BARBERING 101 for BEGINNERS

Barbering for the first time in a barbershop for some and probably for most people is like the first day of school. You will sometimes have the first day jitters! Don’t worry, that’s natural. Even I was a little nervous my first haircut in a barbershop because there were 20 other tight barbers watching me! I was o.k. after the first day.

The most frightening thing is getting that first haircut that you are not familiar with. How do you handle that? Just tell the truth. If it is your first time cutting a particular style, then tell the client. And TRUST me he/she will respect you for that. Because if you don’t tell them and you proceed to cut the clients hair and you screw up or don’t give him what he wants then he has reason to get loud at you and complain to the owner, NOT GOOD!

Believe it or not, honesty will keep clients coming back. Why? Because there are so many fake barbers in barbershops! Yes i said it, FAKE!!! These type of barbers are also the ones who look for FAKE BARBERS LICENSES TOO! By the way if you have a FAKE BARBERS LICENSE and you get caught, you are going to jail. There are a lot of people in great barbershops that ride on the fame of the barbershop and they can’t cut a piece of paper.

But they carry themselves as if they were GOD’s gift to the barber industry. That confidence will surely get a customer in the chair but it won’t keep him coming back.  Barbering has a lot to do with how you can make a client feel. Barbering also has a lot to do with your skill set. If you have a combination of both talent and personality, you will be great. Don’t mislead people. You need to be a GREAT communicator.

Listen to the customer when he is describing the haircut that he wants. Sometimes a customer does not know how to communicate to you what they REALLY mean, so then it is up to you as the professional to HELP the customer communicate to you what they REALLY meant. Customers enjoy that type of attentiveness.

Once you truly understand what the customer wants you now have to give them exactly what they asked you for. That is where the skill set and honesty comes in. My first time cutting a temp fade in 1997, i told the customer that i had never cut a temp fade before but i will give it my best shot. He said “don’t worry about it, I appreciate your honesty.

Go ahead and cut it anyway.” I got one side perfect and the other side took me almost 30 minutes! The customer knew i was stuck! But because of my honesty he couldn’t get as upset as he would have if i had not been upfront and honest. I am not saying turn away money.

What i am saying is don’t put yourself in a situation that you will regret later. Now if you are just a hustler and you don’t care about people and all you want is there money, then this page is not for you. But if you are a person who enjoys making people look and feel better, then take what i have said here on this page and utilize the information to your advantage.

Be honest with your customers and they will trust you more. Some people can play it off and get through the haircut for the first time without the customer even having a clue that the barber didn’t know what he was doing. Everyone will not be that lucky. So if you feel a little nervous and can’t handle the pressure, just tell the customer the truth and you will always feel better.

Good Luck

Master Barber

Alex Campbell