Why I Removed My Online Booking Link

Hello, my friend. Welcome back to the Modern Hairstylist podcast. So, it was a couple years ago that I had opened up my suite, and I had set up my Facebook business page, I had set up my Google My Business, and I was putting my Book Now button all over that bitch. Like, you know how, like, you can take your booking system and then integrate your booking button onto, like, your Instagram profile and your Facebook business page and then your Google My B- ...

Like, you know how you can, like, have that direct link on there? Like, I was like, "Hell yes." Like, put that shit all over the place so I can get all the fricking clients up into the gig. Simultaneously, I had also, you know, been doing really well in my business, um, because of all the strategies that I teach here on the Modern Hairstylist podcast and, most importantly, within my programs, and, um, I had a little bit of extra coin to spend.

So, um, every now and then, I don't know if you've ever done this, I- I- I'll peruse the Facebook Marketplace. Like, I'll just go on there to just, like, see, like, what the tea is, like, if there's any good deals, like, if anybody's selling something cute. So, I was perusing Facebook Marketplace one day, and I saw this Apple Watch, and I was like, "Oh, my God, like, I've always wanted an Apple Watch, like, and this one's for resale, so, like, maybe I'll get it cheaper, whatever." So, the guy had it listed at, like, some price, and I messaged him, and I was like, "Yo.

Would you be down to do this for less?" And he was like, "No." I was like, "Cool. Bye."

Then a couple hours later, he messages me, and he's like, "Hey. I'm actually willing to do this at that lower price." And at that point, I had filled my void that I was trying to fill by perusing Facebook Marketplace in one way or another, I guess, so I was just like, "No," like, "It's all good." Like, "I'm no longer interested, but, like, I wish you the best of luck."

And he was like, "Well, why not?" And I was like, "I'm just not interested anymore," like, "So sorry," like, "Bye." And he was, like, starting to get really persistent and, like, a little aggressive with me and, like, getting, like, really, like, scary. So, I blocked him, of course, right?

Like, I blocked him off my personal profile. Next thing you know, this man finds my Facebook business page and messages me on my Facebook business page, and he's like, "Hey. I wanna make an appointment," like, yada, yada, yada, obviously being, like, scary, creepy, and, like, angry. And it was, like, a really big wake-up call to me, a big wake-up call to me that I am an independent business owner who is completely working by myself in this salon suite where my address of my salon suite is literally everywhere, my phone number is everywhere, and my schedule is everywhere because anybody can just go and look and book- and book an appointment online, right?

Now, what's- what would stop that dude from going on my online booking link, scheduling an appointment with me, walking into my salon suite, and doing something crazy? Not to mention, me being a gay man in a very rural area, rural, conservative area, um, a gay man who speaks out about who he is and, um, what I believe in, right? I mean, anybody could just... They'll know when I'm working.

They'll be able to reserve a specific spot where they'll be alone with just them, and then what could happen is really, really scary, you know? So, it was a really big wake-up call for me, and that is the day that I decided to remove my online booking link from the public. Now, here's the tea. Am I saying don't- I didn't let people book online with me?

Absolutely not. I absolutely, 100% made it so my online booking was the only way you could book an appointment with me. However, when it came to my public persona for new clients and the way that their journey looked with me, I had to really rethink and reconsider how I was approaching my strategy. And so I'm gonna be speaking with you and breaking down to you the benefits of removing that Book Now button from all over the public and how to navigate that and how it can actually really help you in acquiring new clients into your chair, making sure that they're vetted and that you know who the hell you're about to work with, and making sure that they're booked for the right thing without you having to go back and forth with them and make sure that your existing clients can book online with you moving forward and find that booking link.

So, if you're ready to 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. Okay. So, I mean, we've all been there, right? Like, where we get a, uh, email or a text that somebody booked online with us, and we're like, "Who the hell is this person?"

Right? So, then you, like, have no idea who this is. You don't know if they're booked for the right amount of time, so then that's, like, stressful, and then you may have to then spend more time reaching out to that person, figuring out what the freaking tea is, who this person is, how they found you, if they're booked for the right thing or not, reschedule them, put them into a day and time that you may not even supposed to be working in to fit them in for what they actually needed. It just causes a lot of issues, and I really...

I know I talk about this all the time, but I really want to reiterate the value of your time. People so all too often underestimate the value of your time. Any successful CEO of a Fortune 500 company will tell you they focus way more on their time efficiency than their money. I promise you.

Because money is time, and you will not make money without time.And you're only given so much time, it's a non-replenishable resource. You're only given this one life, right? So, the more time that you have to spend following up with this person, making sure maybe you do have a digital form, and maybe, may, maybe you have to follow-up with them and make sure that they fill out that form after the fact that they scheduled.

Then you don't even know if they're actually going to show up to their appointment because they ghost you, and then you keep it in there, and then it's the, it's the day of the appointment and they no-show you. It's just, it's just a really messy way of doing business. It's a messy thing that, a- and it's a misconception that we think that if we put our Book Now button everywhere that that's somehow gonna get us more clients and secure us more income in the future, when in reality you're actually losing money and you are losing the opportunity to offer a more digital, streamlined service to both your clients and for yourself and your work/life balance. So, it's important that you have your clients go through some sort of vetting process before they even get to your schedule for safety reasons, just like I talked about earlier, for time purposes, for efficiency purposes, and all of the above.

And when you have digital forms in place and where you can make sure and force somebody to go through a digital form process with you first, you can set up beautiful automations on the back end and create a really nice, streamlined, elevated pre-visit experience where you blow your client away from the very beginning. And they book online by themselves the right thing the first time without you having to do anything besides click a button, and that's exactly what I teach my students how to set up in a pre-visit pathway in my programs. My students are onboarding new clients, they know exactly what's walking into the door, and they're even non-confrontationally denying new clients because they don't just let anybody get onto their book, right? Because they understand that taking a new client from n- from wherever and a new client maybe where you won't enjoy them or the services you're doing on them, they understand that that short-term income that you make in the moment is not, is going to cost you, them, more money in the long term, right?

So, making sure that your new clients are always going through a vetting process upfront and there is only one way to book with you, which is the new client digital consultation form, is the best way about going about your booking process, period. And I've seen it, it's proven, I've seen it with one of, hundreds of students. And if there's any part of you that thinks that, "If I make all my new clients go through this digital form process before they get an appointment," we asked your clients, 500 women who visit salons in the United States, 95% of them are willing to fill out a digital consultation form before booking a first appointment. Those are real statistics from your clients.

So, if you've ever tried to roll out a digital consultation form before and it was your first line of defense before they could get to your online booking link, and maybe you felt like it wasn't h- you weren't very successful with it or people weren't filling it out or whatever it may be, maybe it was the fact that you didn't set up your form for success. And I have a different episode about that, dos and don'ts of digital consultation forms, and I teach my students how to set it up for success within my programs and give them templates, et cetera, et cetera. It's a much better, streamlined way of doing business. It gives you leverage as a CEO.

Now, the tea is, what this can also do for you is curate a very specific journey for new clients versus your existing clients. And we'll get to your existing clients in a moment because, as you know, I'm a firm believer in online booking only and having it so your existing clients are only able to book an appointment with you online, so that way you don't manually have to be the person doing it all the time, right? And you can enforce boundaries and all of those good things. So, we'll talk about your existing clients in a moment, but just bear with me for new clients right now.

So, I'm a firm believer that the new client journey is very different from the existing client journey, and the way that we remove your online booking link from the public is having a website, right? You should have a very proper website that you built yourself that is not your booking site, and that website should be built specifically for the new potential client's journey. It should have marketing copy on it that walks them through a psychological sales process that increases conversions for ideal clients and ideal services to want to take the next step with you and turn into a butt in your chair. And there should be nothing, nothing on your website that speaks to or gives information to existing clients.

It is distracting. When you have all this extra bullshit on your website, you're giving too much to the new client, for the new client to explore and get distracted by, and then you're losing the opportunity to walk them through your very specific and curated sales process with your website. So, having it so your new clients and your website are set up specifically for them will increase conversions for you, get you more new clients, and most importantly, ideal clients into your chair, and then make sure that your existing clients have a more streamlined and specific separate process with you. Now, I teach my students in my programs how to build a salon-only app and roll it out to their clients in a really beautiful way that ha- elevates the client experience, sets them apart, and has it so their existing clients can find that online booking link whenever they want.

It's literally downloaded to their phone, so that way they don't have to find it on your website because you're no longer gonna have that online booking link on your website. So, having a client-only app is going to help it, help you make s- make it so your business is more safe, you are vetting and streamlining everybody who's coming through for the very first time, you're able to have a pre-visit experience that's really excellent for both the new client and the existing client, impressing them in between the appointments.Impressing your new clients and your existing clients in between the appointments is the way to win in today's day and age. You know who does really freaking well in economic downturns?

Madison Reed, Amazon, box color companies, right? All of those people, the YouTube DUI- DIY influencers, right? Brad fucking Mondo. These people who are teaching your clients how to do their own hair at home, those are the people that are doing really well.

And guess what? They are connected with your clients through technology, and they're consistently shoving marketing down your clients' throats every single freaking day, right? So, how are you gonna make sure that you stand out from those people and remind your clients that you are the expert that they should trust and they should continue spending money with? It's with your pre-visit and your post-visit experience.

And that's why I teach you how to set that up in a really beautiful way, and can make it automated and sustainable inside my programs. And this, the client only app, and setting it up with your new- with your new website, and having a digital consultation form process, and an automated pre-visit experience, all of that is how you make that happen, right? So, my friend, if you want to set yourself up for more safety, more conversions of new clients into your chair, if you want to streamline your operations and your communication and your boundaries with your client, if you feel like you're working 24 freaking 7, always texting back, always rescheduling, always doing whatever when you're not behind the chair yet you are still freaking working, then pre-visit pathway may be a really great opportunity for you to check out. Um, we're gonna be opening up the doors very soon at the time that you're listening to this.

Uh, but if you're listening to this at a time where we are not opening up the doors, don't worry. You can join the wait list, and you can find out more on hunterdonia.com/pvp or just hunterdonia.com in general.

If you have any questions about setting up a client only app or making sure that your new client and your existing client journey are separate, feel free to send me a DM on Instagram. I'd love to break it down for you and look how- and see how this would look for you and your specific business. So much love to you. Thank you so much for tuning into the Modern Hairstylist podcast.

I will see you in the next one. Peace out, girl scout. Bye bye.

End of transcript. © 2023 Hunter Donia LLC.