How to Retain Barbering Clients

A Barber’s Guide to Keep Clients Coming Back Again & Again

This is the official permission you needed to look at every single customer as a long-term relationship. From now on, take a peek at every customer sitting in your chair and ask what you can do to ensure they keep coming back for more. In other words, don’t just thank your lucky stars they’re there for this moment. Think about how you get them back in your chair from here on out. 

So, what’s the secret to getting a customer to come back time and time again to your barbershop? 

Well, as it turns out, there’s no one big secret–there are a lot of small things you can do to make sure customer retention is smooth sailing.

What are those small secrets? We’re here to share them with you right here, right now.  

Top Tips for Barbering Client Retention: How to Retain Clients at Your Barbershop 

Streamline the Customer Experience 

A customer’s journey through your shop is a massively important factor that will determine if they choose to become a regular at your barbershop. In other words, customer satisfaction is everything. 

So, we’re asking you to think about your customer’s experience from start to finish. 

Yep, we mean really from start to finish–like from the moment they first hear about you until they step out of your shop after their first appointment with you. Walk through the whole thing and start asking questions. 

• What could you do better?
• What’s something you’re doing well?
• Does the customer get a fully customized experience from start to finish?
• What’s missing from this experience?
• Is it easy to book immediately after their appointment? 
• How does the customer feel about every part of the process?

Think about this on your own terms, but reach out to your staff, too. And don’t be afraid to ask customers how they feel about this as well (especially customers who have stuck with you!). What can you improve, what can you make more seamless, and what are you doing right? 

Think about adding in incentives, too. Can you say loyalty programs, anyone? 

Care About Your Customers 

It sounds silly because we’re sure that deep down, you care immensely about the customers who come in and out of your shop. But the key to retaining customers is to truly care about them. Be a resource for them, be a foundation for them–listen to them. 

Develop relationships with them and be a sounding board. Don’t be afraid to be invested in your customers’ stories, their challenges, their triumphs–that’s part of life! Your customers cannot just be faceless transactions–people want to feel known, seen, heard, and appreciated. Caring about your customers is a foundational part of retaining your customers. 

Ask for Feedback–Then Implement It 

Take your customer’s feedback to heart. Without them, your business wouldn’t exist! So, next time you get a customer comment and think, “well, that’s just someone being bitter,” or “eh, I get it, but I don’t want to implement that,” really consider the source and the purpose behind that feedback. 

Sure, some customers are going to be too hard to please no matter what–we can’t do anything about that. But if you ask your customers for feedback and they give it to you, don’t ignore it.

Customers will notice if you don’t pay attention to their experiences or their feedback–and if they actually have some ground to stand on, they’ll likely be hurt if you ignore their criticisms or comments. 

Listen to your customers, hear what they’ve got to say, and implement changes that make sense for your shop and your customer’s experience. 

Follow-Up & Pre-Book 

Don’t just leave your clients hanging once they stand up from your chair.

Whether you set up a complete workflow/ process from the moment they step out the door to setting up incentivizing programs for pre-booking at the shop, this is one of the easiest and most effective ways to get your clients back in your chair time and time again. 

Personalize Your Marketing & Communication 

Don’t forget to personalize the way you speak to your clients–especially in your marketing strategies. Sure, you don’t have the time to directly text reminders to each client or send out individual emails with personal details about your relationships to each client, but you’d be surprised how much just adding a client’s name to a marketing piece can make a difference.

People don’t want to feel like one of many–they want to feel special! Personalizing your communication, focusing on them, and prioritizing their pain points can make an enormous difference in client retention. 

Count Relationships, Not Transactions

We mentioned this a bit before, but caring about your clients as people–not as transactions–is one of the ways to make the biggest impact on your client retention.

It can be tempting to think about your clients as dollars walking in and out of your shop, but if you invest in your clients (and your relationships with them), you’ll gain more than just regular income–you’ll gain friends, confidants, and people you actually enjoy being around. That’s just as rewarding as a steady profit, in our opinion.