Barbershops and the barbers that operate them have been staples of the United States for decades. However, sometimes nostalgia can cloud smart business decisions. Often, it’s important to listen to customer feedback and follow modern best practices to determine what will and won’t work for your barbershop.
A great way to get started is by sprucing up your business. Whether you’re looking at investing in new barber chairs and salon furniture or you’re trying to improve customer service and customer satisfaction, here are some key ways to develop a high-quality shop that will last for years to come.
Revamp the interiors.
If you’ve ever gotten a haircut or shave and found that you had to sit in a somewhat-dilapidated barber chair, you know just how much it can dampen the experience. Think of your average beauty salon which often focuses on luxury and comfort. A barbershop should operate in a similar fashion. Sometimes, the first step is to upgrade your barber chairs, salon furniture, and interiors to change the consumer perception of your shop.
When you’re outfitting your salon, look at market research to see which products resonate with customers the most. A deluxe barber chair, for instance, should be durable, include a hydraulic pump, and have solid online reviews if it’s going to be the perfect addition to your business. While a heavy-duty barber chair may not seem like the best allocation of your finances, a salon chair does more for customer loyalty than you’d expect. Even a simple search for “barber shop chairs for sale” can help you find the right products for your salon’s atmosphere.
Listen to your clients.
Listening to the voice of the customer is the best way to ensure that you’re meeting client standards. This will help your staff meet key metrics for customer expectations and can help address the overall customer journey. So, how do you get this critical information? Do you fill out a questionnaire template and hope you get enough respondents to determine customer needs? Do you try to assess your weaknesses on your own? While these are all valuable, the best way to drive research is by using the Voice of the Customer online survey program.
A VOC survey can help with market research, focus groups, and the overall customer experience. The VOC program’s customer surveys can even assist with product development depending on the survey responses. The Voice of the Customer program gives you the opportunity to drive customer success for each participant and rethink your behavior as a business owner as well as the behavior of clients. Customer surveys may seem like an outdated tool but modern touches can help you avoid churn and meet key customer success benchmarks. Leverage VOC feedback to spruce up your shop and improve your bottom line.
Use smarter tools.
Do you know the right time to post on social media? Do you ask survey questions on your LinkedIn or do you look for another platform? Better yet, if your company name visible on Google? Barbershops, beauty salons, spas, and tattoo parlors alike can leverage technology to their benefit. From CRM systems to social media platforms, it’s important that you’re adding the right tools to your kit, and not just at each barber station.
Sprucing up your barbershop might seem like a large undertaking. After all, part of the appeal of a barbershop is the nostalgia. However, don’t let this be one of the detractors to your success. Whether you’re using tools like live chat to engage with customers or you’re simply installing new hydraulic barber chairs, refreshing your barbershop doesn’t have to be a headache.
