7 Things Not To Do At A Man’s Barber Shop

A Man’s Barber Shop is not a place where clients are thinking about things they should not do while they are at the shop.  But if you understand that you want your barber to be in the best mood and circumstances to get you looking your very best, here are some things you might want to consider.

FIRST:   Make sure you are not late for your appointment at a man’s barber shop.    There is nothing that can ruin your barber’s day more than customers who come into the shop when 1/3 of the time for their service is over.  It creates a lot of stress on your barber to either rush through your service and not be able to make it look its best, or to take the normal time on you and then make the person after you get started late.   This is really unfair to the person after you who comes on time and then gets his schedule messed up because you were late.

SECOND:  Do not bring the girlfriend or the wife to a man’s barber shop if she is going to be a back-seat driver.  This has happened to me and to many barber friends of mine and it is not something that any professional likes to put up with.   More often than not the two of them will disagree on what needs to be done in the haircut.  Even worse is when they keep changing their minds over and over again.  Besides the confusion of instructions, they often act like they are the only appointment that the barber has all day and they can take as much time as they want.  This usually results in less than desirable circumstances for an excellent haircut.

THREE:  Don’t come to a man’s barber shop for a haircut and then change it to a Style-cut.  This might not seem like a big deal upon first glance.  But a man’s barber shop can have appointment times set up anywhere between 10 minutes up to 30 minutes.  The 10 minute service is usually a quick cut shop and the 30 minute service is usually a full-service shop with all the extras.  Many salons and other cutting establishments have a much longer time and charge budgeted for a Style-cut.  A salon might set aside 60 minutes for a man to bring in a book of haircut styles and then spend time going through them and picking one that he wants.  Then the stylists has plenty of time to keep working on this new style to get close to what the customer wants.  With the extra time and work involved,  many Style-cuts might run $50 to $60 and more.

FOUR:  Turn off your cell phone while your barber is working on you!  This is the rudest thing that you can do at a man’s barber shop while having work done on you.  I am not alone with this opinion as many friends who are Salt Lake City barbers rank this as their number one irritation.  One barber I know asks everyone who gets into his chair to turn off their cell phones before he will start the service.  It is not just making and receiving calls while in the chair, texting is just as bad as the client is totally distracted and moving the drape to type etc.   If you want a good haircut do not use your cell phone during the service!

FIVE:  Don’t wear earphones or hearing aids!  Many younger clients will come into a man’s barber shop and keep their music earphones plugged into their ears.  This makes is extremely difficult if not impossible to have access to cut their hair.  I finally got to the point that I tell clients that they must remove any earphones before I can begin the service.  Hearing aids are so tiny these days that it is so easy for a barber to not see them and possibly cut them during a haircut.   Please take them out yourself so that no accident might happen during your haircut.

SIX:  Do not make sudden moves while your barber is cutting your hair!  If you go to a man’s barber shop and get into the chair to get a haircut, please understand that it is your job to remain as still as possible while someone is using electric clippers and sharp scissors and straight razors around your head.  Some men just seem to understand that and others make their head a moving target by turning their heads while talking, jerking their head and just constantly moving.  It is almost impossible for even the best barbers to make your hair look great when you do not sit still during the service.

SEVEN:  Don’t go to a man’s barber shop if you have been outside sweating like crazy, your teeth desperately need to be brushed and you need a very strong deodorant.  This would include the concept of not wearing a hat to a haircut where your hair is all matted down.   These are simple things but they all detract from creating the best environment where your barber can make you look your very best.

These seven points are not meant to be critical, but rather to bring these items to your consideration where you might not have thought about them before.  You want your professional at a man’s barber shop to be in the best mood and have the best possible circumstances to give you the best service you can get.

We want you to look great and feel great when you leave.