What Kind Of Barber Are You?

by Rien
5 replies
I went to see my barber yesterday and got a great lesson
in list building and customer service.

He has been cutting my hair for several years now and is
constantly booked. I can never just walk in to the shop to
get my hair cut from him, because I know that I will be
waiting at least a few hours - and that’s if I’m lucky.

He is an old school barber that takes his time and likes to
make sure that each client is completely happy with his/her
cut. He typically takes 30-45 minutes and my wife playfully
calls it Man-Grooming, lol.

There are a few other barbers like him, but there are also a
few others who never seem to have any clients at all. I asked
him about those barbers yesterday and he said, “We like to call
them drive through, you’ll see what I mean.”

Sure enough, the next fresh face that walked in was treated
to a 5-minute cut followed by a near sprint to the cash register
to collect payment, and hopefully a tip. No thank-you, no come
back and see us again, no nothing.

So I asked my barber, “What do you do when you get a new
client in?”

He answered “I give them my card which has my cell phone
number and the shop’s number, I ask for their cell phone number
and ask if I can follow up with them later.”

Throughout the year he also likes to give presents to his clients.
On random appointments I will get hair gel, a personalized calendar
with is information on it and pens. My son in turn gets candy, gift
certificates to McDonald’s and small toys.

And that is basically all he does to build a HUGE client base - collects
clients' information, follows up, gives them "bonuses" throughout
the year and treats them like his own family.

Here is the kicker. Those drive-through barbers are actually not
that bad. They have been around just as long as my barber has
and I don’t doubt their skills or abilities, BUT I will never go to them
because of the kind of service I get from my barber.

Now, over the years I have come to realize the importance of
building a relationship with my clients, but it took me a while. And
I am still trying to get better at it everyday.

So, what kind of barber are you?

Are you putting out content and just trying to make a few quick bucks,
or are you taking the time to build a relationship with your clients and
building a real business?
#barber #kind
  • Profile picture of the author marvelouz
    Wow yeah building client relationships is very important. I will admit I am the type who builds links and I rush them to the register I think most marketers do this because it just seems logical to get them in and out as fast as you can. Especially with impulsive buyers.
    Signature
    SERP CLIMBER - MOVE YOUR RANKINGS UP OVER 20K LINKS!

    Get your link diversity and velocity to climb the Google rankings!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4379757].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author enzymatic
    Im a bit like jen barber from the it crowd lol! ye i know what you mean. These days they grunt aiiiiiiiight maaaaaaaaaate then get the clippers and your'e out in 3 minutes. I was brought up properly and make sure i treat other the same way i like to be treated.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4379766].message }}
    • Great point and illustration! As a preacher I am always on the look out for human interest stories that will work as a sermon illustration. So double thanks: thank you for the well illustrated point you made, and thank you for a great illustration that I will use someday in one of my sermons.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4379832].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Anthony Lex
    I really like the analogy you've given here, although I can see where your coming from with your paticular barber clearly giving great customer service, I personally would go for the drive through option.

    My reasoning being that sometimes there is a requirement to get served quickly, as long as my barber did a quick job and was pleasant enough to me whilst cutting my hair I would be more than satisfied. There's a time and place for over doing customer service, to build relationships, but I don't feel at the barbers is the right place.

    Of course everyone is different, and it's probably why I don't have a great haircut, but I'm not too much fussed about hairstyles as long as I get my short back and sides done I'm plenty happy.

    So I feel that when providing a service whether online or off, being speedy can sometimes be a good thing. What we have to remeber is to not equate being fast, with being a poor service provider as there are many occasions where the quicker your customers get what they want from you the better.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4379823].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Rien
      Hey Anthony,

      Great points. I agree there are times when speed is an issue,
      and when I am in a rush I like the fact that I have a good
      relationship with my barber that I can ask him to speed it up.

      A great example is a while back when the Thor movie had just
      come out. The lines were ridiculous. The theater was right
      down the street from the barber and I wanted to get my son's
      haircut. Knowing he would take a while I asked him if he could
      just give him a quick cut, so we could make the movie. Sure
      enough we were in and out in ten minutes.

      Originally Posted by Anthony McCall View Post

      I really like the analogy you've given here, although I can see where your coming from with your paticular barber clearly giving great customer service, I personally would go for the drive through option.

      My reasoning being that sometimes there is a requirement to get served quickly, as long as my barber did a quick job and was pleasant enough to me whilst cutting my hair I would be more than satisfied. There's a time and place for over doing customer service, to build relationships, but I don't feel at the barbers is the right place.

      Of course everyone is different, and it's probably why I don't have a great haircut, but I'm not too much fussed about hairstyles as long as I get my short back and sides done I'm plenty happy.

      So I feel that when providing a service whether online or off, being speedy can sometimes be a good thing. What we have to remeber is to not equate being fast, with being a poor service provider as there are many occasions where the quicker your customers get what they want from you the better.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4379931].message }}

Trending Topics