Barbers are primarily known for two things: a great haircut and a straight razor shave.

But any barber business seeking the coveted title of Neighborhood Barbershop knows auxiliary services besides a haircut that elevates your customer’s self-care will inflate the number of bookings you receive each day.

It’s time barbers step up to the plate and provide high-quality services that go beyond the razor’s edge.

It’s Not All About the Hair

Barbershops are about so much more than a haircut. You will likely need to expand your offering in order to get customers in the chair. That’s why we’ve lined up seven additional barber services to consider.

#1 Beard Grooming

Scientific studies have indicated that women and gay men consider beards signs of masculinity, dominance, or overall attractiveness.¹ This may explain why a number of individuals find facial hair favorable.

But the upkeep required to look clean-cut with a freshly faded barber’s shave as opposed to unruly takes time, energy, and a knowing hand. This is why beard grooming services are such a popular menu item at the barbershop. Examples of treatments include a:

• Beard trim
• Fade
• Hot towel shave
• Straight razor shave
• Hot lather
• Designs
• Colorings and color touch-ups

If you’re already adept at the shave, it’s worth building up on this to get the edge over your competitors. You can even create an all-around beard trim package for your customers that combines a beard trim, hot lather, and a hot towel shave all in one.

#2 Color Treatments

Not to make you feel old, but the prominence of salt and pepper hair is losing popularity. Even if you never tried that look, there are plenty of customers looking to stave off time’s touch with color treatments designed to turn back the clock.

And just as some women go for bangs, some men like to change up their look with a platinum wash. Our point is: color treatments equals money, money that could be in your pocket.

#3 Scalp Treatments

Any barber knows the horror of washing out locks laced with white flakes—and isn’t any fun for them or the customer. Worse, poor scalp health can stifle the production of healthy hair, leading to premature hair loss.²

Barbers can help out by offering scalp treatments with classic cuts that:

• Stimulate blood flow
• Soothe itching
• Eliminate the buildup of dry skin

#4 Father and Son Specials

For many proud dads, taking a son on their first barbershop visit is an important rite of passage. Assist them in celebrating the moment by offering father-son haircare specials that make the experience a memorable one. For example, you can bundle a classic cut for the child and a freshly faded barber’s cut for the father.

You’ll help make dad proud—and you might just gain another customer for life.

#5 Facials

Which sounds more appealing—a cut and a shave or a cut and shave followed by a luxury exfoliating coffee scrub and nourishing avocado mask? Be honest.

Facial treatments can help mitigate razor burn flare ups, promote smooth skin, and leave a customer feeling refreshed. Plus, high quality retail products offer a route for barbershops looking to expand their margins.

#6 Brow Shaping

Eyebrows are made, not born and most men could use a little bit of shaping to achieve that perfectly charming eyebrow raise. Brow shaping includes details like:

• Removing unibrows
• Filling in patchy brows
• Trimming stray hairs

Brow shaping is a fantastic upsell for customers who sweat the small stuff. In general, if someone is willing to spend $100 on a fade, they probably don’t want to walk out of the shop with eyebrows that look like furry caterpillars. It might just take a gentle nudge from an expert to help them see that.

What Does Your Shop Need?

Struggling to decide what services to add to your shop? Consider the following:

1. Price matters – Barber shop prices can range from $20 for a classic cut to a luxury experience, complete with single malt scotch, costing hundreds of dollars.³ But before adding services that outstrip your regular fare, look over your barber shop business plan, check how much do barbers make, consider your clientele and how much they typically spend.
2. Skill levels – Your shop’s success hinges on your barbers’ talent. But going over their heads by offering fancy designs they can’t achieve is a surefire way to make the whole team look bad.
3. Your interests – At the end of the day, running a barbershop is a labor of love. You’re the king of your shop, and the chair is your throne. Stretching yourself thin on work you don’t enjoy will only put you in the hot seat. In other words: If you don’t want to spend your days rubbing Honest Amish into beards, don’t offer that service.

Expand Your Services with Help From SQUIRE

If the cut is the main priority, scalp treatments, and facials are the tantalizing upgrades that increase customer satisfaction and add dollars to the final tab.

That’s why it’s worth exploring auxiliary barber services that can help your shop stand out from the crowd.

But implementing new barber services can be a manager’s nightmare if not done in an orderly fashion. Why not let SQUIRE handle the nuts and bolts so you can get back to taking care of customers?

An all-in-one barbershop business management system, the SQUIRE platform can grow your business and maximize profitability by powering your operations and managing the customer experience.

Request a demo today to shave off time in barbershop management.

Sources:

1. New York Times. Are Men With Beards More Desirable? https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/17/well/family/are-men-with-beards-more-desirable.html
2. International Journal of Trichology. Scalp Condition Impacts Hair Growth and Retention via Oxidative Stress. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6369642/
3. Maxim. Inside The World’s Best Luxury Barbershops.  https://www.maxim.com/style/worlds-3-best-barbershops-2019-3/