Esthetician Podcast; Business tips for Beauty professionals

095: Turn Model Clients Into Paying Clients That Actually Rebook

• Kari Jo

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The rebook looks perfect… until the cancellation hits the day before. If you’ve felt that gut punch after a model appointment, you’re not alone. We unpack the real reason behind the pattern and show how to turn “free” into loyal with simple systems that work in the real world.

We start by dismantling a costly myth: models are not paying clients, and the psychology is different. Without financial skin in the game, perceived value drops and commitment fades. Rather than ditch models, we reframe them as structured training experiences with expectations, accountability, and documentation. You’ll learn how to log rebooks and cancellations, spot timing patterns, and test changes like a scientist so you can fix the right problem fast.

Then we tackle the sneaky trigger hiding in plain sight—your reminder messages. Neutral prompts like “Reply C to cancel or R to confirm” invite an easy out. We share human, progress‑oriented scripts that connect to client goals and reduce cancellations by anchoring the next visit to momentum and results. From there, we fill the biggest gap of all: the silent weeks between appointments. Handwritten thank‑yous, quick post‑treatment check‑ins, product refill nudges, and mailed newsletters build trust, keep you top of mind, and shift models from casual to committed. We also outline a practical retention mindset for non‑rebookers so you can “build a fence” around future demand without sounding salesy.

If you’re ready to reduce last‑minute cancellations and convert models into paying regulars, this playbook gives you the scripts, tracking steps, and between‑visit touchpoints to make it happen. Subscribe for weekly strategies, share this with a beauty pro who needs it, and leave a quick review to help others find the show.

Here is the link to Mastering Clientele Growth - https://stan.store/EstheLaunchAcademy/p/mastering-clientele-growth

To learn more about Kari Jo visit: https://www.karijopatterson.com

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Links You May Want to Check out:

Join the Client Building for Estheticians group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/clientbuildingforestheticians
Check out Kari Jo’s courses here https://esthelaunchacademy.com

Kari Jo:

Have you been told to use models to grow your business before? Guys, listen, I use models all the time. Like I used them all the time when I was growing my business. In fact, I still teach to this day, I teach people to use models to grow their business. And I want to be so real. There are so many reasons why you should actually be using models to grow your business. Because the truth is, is when you are trying to build your clientele, you have to get your hands on people, right? Like you've got to practice your consultations, you've got to practice your rebookings. You've got to practice like your technique. And I know you think you got it when you were in school, but you weren't really on your own, right? You are now on your own and you've got to practice and you've got to get content and you have to build social proof and you have to get people talking to you. And you've got to build confidence in what it is that you're doing and create traction. And those are all reasons why you should be using models to grow your clientele. And let me tell you something: using models actually, it does work, right? But here's the thing that nobody tells you. One of my students recently they started getting their models coming through the door, right? And they finally started to see momentum. Like they were getting so excited because they were getting models coming in, the person was rebooking, and like it was amazing. But then they had a problem, and you can probably guess what the problem was, right? If you've ever done models and you've ever tried it, then you probably already know the problem that I'm about to say. If you've been there, you know this is what happened. The models they would rebook their appointment at the end, which would make my girls feel so stinking happy. And then what would happen is they cancel their appointment right before their next appointment. Like, what in the world? What do you do about that? Well, in today's episode, I'm going to dive into exactly why this is happening and what is actually really going on underneath it, and how you can fix it once and for all so that your models work for you too. Let's get real. The number one root reason why this is happening is because the problem is that model clients, they do not behave like paying clients. So if you are booking them and you have this expectation that they are like a regular paying client, they're not. Let me say it again. Model clients, they do not behave like regular paying clients. So when someone is coming in and they're like getting something for free, or they're getting it at like a discount or like some kind of extreme value in their mind, your service, your value, it automatically drops just because it's like free. The value in what you are doing has completely dropped. That basically is it doesn't mean that they don't appreciate you. It just means that they don't have the same skin in the game as somebody who would have found you on Google and somebody who would have booked you. They're not like emotionally or financially, they're not invested in showing up for you other than this one perceived value. There's studies in this industry industry that like, I want to go into this because I want you to not go in and feel like it's a failure, but I want you to understand the I don't know, psychology behind models so that you go in with the right mindset when you are booking them. In this industry, there's been studies that show that 62% of models they cancel before their second visit. That is in comparison to only 18 to 25% of paying clients that usually cancel their appointments. So we have to know that when we rebook our clients, we got a 50-50 chance. Well, more than that, like it's 62% actually chance that they are going to actually cancel their appointment. Okay. So here is why. Without that financial investment on them, they have no mental commitment in this. They feel like, oh, I'll just reschedule, I'll come back later, it's no big deal. They're just there's there's no consequence. So the question then arises is if that's how they feel, then doesn't that mean that we shouldn't use models? Well, no, absolutely not. That's crazy. We need, guys, you need models for growth. But what we have to do is we have to change ultimately how we are using them for your business. We have to reframe what a model actually is and what it actually means for inside of your business. Here's the thing. First off, you need to reframe, you are not giving a free service. Okay. I feel like that's the first thing is you're like, well, I gave them a free service. If you say that, you were in the wrong mindset to even do the model. You are running a training experience for yourself. That is what the model is is a training experience for yourself. That means that your model process, it has to have structure, it has to have accountability and it has to have expectation, just like a paying client. Instead, like you're using these as case studies. And what you need to do is you need to like get out some kind of a documentation system. Get out in Excel. I love Excel. I use Excel for everything. And I want you to like document everything about this. Where if they rebooked when someone, when I ask for a rebook, if someone doesn't rebook, like I want to find out why. It's not that I'm being annoying or anything like that, but like I want to know why they can't rebook. Is it because they don't know their schedule in the future? Is it because whatever it is? Like, is it is it the price? And so I want to get real clear on why people aren't rescheduling if they're not. But also, I want to track like when they are rebooking. If we started tracking little tiny things, and models are used as like your tracker, like when you're doing your consultations, like you develop a system using your models and you see what works, and then you tweak your you continue tweaking your system until you get the system that actually works. For example, if we were doing models and we were tracking them, okay, let's talk about something that like you can track when are they canceling their appointment? They rebooked when are they canceling? Well, one of the things that I've heard is like they always when I send out when my gloss genius or Vigaro or whatever, they send out the text that's like a reminder for your appointment. When they get that, then they cancel. If you're tracking that and the cancellations are happening, not like a week after, but they're always happening around that reminder for your appointment, then you know that that's where the problem is, and you can fix that trigger. So when we pull it apart, like we're scientists, and that's what you have to do as an entrepreneur, is you're constantly analyzing data. 20, like, congratulations, you didn't know, but now you do. You are now an analyzing expert. That's what you've become. And so when we look at that, and when we see that the cancellations are coming right after the text reminder goes out, well, we gotta let that sit for just a second. And the very thing that we are using to prevent cancellations, that text is actually triggering them. Guys, I see this all the time. This isn't just in models. Sometimes this happens in your business. If you're having a lot of cancellations, when are those cancellations? This is my question to you, when are those cancellations happening? If cancellations spike right after the reminders go out, it's because your messaging is too neutral. It is basically giving your clients an easy way out. So I want to give you an example of what I mean by like the message that you are sending is too neutral. You're let's say you get an email or you books, you get a reminder from Gloss Genius, Vegara, whatever, and it's like just a reminder, you have an appointment at so-and-so's salon or spa at 2 p.m. Reply C to cancel or R to confirm. Now I want you to compare that. Let's say you get that message on your phone. Now I want you to listen to this version instead. Hey Sarah, I can't wait to see you for your treat, your facial treatment tomorrow. Your skin has been responding so beautifully. And this next one is where I really think the results are going to start kicking in. I can't wait to see you. Between the two, did you feel a difference between them? One sounds transactional, the other one sounds personal. And when a client feels connected, they are far less likely to actually cancel their appointment. So maybe you need to edit out the messages that are being tweaked. One tiny little tweak in your messaging can reduce your cancellations by like 20 to 30 percent just by making it personal. That's what they mean by personal. It's not just using their name, which I know some of these platforms like to be like, oh yeah, we can personalize it. We can say their name. Yes, you're personalizing it with their name, but like you didn't touch them. Does that make sense? Now I want to go even deeper. Let's go even deeper into this because let's say, even if your reminder is amazing, you have a gap between your appointments that you can still lose them. So you have between like four to six weeks based off of when when you book them. Here's what I believe most aestheticians are doing. The client comes in, they rebook, they leave, and then silence until the next reminder goes out. Guys, is this you? That silence, if you're having a cancellation problem, listen to what I just said. That silence that you created in between that four to six week, that is the problem. And it is what I like to call the missing layer because people don't cancel things when they feel like emotionally connected to you. There are so many things that I've done longer than I wanted to, but it's just because I'm emotionally connected to the person that's doing it. So I want you to ask yourself, what is happening in between their appointments? What is that in-between experience between them rebooking and coming back again? Did you send them a thank you message? What was that message like? In my business, one of the things that I always do did, like things that I felt like like was a must. Like I did not let my employees go home until they did this one thing. And I kid you not, you should have saw our mailbox. Every single new client that came through had to have a handwritten thank you, every single one of them. And then in addition to that, like let's say if you have a clientele and you've had one for a while, I required every day that the employee came in that there was always one thank you card that was going out. If you have the same clientele, then make it random. Send something off the random people, when they get something, sometimes you might expect to get a thank you card right after an appointment, but sometimes you're not, you just randomly thought about me two months later. You're so sweet. Another way, and this is a big thing that I'm all about, especially if you are going to be using models to build your business. Like so many of my clients feel that if they don't get the rebook, then that was a waste. That is not a waste. We as entrepreneurs, we are always after the chase. Like, tell me, this is you. You love when you get a new client. It is like endorphins release, celebrate, take me out to dinner, whatever it is. Like, I got a new client, girl, I have got this. We all experience that. Entrepreneurs, we we love the chase, but where we all fall short is after the chase. You love the chase of getting the new client, they came in, and then you do nothing with them. That's the problem. And so it is so important. Like for me, I had to have a mindset change of like, yes, I'm after the chase of getting a new client, which is great, but the ones that didn't rebook, that's my fighter girl. Like my fight business girl comes out and is like, that's okay. You don't want to rebook? No problem. I'm gonna make sure that no matter what, the next time that you need a service in six months, 10 months, whatever, I am the only person that you think about. I don't care. Like, I'm after my favorite people are the ones that don't rebook because like I'm going to win them back. I'm going to surprise the crap out of them. And like, that's the mindset that you kind of have to have. And one of those ways that I like to teach to do that is in newsletters because it's like constant, you're sending it out every single month, it's going out, and they perceive male newsletters differently than they perceive emails. When you get an email, you feel like you're being sold to. When I get a male newsletter, I view it more as like educational. That means that when you're doing a male newsletter, you can't be salsy. It can't be salsy at all. In fact, I just did an episode and I don't know if it's gonna get come out before this episode or after. So if the episode already came out, I'm gonna put it in the show notes. But I if if it's not out, then you guys will have to stay tuned to it. But I do have an episode coming out. I have on Jurassic Marketing. He is he owns a newsletter company and he does newsletters and teach you how to do it. I'm gonna teach you how to build a newsletter. So that every single month you are touching your clients with this mailed newsletter, and it is not selsy, it is just fun. It's reminding them, hey, here I am, I'm here, I'm touching base with you. I like you, we're friends. That it's like building a fence around all the people who don't rebook so that when they are ready to rebook, they think of you. That is another way. Are you sending them? Are you like following up? Did they get a chemical pill? Are you like following up to see how their skin was when they bought a product? Are you following back up with them six months later and asking if they need another one? Are you sending them some before and after pictures that you have? These little tiny things that you can do and you can start implementing them if you're having a cancellation problem. It's really just about building connection over and over and over again. Because the truth is, is your clients, especially models, they have to fill scene. If they only hear from you when they're getting a reminder, it's no relationship and they're not emotionally invested in this, right? But if there is a relationship, there becomes loyalty. Let's recap. Number one, models clients, they do not behave like regular paying clients. We accept that fact. Two, your reminder text might actually be triggering your cancellations, not preventing them. And number three, there is a missing layer that is between appointments, and that is where clients get disconnected. So when you can lighten up on these three systems, you are going to completely, and I mean completely reduce your cancellations. And if you are sitting here thinking, okay, I need help setting this up, I've got you. That's what I do. I help estheticians build systems. And so you can go to my website and click the link, apply for a coaching call, let's get on a phone call and let's make you a game plan. Now, if you're more into like a DIY and you want to learn some more about models and how to make models work for you, because there are some secrets behind it that some people don't think about. I do have a digital course. It's called Master Your Clientele Growth. You can find it by like obviously going to my website on my Instagram. You can click the link in my bios. You can find any of my digital courses. You can watch that and that should help you along with your process. Okay, guys, if you love this episode, please, please, please like my podcast. That means so much to me. I want all the likes that I can. Thank you for it's like if you get any value from me, the one thing I could just ask is please like and review my podcast. If you don't want to review it, fine, but please just like it. I love it. Okay, and I love you. Have a beautiful week, and I hope that you build the best week ever with these model clients. Bye, guys.

Announcer:

Thank you for listening to the Esthetician podcast with Kari Jo Patterson. Each week, Kari brings you real-world lessons on how to grow your empire. To learn more about Kari's fearless prosperity mastermind group, one-on-one VIP coaching opportunities, and more, visit www.karijopatterson.com. That's www.karijopatterson.com. See you next week for more insights and strategies on the Esthetician Podcast.