How to Get More Salon Clients Without Ads (Marketing That Actually Works)

As a salon or spa owner, Cosmetology School gave you the skills to serve clients, but it definitely didn't teach you how to run a business. Somewhere along the way, you probably thought ownership would mean freedom, but instead you're working more hours than ever, barely paying yourself, and low-key worried everything's going to fall apart the second you step away. Welcome to the Beauty Biz Breakdown, where we give you the real strategies, systems, and structure that you need to fully step into the CEO seat in your beauty business. Hey friends, welcome back to the Beauty Biz Breakdown, where salon and spa owners learn to build bigger, better, and more profitable beauty businesses. I'm Brianne. As always, I've got my co-host Chandra here with me. Hey girl, how are you? Hello, hello. Doing good. Awesome. Awesome. All right. So, you know, as salon and spa owners, well, we kind of all know that there are times in our businesses where the bookings just feel a little inconsistent. Revenue kind of ebbs and flows a little bit. It's common, I think, in the beauty industry. But when this happens, we all tend to panic just a little bit and automatically start contemplating what promo we can throw out on Facebook or Instagram, or we start looking at certain ads that we can create that are going to bring people in the door because we've got bills to pay. And without clients, those bills are not getting paid. And trust me, when we say this, we understand. We get it. We get that. You want to throw something out there. I used to do it all the time. But as I got further into my ownership journey, I realized that every time I made a decision like that, I was really just looking for a band-aid. And a band-aid is not a business strategy. It's never going to be. Look, guys, you can run ads. you can push out promotions, you can discount your services all day long. But if there's nothing about your salon or spa experience that actually makes people want to talk about your business after they leave, those clients aren't doing anything to really help you grow. And that is a huge missed opportunity. I can't talk today. We're going to go with it. They come in, they get their service, and then the relationship just kind of stops there. So you end up feeling like you always need more people walking through your door we see a lot of salon and spa owners get stuck in this constant marketing cycle they're posting they've tried ads they've done discounts and sure it might give them a bump for just a minute right but it never really lasts and i'm gonna be honest it can get really expensive very very quickly in fact when we are going through business numbers with some of the owners at the beauty biz agency we usually find that those who are running ads are spending way more and when i say way i mean way more than what they are bringing in and the retention from those clients that came in from those ads it's usually extremely extremely low so when you really look at it this isn't just about what you should post or what kind of ad you should create it really comes down to this when somebody leaves your studio is there anything about the experience that you offer that makes them want to automatically run and tell somebody about it just immediately, right away? If the answer is no, that's a big problem. And until that changes, you are going to stay stuck in that cycle of constantly needing more clients. So that's what we're going to talk about today. Chandra, like I said earlier, we see this all the time. Owners are spending a ton on ads. The return is extremely low and the retention from those clients is even lower. Why is this such a big problem? I just think it's panic. You panic. You're like, oh my gosh, I need money right now. And then you do some crazy thing and you don't realize on the back end that you just lost money. You probably didn't even make money. And because you're not thinking about it and putting something logically together. You're just having a panic, irrational moment and being like, we got to do, you know, 50% off or something crazy. And then you get in trouble. Well, and you know, I'm not talking bad about marketing people or anything like that. Everybody needs a job and there's some of it that works really, really well. There really is. But you've got to be really, really careful because I see things all the time on Facebook. We can get you a hundred new clients in a month or we can do this or we can do that, right? But if you aren't retaining those people and if you're spending twice as much to bring them in, you are hurting your business more than you are helping it at the end of the day. And that's not what you want. We all know that when you own a beauty business, referrals are super, super important. At the end of the day, if you want your business to grow, you have to be able to rely on those referrals. Without them, you end up stuck in this weird cycle that we just talked about, where you're constantly paying for new leads through ads or discounts. And something that almost every salon has in common is how they are running their referral programs. Literally, almost everyone. We talk to hundreds of salon owners on a monthly basis, and the majority of them all have the same exact referral program. Take this card, give it to somebody, they're going to get X amount off of their first visit, and you're going to get X amount off when you come back. Now, I am not saying that this doesn't work. In fact, I used it for many, many years. But the fact of the matter is, if we really, really want to stand out and be memorable, a little referral card is not going to do the trick, especially if that's what every other salon and spa is doing. So one thing that I hear constantly from members inside the Beauty Biz agency or even salon and spa owners that I talk to on strategy calls is, I know my salon needs to be more memorable. We need to stand out, but I have no idea how to make that happen. And I think this is something we see all the time in this industry, Chandra. It's just crazy how many people feel that way right i i think that's a constant thing i think that's the biggest one of the biggest things that i feel like people are lacking and that they don't realize it until until stuff like that happens yeah and i think nobody really teaches you how to create something that actually stands out like like a full experience if you think about it you're really just kind of taught how to do the service like that's all people really really focus on so what ends up happening is you have really, really talented stylists, really great salons, but everything feels very one appointment at a time. There's nothing kind of tying it all together, nothing that carries over, nothing that gives the client a reason to stay connected to your business in between those visits. So I thought it would be kind of cool today if we walk through a few things that we've actually implemented with salon and spa owners that we coached that made their business more memorable in a way that feels natural and that actually works. In fact, we have seen productivity improve by about 25% in the owners who have implemented these types of strategies. So I promise you, you want to listen up. So let's get into the first one. The first strategy that I want to share is similar to what we teach and what we call the client diary system. We did an episode on this not too long ago. If you missed that one, you should definitely go back and listen to it. it's a good one. This just kind of builds on that idea, but it takes it a little bit further in depth. So we call it a client time capsule. You can call it whatever you want. Honestly, it's one of the strongest things that we've ever helped salon owners put into place when it comes to creating a full experience that actually sticks with people. 90% of salons out there are just taking before and after photos and calling it a day. That's literally what they're doing. There's nothing wrong with that. You need those photos. But those still photos, they're not going to create anything memorable. They're really not. Think about it. When you look at a still photo, Chandra, does that make you excited in any way, shape or form? No, not anymore. There's too many crazy things happening online. Stuff like that doesn't excite anybody anymore. That's one of those just scroll right past. I'm good. I'm good. Yeah, absolutely. it doesn't. So instead of just capturing one moment, this is about building out a full documented journey for your client over time. Something that gets added to at every appointment and something that keeps pulling them back into the relationship that they have with your salon or spa. So when I say a time capsule, I don't mean putting something in a box and like opening it later. I mean, creating a running timeline of their experience with you that continues to grow every single time that they come in to see you. Here's kind of what it would look like. At the beginning, you are starting a file for the client, but I want you to think about it like you're building a slideshow or a movie of their journey with you, not just saving random content all over. You want it to be a full experience at the end of it. Inside of that, you are going to add things like photos, short video clips, notes, screenshots of inspirations that they brought in, their goals, maybe even little life moments that connect them to why this matters to them in the first place. Maybe they are growing out damage from a salon that they went to that was really, really bad. Maybe they're getting ready for their daughter's wedding. Maybe they're going through a season where they just want to feel like themselves again. You are capturing the full story, not just individual services. Then every single appointment, you're going to build onto that even more and more and more. You are updating photos, you're grabbing those quick clips, you're catching the first look in the mirror, you're noting what changed and what they're going to be working towards next. Over time this is going to turn into a very clear timeline of their journey instead of a bunch of disconnected moments all over the place. The part that really changes everything is you're actually going to use this during the appointments with your client. You pull it up you show them where they started you remind them what they wanted and you just let them see the progress that's in front of them most clients they don't fully realize how far they've come until you actually show them and when you do the entire appointment feels different it's no longer just about hey what are we doing today it's about what you've been building together over time we used to put these up chandra on our big tvs in our salon so as we would create these this is what we do so whatever clients were coming in that day we would pull their file up we would have their stories play while they were sitting in the waiting area in the salon they loved it a huge freaking hit they absolutely loved it what do you think about this strategy oh i think it's a really cool idea i think it would make clients feel very special we've we implement something sort of kind of similar but not quite as in-depth as that but i think we need to in my salon even and um but we capture like all those moments and the nice thing is you can put it like into our crm software on each client's profile and so we don't even have to really keep track of stuff in all these different places or all these different ways because we could just pull up their profile and walk through like their journey with us, what look like from the beginning, where they're at now. And some clients that have been in for a really, really long time, they've been through like 10 different hair colors. And it's just fun sometimes for the stylist to sit down with them and like, walk down memory lane, like, remember when we did this, you know, and so I think it does set like a very special tone with them. And they feel so like cared for. And like you really remember and are part of that journey. And I think that's something that you can only capture by doing something like that, because that's going to really stand out from everybody else. Absolutely. Yeah. It's really cool to see how this works and comes into play. So what Chandra's talking about is kind of that client diary experience. And I'm telling you guys, go listen to that episode because it will help you with this. Let me tell you this. So a really powerful way to use this time capsule thing is for reconnecting with a client if they haven't been in for a while. I'm telling you guys, it freaking works. This is where you can create what I call an emotional reel. So instead of sending some basic text or some email that says, hey girl, we miss you. No, you use the content from their time capsule to create that short reel. Once again, you're going to show clips of their past appointments, their transformations, their smile, the big mirror reveal, the conversations, the laughter, the way they felt sitting in your chair, right? The energy of just being in your salon or spa. That, it is going to hit completely different than a reminder message because it's going to reconnect them to the entire experience and to the relationship that they have with you, not just the service itself. These texts and emails, they're great, but they really just connect them to the service. And that's not what we want. One of my favorite pieces of this is you can turn it into an anniversary moment. Around the 12-month mark, you pull everything together and you let them see the full journey for the year, where they started, what they said in the beginning, what changed, where they are now. It is so cool to see. It becomes a total moment. And moments are things that people talk about. I think the reason this whole system works is because it makes the client feel seen, remembered, and emotionally connected to you and your business. It gives them something bigger than just a hair appointment. It makes the experience feel personal. It makes it feel ongoing. It makes it feel like they are a part of something bigger. And when people feel that way, they're going to stay longer, they're going to talk about you more, and they are going to bring other people in because the experience was actually worth talking about. Chandra, when a client can actually see their progress like that every single time that they come in, how do you think that changes how committed they are to sticking with you long term? I think it ups their commitment by a thousand million percent because I think that they, again, always, I feel like it comes back to that, like somebody feels cared for, heard and seen. And I think that when you have that documentation and that past with them and they see that, it's it definitely they become the most loyal client ever. And if they did disappear, like you said, and you use this as a tool to remind them, then I feel like your your retention rate on them coming back is so much higher because they're they're not getting that anywhere else or it's not happening. And so I think that's huge for you. I'm telling you, it upped our retention insanely. So we actually tracked it. I looked back for three months on just sending out our emails, our texts, our phone calls, whatever we did during that time. And then actually creating these reels. It was huge. It was massive. Like our clients were responsive. They were talking about it. Some of us asked if they could have a copy of it so they could post like, it was so cool. It was just absolutely amazing. So I think you're 100% correct. Okay, the second strategy is what we call the interview booth. And this is one of my all-time favorites. It's actually one of the easiest ways to get referrals and to fix the issue of clients not leaving reviews while also building way stronger trust with new clients out there. So we all know that we have to have reviews as business owners, like there's no other option. One of the main complaints that we hear from salon and spa owners is that they are constantly asking clients to leave these reviews, but it's usually kind of hit or miss. Most salons are still doing this the old way. And if this is what you're doing, I'm sorry, I don't want to offend you. Hey, if you loved your service, can you just leave us a review or they will text a freaking link after the appointment and just hope that the client does it later. The problem with that is later never happens. They leave, life starts back up. And even if they loved you, it just doesn't get done as often as we'd like it to. And when you do get a review, it's usually just something typed on Google or on Yelp. Now, I am not saying that those types of reviews are bad, but once again, it's what every other salon and spa out there is doing. You have to separate yourself and your salon. So one way you can do this is to stop treating reviews like a favor and start turning them into an actual moment. You're going to hear the word moment a lot in this episode. So here's how you can use that interview booth strategy. I'm telling you, Chandra, this is one of my favorites. You build a small interview area, not some giant expensive setup, literally a clean little branded corner, good lighting, a cute chair, maybe your logo on a wall that looks nice. Whatever. I don't care. You need a ring light, a tripod, a phone or a camera, and it needs to be ready to go like at all times. So it just stays in that corner. And I want to say this really, really quickly. The reason I like calling it an interview room instead of a review station is because the wording, it kind of changes the energy of it. Review sounds like you're asking them to do something for you. An interview, it sounds like they're being featured in a way. And I think that it's the mindset shift. It can change things. It feels elevated. It feels fun. It makes the client feel important. So after the appointment, when the client is feeling really good about themselves, right, they're smiling, They've just got their hair done. They're excited. Your stylist or the front desk, I don't care who it is, says something really, really simple. Hey, do you want to do a quick interview about your experience today? At Salon XYZ, we love to feature our clients. That's it. You just, whatever you say is fine. You just want it to be simple, right? You want the transition to feel seamless. So it feels like part of that appointment, not something extra that they're having to do. You also want to make sure that you have a few set questions that your team uses every single time. So the client is guided through this interview process because you don't want them to feel put on the spot. This was a mistake I made when I first did this. I didn't have questions in play and it didn't work out so well. The questions can be really, really simple. Like, what did you come in for today? What were you wanting help with? How do you feel now that your service is complete? Why do you love coming here? What do you love about your stylist? Would you recommend us? Short, simple, natural, right? Your employee stands behind the tripod and they ask the questions. Now you've created a setup that makes it really, really easy for the client to talk. We have gotten some of our best reviews this way. And I think the reason that it works so well is because we are catching the client in the emotional high of the appointment. They feel good. They look good. They are way more likely to say yes in that moment. Chandra, have you ever done anything like this in your studio? We really have not done anything like that. I'm not going to lie, but I think it's a great idea. And I think it's something that we should definitely adopt in the salon. I think it's something again, just like with the other one, I think it's something that makes people feel like they're part of something more. And I think that's one of the best ways that you're going to increase that retention and get those referrals. And I think that's something you could even use on social media. Like you could use those interview videos, like you could make a little video and you could use those, you know, make sure the client's okay with it. But you could use those interviews, I think, to help promote the salon as well, which I think would be really awesome. Absolutely. That's what we do. Videos hit differently. People can see the face, they can hear the excitement and actually feel that it's real. When someone's trying to decide where to book, that is going to matter big time. It really does. Now, in order for this to work, because I made all the mistakes when I did this. It has to become part of your client experience journey, part of your salon flow. Your team needs to know exactly how to do the interview, who is responsible for it, what questions are asked, where the videos go, who's going to organize them, and how they are going to be used. Because if it's just a cute idea and nobody owns it, it's never going to work. And we are notorious for that as salon and spa owners. Great ideas, never implemented fully and they just fall by the wayside. So here's what I did in my studio. I actually put the front desk in charge of the interviews. This was when I had a bigger team and a front desk. So they would invite the client over, record it, drop the video into a folder by date and stylist name. And then I would pull from that folder and use it wherever it needed to go. I don't care how you do it. It doesn't matter. You just need structure. You have to. So Chandra just brought this up about the strategy. This is just brilliant because you get a whole bank of proof from real clients that have been to your salon. Use those clips for content, pull quotes for your website, use them in stories, emails, booking pages, literally all of it. So now you've created a process that gives you trust building content that you can use over and over and over again. It's amazing. It's absolutely amazing. Chandra, when someone's looking for a new salon, how much more trust is built when they can actually see and hear real clients talk about that experience instead of just reading these words that are on a screen? Yeah, I mean, I kind of feel like kind of what we mentioned before, like the attention span of humans is very little these days and almost non-existent. And I think when you are looking into a business or you're looking for something and you're quick, right? You're looking at salons on Instagram or you're looking at salons online or their website. You want something that grabs you quick and something that makes you feel connected to that business. And I think when you see videos like that, you do, you start to trust that business. You're like, okay, this, you know, this is awesome. This is a great review. This client's saying something really good. You feel better about that business than you would about the one that just has, again, 500 still photos on their social media, which are pretty, but every salon has pretty photos, right? Like there are a sea of them. And so you have to set yourself apart by stopping that scroll and getting that attention of that person so that they can see you. And then when they see how happy your customers and your clients are, that you're going to stand out way more. Yeah. Speaking from experience, if I can see somebody actually telling me about something and tell that it's not like a paid for ad, I absolutely am going to trust that more than just reading words on a screen. I mean, this sounds crazy, but you can walk into Best Buy, get on one of their computers and literally write a review to any business, whether you've been there or not. So you know what I'm saying? Like the video makes a difference. Okay. The next strategy. And before you guys laugh, hear me out on this because it works. This is what I call the plant strategy. And I want you to understand it's not just about giving your client a plant. You can use anything for this. I'm going to use the plant example because I've personally seen this work really, really well and increased referrals in a very big way. But the strategy is just about creating something that your clients stay involved with after they leave your salon. So I know I said this earlier, but most appointments end the exact same way. The client comes in, they get their service, they feel great, they leave. And once they leave that connection, it just kind of stops until their next visit. So what we have to do is extend that connection in a way that keeps your salon showing up in everyday life. So here's how this strategy kind of works. Instead of just giving the client something and sending them on their way, you need to turn it into something that they have responsibility for, something that they are a part of. So you give them a small plant when they are checking out and you explain what you are doing when you hand it to them. Hey, we're doing something super, super fun in the salon right now. Over the next few months, you are going to take care of this cute little plant. And every week we want you to post a picture of it on social media. Make sure that you tag our salon, tag your stylist, show us how it's growing. Now that client is leaving with something that they are responsible for and something they're interacting with consistently. Then you make sure you tie a reward to it. So at the end of the three months or however long you want to run it, whoever has the healthiest plan is going to win something from your salon. That could be a service, a package, retail products, whatever makes sense for you, but it needs to be good enough that people actually care about participating. So think about what this does. Your clients are posting every single week. They are tagging your salon every single week. They are sharing the progress of their plan, which is going to create multiple touch points with one client instead of just an appointment, right? From the outside, people start seeing multiple clients all talking about the same salon, all part of the same thing, and that is going to create curiosity. They start wondering what it is and how they can be a part of it, which is going to bring in new clients to your studio. Now your salon doesn't just look like a place that does services. It looks like something that people are involved in. And that is a completely different level of marketing than running an ad or just throwing a discount out there. It also strengthens your relationships with your current clients because they feel involved and connected to what you're doing instead of only thinking about you or your salon when they need a haircut or when they need their nails done. Now, this still has to be set up in the right way. Every strategy that we're talking about has to have structure behind it. Your team needs to know how to explain it, what the expectations are, how often clients are supposed to post on social media, how long it's going to run, and what the prize is. If it's unclear, people aren't going to follow through. I promise you that. Made that mistake, it won't happen. But when it's clear and consistent, this turns into ongoing free, I'm going to repeat free visibility for your salon without you constantly having to figure out what to post or how to bring new people in. And again, it doesn't have to be a plan. That's just one of the things that I've seen work. The strategy is just about creating something that your clients are interacting with over time that keeps your salon top of mind and get you in front of new people. Because when you do that, referrals are going to naturally happen. They are going to see you all over social media. Chandra, when a client has something like this at home that kind of keeps them or keeps reminding them of where they go, how do you feel like that impacts how often they end up talking about the salon to other people? I think it impacts it quite a bit. I think that it's because it's something different. Like I always come from the rule of thumb, like we do weird stuff in my salon and it's weird kind of, but people like weird, right? Like that's what makes them talk about it. That's what makes it different and makes it fun, right? So if you get the plant, when you leave your appointment, you're going to be like, this is kind of weird. But at the same time, it does tie you back to that business. And it does, every time you see the plant, you think about the business. And every time you remember, you have to water the plant, you think about that business. And I think every time, it constantly brings it back to your mind. It constantly makes you think about it. And then And I think you also tell people about it because when something's a little weird, people love to talk about it. They're like, guess what happened? My salon gave me a plan. You should go. You know, like it starts to create that buzz and it starts to create that. And again, it's like free advertising for you. And the more they're posting on social media, they're talking about your salon. All those things make the social media think your business is important. And in turn, it shows your business around the Internet even more. and so I think it's a really great idea and I think it would definitely boost all of that you know for all of those reasons and so it's okay to do something a little out of the box and be a little weird people like it I think that's what people need is to stop you know just copying everything and doing the mundane things like really really think outside the box I mean that's how I came up with this right like my daughter and I went to buy plants one day and I was like you know what? I'm going to try this. They had a bunch of little plants that were really, really cheap on sale. I bought a ton of them and our clients absolutely loved it. I am going to say this. I obviously track everything. When I am trying something new, I track everything. We had, we ran this for 90 days during the spring, obviously. And we had our highest referral months ever. To date still our highest referral months when we did this new clients and referrals so it works you might have to think of something that you know works better in your salon than what a plant would but there are a million things out there okay sorry i talk about this stuff too much because i get excited the last strategy is the in salon experience night and i think this is one of the fastest ways to bring in new clients into your salon while also creating something your current clients actually want to kind of come to and invite people to. The strategy is really simple. You host a hands-on guided event inside your salon where people can come in, learn something, use your products, interact with your team, and experience your studio without having to book a full appointment. Most new clients aren't just avoiding your salon or spa. They hesitate because they don't know what it's going to feel like once they get there. They don't know your team. They don't know the environment, they don't want to risk spending money somewhere unfamiliar. A night like this, it kind of removes that barrier. They come in with a friend, they're learning something, they're talking, they're interacting with your team. They get comfortable without even realizing it a lot of times. At the same time, they are posting on their social media, they're tagging your salon, sharing the night, sharing everything you're doing. And so your salon, once again, is going to start showing up in front of people who have never, ever heard of you before. So you are building trust in person while also creating visibility online. I helped a salon owner that I coached create a night like this and it was insanely successful. We did a DIY brow night and actually the salon still does these in salon experiences and I think they do them twice per quarter. So I just want to walk everybody through how you would do this really, really quickly. So I would choose a slower night in your studio. Decide how many people you know you can have there. That's not going to make you overcrowded. Then create a set number of tickets. So it feels limited. You always want this to feel limited. You have to create urgency when you do something like this. You can't say, you know, 580 tickets, like make it small and very, very limited. Urgency is important. Also the ticket is not free and it has to be priced correctly. You have to factor in your time, your team's time, the cost of the products you're using, and you still have to leave room for profit if you don't build the pricing right, this is going to turn into a really busy night that doesn't make you money. It costs you money. Okay. For the class itself, each person gets a small kit that they're using during the class. These should be trial sizes or even smaller, whatever you can find that's little, not full retail kits. You are giving them just enough to learn and get the results without giving away your higher retail ticket items. So when they come in, you are running a very guided hands-on session. Hear me on that. Guided. Hands-on. You or one of your team members walks them through how to map their brows, shape them, fill them in based on their face shape, and how to maintain them at home. That's all you're doing. The attendees are following along in the mirror, using the products, asking questions. They're getting help in real time. Your team should be moving around, assisting, correcting, talking to them, doing all the things, right? You also want someone filming every single bit of this so that you can capture content, Quick clips, reactions, people working through it, people laughing, people learning, literally all of it. Also, before you do this event, every single person needs to have a signed waiver that allows you to film and use that content. Do not forget that part. Please, please, please do not do it. Okay, so at the end of the night, you transition into your next step. And this is the part that is really, really important. You don't want to drop the ball here because a lot of people do. Before the event, you want to create a full-size retail packaging center, I guess, that matches what you're teaching. And you want to put these on a cute little branded table with everything in there. And then you also want to have a clear list of services that connect to what they learned. So if it's a brow night, I know we did brow shaping, tinting, lamination. You'll have to think of things that you offer at your salon, but they need to go in line with the class so that people can leave, leave the class, go to the table, book their appointment. And then you have like stuff scheduled for the next, who knows how many months. Chandra, have you ever done anything like this in your salon? Yeah, we've definitely done these. And I feel like, you know, listening to you talk right now, even I'm like, we need to do this again, because it's been a while. I feel like we did them fairly regularly pre COVID. And they always worked out really, really great. And then And I feel like after that, we had a hard time getting them back consistently happening. But we've done them and we do, we used to frequently do a BYOB, which was like a bring your own blow dryer. And we used to have people come bring their own blow dryer. We would help them learn the right brushes to use. We'd help them learn the right products to use. And we did the same thing. We have packages with brushes and products that they could purchase at the end of the session. And they were very successful. I think it's definitely something that has kind of gone by the wayside and forgotten a little bit. But I think it's definitely something that if you do it consistently, you know, you'll notice a really, really big increase in your sales, especially on your retail side, because that's the site that's always the hardest. And I think having a night really fun night like that just makes people want to buy, too. It puts them in the mindset of like they want to purchase. They're having fun. They like what they're seeing. And so it makes it really easy to boost those retail sales. Absolutely. You're educating them so much. They, you know, they understand what they need and what they're buying. I'm going to tell you the other thing that I love about this is it doesn't stop at one night. You can take the same class and turn it into something that generates revenue over and over again. You can record it and sell it later. You can turn it into a virtual class. You can repeat it every few months and keep bringing new people into your salon. Like it works fantastic. So it's not just about creating a one-time event. It's about building something that's going to bring in clients. It's going to create content for you. It's going to drive revenue and retail sales, and it can be reused as many times as you want in many, many different ways. You're giving people a way to experience your salon or spa. You're making money while you're doing it, and you are creating a natural path for them to become long-term clients. Chandra, when someone comes into a salon like this, you know, and they do learn something and they're interacting with your team and they already feel comfortable before they ever book a service with you. Do you feel like that makes it way easier for them to come back and to actually become a client and not just a client, but like a lifetime client? Yeah, no, I think it definitely connects them to you. It makes them feel confident to come in and see you. I know when we were doing those events, that was one of the biggest things is we would like kind of, we'd market it a lot to our regular clients, but we'd incentivize them to bring somebody. And so I feel like that person they bring, they'd have so much fun and the stylist that they'd work with or, you know, things like that, they would, they would schedule, we'd do like little incentives to get them to schedule that day. And they, they would come back and they totally would trust us more and more just because of them getting to know us on a different level. It wasn't like a regular appointment level, right? They come in, they get to know you, they see your culture, your team, they're having fun there and they want that experience again. So they'll book an appointment. Yeah, absolutely. And it's so cool to see, you know, people that have never been into your studio get to talk to multiple members of your team. It's kind of like the bachelorette where you get to choose who gets the rose, right? Like they're picking which stylist they get along with the best and which one they like best. And so it's just, it's different than just looking at pictures online or on the website and doing things. Okay, guys, when you look at all of this together, what all of these have in common is they don't end when the appointment ends, right? They give the client something to carry with them. And that is what is going to make your business more memorable. And that's what's going to get people talking. So your books aren't dependent on you constantly trying to fill them with ads, discounts, or promotions. Okay, so let's break this down into what this actually looks like if you decide to implement any of these strategies that we've discussed. The first thing that you want to do is pick one strategy. Don't try to do all of these at the same time. Do not. You don't need to go try to build a time capsule, an interview booth, a plant challenge, and an experience night all in the same way. That's how salon owners overwhelm themselves. And then what happens? Nothing gets done. So pick the one that you like, fix it, do it, whatever you need to do. The next step is to simplify it. A lot of you are going to want to try to overdo things and make it way more complicated than it needs to be. You don't need a huge budget for any of these strategies. You don't need a perfect setup. You don't need everything branded and all dialed in either. You just need something that works and that your team will actually use consistently, I would say. Then you need to communicate to your team the right way to do things. Not just, Hey, this is what we're doing. You need to explain exactly how it goes. Because when your team understands that, I think this is going to lead to more clients, better retention, and more money coming into your studio. When that happens, when your team understands, they're going to buy in more, right, Chandra? For sure. I think once they start to see the benefit too, it makes that so much easier for them. And I think that, you know, sometimes you get pushback when you try stuff like this in the beginning. My team's pretty good. They go along with mostly what I say, but I feel like even every now and then I'll get a little bit from them too. And I always just like preface it, like, let's just try it. And if we do this and it bombs and it doesn't work, then we'll look at something else. But I think that's a good way to get them to buy in and make it easier for you is like, hey, you know what? We want everybody to be busy and we're just going to try this thing. Let's see how it does. Everybody jump in and try it. And that's how we always end up usually having success with that stuff without everybody getting mad that I'm changing things and adding something else to their life. Yeah. I mean, I've done all of these strategies and the first time I did all of them, they didn't work out so well. I'm going to be honest with you. Like I had to really, really look at things in depth, you know, like for our first event night, our timing was way off. Like it was horrible. And so things didn't, we didn't profit the way that we needed to for the business. And don't give up though. Keep trying, keep doing different things because you are going to find that thing that works for you and your team and things that you'll enjoy doing. So one of the things that I do want to say is while you are running any of these strategies, you need to make sure that you're paying attention to what it's actually doing in your business. How many new clients are coming in from it? How many referrals are coming in from it? What your sales look like during that time? What happened with those retail sales? Even what your social media did. Did your following grow? Are more people engaging with your channel? Are more people reaching out to you? because if you're not looking at any of that, you're not going to know what's working and what isn't. And then the last piece, I think, Chandra, is consistency. This is where salon owners struggle. You know, have to be consistent in every single thing that you do. Chandra, out of every crazy strategy that I kind of threw at you today, which one do you feel like salon owners could implement the fastest and actually see results from? I mean, I feel like they're all really good. I feel like a couple that they could implement the quickest would be the time capsule. I feel like that one's super easy. You don't even need to buy anything else. You don't need to designate a space. You don't need to advertise anything. You just need to take the time to do that in your salon. And I feel like that one's probably the easiest to pull the trigger on. And then like, I think for me, just from listening to you, I'm thinking that we need to retry that, try doing the interview thing and the interview booth or room or whatever. We have a space for that. I was already thinking like, I already know who I'm going to designate. We're going to do that one. And because we do a lot of the other ones and they work really good. But that one, I think also would be number two, super easy. You don't have to buy anything. You don't have to do anything. You just have to create a little process and start doing it. Awesome. Yeah, no, I agree that I'm telling you the interview. It's one of my favorites. I like the time capsule, but the interview one's so fun. Okay, kind of gone over. So let's get into our listener question of the week. This one came in from Anna in San Diego, and she writes, I feel like I'm doing everything I'm supposed to be doing as an owner, but my team still isn't performing the way I need them to. I have a few people who are doing really, really great, but then I have others who are really inconsistent, not hitting their numbers, and I feel like I'm constantly picking up the slack. I don't know if I am expecting too much or if I'm just not leading them the right way. How do I fix this without feeling like I have to micromanage everyone. Chandra, I feel like this is one of those situations where owners start to question themselves like crazy. I'm not going to lie. They start thinking, am I the problem here? Am I asking for too much? What would you say to someone who feels like their team just isn't meeting the standard? I mean, I've been there. I think that's the most frustrating thing ever on the owner's side, for sure, especially when you feel like you're doing everything. But for me, I think the biggest thing is I would first look at the systems I have in place because the reason that most of the time that's happening is because there's no clear path for them and there's no clear end goal results. Like there's no tracking. It's just kind of like, I don't know, they're just kind of floundering around and you're telling them things, you're getting frustrated that they're not doing it. So I feel like those clear systems and action plans. And then if they're not doing, it's just black and white. Like I think owners get emotionally attached and they sometimes carry people even longer than they should, because if they're doing all the right things and they're still not performing and they're still not growing, there's other things that are wrong. And so I think for me, it's just really putting those systems, those expectations, those career paths in place, and then just following them. And when I did that myself, you know, years ago, that changed everything for me. And I quit being stressed out about those people. And I'm like, okay, this is our plan. This is what we're doing. They're either going to do it or they're not. And if they're not The unfortunate thing is they're not a good fit for your business, but you have to just accept that and you have to let them go. And that's how you build your dream team, you know, instead of constantly trying to drag these people along. But I think you have to have that in place for them first in order to know if they are actually going to be able to be part of your team or not. You can't just, I don't know. I feel like there's too much gray area all the time people have. There is. I agree with you 100%. And I feel like, you know, we always believe in people so much as salon and spa owners. We think that we can change and help everyone. You know, we see the potential and that doesn't always mean anything. And I'm going to add this because I think it's really, really important. when you're able to get out from behind the chair, even part-time, you're able to deal with these types of issues so much better because you have the time, you have the headspace, and you're able to actually coach, lead, and guide your employees more than you can when you're behind the chair full-time. So just keep that in mind. I'm not saying that you have to completely step back, even if you can do it a day a week, just to give yourself some time to strategize and plan and coach and guide, that's really, really important. With that being said, if you guys take anything from this episode, I hope it's this. Your salon is only going to grow to the level of the experience that you create inside of it. Because referrals, new clients, people talking about your business, that doesn't just happen because you're talented. It doesn't. It happens when people leave your salon and they actually have something to talk about. And for a lot of you, I think this is a missing piece. You're doing good work. Your team's talented, but the experience, it kind of stops the second that the appointment ends. And after that, your salon just kind of disappears from their world until they need you again for some reason. I'm not saying that just to say it. We've seen this play out over and over again with salon and spa owners that we coach at the Beauty Biz Agency. In fact, when they start building things like these strategies into their business, this is where things start to pick up in a real way. We've seen productivity go up by over 25% with a few salon owners who have done things like this, along with revenue and retail sales and overall client engagement. Because now the business isn't relying on constant marketing in order to stay busy. The business is creating its own momentum and that is the type of business you want. I think this is one of those areas that's really easy to ignore as an owner because you stay so busy. You're behind the chair, you're managing the team, you're trying to keep every I'm going to be honest. I think this right here is the difference between constantly trying to get people in the door and having a business where clients are already talking about you, sending people your way consistently and coming back without you feeling like you have to push something out every week just to stay busy. Chandra, if you could leave the listeners with any last words of wisdom, what would that be? It's okay to be weird. Do something fun, like do something memorable that your clients are going to, you know, again, remember you by and want to come back and try again in something that not everybody else does. So I think that's, that's my words of wisdom. Yeah, I agree. And get involved with other salon owners, bounce ideas off of them, get ideas from other people, like find a community. Also utilize your team. I am amazed by what some of my employees have come up with at times. So definitely utilize them. I'm one of those weird people that ideas like this just pop into my head all the time. Chandra knows this. You probably have someone weird like me on your team who can help you with things like this. If you're listening to this and you realize you don't have, you don't really have anything in place right now. You don't have anything to get referrals, to get reviews, to get new people coming in. Whatever it is, hit us up. Visit our website. We've got a ton of free resources, a ton of strategies. You can check out coaching options. Just visit thebeautybizagency.com. Grab some of those resources. I promise they will help you. If you had even one moment while listening where you thought, okay, yeah, we need this in my salon, send this episode to another salon owner that you know needs to hear it. And if you've been listening and getting value and haven't left us a review yet, please take a quick second and do that. It will help more owners find the show. Chandra, how can everyone keep up with everything we have going on at the Beauty Biz Agency? Yeah, make sure you're following us at the Beauty Biz Agency on Facebook and Instagram or the Beauty Biz Mentors on TikTok. talk. And again, like we said, make sure you hop on our website and subscribe. That way you don't miss any of our updates or any information that we put out there. So we would also love to hear from you. So send us a message. Absolutely. That's a wrap guys. You've been listening to the beauty biz breakdown where salon owners stop guessing and start running businesses that actually grow until next time, create the experience, give people something to talk about and stop waiting for growth just to show up. Now go out there, make bank, run the show and ditch that chair. And as always, keep slaying those business goals with a whole lot of swagger. If this episode lit a fire under you, don't just walk away and let it die out. Deep down, you already know where you want your business and your life to go. And the truth is, the only thing standing between where you are and where you want to be is a real plan to get you there. That's exactly what we help you build. So if you're ready to stop trying to figure it out on your own, head to thebeautybizagency.com and book your free strategy call. That call can give you the clarity that you've been needing and a real plan to move your business forward. Because at the end of the day, the only thing standing between you and the salon business you've been dreaming about is whether or not you're willing to take the action and the steps in order to build it.

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