of time.

Now, like I said, having package pricing makes this a lot easier because — and it's also more convenient and efficient — because your client will see the price before they actually book online too, right? So that makes sure that you're setting up the expectations for your client before they come in as to what they'll be paying for as well. But anyways, regardless, having booking blocks, right, in which your client sees just, like, a very simple term that they can relate to and understand, and they can just click that, right? Just click that.

See your entire calendar, your, all of your times, and all of the things. That is how we make online booking work for us. That is how we streamline our freaking, uh, client communications and not having to reschedule people ourselves. That is how we remove a front desk.

Okay? Because especially if you're solo, right, you have a lot of responsibilities, as I talk about all the time. You have a lot of responsibilities, and I don't need to tell you that. You know that, right?

And when people... When business owners, like, get to a certain point in their business, they start to hire and delegate other people, other employees to take care of the shit that they don't have time to do. But we as solo providers, we're not gonna hire a receptionist. That's just, like, expensive.

And, and, and your receptionist doesn't understand your schedule like you do, right? They don't... They may not even be a hairstylist or know the industry, so they're just gonna be putting, putting in shit where they don't even know what to put it in. They don't know what Sally gets, right?

So, what we can do instead is use your online booking as a very, very, very inexpensive and efficient receptionist that will make more sense for your clients to work with, because your clients want to book online. They don't want to call you. They don't want to text you. They don't wanna have to wait for a response more than anything.

So, we need to make sure that we're setting up online booking in a way that we're not scared of, so that way we feel confident implementing it, so that way we can streamline that part of our communication. All right, so I hope that this episode was helpful for you, friend. I want you to do yourself a favor right now. I want you to loosen your jaw, relax your body, and take a deep breath 'cause I know that a lot of this stuff can seem overwhelming sometimes, and I don't want these podcasts to overwhelm you.

I want them to fire you up, and that's why I have you covered with a free PDF guide on how you can automate your business and streamline your client communications in five free, simple, easy ways. It has step-by-step tutorials, pictures, templates, verbiage templates, everything that you need to get started in streamlining your communication, so you can regain time, freedom and energy in your business. That is what this podcast is all about. I want you to have the boundaries that you deserve and that y- are possible for you, okay?

So, thank you so much for tuning into this episode. I hope that it was helpful for you. If you did enjoy it, I would appreciate if you left a five-star review and a testimonial for me on the streaming platform that you're listening to this on, and I cannot wait to see you in the next episode on the Instagram @hairbyhunty. So much love to you, friend.

Peace out, girl scout. Bye-bye.

End of transcript. © 2022 Hunter Donia LLC.