I went on vacation this week (so this post is a week after), and during my trip I went to an established barber shop in a big city. Therein read this week’s lesson.
I have been in the hair game for a long time and got used to fast and dirty haircuts after work.
I’m lying a little, I work in a hairdressing salon, where the hairdressers can beautifully strike my long shaggy hair, and they are patient and attentive to the fact that I am a picky client and want to have a proper haircut. But I worked in establishments where I got quick and dirty haircuts after work.
However, it doesn’t matter, until a few years ago it was a very long time since I had paid someone to cut my hair and experienced what it was like to be a customer. I think there are a lot of us in the industry who haven’t been on the customer side of the chair for a very long time.
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A few years ago I started seeing hairdressers when I went on vacation. Sometimes I told them that I was a hairdresser, and sometimes I lied about my vocation, told them I was a tax lawyer or something.
Being a customer has changed the way I do business. Here are five ways I, as a customer, have changed my view of shaving.
BAD HAIRCUTS ARE NOT FUN
It’s been a while since I was really unhappy with my haircut. There were a few missteps here and there, but overall I was happy with how my hair was cut, faded and the like by my colleagues. After going to barbershops who do not know my hair and how it grows, and asking for haircuts that were not always fashionable (a flat top), I had some questionable haircuts. I forgot what a bad haircut is, what it does to you, how it reduces your walking and how you behave.
A bad haircut made me realize what strength I hold in my hands and how I can ruin someone’s day, week and month in half an hour. After paying for a bad haircut that I had to fix in my hotel room, I checked myself.
I can’t imagine living with a bad haircut for a few weeks, but we have the power to make or break someone. Remember, the next time someone is sitting in your chair and you are in a hurry to earn some money, go out the door at a certain time or just could not take care of your job.
I will never really understand a hairdresser who does this only for the money and does not take the time to hone his craft and just beat up bad haircut after bad haircut for the sake of the almighty dollar. It makes me very sad just to see and have to fix the strange haircut that someone butchered.
Take the time you need to make a good haircut and make sure you listen to what the person wants. If the two of you do not communicate well, mistakes can be made that the client will never get over.
HOW YOU TALK TO A PERSON IS IMPORTANT
One of the most pleasant experiences I have had came through a hairdresser in the seventies. This hairdresser could hardly stand, had shaky hands, and I did not hope that I would not be carried out of the hairdressing salon in a body bag because of blood loss.
The room was very clean and the bed was very comfortable. Communicating with someone and entertaining him is just as important as the haircut.
I know that I got caught while cutting the hair, without the personal side of the cut. This is especially true when I’m working on perfecting a new technique, and I generally don’t have regular customers when I’m in the process.
The interaction between a hairdresser and the person in his chair is important. Pay attention to names, to stories and refer to what you hear in your conversations. Tell stories, have a personality and try your best to be friendly.
A GOOD SERVICE MEANS SOMETHING
To be on the receiving end of a good service is incredible. Everything is going well and there is a smile everywhere.
The room was very clean and the bed was very comfortable.
I notice when I don’t get a thorough service and I don’t know if that’s because I’m a hairdresser, but I imagine that a customer coming through your chair can notice it too.
If you don’t know what customer service is, take a look at the busiest hairdresser in your store and do what he does. Do they all sculpt with one blade? Do they include a mini facial along with a shave? Chances are good that you will do something (in addition to the haircut) that will expand your services.
If you can add value to your client (in addition to a good haircut), you will be appreciated.
PRICE DOES NOT MEAN BETTER
I have insane respect for anyone in this game who does it at any cost. The price does not mean that you need to get a better haircut. Some of the best hairdressers I’ve ever worked with have been hairdressers who offer their services.
I’ve gone to high-end barber shops over and over again, and even though there’s a busy barber outside the shop finishing him, a great interior and a shot of bourbon and a beer don’t make for a great haircut.
If shaving stops powered for a haircut and starts actually powered living wages, I am constantly reminded that just because you are charged a good price for a haircut does not mean that you will necessarily get one.
Charge what you are worth. Don’t be afraid of losing customers, you will find more, and if you don’t, those inexpensive wrongdoer who left you when you started asking for more will always be on top to get you back.
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER
- I judge a book by its cover. I’m so shallow. And I know that all the time I am judged by how I look. I am a classic hairdresser who works in an urban hair salon. I don’t dress like many of my clients. I’m judged every day by how I look.
- If I had a dollar for every time someone asks me if I know what a skin fade is, I wouldn’t have to work.
- Still, I show up every day and look and feel like I’m on top of the world. I walk with confidence knowing that I can finish any type of hair that walks through the door.
You can’t dummy that.
- I can spot someone giving me a good haircut or a bad haircut from the other side of the room. I can tell you exactly what kind of barber you are, and I can tell you what weaknesses you have…99% of the time.
- I imagine that at least 50 percent of modern men can do the same, if not more. With YouTube and the internet at the forefront, men are better informed about what they want to look like. You can probably tell them tidbits about your job that you don’t even know.
- Do not stop studying, because you will have that one person in your chair who does not want your specialty, and you will not be able to pretend to yourself because of this.
- The moment you stop learning is the moment you pass away. If this happens, choose another profession and get out of this one, because we do not want you.
I am proud of the failure because it motivates me to become better.
When I’m in a business that finishs the game, when I’m surrounded by the best people in the game, I want to be better, because otherwise I feel like a failure. I know that there are thousands of hairdressers who are better than me, and I love the challenge of self-improvement.
Being in a new store and seeing others like me makes me incredibly happy. It makes me happy to be a hairdresser, to be proud of my job and to know that I still have so much to learn.
final
Getting out of your business and into others can be inspiring. It can show you so much about what you want in your own career and what you don’t want. It can remind you what it’s like to be a customer again and allow you to provide better service to those who come to your chair. It can remind you how much fun it is to get your hair cut well, and how terrible it is to get a bad haircut.