Must-Have Automations To Stand Out From Your Competition

If you're listening to this podcast, you may be a stylist who wants to do it all, right? You probably have a ton of ideas, and you have so many ways that you wanna serve your clients and do more, right? You probably want to send them follow-up texts. You probably want to have some sort of welcome email that they get before they even walk into the door.

You probably understand the significance of having a standout client experience. And in today's day and age, when there's so many different stylists, and you may be priced higher than everybody else in your area, and people are being much more discerning of which salon they work- they decide to work with, standing out when it comes to your client experience is so important. And I personally am somebody who always had really great ideas for how to stand out, and always the intention for putting in place the things to stand out and give that next-level client experience that people wanted to talk about, right? But we're all really busy, right?

We all have- we all have a shit-ton of things on our plate. We are full-time working behind the chair, and I know my neurodivergent self with my ADHD is not gonna follow through on a lot of that extra stuff. And so from the very beginning of my journey of becoming a scaled hairstylist behind the chair, I've had to figure out, how can I create systems to make this stuff easier and automating it as much as possible? And so today, I'm gonna be sharing with you the four different parts of the client experience that often we can make it so we stand out from the competition, but we don't actually follow through with, because it takes a lot of work to do it, or it takes a lot of consistency and organization, and that's just something that we do not motherfucking have.

So I'm gonna share with you how to put those automations in place, what the strategies actually are, and that way, you can grow without having to sacrifice your entire life to make it happen. What's up, Jody Brown? I love this conversation. I'm so excited, 'cause I think that's, like, the best way to stand out from the competition, is to create, like, a category of one experience.

And I feel like what we're talking about today is gonna help stylists do that, so... Perf. So the very first system or part of the client experience is the lead. You got somebody's attention, and it's the actual conversation before that person actually commits to booking with you, right?

So this oftentimes will happen in the DMs, or maybe it'll happen over text or through the- the phone, you know, if you take phone calls or something like that. But oftentimes, it does happen in DMs, right? And back-and-forth DMs are so painful, and they suck, but they can oftentimes be a really great place for conversion. I'll even give you guys an example.

I have somebody who, in our program, who is- DMs are working so well for her, like, ridiculously well. Like, the conversion rate is wild, and like, we're- we have ads going, and then that per- she'll- she'll get followers, and then she will make it a point to DM every follower that she has, that she gets. And those people, all too often, w- maybe if she didn't reach out to them, they wouldn't have booked, but very often, they're ending up booking because she greets them as soon as they follow them, because there's obviously some interest there. So she's getting a huge return on her investment when it comes to ads because of this direct messaging strategy.

But- Right. of course, this tak- takes a lot of admin time, right? And that- Mm-hmm. type of personalization absolutely sets you apart, because nobody wants to do that nowadays, and nobody has the time to do it.

But a great way to systematize it could be with autoresponders and saved replies and things like that, FAQs on your Meta account, basically. So it's totally free for you to set up. We actually do it in the boot camp of our Modern Stylist Movement, which I'm hoping, at the time of recording this, to make a public thing soon enough. We set up as many systems as possible to make it so when you're in the DMs with somebody, whether they DM you first or you're DMing them first, that you have as much streamlined and easy for you to do as possible, or automated completely, where the person can kind of get the answer for themselves.

So you're removing as many friction- as much friction as possible, answering so many questions without you actually having to be there, or when you're answering the question or going back and forth, you can just click a button and load a response, customize it really quickly, and send it off. So just those really basic, like, top-of-the-line communication points. Even e-emails, like, you can have, like, templated and saved emails. If you have a proper business phone number app, right, you can have saved quick replies that you can load up into those situations.

So just looking at those little places that you can set those things up upfront that saves so much time and make a big difference I think is very much worth looking at first. Yeah. Th- and that is such a relatable thing, too, to not have the bandwidth for replies. Like, I can absolutely relate to that, and I think most entrepreneurs can sometimes, where it's like you want to have the conversation, but either you're too busy or just, like, mentally, you're spent.

And so I love having those systems in place to help alleviate that. Yeah, and I oftentimes, y- you know, and they're actually, like- it's so cool, actually, if you ever go into, like, the Meta automation platform. It's actually really cool, like the different things that they allow you to do for free. Um, but, you know, even as- even being, like, a- like, automation freak myself, as I am, and always looking for solutions for efficiency and systems, they always felt so...

Huh. It's like I don't already ha- and this- maybe this is the same thing for everybody, right? I already don't feel like- like responding to this person, nor do I have the time to respond to this person, so why do I want to spend time setting up this automation, right? It seems so small and insignificant, but again, it's, like, the- one of the smallest details that can just make your- your workflow feel so much easier and better.

It'll make it more likely for you- Yeah. to want to get back to this person faster. And that brings me to, like, my next point with standing out from your competition is- is like absolutely, like, your response time, 100% will be a big factor in whether or not this person actually follows through with booking with you or not, right? Because they're probably- Mm-hmm.

DMing, like, four other stylists at the same time.So, if you wanna stand out from your competition, be the one that gives them the fastest response, and then you'll really stand out. The other thing is, is giving them fast service too, and that actually includes, like, making sure that you're giving them an accurate quote as quickly as you possibly can, giving them the information that they need, and also where to book as quickly as possible. And I think that what really helps with making that happen is having a new client request form up front.

Instead of having to force this person to go back and forth in the DMs nonstop, send them to one place to be able to get, give you all the information that you need in an organized way, so that way you can get them a quote back as soon as possible instead of having to ask a question, wait for their response, they answer- Right. then they wait for you to ask the next question. It just slows down the process, right? So- ...

a little bit of upfront, like, you know, for lack of a better term, like lubrication, like just being like, "Hey," like, being, being interested, I say, like, like, maybe, like, four to five responses back and forth maybe, and then sending them over to the form and being like, "Great. This sounds cool. I would love to work with you. Here's the form.

This is where you'll get me all the information that I need to give you an accurate quote, and then w- we can move forward from there," basically. Right. I love that. So you're positioning that form as, like, a service, essentially, to them.

Absolutely. I mean, for me, personally, I brought this story up before on the podcast, but for me, I used to have to... My tattoo artist, I wish all tattoo artists would take my program and they would take my advice. Like, I really do.

I wish all businesses would. I mean, everybody would have just such a more smoother, smoother experience. I would have a smoother experience as a customer, personally, if I, if, if, if that was the case. But my tattoo artist, she had these fucking stupid email instructions on her story highlight.

Like, she would, it would be like, "Okay, send me an email answering these 10 questions." So then, I had to write the entire email, I had to format all the questions, I had to bold the ques- copy and paste the question over, bold it out, and it was a story highlight, so I couldn't even copy it and paste it. I had to fucking write out- ... the question myso- No.

Right? So just give me a field that I can write in or click a button, you know, of, of the single- Right. choice that asks me the exact question, and then boom, just press the submit button, and it's done. It's so much organized and easier and faster.

I also feel like you're getting all the tea, right? Like you're getting- Yeah. all the information that I really wanna share with you, so you're seeing the entire picture. I cannot tell you- Mm-hmm.

how many times my students will come to me and say that their clients really appreciate that. So it absolutely is doing them more of a service, doing yourself a service at the same time, of course, because you're able to get this person better service, and you're able to get all the information that you need to give them an accurate quote. And then when we set up automations, right? 'Cause the form by itself isn't necessarily an automation.

I would call it more of a system that helps streamline things, but there are automations- Mm-hmm. on the backend of it that can help you do two things. Again, s- make that response to them faster. All right?

And then, also create a really beautiful onboarding journey for them that'll really set you apart. But the, with the actual response and making sure that's fast, we set it up to where you click a button, and then they get a text and an email, and it tells them exactly what to book, and then they book it themselves, and it's taken care of, right? Go ahead. Oh, so I just wanna, like, f- talk and just point out here, like how much time this is gonna save someone on the backend, because like, I think we look at it from a client perspective, but it's like, without automations like this in place, like, this is hours and hours out of your week in order to like respond back and forth, in order to give these quotes.

Like, this is a significant time savings as well as increasing that client experience. Yeah, and energy, I think. Mm-hmm. You know what I'll say?

I'll say, you know, when you look at the time that it actually takes you to do this stuff, okay? Like let's say that you were- Mm-hmm. super consistent and you just did it as soon as you got it, right? Like as soon as you got this stuff- Yeah.

you actually did it, right? Maybe it doesn't take you a crazy amount of time. Maybe it takes you 15 minutes to get back to this person total, okay? After looking at a form.

Right. Right? Right. Here's where that changes, okay?

I know that we've all had an experience where we sit down and we're like, "Okay, we're gonna batch out a bunch of social media content." Mm-hmm. Then we get super overwhelmed, and then we procrastinate, and then we end up scrolling on our phone. We spend like 15 minutes scrolling on our phone distracted.

Then we go get, go, go check our emails- Mm-hmm. we look at this other thing, and then we go to this website, and we go down this other rabbit hole. So then we always say, "I have no time. I, I don't have any time."

When in reality- Yeah. when you're actually working, you are not spending time working and doing the things you're supposed to be doing. Right. Right.

And so what all of this stuff allows you to do is it actually absolutely does save you time, not just from like the direct task, but also because- Mm-hmm. you're gonna get it done faster and you're actually gonna follow through with it, because it's so easy for you to do so. Right? Right.

So it absolutely does save you hours, and it saves you so much energy, and it removes so much stress, and allows you to show up so much more consistently in an organized way, and everybody wins at the end of the day. Yeah. I love that. Okay, so automation number three, onboarding.

Yes. So once you respond, once this person gets booked by themselves, what I always loved the idea of when I was, you know, super booked and busy in my salon suite and I was just trying to do it all, was creating some sort of pre-visit experience for the client, you know? Where like there's a silence between when this person books that appointment and when they actually get to the door, right? When they actually sit in your chair.

And when we talk about standing out from your competition, there's not... We oftentimes don't think about this beautiful little spot, right? This beautiful little- Mm-hmm. time that there's so much opportunity for you to engage with this person, and you can reduce the chance of last minute cancellations and no-shows, and you can increase the likelihood of this client having an amazing experience with you, and even talking about you and referring you before they even get to the door.

Right. And like what happens before they get into your chair and how they're feeling absolutely affects how positive their experience is when they actually get there, and also affects your experience working with them, right? Yeah. So-What I would love to do is send them, like, an email sequence or send them a salon welcome guide, and so we teach salon welcome guide in our program.

And the beautiful thing about this is you can press, you know, the book button, right? Like, okay, they definitely booked. Or you can even go as far as to automate it completely if you're using certain softwares. And you can, whenever this person actually books an appointment with you, then it'll send them a salon welcome guide or it'll trigger a salon welcome sequence, email sequence, and it'll even text them a salon welcome guide as well too, and it'll say, "Hey, I created this for you."

It's... And you can create, like, a Canva link. We have a template for you to load in and customize. And then it'll prep them with everything that they need to feel confident about the service that they're getting with you.

So, sharing with them what your consultation process looks like, sharing with them a video of what the salon looks like, sharing with them where to park, how they should show up with their hair, giving them an introduction to your product line or your add-on menu, and giving them even, like, a free, like, gift, I think is really fun too. Like, offering them, like, like a f- extra long scalp massage or whatever it may be, something in there, uh, like that, we, we do in our program and our... and the clients absolutely love it. It's very cool.

So it blows them away before they even come into the door, and you don't have to do anything to make sure that that's sent on a consistent basis, which I think is really badass. Yeah, that is so cool, and I think it's like, just really speaks to what a good client experience looks like now. Like, it is so much further than what happens when they're in the chair. And, like, if you wanna be a hairstylist or a salon that makes more than, like, the average hairstylist does in America, it requires above average, period, right?

Yeah. Mm-hmm. Like that requires above average. It requires above average marketing, above average client experience.

Like, you cannot expect to make above average income with above average effort, or maybe you don't even have to put in effort because you have these systems in place, but you still have that above average client experience, and that's the point of all of this at the end of the day. So, you can deliver that next level shit without you having to manually do it and put in a lot of effort to make it happen. And so another really, really, really, really high impact part of the client experience is, of course, the post-visit experience. And one thing that has always classically been kind of taught for a very long time is handwritten thank you cards.

So like, writing down, like, a card and mailing it to the client and being like, "Yo, thank you so much for coming to see me. I really appreciated it," blah, blah, blah, right? I think that absolutely goes a very long way. I'm totally down for the handwritten cards and mailing it and all that stuff.

I don't have time for it. Okay? I don't have time for it. I'm not gonna do it.

I'm not gonna remember to do it. And I also... My handwriting is terrible. I had my, one of my salon owners, like, force me to do this one time as an employee, and she saw me writing them and she looked over my shoulder and she, and she saw my handwriting and she was like, "We can't send these to your clients."

She's like, "Nevermind." Yeah, so, you know, I just... and, eh, I- I- I... Didn't work for me, okay?

All right? Right. But the personalization of that is so special, you know? Like the fact that you, like, took effort to do that I think is really, really cool.

And, you know... So again, like, by all means, like, write the writ- handwritten thank you cards if you're down for that, but how can we make this more scalable, you know? How can we get you more time back but still make some sort of impact in that way? And so what we've been teaching for a long time is, like, an automated follow-up process that's personalized.

So, it's more s- it's as streamlined as it possibly can be where you can still put in all the personalization but it doesn't take you so much time to make it happen. So, we'll send f- Right. uh, automated, an automated, like, email and text with the notes from that day, of all that you guys talked about, with how to take care of their hair at home, the retail recommendations that you have with v- your, with your affiliate link. We'll talk about what they need to book next time and when they book it with your online booking link.

Then with this same process, the same automation that we have, then you're also able to send a follow-up email automatically sent for when they're due to book their next appointment. So, this also increases retention as well. And, uh, we can also send a text with this and an email and it'll say, "Hey, Suzy. We haven't seen you in a bit.

Just wanted to remind you, you're most likely due for the complete highlight again in probably about four weeks. Here's your booking link. Let me know if you need anything or have any questions. I'm looking forward to seeing you soon."

Super effective, particularly for people who are on a lower maintenance schedule, that don't h- come in on a consistent, pre-booked basis or something like that. Mm-hmm. That is really beneficial for those people, especially... You know, I was talking about this on my m- on our, on our live group coaching call yesterday in Modern Stylist Movement, how, like, I am interested in working with clients who are really leaning on me to take initiative to share with them what they need, right?

Yeah. Like, that is like... Like, of course, I need something to work with. I'm very bad at a client sitting down in my chair and being like, "Do whatever you want."

I actually hate that. But if I can... If I have something to work with and start off with, then I can start to really understand this person's preferences. I have a really great time, like, just kind of, like, supporting this person and taking away their, like, anxiousness of having to figure out what we're doing that day and giving them suggestions, and...

Yeah. In our surveys that we ran to clients across America last year, a lot of them were saying, "I wish my hairstylist took more initiative in that way," you know? So, it's just an ideal client to have, and it's also what the, the majority of the modern-day consumers are looking for, you know? I mean, I go...

I'm a very ideal client, I would say, and I go to my barber and I sit down and I'm like, "Well, this is what I'm noticing, but you do whatever you want." You know? Like, I don't... Like, I'm looking for your suggestions.

Yeah. Well, we talk a lot about decision fatigue behind the chair and there is no... Like, decision fatigue is not exclusive to hairstylists . No.

Like, it is a common thing, I think, in the world right now, and so being the one to guide your, your clients through the process, like, that to me is like, uh, uh, a marker of, like, the luxury experience and a great client experience. Yeah, I mean, a lot of busy people who make a lot of money are too busy to wanna, even wanna think about this stuff. So, to give them the nudge- Yeah. right?

To give them the text of like, "Hey, you're probably due for an appointment in four weeks from now. You probably wanna get that booked right now." Very convenient and very helpful, and of course raises your retention. And then another thing, it's really difficult to keep new clients in your chair, right?

To actually get a new client to come back. It's definitely an uphill battle. What this can also automate is a seven-day check-in text and email as well too. So, you can automate it where, you know, after the seven days after they come to see you, they get an email or a text and it says like, "Hey, it's been seven days.

Just wanted to make sure that everything feels good and you don't have any questions." And going, giving that person that window, that prompt to share something like that with you- Yeah. is so important and powerful because all too often they won't.Right.

They're gonna ha- they're gonna stay silent, and they're- Mm-hmm. To you, but they're gonna tell, not be silent, to like 10 other people about how negative their experience was, right? Yeah. Or they're gonna start booking s- appointments to other salons, whatever it may be.

So like within that seven-day window, they have had the opportunity to like feel it all out, right? And I think that if you never offer the opportunity for them to share how you're, how they're feeling, they most likely will never come back to you and you'll wonder why, you know. A- and they will find an outlet. Period.

And it won't be you. No. So, um, and hopefully it's not TikTok, you know? Hopefully it's- Yeah.

So, so you be the one to take the initiative to give that person that space to be honest with you, I think. And, and again, w- how awesome would it be to do all of this stuff s- consistently, right? Yeah. I mean, if you were telling, if, if a business con- consultant was telling me to do all of this stuff, right?

If, if, if a, if a hairstylist, quote-unquote, "coach" was telling me to do all of this stuff if I wanted to have a really successful business, I'd be like, "Well, I don't know how the fuck I'm gonna have time for this or how I'm gonna do it consistently." And that's why- Mm-hmm. in our programs, we teach you how to do all of this stuff consistently, automatically- Mm-hmm. and as, in as most streamlined, streamlined way possible, so it's easy, okay?

Yeah. And it saves you so much time, but it also helps you stand out at the same time. Doing more, getting more done, doing more by doing less. Yes.

And I think it's so important to do this like while you have, you know, if you're like feeling like, "I don't have the time to do this," like this is the time. Yes. Because you don't wanna lose that momentum and then have all this time to do all this stuff, but you know, have lost clients to those stylists who are doing things that are gonna make them stand out. Dude, yeah.

I say it all the time, you know? I say, like, right now, you don't have time, you don't have time to do all of this stuff, right? And so, it may sound like unattractive to spend time setting the stuff, stuff like this up, but what you get in return is so valuable, and it's also a lot of the time what nobody else is willing to do. And I've heard- Right.

the quote of like, you know, "If you wanna be a successful entrepreneur, like you gotta do things that other people aren't willing to do. Because if it were easy, everyone would do it," right? So- 100. I'm trying to, what I've always done, what I've done for six years now, and it's proven, is I'm giving you strategies that work, that are actually easy to do, but does take a little bit of upfront work.

And that's what we work on in the program. Right. I love that. All right.

Thank you guys so much for tuning in to the Modern Hairstylers podcast. Start automating and streamlining your business behind the chair. I promise you, you won't regret it. And if you wanna work with me, you can go to hunterdonahue.

com. And hit me up on the DMs if you have any questions about anything I shared with you today, and thank you for tuning in. Peace out, girl scout. Bye-bye.

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