Barber Hacks: 5 Tips To Create Loyal Customers

Barberhacks is here to help you become the best barber that you can be. This blog focuses on how to Barber Better.

I spend all day standing behind a chair, and I hardly ever sit in one. I’m never a customer, so how am I supposed to relate to one? I’ve talked about this before, but since I’ve started researching for a book that I plan to write, I’m thinking about this idea a lot. What does a guest think, what does a guest want?

We’re in customer service after all, we’re groomers, we make others look and feel good about themselves and their looks. I’m beginning to realize it's not all about getting the crispiest fade, or the most technical haircut, service is a large part of what makes people feel satisfied.

I started my career as an assistant in a salon that charged a minimum of $100 for a haircut, and a good part of our reputation was built on customer service. I didn’t quite understand why I did what I did, but I made sure that every customer that came through the door was made to feel special. I greeted them by their names, took their jacket, directed them towards their stylist, got them coffee or tea, chatted to them about what had happened in their lives, ran to get them lunch, and much more. My whole job at that time was to create a flawless customer service experience.

Throughout my career I feel as though I have waxed and waned with customer service, often sacrificing it in order to ‘make more money’. What I didn’t really understand is that service is half of what people pay you money for.

If you want to see an uptick in your customer base, if you want to create loyal customers that trust you, follow these tips:

Sunny Disposition

You don’t have to be a friend to every single person that rotates through your chair, but it helps to be welcoming. You don’t have to bomb every single client with a giant goofy grin (but if that is your personality though, go right ahead). Don’t throw your smiles away for free, but if your guest happens to say something amusing, or funny, take the time to look them in the eye and give them a smile. This makes everything seem so much more genuine, they will feel as though they earned your respect and admiration.

On top of this, approaching your service with positivity is contagious. Laughter, eye contact and a good story will go a long ways in helping people like you.

Here is another quick tip, if someone asks you how long you’ve been doing the job, or where you’re from, don’t just answer with one word, elaborate on it. If you just started barbering, tell them that and talk about what barbering school was like. If you give your guest something to latch onto, you’ll have an amazing discussion on your hands.

Make Them Feel Like A Baller

We all want Drake to come and sit down in our chair and get a haircut. Reputations are built on cutting celebrity’s hair. Try to imagine every person that sits in your chair is the cut that will make your career. If there is something that you can do that will make every single person sit in your chair feel special, do it.

Take five extra minutes to do some detail work, hand texturize the top of the head, add a dab of cologne to your service or a scalp massage. Especially do this if you don’t have a full client list, if you have extra time on your hands, make sure that every person in your chair gets the deluxe service.

Treat people like they are the most interesting person that you’ve ever met, and they will love you for it. Listen to what they say, repeat it back to them, and ask them questions based on what they have told you. They’ll love you forever.

Note The Details

It is so damn easy to think about your laundry list of to-dos while you are barbering, but I’ll let you in on an easy way to make someone feel amazing...listen to what they are saying and remember it.

If you can remember details about every single customer that comes through your shop, the name of their dog, a business venture that they’re involved in, where they are vacationing, and then ask them about it the next time they come through the door, you’ll have customers for life.

Don’t think you can manage this? Write it down. I have a small notebook where I attempt to write down the names and details of each customer in an annotated form.

Don’t have the time to do this? Make time. Get a note app for your phone and spend a minute quickly dictating it to the app. If you have a really bad memory like I do, take a picture of the haircut and person to go along with this detail and finish off your day by going through the pictures and adding more details.

NO NO

I’ve had the habit of saying ‘no’ when I’m agreeing with someone. I’ll start a sentence with ‘No’, and then go on to agree with them. I’m actually trying to take ‘no’ out of my customer service experience altogether.

Nobody likes to hear the word, ‘no’, especially when it is directed towards them. If someone is asking you to do something that you can’t do, don’t say that you can’t do it, suggest something else and tell them the reason why.

‘I totally agree with you, although if I leave hair around the crown it won’t stick up quite so much”, is a great way to phrase something in a way that doesn’t belittle the opinion of your customer while allowing you to have an opinion of you own.

Compliments

Don’t be afraid to say how much you like someone, or something that they’ve done. You can show admiration for their watch, their jacket, or the amazing car that they drove to the shop.

A couple of well placed words will do wonders for your customer relationships. Try it out today and let me know what you think in the comments section. This is easily one of the best tips I have ever gotten for customer service, because everyone loves having something nice said about them.

In Conclusion

Your job is to make someone feel as handsome as you can make them, and while it starts with a good haircut, your service lives and dies based on a customer’s experience.

The tips here are great places to start in order to craft an experience that makes your guest feel as though they have received a service that is worth the money they have spent and even more.

If you deliver great customer service your guests will feel thoroughly appreciated and understood. You’ll notice your gratuities rise, your client retention will rise, and your relationships will become closer and more respectful.

So concentrate this week on your services, and on making your services the best that you possibly can.

Until next week, stay sharp,

Crowbarber