Wishing Everyone A Very Merry Christmas

    So it is Christmas time and I have not been as busy as I would like to be. I know some shops keep wicked busy some do not but we all have to work hard during the holiday season so that our customers look sharp for Christmas pictures and time with the family.

   I am going to be honest about something today. Last week was my birthday and I turned 39 and it was a tough week because not only was the shop I work in really slow and I was feeling like I was going nowhere in the shop I am in, not making enough money to provide for my family...etc.

   Yesterday I had to take a step back and look at one of the above issues (I still got some things to figure out going onto the new year) and that is the amount of money I am making and this is what I realized and I think sometimes anyone in the service industry who also lives on our tips has to remember something. Sometimes we make little or no tips for 1 of three reasons 1) crappy service: I really hope this is not the issue for you because I know I work hard to make sure all my customers are happy. 2) Cheap Bastards!: Welcome to life. Sometimes there are just dudes out there who are just cheap and that is one of those things you can not change.3) We Are All In The Same Boat: The people that come into our shops and sit in our chairs they work just as hard as we do, raise families like we do and we have to appreciate each and every customer.

    So as I finish this I would like to take a minute to thank every person who steps foot into our barbershop here in Visalia,Ca Thank you for your support and your patronage. We would not be who we are without you guys.

   To all the barbers, all the shop out there who work there buts off to provide great service to there customer, take pride in there trade and still continue to love what they do......MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

   Another blog that makes sense as I type it...Cheers! 

Ho, Ho, Holy Crap....The Holidays are on us!!

    So my annoyance started last week when I went to the market to get some stuff for the wife to bake cupcakes and noticed that the aisle that holds all the holiday was already putting Christmas candy and they had not removed all the Halloween candy. At this moment I knew I was in trouble...I am never ready for the holidays, let alone Christmas!

   This weekend I will be getting the shop hours for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years all figured out. Then I need to find some ways to get the regulars in but plus try to get some new heads in the door....Do not forget the gift cards, gotta hustle those gift cards!!!

   It is Christmas time so that means get those Christmas cards together for your clients. Seriously, customers love Christmas cards especially if you are sending them something that no one else is. They appreciate those things. If you need a dope Christmas card to send to your clients contact my good friend Jeff Allison Trust me he does great work.

   Does your shop offer gift cards/certificates if not you probably should  because as I saw last holiday season they do sell well if you hustle them enough. They are easy to buy for dads and sons for stockings. Also try to put together some gift packs that you can sell as well (shave kits, pomade stets...etc.).

    The truth is I hope everyone has a great and successful holiday season. Keep working hard, continue to give your customers your best.

Some thoughts for the night

First things first....The holidays will be coming really soon and I am one of those guys who believes in sending a greeting card to my clients or any kind of rep I may deal with in the business. The problem is I am not going to send out some cheesy cliche Christmas card so last year I contacted an artist in Spokane,Washington who was actually doing design custom cards for the holiday season.

Jeff Allison is an artist and illustrator who has done design work for companies and events all across the country. If you are looking for a great and cool looking card for your cutomers you really need to get a hold of him and get your card designed before it is to late. you can e-mail him here:jeffallison@hotmail.com

2010 X-mas Card by Jell Allison

Listen I know you are thinking "Frankie why are you talking about the holidays already?". The truth is Christmas is right around the corner!! So it is time to start trying to make things easer for your customers. Everything from getting them into the chair before those big holiday events to helping them come up with cool gift ideas for certain family members.

Listen I get it some barber shops do not do appoinments for whatever reason but for the holidays it is a very good idea....encourage your customers to book there appointment early so not only will they be able to get in but just as importantly you are not stuck in the shop when you want to be spending time with your family.

Now to the gift issue....If you do not normally offer gift certificates think about doing so for the holiday because not only could it bring it extra money (listen I would buy my dad a gift certificate to a good barber as a stocking stuffer) and if you play your cards right it could bring you a few new customers and we all know that during the holiday season it can be tough to get new business into the shop.

Lucky Tiger  has cool packages!

Cheap gift ideas for your clients: develop gift packs or even buy them pre-packaged. I know that during the holidays American Crew sells gifts packs (my brother will usually get one). Spend the extra cash to have things around to give your customers gift ideas for their dads, sons and brothers. Below I have posted a couple of sites that have some cool gift ideas:
www.eshave.com
www.getluckytiger.com