Same cut, three prices, one confused customer
Your price board says a skin fade is one price. Underneath, in smaller letters, it says senior barbers charge a bit more and apprentice cuts are less. The booking app has senior prices for two barbers but not the one promoted last month. The till has a single fade button, so whoever takes payment types the price in by hand.
A walk-in has a fade with your senior barber, goes to pay and the apprentice on the till charges the standard price. The next day a regular who always sees the apprentice is charged the senior price by someone else. He notices, and asks why his cut went up.
Tiers exist in the owner's head, not in the systems
- Barbers change level when they are promoted, and nobody updates every system at once.
- The till has one button per service, so the tier depends on who is keying.
- Online booking shows tiered prices, but walk-ins are charged from memory.
- Price rises are applied on the board and the app on different days.
- Discounts for students, children or pensioners stack differently depending on who applies them.
Tiered pricing is a sensible idea that most systems support in some form. The problem is that it is set up in three places that nobody keeps in step.
Undercharging quietly, overcharging loudly
Undercharging senior cuts goes unnoticed and leaks money every week. Overcharging an apprentice's customer causes an awkward conversation and sometimes a lost regular. Barbers who have worked towards a senior price feel undervalued if the tier is not applied. And commission calculated on the wrong price means the barber's pay is wrong too.
One price list, tied to who did the cut
- We set up a single master price list with each service at each barber level, plus your discount rules and when they apply.
- Each barber is assigned a level, with a start date, so a promotion changes their prices everywhere from that day.
- The price list is pushed to your booking app and till through their APIs, where they allow it, so services and prices match exactly.
- At the till, the barber is selected first, and the right tier price comes up automatically. No typing prices in by hand.
- A price board screen in the shop, or a page on your website, shows prices by level from the same master list, so the board cannot drift from the till.
- A weekly check compares what was charged with what should have been charged for each barber, and flags differences.
| Where the price lives | Today | With one master list |
|---|---|---|
| Price board | Printed months ago | Screen or web page from the master list |
| Booking app | Updated when someone remembers | Pushed from the master list |
| Till | Typed in by hand | Picked by barber level |
| Promotion to senior | Updated in one place | Applies everywhere from a date |
Your prices and levels are your decision. We make sure every system uses them the same way.
The till and the board say the same thing
On a normal day, the apprentice taking payment for a senior barber's fade selects the senior barber, taps fade and the right price appears. When a barber is promoted, the owner changes one field and the board, the app and the till all follow. When you put prices up in January, it happens everywhere on the same morning.
The weekly check does most of the policing. If a particular service is regularly charged at the wrong tier, it shows up with the barber and day, and it is usually an old button or a habit rather than anything worse.
Does this happen in your shop?
- You charge different prices by barber level.
- Prices are typed into the till by hand.
- The board, the booking app and the till do not all agree.
- A promoted barber is still charging their old price somewhere.
- Customers have questioned why they paid a different price this time.