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Working Smarter Not Harder

Working Smarter Not Harder

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A daily 10-minute show for service business owners. AI tools, automated workflows, and the boring-on-purpose tactics that save you 5 hours a week. Each episode picks one niche, one workflow, and one tool — and walks you through it like a friend at a coffee shop.© 2026 Working Smarter Not Harder. All rights reserved. Management & Leadership Ökonomie
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  • Fix Salon No-Shows: Deposits, Confirmations & One Booking Link

    Fix Salon No-Shows: Deposits, Confirmations & One Booking Link
    Oct 22 2026
    Rowan and Rye is a two-chair color and cut salon in Asheville, North Carolina losing two to three slots a week to no-shows — and they're always the three-hour balayage, never the bang trim. We diagnose why it's really a confirmation and tracking problem, and lay out the all-in-one ops platform fix. In this episode: Why "booked solid" doesn't mean booked: the expensive slots are the ones that flakeThe real diagnosis — a confirmation and tracking problem, not a no-show problemWhy texting clients from your personal number at 9 PM makes appointments feel like suggestionsFunneling Instagram DMs, texts, and link-in-bio clicks into one booking page as the single back-door systemCard authorization vs. upfront deposits: asking for accountability, not money, changes client psychologyThe automated SMS reminder cadence: three days out, one day out, morning-of, with a tap-to-confirmUsing Notion for SOPs and client notes while the ops platform runs bookings, SMS, and paymentsHow a card-on-file booking flow self-filters flaky clients before they hit your calendar Sources: Working Smarter — show home Subscribe: workingsmarter.jgiebz.com Full transcript Eric: ...so you're texting them from your actual personal phone? Like, your number number? Marcy Delacroix: My number number. The same one my mom texts me on. The same one my ex texts me on, honestly. Eric: Okay. Marcy Delacroix: And I'm sitting there at nine at night, after a nine-hour day on my feet, thumb-typing "hey girl, confirming tomorrow at ten," and then half of them don't even reply, and I'm just supposed to guess if they're showing up. Eric: And how often do they not show up? Marcy Delacroix: Two a week. Roughly. Sometimes three. Eric: Two slots a week. Marcy Delacroix: Two slots a week. Which, for a two-chair salon, is... it's not nothing. Eric: It's a LOT. Okay, back up for a second for people just tuning in. Tell me about the shop. Marcy Delacroix: Yeah, so, Rowan and Rye. Two chairs, Asheville, North Carolina. I've been cutting hair for about eleven years, I've owned the place for the last four. It's me and one other stylist. We do mostly color, some cuts, a little bit of extension work. Eric: And you're booked solid? Marcy Delacroix: On paper, booked solid. In practice... Eric: In practice there are holes. Marcy Delacroix: There are holes. And the holes are always the expensive ones, right? It's not the twenty-minute bang trim that cancels. It's the three-hour balayage. Eric: Oh, of course. Marcy Delacroix: Of course. Eric: Okay. So walk me through what you tried before you threw up your hands. Marcy Delacroix: Honestly? Nothing systematic. I'd think about setting up deposits and then I'd get busy and forget. I'd read some thing online about charging a no-show fee and I'd think, I don't want to be THAT salon, you know? The one that charges you fifty bucks because your kid got sick. Eric: Mhm. Marcy Delacroix: So I just... absorbed it. Which is a nice way of saying I bled money for four years. Eric: Can I diagnose something for you? Marcy Delacroix: Please. Eric: You don't have a no-show problem. Marcy Delacroix: Okay. Eric: You have a confirmation problem. And underneath the confirmation problem, you have a tracking problem. The no-shows are a symptom. Marcy Delacroix: Say more. Eric: So, the clients who flake on you, you said you can't tell which ones are repeat offenders. Marcy Delacroix: Right. I THINK I know. There's a woman, I will not say her name on this podcast, who I'm pretty sure has stiffed me four times. But is it four? Is it three? Is it five? I have no idea. Eric: Right. Because it's all in your head. Marcy Delacroix: It's all in my head. And in my text messages. Which are a graveyard. Eric: So here's what I'd argue is actually going wrong. You're doing the work of a front desk, a CRM, and a booking system, all with your thumbs, at nine at night, with no memory of what happened last time. Marcy Delacroix: Yeah. When you say it like that. Eric: And the clients can feel it, by the way. A text from a personal number at nine PM, no link to confirm, no deposit on the line, no gentle reminder the day of... that doesn't feel like an appointment. That feels like a suggestion. Marcy Delacroix: Oof. Eric: Sorry. Marcy Delacroix: No, you're right. It feels like a suggestion. And people treat suggestions like suggestions. Eric: Exactly. Okay. So let me tell you what we did at the agency, because we had a version of this. Not haircuts, obviously, but we had clients ghosting discovery calls, which, same problem, different industry. Marcy Delacroix: Okay. Eric: We moved everything onto the all-in-one ops platform we run our agency on. Booking, reminders, deposits, follow-up, everything. Marcy Delacroix: What is it? Eric: I'm going to just call it "the platform" for the whole episode because I don't want this to turn into an ad, but it's an all-in-one ops platform. It handles the calendar, it handles the SMS, it handles the payment, it handles the ...
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    12 Min.
  • How a Davenport Salon Fixed Its Rebooking Problem — Rowan and Rust

    How a Davenport Salon Fixed Its Rebooking Problem — Rowan and Rust
    Oct 20 2026
    Marcy from Rowan and Rust — a two-chair salon in Davenport, Iowa — joins Eric to unpack how her rebooking rate quietly fell off a cliff, and the simple three-part automated system that put it back together. If you run a local service business and your follow-up lives in your head (or on sticky notes), this one's for you. In this episode: The pink/yellow/blue sticky-note "system" Marcy used to track rebookings — and why "I'll text you" was the kiss of deathHow a slow Tuesday turned into a diagnosis: it wasn't a client problem, it was a memory problem — and she was counting on the wrong person's memoryWhy asking clients to call a small business every six weeks is a losing strategy in 2026The move to a single all-in-one ops platform (one login for calendar, texts, reminders, review requests, and client notes) instead of duct-taping separate tools togetherFix #1: a hard rule that every client gets rebooked at the iPad at checkout before they leave the chairFix #2: an automated text follow-up sequence for anyone who won't book in person — one tap to book, no stylist action requiredThe 11pm Thursday booking from a couch-bound client Marcy would have definitely lost — and why "making money while asleep" finally clickedFix #3: the "we miss you" winback message for lapsed clients, and why it moved the needle most Sources: Rowan and Rust — two-chair salon, Davenport, Iowa (as discussed on-air) Subscribe: workingsmarter.jgiebz.com Full transcript Eric: ...so wait, back up. Sticky notes. You were running the whole rebooking system on sticky notes? Marcy Holtkamp: I mean, when you say it out loud like that it sounds insane. But yeah. Little pink ones. I had a whole system. Eric: A system. Marcy Holtkamp: A SYSTEM, Eric. Pink was six-week cuts, yellow was color, blue was anybody who said "I'll text you." Which, by the way, is the kiss of death. Eric: Oh no. Marcy Holtkamp: Oh YES. Blue sticky note? Never seeing them again. I should've just thrown them straight in the trash and saved myself the paper. Eric: Okay, so for anybody just finding us, tell them what you do. Marcy Holtkamp: Sure. I own a little two-chair salon in Davenport, Iowa. It's called Rowan and Rust. I've been cutting hair for about eleven years, and I've owned the shop for the last four. Eric: Two chairs. So it's you and... Marcy Holtkamp: Me and one other stylist. Her name's Jo. She's great. She is not the problem. Eric: So what WAS the problem? Because you reached out and the subject line was basically, like, "I think I broke my own business." Marcy Holtkamp: Yeah that's about right. So here's what happened. My rebooking rate just... quietly fell off a cliff. Over about a year. Eric: Quietly how? Marcy Holtkamp: Quietly like I didn't notice. That's the whole thing. I was busy, the chair was full, I felt fine. And then one Tuesday was just dead. And I thought, okay, weird Tuesday. Eric: Sure. Marcy Holtkamp: And then the next Tuesday was dead. And then a Wednesday. And by the end of the month I was looking at my books going, where did everybody GO. Eric: And they didn't go anywhere, right? Like, they didn't leave town. Marcy Holtkamp: No! That's the part that hurt. I'd see them at the grocery store. Hair looking rough. And they'd go, "oh my gosh I've been meaning to call you." Eric: Oh, that's brutal. Marcy Holtkamp: It is SO brutal. Because they still love you. They just forgot. And I had nothing in place to remind them. Eric: Okay so let me diagnose this a little, because I think a lot of folks listening are going to recognize themselves. You didn't have a client problem. Marcy Holtkamp: ...no. Eric: You had a memory problem. And it wasn't your memory, it was theirs. And you were counting on it. Marcy Holtkamp: Yeah. When you say it like that. Eric: Right? Like, every six weeks you need someone to remember on their own that it's time for a cut, in the middle of their actual life, and then ALSO remember to pick up the phone and call a specific small business. Marcy Holtkamp: Which, nobody calls anymore. Eric: Nobody calls anymore. So you're asking your clients to do a thing they don't want to do, to solve a problem you forgot to solve for them. Marcy Holtkamp: Yep. That's it. That's the whole thing. Eric: And the sticky notes, I want to be fair to the sticky notes... Marcy Holtkamp: Please defend my sticky notes. Eric: The sticky notes were a follow-up system. They just only worked on YOU. They were a reminder for you to remember to text them. Which means every follow-up had to pass through the single most overloaded person in the business. Marcy Holtkamp: Which is me. On a Sunday night. With a glass of wine. Going, oh no, I forgot to text Linda. Eric: And Linda went somewhere else. Marcy Holtkamp: Linda went to the chain by the Target. I will never forgive the chain by the Target. Eric: Okay. So let's talk about what we actually did, because I don't want this to just be me going "yeah that's hard." Marcy Holtkamp: Please. Fix me. ...
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    10 Min.
  • Fix Salon No-Shows: Card-on-File, Reminders & Cancel Policy

    Fix Salon No-Shows: Card-on-File, Reminders & Cancel Policy
    Oct 15 2026
    Maggie, owner of Birch and Bramble salon in Duluth, is losing one Saturday chair in six to no-shows and late cancels. Eric walks her through why it's a systems problem, not a policy problem, and the three things to set up Monday morning. In this episode: Why "I know the repeat offenders in my head" is the actual root cause of chronic no-showsThe four-system trap: paper book, salon app, notes app, and your brain — none talking to each otherStep 1: require a card on file at online booking (not a deposit) as a flake filterStep 2: automated 48-hour and morning-of text reminders with a confirm/reschedule buttonStep 3: a written late-cancel and no-show policy (50% within 24 hours, 100% for no-shows) baked into the booking confirmationUsing an all-in-one ops platform for client-facing work and Notion for internal SOPsWhy the clients who revolt against a cancel policy are the ones already costing you the chair-dayHow a 4-hour balayage no-show equals a car payment — doing the real math on empty chairs Sources: workingsmarter.jgiebz.com Subscribe: workingsmarter.jgiebz.com Full transcript Eric: ...so wait, back up. One in six. That's your Saturdays? Maggie Thorsen: One in six. Sometimes worse in January. I did the math on a napkin last winter and almost cried into a cold brew. Eric: Okay, for anyone just dropping in, tell them who you are and what we're actually talking about. Maggie Thorsen: Yeah. I'm Maggie, I own a little salon up in Duluth called Birch and Bramble. Four chairs. Been open eleven years, cut hair out of my basement for like, basically my entire thirties before that. Eric: Love it. Maggie Thorsen: And the thing that is slowly killing me is no-shows. And late cancels. The "hey girl so sorry something came up" text that lands forty-five minutes before a balayage. Eric: Forty-five minutes before a balayage. Maggie Thorsen: Forty-five minutes before a four-hour balayage, Eric. Eric: Okay. Maggie Thorsen: That chair sits empty. I can't fill it. That's a car payment. Eric: So how many a week, on average, right now? Maggie Thorsen: Saturdays, I'd say one to two. Across the whole week, probably four or five that are either full ghosts or so-late it may as well be. Eric: And you've been eating that for how long? Maggie Thorsen: Eleven years. Give or take. Eric: Okay. And no deposit policy, no card on file, nothing like that. Maggie Thorsen: Nothing. I know, I know. I just... I started in my basement. Everybody was a friend of a friend. It felt weird to be like, give me your Visa or you can't get bangs. Eric: Right. Maggie Thorsen: And now I have actual clients, actual overhead, and I still haven't done the thing. Eric: Can I diagnose for a second? Maggie Thorsen: Please. That's why I'm here. Eric: So you said something that really stuck out to me. You said, "I know exactly who the repeat offenders are in my head." Maggie Thorsen: Mhm. Eric: In your HEAD. Maggie Thorsen: Yeah... Eric: That's the whole problem. The problem isn't actually "I don't have a deposit policy." The problem is you have no system that remembers for you. Maggie Thorsen: Oh. Eric: Because every Saturday morning, you are the system. You are the one going, "oh yeah, her, she did this last time, I should've asked for a card." And then it's seven a.m. and you've got coffee and you just... book her. Maggie Thorsen: I just book her. Every time. Eric: Every time. Maggie Thorsen: Because I like her. She tips well when she shows up. Eric: Right, when she shows up. Maggie Thorsen: When she shows up. Eric: Okay so here's the thing. When we started running our agency, we had the exact same shape of problem. Different industry, same shape. Clients who'd ghost a discovery call. Prospects who'd book and bail. And I kept thinking it was a policy problem. Maggie Thorsen: And it wasn't. Eric: It was a memory problem. It was a "nothing talks to anything else" problem. My calendar didn't know who my repeat flakes were. My intake form didn't know. My texts didn't know. It was all in my head and in like, four different tabs. Maggie Thorsen: That's me. That's literally me. I've got a paper book, I've got the little salon app, I've got my notes app, and I've got my brain. Eric: Four systems. None of them talking. Maggie Thorsen: None of them talking. Eric: Okay so what we did, and what I'd want you to try, is we moved everything onto one platform. The all-in-one ops platform we run our agency on. I'm not gonna name it on the show because that's not the point, the point is the SHAPE of it. Maggie Thorsen: Okay. Eric: It does your booking, it does your texts to clients, it does your intake, it holds the card on file, and it does the little automations between those things. One place. One brain. Maggie Thorsen: One brain. God, that sounds nice. Eric: We also use Notion for the sort of internal, SOP-level stuff. Like how do we actually run the thing. But the client-facing operation lives on this one platform. Maggie Thorsen: Okay. Eric: So here's what I ...
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    11 Min.
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