Quick Tips for a Successful Barbershop
You know your shop is one in a million, right? You’re confident in your biz, in your barbering dream team, in your own skills as an owner or manager. You already know that when a customer walks through your shop doors, they’re about to receive stellar service from a stand-out shop.
But do your customers know that?
What we’re getting at here is this—there are thousands upon thousands of barbershops spanning the country. There are probably plenty of them in your own backyard (hello, you’ve got competition).
What’s uniquely special and stands out about your shop that’s going to snag a passerby off the street and make them want to walk in? What’s so stand out about your shop that you’re going to not only draw in customers, but keep them coming back for more?
If you’re having trouble answering, you might want to put just a smidge more thought into how you can make your barbershop stand out. Lucky for you, we’ve got a whole blog post full of recommendations.
While we always encourage barbers to put their thinkin’ caps on and get creative about their own solutions, we also love to offer a little inspo to get those juices flowing. In the spirit of sharing, we’ve listed out a few factors that can help set your barbershop apart from the rest.
Get to reading and let this list inspire you!
In-Shop Experience Should be Top-Notch
From the second a customer walks toward your shop door until the moment they leave, their in-shop experience should be nothing but next-level. That means your customer service, your shop’s aesthetic, your fun little bonus offerings (water or beer or snacks, etc.), should all be sorted out before a customer walk through the door.
While customers will always appreciate talent and a quality cut, they’re going to want to absorb an entire experience—which means that if you’re providing them with a quality visual, a quality aesthetic, and a quality feeling when they enter your shop, you’re doing them a disservice.
Don’t Skimp on Customer Service
We’re going to say this loud and clear so there’s no confusion whatsoever about your industry—you’re in the customer service business, people. Yes. You’re immensely creative. You’re super talented. You’re, no doubt, an artist. But at the end of the day, in the barbering business, your talent is only going to get you so far—your success, and your shop’s success, is going to wholly boil down to how you treat your customers.
Customer service is, without a doubt, everything. And the easiest way that you can place your salon above the rest of your competitors is to showcase that fact loud and proud. Your customer experience should come before everything. Customers are smart. They can recognize when an experience is elevated, and they’re naturally drawn to a shop where their interests come first.
A quick tip? Unique customer service add-ons—like loyalty programs—can be a quick way to let your customers know you value themCurate a Deep Understanding of the Customer Experience
You can’t know what your customers are missing unless you have an actual understanding of what their experience is like.
Our suggestion? Endure what your customers do. Have a full-fledged, start-to-finish customer experience—from the moment you Google your shop to the 2-weeks post-appointment check-in. Unless you’re totally up-to-speed about the actual process, you’ll have no idea what your experience is missing out on.
See how your employees work with customers, sit in the waiting room for a half-hour on a busy day, get an actual cut, schedule a follow-up appointment. Go through the entire process to get a feel for how it works. Further, send out surveys to customers, ask your regulars, and listen to online reviews—if you don’t open your ears and let the customers tell you what’s good and what’s bad, you’ll never know what to improve.
Lagging Social Media Won’t Cut It
Love the digital age or hate it, we’re not about to pretend that social media isn’t important. If your shop’s social media experience is less than desirable, you’re not doing everything you can to set your shop apart.
Our suggestion? Do a total social media rehaul. Make sure your feeds, profiles, interactions, and strategies are in check and on point. Why? Because not only does your online image matter, but also, that’s precisely where customers turn to get a feel for who you are, what you do, and what you value.
If you’re not totally social media savvy (or feel intimidated by this process), download our Social Media Guide below to get a jump start on your digital future.
Showcase Your Skill with Salon Reviews
It’s 2020, you guys, so give the people what they want—social proof. Your social media is already top-notch, so be sure to complement your digital skills even further by optimizing the reviews customers leave you.
How do you go about that? Check out our blog post right here for some quick tips to make sure people are seeing the social proof they need before they decide to book with you.
Got a few more tips you think we missed out on? Tell us in the comments how you make sure your barbershop stays steps ahead of the competition. Yeah, that’s right, we want that secret sauce that makes your barbershop legit—we can bet your fellow barbering brothers and babes will whole-heartedly appreciate your contribution.
If you’re digging what we’re doing here—you know, providing you with the best of the best barbershop biz advice, insight, and trends—then we definitely encourage you to read NAOB’s blog.
Why? Because we’re consistently posting regular updates that you won’t want to miss out on—we’re constantly chatting about the barbering industry, barbering biz tips, and of course, bringing you the tricks of the trade you need to set your shop apart from the rest.
