The
average pay for a barber in America is around $40,000 a year. Of course,
location and experience play a huge role in what you will be taking home at the
end of the week, but for the sake of establishing a national average, the
typical barber in America will make somewhere around $40,000 a year. Some of
you may make more, some of you may make less, but here’s the common principle
we all have in common—we all want to make more.
There are a few ways to make more money within the barbering industry, some
of which require an initial investment which you may or may not have at this
time, but today I am going to be talking about what you can do to make that
wallet fatter starting right now.
Barbering
is a funny industry. You go to school or take part in an apprenticeship for a
given length of time, take the tests, get certified, and offer a service that
not just anyone can perform. Its not the same as a career in the restaurant
industry, where an individual can train for a week to serve tables and
immediately start making $20-$30 in base pay and tips. It takes a skilled
artist to visualize the “canvas” in the chair, and an even better artist to
make this visualization come to life, however, customers in the barbering
industry are renown for their “stingy tipping.” Actually, many customers do not
even know that tipping is actually expected.
If someone forgets to tip their waiter, everyone in the restaurant crew knows.
If someone doesn’t tip their barber… well, that’s actually pretty common, so
perhaps not a word would be spoken. So here’s my first “tip” for increasing
your income in the barbering industry—increase your tips.
“But Tyler, I have been cutting
hair for 20 years. Customers are going to tip what they are going to tip! I
just need to increase my prices.” Well, perhaps. Look at other shops in your
area. Are you charging $8 a cut when the shop down the road is charging $20? If
they have just as much traffic as you, then perhaps it might be time to raise
the cost of your service. If they are not getting much traffic, well, that
probably means you have their potential clientele, in which case I would
suggest keeping your pricing quite competitive. But lets get down to the
numbers…sure, you may be charging $15-$20 for a haircut, which seems to be the
average cost of a cut in the US, but this haircut takes you anywhere from 30
minutes to an hour to complete, depending if you offer other services or not. Let’s
say that you charge a typical customer $25 for a cut, a wash, and
styling—depending on the customer, you will have just grossed $25 for nearly an
hour of work. Ok, that sounds decent, right? But what’s YOUR cost for the
service? How much is your space rent? Are you charged per month, per customer,
or perhaps even both? I recently ran into an area where a small chain of shops
charges their barbers a large monthly due, as well as 50% of their base
earnings.
How are you suppose to make money when you are being charged this
much, or your operating cost is high? First off, I would really hope that you
are not at a shop that potential has the ability to take 75%-80% of your total
earnings (yes, these shops DO exist). Second, if you find yourself with decent
traffic, competitive pricing, and a great location, but you are still pinching
pennies to pay bills, the immediate action I would suggest is changing your
game in order to maximize your tip ratio. If you want to maximize your tips,
here’s my suggestion…be an A.S.S.—“Attitude,” “Service,” “Settlement.” Let’s
start with attitude.
ATTITUDE: If you want to increase your tips,
your attitude needs to change. Ok, I get it…you are already a nice person, and
you have a great clientele already established. But you want to make more in
tips, right? Change your attitude. A lot of barbers are busy with their current
cut, or they are preoccupied in a conversation when a customer walks through
the door. The first instinct is to continue what you are doing, but I want to
challenge this—genuinely and sincerely greet the new customer who just walked
through the door. From the customer’s standpoint, there are many barbers who
will not greet them when they walk in. Stand out as someone different. The
barbers they are accustomed to were not rude, but they did not go the extra
mile to ensure the new customer felt welcomed. I know what you are
thinking…”I’m already with a client, so why would I give my attention to
someone else?” Listen, we are not talking about “scathing by” for the cost of
the cut…we are talking about increasing your tips, which means you are going to
need to go above and beyond, giving attention to as many people you have
waiting for you. People want to feel special—put yourself in their shoes. If
you have an hour and a half wait, and a customer walks in KNOWING how long they
will be there yet still chooses to stay, and you don’t particularly greet them
as an individual? Well, I know I would not feel special. Here’s the thing, they
might not be special. They might be a #2 all the way around—just another head
in line. They might even smell bad and have a “snow” covered scalp. However, if
you make them feel like the freaking King of France when they walk through your
door, a good tip might be waiting for you at the end of the process. Change
your attitude so that every single customer who walks through that door becomes
your favorite customer. Another way of saying it? Acknowledge every head that
walks in, and walks out of your shop.
I spend a lot of time on Yelp looking at
potential shops to visit, and the number one complaint I see? “I walked in the
shop, and I was not acknowledged.”
Here’s the deal, increasing your tips and retaining customers is directly
related. If a customer walks into your shop, and you do not warmly great or
acknowledge them, one of two things will happen. (1) The customer will stay,
receive your service, and carry on with their day, or (2) the customer will
leave. If the first option is what happens, don’t expect to get a fat tip. If
the second option happens, you just lost a customer. A few years ago, I went to
a new shop I had never been to before for a clean up. The shop I went to had
good reviews, and the atmosphere was comfortable. I walked in and sat in an
open chair with only a few people in front of me—maybe an hour wait, tops. I
waited a good 30 minutes, then a new customer walked right in and sat down in
the chair. Come to find out, it was appointment day, and I was not even able to get a cut.
In retrospection, I should have
asked what the schedule looked like when I immediately walked in, but the truth
in this story is that not every customer is going to come into your shop
knowing the routine, and not every customer is going to know what to do. Now,
if the barber would have looked up at me and greeted me warmly saying something
like, “Hey! Thanks for stopping by today, but I’m actually completely booked
with appointments! I take walk-in the rest of the week, or you can set an appointment
with me for next week,” I totally would have been back. The atmosphere was
great! But what really happened was that I heard another customer say something
about an appointment day, so I stood up and started to leave. As I was walking
to the door, I asked the barber if he had any open slots for the day, when he
said, “Nope.” Nothing else, just “nope.” I left and never went back, and even
if I did get a cut that day, I’m not sure I would have actually tipped him well
at all. The unfortunate thing? I tip anywhere between 30%-50% for my haircuts.
Don’t be the guy who does not acknowledge customers, because not only will your
tips suck, but you might lose potential customers. Change your attitude, change
your tips.
SERVICE: Moving onto the second principle in
being an A.S.S., service, I can’t
help but feel like I’m telling you something you already know. If you do good
work, your tips will be better! Dur. If you do a sucky job and cut a brother
up, he MIGHT pay you for your service, but he surely is not going to tip you!
Now, there’s a life lesson to learn here that some of us went years without
knowing—mistakes are a part of life. No one is perfect, so don’t try to be
perfect. No matter how much experience you have, or how gifted you or a friend
may be at fading or shaving, every single person makes mistakes. Do not hold
yourself to such a high standard that you get discouraged when you make a
mistake, but here’s the deal…limit your mistakes to a minimum. Provide a
thorough service where you pay attention to detail, are not rushed, and where
YOU feel comfortable, and I promise
that you will see your tips increase through the bloody roof. Ok, you see where
paying attention to detail and not being rushed come into play, but let me
explain how your comfort plays a key role—you see, when you feel stressed,
those around you will feel stressed. When you feel comfortable, those around
you will feel comfortable. I don’t know what you would feel uncomfortable
about, but it happens. If you are picking up that “comfort” seems related to
attitude, then good job. Your attitude does affect your service, even if ever
so slightly, so make sure that you feel comfortable, as your client will likely
feel comfortable as well.
Now, there is a huge difference
between feeling comfortable and being unprofessional. Of course, this looks
different for every shop depending on area and location, but if your “comfort”
is contrary to the professionalism of the shop, then it’s time to find a new
way to get comfortable. People are more likely to pay a premium price for a professional
service, so if you want to get better tips, be more professional! You have kids
frequent the shop? Better to watch your mouth. Mama will give you a handsome
tip for cleaning her son up and for being a good example. Do you have business
men frequent your shop? Try wearing slack and a button up shirt. You probably
don’t need to go all out with a tie and oxford shoes, but it might be a good
idea to “dress up” a little more to maintain a more professional
environment—but on the other side of the coin, “dressing down” is also
considered a form of professionalism. If you live in rural Virginia, slacks and
a tie might take away from the
professionalism of your shop. Know your community, know your customers, and
develop a professional environment where you feel comfortable, therefore
allowing the customer to feel comfortable. (Here’s a secret! When people feel
comfortable, they are generally willing to pay more for a product or service!)
SETTLEMENT: Finally, the last principle in
being an “A.S.S.”—settlement. Ok, I totally
could have just used the term “payment” to explain this principle just as well,
but then I wouldn’t have been able to use this awesome acronym. Regardless, payment options can be your good friend
when deciding how you can increase your tips. Some shops choose to simply work
as a “cash only” establishment, while others don’t mind using all methods of
payment, i.e., cash, cards, checks, Pokémon cards, etc…now, if you operate
strictly as a cash only establishment, know that you are limiting yourself to
the potential of gaining more tips. In decades past, this was not an issue at
all—card fees were expensive, and people always carried cash (in big and small
bills) with them. However, most people carry very little cash with them at any
given time, with the younger generations sticking almost exclusively to cards.
I don’t want to overwhelm you with payment options right now, but I will say
that methods like “Apple Pay” are getting more popular, and may soon emerge as
a primary payment method in the market. Food for thought. Now, since the
“cashless” generation is emerging into the market as the primary consumer, its
should be noted that when an establishment maintains a cash only operation, the
individual will have to specifically pull out the amount of your service. If
you offer $15 cuts, the customer might only bring $15. Remember, tipping the
barber is not the most thought of field for tipping services.
If you are a cash only shop, I
understand. Credit card machines have been expensive, the services can be
expensive to maintain, and it certainly takes away from the whole “classic
barbershop” experience. However, there are currently options for taking
electronic payment methods which are inexpensive and fast. I would highly
suggest looking into Square readers and likewise companies which are able to
offer inexpensive and fast services. I know what you are thinking though, “but
it’s still a percentage off the top of what I will charge the customer!” Well,
here’s the kicker—you can charge your customers the card fees if necessary. If
you have a 3% card charge, let the customer know beforehand that using any card
will result in a 3% charge! It’s that simple. But here’s the real benefit of
using a card payment system like Square—you can generate a tip amount! When
your customer swipes their card, they generally have to sign the digital
receipt, which YOU are able to customize for tipping! Yes, you will have to
claim this tip as it shows up in your bank account, however similar programs
allow you to customize automatic tipping scales. If you offer a $20 cut, the
customer will have the option to tip you on the card reader (which is
programmed via an app through a mobile device). You give them the device, and
they have the opportunity to click on a percentage which you customize: (1) 30%
Tip, (2) 20% Tip, (3) 15% Tip, (4) Customize Tip (where they can put 0% if they
choose). Usually, you are standing right in front of them waiting for the
device, so I really don’t want to encourage this…but it’s totally a form of
guilt tripping. Hey, I’m not saying that you should be looking directly at
their hands, or make eye contact, but if you do, you might be surprised how
many people click the “30%” option. You might be hard pressed to find someone
who will deliberately go out of their way to click “Customize Tip” and give you
0%. If you do not have various forms of settling up with your customers, you
could miss out on some really decent tips, so explore different options to see
what will work best for you! Maybe you live in an area where cash flows freely?
Or maybe you live in an area where physical cash is dead? Either way, open your
shop’s payment methods up, and I’m certain you will see your tips increase.
Lets take a look back at the
numbers—the average barber makes $40,000 a year. Now, imagine if every customer
gave at least a 10% tip. That’s
$4,000 extra a year. Now, by being an A.S.S. to the best of your ability, you
could easily get your tips around the 20% range. Imagine being able to claim an
extra $10,000+ a year by utilizing these simple principles! Change your attitude and acknowledge customers, offer thorough service where you pay attention to detail and remain unrushed, and
offer various forms of settlement in
terms of payment methods designed to get you the most of your tips. But, here’s
the one thing that I have not yet mentioned. Every once in a while, you will
come across the individual who is simply a bad tipper. You all know someone
like this. It doesn’t matter the kind of service you give—you can give them the
best experience of their life, yet they will tip you the same (if at all) as
the person who gave them the worst experience. Don’t be discouraged by this,
and make sure that you are not this person.
There are people who are bad
tippers, and there is nothing you can do about it. Appreciate their business,
keep acknowledging customers with a friendly smile and a warm greeting, and
keep offering the best service that you possibly can. Challenge yourself daily,
and take record of your tips—at the end of this week, write down what your tips
were. Then, at the start of next week, utilize these principles to the best of
your ability and watch as your tips begin to soar through the roof. And one
final encouragement, practice. You may not see a huge return immediately, and
if you don’t, do not give up hope in A.S.S., just keep pursuing and watch as
your tips begin to make a difference.
-Tyler, MD BARBER
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