National Clothesline

I meet Pat, my workout partner, at 5:30 sharp every morning. Last week, however, he arrived a half-hour late, sporting a new haircut. He had just come from the barbershop, which surprised me. I had no idea any barbershops in town opened that early.

It turns out that for the past eight years Pat’s had his haircut by the same barber at the same barbershop.

The shop, located next to the commuter train station, opens every morning at 5 a.m. as a convenience to businessmen heading into Chicago.

No other businesses in the area, including the coffee shops, open before 6 a.m., but all four chairs at the barbershop are full at 5 o’clock every weekday morning.

Lesson #1: If you make it convenient for people to do business with you, they will.

While pedaling our stationary bikes, Pat and I began comparing barber experiences.

Years ago, while in college, a classmate invited me to visit a salon she worked at as a hairdresser. She offered to cut my hair at no charge and being a struggling student the idea of something free worked for me. Sherry cut my hair through all the years I attended college. After graduation, I moved 40 miles away but still scheduled a commute to visit with her once a month.

Lesson #2: We will continue to do business with people we know, like and trust, especially if we are pleased with the service we receive.

This attraction is intensified when it concerns a personal service such as a haircut — the better the experience, the quicker the relationship is established and the stronger our loyalty becomes. (Drycleaning can also be considered a personal service).

We continued to share our ideas. It became obvious to me that little things mean a lot to Pat.

For example, he likes being greeted by name when he walks into the shop. It makes him feel like he belongs and that he is appreciated. And, if upon his arrival, all the chairs are occupied he likes the varied collection of “manly” magazines like Sports Illustrated and Popular Mechanics. You won’t find Elle, Cosmo or Oprah anywhere in the shop.

Of course, when you sit in a chair for 15 minutes or so, you’re going to have to talk and that’s really where relationships are established and it’s here that most barbers and hairdressers either gain a long-term client or lose someone. If they do it right, they get a repeat visit.

A good professional will be able to pick up a conversation where it left off a month or so earlier. Those little things!

Another detail that sets your barber apart is when you don’t have to explain about your hair and how you like it. The guy or girl “knows” the little things about you and just does it the way you want it done.

For Pat, the finishing touch in the barber chair is the warm shaving cream and the straight razor shave. My stylist doesn’t offer a shave but she gives great neck and face massages. A nice touch!

Lesson #3: Little things make a big difference in a customer’s overall experience, so don’t forget to pile on as many as you can.

Clearly, Pat doesn’t go back to the same barber because the haircut he gets is so much better than what he would get elsewhere. Not at all. He goes back because he feels comfortable there.

It’s the entire experience made up of a whole bunch of “little efforts” that makes the difference for the barbershop. When you add up all the efforts, the difference is huge!

The real advantage a barbershop has over many retail businesses is the fact that hair grows, so a visit to the shop is not a “one-time” sale. Like drycleaning, hair maintenance constitutes an excellent repeat business. People need it at regular intervals throughout the year.

Lesson #4: Give your customers a reason to come back to you over and over again.

Customers who pay for your service and have had a good experience are far more likely to want to purchase from you again, so it would be wise to look for other ways to serve their needs.

How?

Ask them. Conduct a customer survey or design a questionnaire. Have your customers participate and reward them for the participation. They will love to participate and will feel they’ve “earned” the reward if it is offered.

After having biked some seven miles, Pat mentioned to me that a few customers had complained about a recent price increase from $12 to $16, which would make the average visit with tip roughly $20.

So many times we think that price is the deciding factor as to why people will do business with us.

This couldn’t be further from the truth. Think for a minute. Why are willing to pay an extra $1.50 to get money from an ATM machine versus going to the bank where we could withdraw money for free? The answer is “convenience.”

People are willing to cough up $1.50 so they can get their money right there and then. Going all the way to the bank would take time. We want it now and we are willing to pay for it.

In the case of the barber, it’s hard for other shops to compete for Pat’s business because Pat is not looking for a cheap price. He’s there for the complete experience. He’s already said, “Do a good job for me once and I’ll be a loyal customer for years and years.” And that is very powerful.

Lesson #5: Test your price because there is a good chance that it’s not the reason people are buying from you. Then, find out the #1 reason people are buying from you and focus on it!