Noticed something smart at a barbershop in Portland last month

Went to get a cut at this spot on Hawthorne and the barber had a little mirror setup for the back of the head, but he also angled the customer's phone so they could see the fade progress in real time. I've been doing the hand mirror reveal at the end for years, but watching the whole process live made the client way more relaxed and chatty about what they wanted fixed. It made me rethink my whole flow for the final check. Has anyone else tried showing the back mid-cut instead of waiting till the end?

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1 Comment

henryp401d ago

That mid-show mirror might work for some shops, but it kills the whole rhythm of the classic reveal for me. The surprise at the end is part of the service, and letting someone nitpick every pass while you're still working just slows things down and creates doubt. Most clients don't know what a finished fade should look like halfway through anyway, they just see a messy in-between stage and start second guessing. The hand mirror at the end gives them the full picture, not a confusing snapshot of the work in progress.