Mini Moment #19: The Client Retention Conversation You Need to Hear – with Sara Briscoe
Retention. It is one of those words that gets thrown around a lot in this industry, usually tied to numbers, rebooking rates and revenue. But Sara Briscoe from Roca Verde has a different way of looking at it, and once you hear it this way, you will not be able to unhear it.
Because retention is not just good for your bottom line. It is good for your nervous system. A column full of familiar faces means less anxiety, less tap dancing to impress someone new, and more of the kind of days that remind you why you love this job. That is what is in it for your team. And that is exactly the conversation most salon owners are not having.
In this Mini Moment, Sara breaks down the why behind retention, the how behind building it, and why teaching your team to care about it starts with making it personal.
What we cover
- Why retention is an emotional conversation as much as a financial one
- The real cost of a column full of new clients on your adrenals and your confidence
- How to teach your team the why so they actually care
- The power of a consistent consultation and giving clients a hair journey
- Social media as a retention tool, not just a marketing one
- Why a calm familiar column is one of the greatest gifts you can give your team
When you and your team understand what retention actually does for you and them, everything shifts.
Mentioned in this episode:
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Transcript
[:
Sam, we've got another little mini moment. I'm excited. Oh, me too. Okay. So we are joined by the beautiful Sarah from Roca Verde, and we're going to talk Retention.
[:[00:00:23] Speaker 8: something
[:And it's something that I often will teach and talk about when I am facilitating a workshop.
I think it the reason why retention is important. It's often just brought back to money, right? It's brought back to, it's cheaper to keep a client and retain them and than it is to get a new one. Get through a new one.
But you know what else is expensive with that? Is your emotions. Mm. Yeah. So when you have a new guest in your column, like your adrenals of.
[:[00:01:09] Sara: Harder, aren't they? They're fiery. Oh, you're
[:[00:01:11] Sara: like
[:[00:01:15] Jen: And it's like, I'm gonna have to just,
[:Yeah. I need to be on, on, on.
[:[00:01:31] Samara: shut the doors. Don't even worry about it. I don't even know.
I'm gonna work at customs and look up the dogs,
[:[00:01:38] Samara: I feel like Facebook specifically is
[:[00:01:41] Samara: for my, my staff over indie. She's gonna be like, I've never felt so seen all my
[:[00:01:46] Samara: life. I'll ruminate on this. Four weeks that I've got a client in four weeks time that's new and she's gonna hate me and realize I'm no good.
[:[00:01:58] Samara: It's a whole nother podcast. Yeah.
[:[00:02:02] Speaker 12: true.
[:[00:02:04] Samara: A whole nother podcast car really is.
[:Why is retention important? What does it do to you? What does it do to your adrenals? How nice is it when you are? Column is full with familiar faces. And you have the sprinkle Yes. Of a new client,
[:[00:02:37] Sara: Less adjustments, less stress beforehand, less rumination, less tap dancing and cartwheels to make them love you to start with.
Right? Yeah. Horing
[:[00:02:45] Sara: petals, um, they. An existing client obviously already believes in you. They like what you do. For
[:So nice. So, 'cause I'm terrible with names, I'll know faces. Yeah. But as soon as I walk in the door I'm like, it doesn't even matter. They're so nice. I've written it.
[:[00:03:11] Samara: they're
[:[00:03:12] Samara: And you feel
[:[00:03:13] Speaker 12: Yeah.
[:[00:03:15] Sara: you
[:I know they're nice.
[:[00:03:25] Samara: Yeah.
[:Right? Yeah. You, you know what you're in for, for the day. You
[:[00:03:39] Sara: yeah. What can we do? So then it brings it back. So we know the why now. So we're teaching your team the why. So why, like, what, what's the advantage for me?
What, what's apart from like the money and that sort of stuff to the business, what's the advantage? It's like I've got a lovely day at work. Mm,
[:[00:03:57] Sara: So now we go to the how, how, how are we going to make that spot filled? Like, how am I going to get this retention? Rebooking, of course. Yeah. Like talking to them before they're going one though is a powerful consult.
So I think inspiring your team to make sure that they are. Doing the every client, every time thing, a bang and
[:[00:04:21] Sara: a consistent consult and giving your client a hair journey so they can only come back into you. Mm-hmm. They wanna come and see you because you've got an idea, you know what's gonna happen.
[:Yeah.
[:[00:04:31] Jen: in that consultation what they're having next time and they know it. Exactly. And they're excited to be there.
[:Being seen, so then people are booking in with you. Mm-hmm. Because they like you and you're getting your clients. Mm-hmm. So another little problem would be like making sure that you are posting and speaking to your audience so that you're not getting all the fillers. Mm-hmm. Yeah. You are not getting randoms on online booking, filling up those things.
You're getting people that are coming to you specifically. So we've got our consult, got our social media. Then it's the follow-up delivery. It's like making sure that your skills are sharpened. That you are investing in your training. And I don't mean like just showing up, I mean showing up mentally and wanting to have that training.
So I feel like it's, something that is easily missed. That whole why and like bringing it back to the safety and security of your team so that they can come in and they know that they've got like a safe, fun day at work and less randoms booking in Yeah, on the online bookings. Because what happens is like, that's when you get sometimes the people that aren't triaged as well and they play up and they're,
[:Done.
[:[00:06:00] Samara: Yep. So and so left.
[:[00:06:06] Samara: have discovered it.
[:What's in it for them and that is what's in it for them is a calm day. A clients across you and a fun day. Yeah.
[:We hope you enjoy it as much as we do and we will be back very soon.
