Booking and Pricing Short Haircuts: 8 Crucial Tips

How To Book, Schedule And Price Short Haircuts

Noticing more clients asking you to take it ALL off? Clipper cutting is a tried-and-true way to give clients a clean, fresh feeling, guarantee high frequency of visits and offer opportunities to build lifelong clients. We talked to three industry pros all about how to schedule short and clipper cuts, so keep scrolling for their tips!

Our experts are Jamie DiGrazia (@jamiedigrazia), Tina Sapia (@sapiathebarber) and Taylor Leven (@by.taylorleven), who all own their own salons or shops. They dished their best tips during a live technical education session that you can watch by clicking here! Make sure to keep reading for their pricing and booking strategies below!

1. How Long Should Short Cuts Take?

This really depends on your personal preference, style, and what YOU like to do in YOUR space. For example, Tina books 30 minutes for new clients to give time for consultation, but for long-time clients who know what they want, she only needs about 20 minutes. On the other hand, Jamie keeps 45 minute slots for short or clipper cut clients. You do you!

2. How Often Should Clipper Clients Come In For Appointments?

This is another personal situation for the client. The beauty of super short cuts is that the client can start over with a totally new look after 4 to 6 weeks. “When they come back, it’s a blank canvas and we can start over,” Jamie said.

But if your client wants to keep their cut looking super fresh, 3 to 4 weeks is probably the sweet spot. Some clients may even want to come in sooner than that.

Pro Tip: You should discuss maintenance appointments with your client in the consultation. Taylor always asks her clients how frequently they want to come in. “If you don’t want to see me every 2 weeks, then I won’t recommend a skin fade,” she said. “Taking the time to explain that will get you a lifetime client.”

3. Should I Prebook My Clipper Clients?

Here’s the thing—prebooking is ALWAYS ideal. “Without prebooking, you can’t secure your future,” Jamie said. “You don’t know what you’ll have in 3 months.” It’s especially crucial for short-haired clients, because once they realize they NEED a cut, it may take a few weeks for you to fit them in.

4. How Can I Encourage Prebooking?

Start by explaining to your client that prebooking guarantees their haircut will be fresh for anything their life will bring. You can’t guarantee you can fit them in last-minute, and prebooking is their insurance against that. But it also helps to offer incentives.

When Jamie was starting to build her books, she’d offer $5 off the next appointment for clients that prebooked. Even now, Jamie’s salon, Logan Parlor in Chicago, enters all prebooked clients in a raffle each month (this month’s winner took home a Wahl Massager and Beard Groomer!). Let clients know about these incentives with the marketing tools in the Booksy app, where you can send texts and email blasts that encourage prebooking, plus send appointment reminders.

Pro Tip: Use your words! “Say, ‘this haircut expires in 4 weeks,’” Jamie said. That way, they’ll know they need to get an appointment prior to that—or be left to wait it out.

Get A 3-Month Booksy Subscription For Only $1 + 25% Off Any Wahl Tool: CLICK HERE!

5. How Should I Charge For Men’s Cuts?

First off—let’s stop calling them “men’s” cuts. “Short hair is for everyone. Let’s not limit what we can create based on social norms of short hair or long hair,” Jamie said. “If you are in charge of your pricing through Booksy, offer a gender-neutral or gender-free pricing structure so you aren’t placing an identity on the people who come in with short hair.”

Try moving to a pricing structure based on time, length, or even clipper cuts versus scissor cuts. For more info on how to implement gender-neutral pricing, click here.

6. How Can I Upsell Short-Haired Clients?

One way to upsell is to strengthen your retail game. Styling products are super important for those with short hair, because they add to the cut’s versatility. For example, send a client home with Wahl 1919 Pomade, which adds super shine, plus Wahl 1919 Matte Control Cream. The client can style their hair with either of these products, offering totally different results.

Before and After: Jamie created the head design and fresh cut above! Watch her process here!

You can also start to implement designs in the hair! Tina charges an extra $10 for a simple design, like a line, heart or star. As the design becomes more complex or takes more time, she increases the add-on charge.

7. Any Smart Scheduling Tips For Short-Haired Clients?

We loved this genius idea from Jamie, who is a colorist as well as a short hair specialist. “I like to make sure I have my color appointments booked, and then my short cuts can fit in around those,” she said. Using her Booksy app, she opens up 45-minute slots in her day during the time she knows her color clients will be processing. That way, the holes in her day where she would normally be waiting for color to process are opened to paying clients!

8. Should I Only Use One Clipper For Short Hair?

You can, but with so many tools available to you, why limit yourself?! We watched Jamie, Tina and Taylor use multiple clippers, trimmers, scissors, texturizing shears and razors in just one hour. Having so many tools in your toolbox allows you to create ultra-custom cuts—and ultimately, create lifelong clients.

Learn this cut and two more from Jamie, Taylor and Tina: CLICK HERE!