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Come Back Soon

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Come Back Soon

The Ending Has an Expiry Date

Doctors once made a colonoscopy longer on purpose so patients would come back; here's what that says about the mirror moment, why its pull fades before the next appointment, and the one thing to do before your client stands up.

Priya and Hector · 22 min · 13 Oct 2026

About this episode

In a Toronto trial, doctors left the scope in for about three extra minutes at the end of a colonoscopy, and more of those patients came back for the next one. Behind that trial is the peak-end rule: we remember an experience mostly by its high point and how it ended. Priya, a behavioural scientist who once did brows at a mall kiosk, and Hector, a barber with eighteen years behind the chair, look at how strong that evidence really is, where it breaks down, and why a haircut is more like a holiday than an ice bath.

Then comes the twist. Research suggests ending-driven memory starts to fade somewhere between three and seven weeks, which is about one haircut, colour or lash-fill cycle. So your mirror moment probably won't bring a client back six weeks from now. Its real job is the booking you ask for before they stand up. We say plainly what is proven, what is promising, and what no one has tested in a salon yet.

Hosted by Priya and Hector, from real reporting. Supported by Lynqly.

Sources

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