The Future of the Barber Shop - A Rebuttal

This is a response from Phil who wrote the essay in this discussion that stated why he would not go to a barber shop. He has written back to respond to some of the comments that his viewpoint received. I would like to thank Phil for sending in his comments and for providing an alternative view in this debate.

Josh,
Buzztown.

To my respondents, I have one simple statement to make:

If you don't want my money, don't listen to what I have to say. If, on the other hand, you do want my money, and you think my perceptions represent the perceptions of the market group you want to attract, then you might want to pay attention.

The original questions to which I responded were:

"How can barbershops fight back [against chains]? How can barbers encourage guys who haven't been in barbershops for years to come back? How can they attract younger guys who have never been in a shop?"

Josh originally identified the problem being one of perceptions, and, as an extension, marketing. I wrote in to say that, as someone who goes to a Supercuts over a barber, and who thus might represent the market that is being sought, I had certain perceptions of the barbershop as being a certain sort of place that I wouldn't go out of my way to visit. These perceptions were based upon my own experiences with barbers and barbershops throughout the course of my life, the things I've seen people write on sites like this one, and others that are less technically oriented, and the image of the barbershop in our own popular culture. Based on these perceptions, I would not go to a barbershop unless I specifically wanted a short, "conservative" haircut, and I was willing to put up with a certain amount of hassle to get it.

Now, like all perceptions, this is based on generalities, and like all things based on generalities, it can easily be proved wrong by exceptions to the rule, including some barbershops where I have gotten my hair cut. If, however, you are a young male in this culture, you are going to have a certain set of associations with the term "traditional barbershop." If those associations are things you like, then you are going to probably frequent that business; if not, you won't. As the question here would seem to be how you get around those associations to attract customers outside of your normal customer base, it might be worthwhile, if you are interested in going about attracting those customers, to do something about those perceptions. In other words, go ahead, prove me wrong, it will actually make me happy. But that's what barbershops today have to do in order to gain customers outside their normal market group--prove our perceptions wrong. This can be accomplished through marketing, a change in the images that those prospective customers have in mind when they hear the word "barbershop."

Now, obviously, the traditional customer base will always exist for the traditional barbershop. The question seems to be, however, whether or not shops can continue to flourish, and for barbering to be a viable profession, based only on that market. If the problem is that shops are losing their customer base to chain stores, and this is causing shops to go out of business, it would seem that the traditional market base is dwindling, and that expansion of the customer base is necessary; in short, how do you get all those college boys, for example, who are going to Supercuts, to come to your shop, even if it means getting in their cars and driving for twenty minutes instead of just walking across the road? You have to offer them something that they want, that they can't get at that other place. If they already want the traditional barbershop experience, then they will probably come to you, and they aren't really part of the problem I'm discussing; if they don't, or if they have a lot of negative associations with barbershops already, they will probably decide that Supercuts is the more known quality and the lesser of two evils. In a place where I don't know anyone, or there isn't anyone to make a specific recommendation to me, this would be the choice that I would make, because I could at least have some idea of what to expect in terms of cut quality, atmosphere, and price. The barbershop is, unless they have done something in the way of advertising or marketing to make me belive otherwise, a hit-or-miss proposition, and I am willing to be that it will more likely be a miss than a hit.

Now, obviously, if you want to get me, or others like me, as a new customer, you need to figure out how to make your product appealing to me--this means advertising and marketing.

Now, let me sound a warning note: sure, some shops will always thrive, esp. if they can, through reputation, like Astor Place, continue to attract a diverse market group. But there are many, many guys who would not step foot inside your average strip-mall barbershop, because they have far too many negative associations with it. These guys would still like to go to someplace that is male-oriented, where they can rest assured that the stylists will have proficiency with a wide variety of men's styles, where the price will be inexpensive and the atmosphere comfortable. This should be the market group that barbershops attract, but they are about to be bled off by chain barbers like American Crew, that have recognized that this market group exists, but that they don't want to go to "traditional barbershops." If these chains are successful, then they are going to deplete ever more of the customer base, and many, many more shops will be in trouble.

So, those are my perceptions. They may be very wrong, but then, I haven't been in a barbershop for about five years. Which would seem to bring us right back around to the problem. So, if you want me as a customer, then you need to figure out how to win me back. And if you want to do that, then maybe it would be a good idea to start by looking at the perceptions I have of what you can offer, and doing something to alter those perceptions so that I have more positive associations with your services than negative ones. It's simple business logic, it's that easy, all you have to do is to want to do it.

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