To Rebook or Not to Rebook:
How a Barber Should Handle Whatever Comes Next
That moment—post-cut, buzz, or chop—where we look to our clients, hopefully totally absorbed with adoring their new dos, and ask something along the lines of, “so, would you like to rebook with me in a few weeks?”
The time between asking the question and getting their answer can feel like freakin’ infinity.
And when the answer does come, eventually, it’s not always what we want to hear. But what does it mean when a client chooses to rebook or not rebook with you? Is it a reflection on you? Does it mean you did something exceptionally well or exceptionally bad?
Look, there’s a lot of technicalities that go into a client’s decision to book with you again or move on, and while it’s totally impossible to cover every eventuality, this blog is going to provide a littler barbering booking guidance to help you better understand the rebooking thing as well as help you snag a rebook more often.
So, let’s just go right ahead and break down what each of these decisions can mean for you as a barber, and better yet, what you can learn about each of these client decisions.
Let’s Talk Clients Rebooking: Why it Rocks & What it Means
Pretend we’re reading a “choose your own adventure” story. Now pretend you’ve picked the path where your hypothetic client has chosen to rebook with you. First things first, let’s do a freakin’ happy dance, all right?
Getting a client to rebook—even if you’re a badass barber—can be a challenge because there can be so many factors in the mix, like:
- Pricing
- Experience
- Personalities
- Environment
- Time
- Performance
- Satisfaction
In other words, that list could go on and on. So, when a client decides they want to rebook with you, you best believe a little celebration is in order.
Rebooking is awesome for a lot of reasons. Not only does it mean you’re on your way to adding a new name to your list of regulars, but it also means that the work you put into attracting new clients has paid off, you’ve set yourself up for future revenue, and you’ve (yet again) proven that you’ve got serious skills.
Think about it—rebooking with your clients (especially right after their cut) means that you’ll have a guaranteed appointment with a client in a few weeks. That’s pretty sweet, right? Now imagine that you can do that with a majority of your clients—you’d likely be booked solid every single for at least a month or two in advance. That type of security and surety is an absolute godsend in the industry (as you know).
Getting your clients to rebook on the reg is a must if you’re looking for an increase in your skills, your confidence, and your revenue, too. So, what is our best advice for making this process simple and straightforward? A few things:
- Invest in a great, automated booking system so this process is never messy or confusing.
- Create an undeniably great reward program to incentivize clients to keep up with their appointments.
- Work on developing open dialogue and solid relationships with your clients—that way, you’ll be able to better understand why they book with you and not someone else. Then, you can keep that up and make changes where necessary.
What About NOT Rebooking: Why it Matters & How to Learn From It
We’re going to break some news to you—at some point in your barbering career, someone is going to make the decision not *gasp* NOT rebook with you.
First things first, don’t panic.
Like we said before, there are so many factors that go into this decision—it’s entirely likely that client’s choice to not rebook with you has literally nothing to do with you.
Still, that doesn’t mean that’s always the case—and even so, whenever a client chooses not to rebook with, you should use it as a time to reflect, evaluate, and analyze. Consider it the most important learning opportunity ever.
Want to know what we’d do if a client didn’t rebook with us? Something like this:
- Don’t dwell and beat yourself up but take the time to evaluate the entire appointment. Try to identify anything that might not have gone as planned. Ask important questions about your performance, how your personalities meshed, the environment, the vibe, and more.
- Talk to a co-worker, boss, or colleague about it—be honest in the re-telling of the appointment so you can get real, actionable input and advice.
- Don’t chase down a client who isn’t interested. While you should definitely follow up with your clients, don’t waste your time, energy, or resources on chasing clients who are not interested in your services. There’s a difference between converting a sale and trying to force someone into being your client—try to know the difference.
Loving our sage advice? We sure as heck hope so!
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