Issue 18: Prepare Your Clients With a Clear Promise

Prepare Your Clients With a Clear Message

Change is uncomfortable. That’s why raising your prices and adjusting your menu of services feels tough.

Change is not natural. It is more natural to keep things the same and keep doing what you have been doing.

But if you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep getting what you’ve always gotten. And based on what you’ve been complaining about lately, you want change.

Mental Health System

If you want to change your money system, you’ll first need to address your mentality.

We’ve been told that doing the same thing and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity. But it’s not. It’s the definition of humanity.

We all do it.

We all do the same thing while longing for a different outcome because the brain prefers familiar. It prefers familiar because it believes it’s keeping you safe. It doesn’t know that it’s keeping you stuck.

It also doesn’t know that safe doesn’t necessarily mean financially secure.

So the first step in changing your mental health system, or your mentality, is DECIDING.

Make a decision and commit to it.

We did this a few weeks ago, but let’s do it again.

Think about it.

What do you really want?

Financial security?

To retire when you want?

To leave a financial legacy?

To upgrade your services or expand your business?

Whatever your goal is, today is the day to declare, commit, and decide that you have to make some changes in order to get there.

The second step, which we will talk about next week, is the process for reaching your goal.

Remember, the steps for becoming a Prosperous Barber are:

Get your price right.

Get your mind right.

Get your process right.

The first step in getting your process right is getting your message right.

The way you talk about your service and the changes you are making will determine how the whole process is received by your clients.

If your message is unclear, your clients will feel the confusion. If your message is clear, confident, and consistent, your clients have a better chance of understanding the change instead of just reacting to it.

Money System

Last week, I mentioned that the difference between a Prosperous Barber and an average barber is two things: price and process.

Every Prosperous Barber has clear prices that they aren’t willing to waver on. They make the process known to their clients, and they stick to it even when it’s a bit painful.

A Prosperous Barber isn’t a greedy barber.

We will talk about the greedy barber in a few weeks because this subject needs to be discussed. Today, I’ll just make the distinction.

Prosperous is fair, equitable, and reciprocal. The process ensures that this reciprocity is met.

If I told you the vacuum you need to clean the hair in your shop costs $500, at first you may say that is a lot to pay for a vacuum.

But if I told you the vacuum was a system built into the wall, and you just attach a hose to it, and it could either vacuum on its own or you could use it yourself, and that vacuum would last 10 years, do you still feel like that vacuum is expensive?

Or does it feel worth the $50 a year?

It’s perspective.

How your clients feel about your price is based on their perspective.

Your message about your price creates a new perspective the same way I just did when I explained what the vacuum will do.

Today, along with the commitment to make a change, create your brand promise.

Do you guarantee the cut lasts two weeks?

Do you add amenities like drinks and snacks?

Does your cut stand out from all the rest?

Does it come with enhancements?

What is it about your service overall that separates you from the average barber?

Give it some thought and write it down as your value proposition.

This isn’t a plea or begging. This is a billboard, a commercial, a brand promise that you can stand behind and post in your shop with pride.

The claim doesn’t have to be provable.

Have you ever eaten at a restaurant that said they had the best burger, the biggest steak, or the most fries?

How do they measure this?

It’s all based on their perspective and the perspective they give their customers.

The clearer you are on your process and your pricing, the clearer your message and brand promise can be.

But the opposite is also true. The clearer and more serious you are about your brand promise, the clearer and more confident you become in your process and pricing.

Business System

Let’s start the process of getting your message and brand promise right.

Before you can explain your process to your clients, you have to understand it.

How do you want your clients to come to you?

Word of mouth?

Social media marketing?

Print advertising?

Networking or meeting you directly?

Now that you know how they are introduced to your service, what happens next?

What is your client’s journey?

Do they go straight from hearing about you to booking an appointment, or does something else happen first?

Once they have booked their first appointment with you, what happens after the service?

And if they are a recurring client, how do you continue to make them feel appreciated and sticky?

Sticky means it would take effort for them to leave you.

As you create your client journey, think of ways to make your client sticky.

Maybe they leave something at your shop that they need to return to your shop to use.

Maybe there is a part of the service that is ongoing.

Maybe they can work on something on your iPad that they can’t get anywhere else.

Making clients sticky takes time. Get creative, or just keep it simple.

I visited a barbershop where each client has his own robe. It’s personalized, and the client puts it on when he arrives for his service. He takes it off before he leaves, it’s cleaned for him, and it’s ready for his next appointment.

This week, I’d like you to be intentional about your conversations with your clients.

There are two questions that I’d like you to ask during the course of the cut.

What are one or two things that you’d like to see included in your service that you think would change the game?

Allow the clients to go wild.

You probably won’t be able to execute most of what you hear, but there will be a few golden nuggets that you’ll be able to use.

Write them down.

Also, ask a few of your clients what they like about your service.

You don’t have to ask everyone. Just the ones you’d like to duplicate. The client you wish you had more of.

Ask them why they choose you.

Listen and take note.

Notice the themes. What do you hear repeated by your clients?

Now think about what you are already known for, what you want to be known for, and what you can add to your service.

That’s your brand promise.

Once you have that, you can start telling people.

You know I have the best cut in the world.

You know I’m the oldest barber in this neighborhood.

You know I’m the wisest barber in town.

There are other claims you can make. Don’t use mine. Listen to your clients and find the one that is most authentic to you.

I am the world’s leading barber therapist.

I give life-changing cuts.

I can say this because my clients have told me this, and I have a master’s in clinical mental health counseling. How many other barbers do you know who can say that?

Find your brand promise.

Tell me. I’d love to hear it.

From the Chair

This week, use your downtime to check out the resources and past issues that you may have missed.

You may want to revisit Issue 17: Before You Raise Your Prices, or share it with a barber you respect.

And if you are still struggling with the idea of changing your pricing, then revisit Issue 13: The Price You Pay.

One last resource you may want to consider is either scheduling a session with me or sending me your questions. I’ll give you a concise answer asynchronously, with clear next steps, so you can get closer to reaching your goals.

To connect with me, go here!

There are other resources that can help you get through this uncomfortable time in your business.

You are not alone.

Keep reading the journal and get next steps here, to keep going!

Love you muchly!

See you sooner.

Kiné

P.S. Send this issue to a barber you respect who is considering raising prices for the holidays. Tell them to subscribe so they can follow the next 6 weeks.