The male haircare and grooming business has grown rapidly over the past few years and is still growing strong today.
Face creams for men, cleansing products based on skin type and male anti-ageing products can be found in most supermarkets. With Tom Ford releasing a line of male cosmetics including concealer and bronzer, it’s only a matter of time before male make-up hits the mainstream.
In haircare, men are prepared to spend more on products and services then ever before. The biggest mistake you can make is to assume that they don’t. Approach it with an open mind and offer your male clients treatments, colour services, straightening/anti-frizz services and recommend home care and styling products.
Create a male area
It’s important that men feel comfortable when in the salon, so create a specific area for them if you have the space. If you can find one, an old school barbers chair is an easy way to distinguish a male area from the rest of your salon. Create a small male waiting area with men’s magazines like GQ, Men’s Health, etc. and provide drinks like Whisky. Maybe look at picking up some cheap flat-screen TVs that you can put next to the mirrors at each station, so they never miss a football game.
If space is at a premium, then look at making your male clients feel more comfortable and avoid making the areas too feminine. Get some men’s magazines and make sure you have a mixture of male and female imagery in the salon.
Offer specific male services
Don’t be afraid to offer specific male services and even look at making a dedicated male service menu. Include services like wet shaves, services for hair loss, scalp massages and even care treatments or straightening and anti-frizz/manageability services. Men also need a different language to women. They don’t want to talk about “colour”, “perm” or “care treatments”, so try names like “shading” or “grey camouflage” for colour services and give specific names to care treatments, like “shots” for different treatments. Make sure your stylists show male clients the service menu and recommend services exactly as they would to female clients.
Focus on male retail
Men will buy retail products.
Generally they will be less skeptical than women and if they can see it works and gives an immediate benefit then they will be happy to buy it. Make sure you have a few male specific products, because even if he is very involved in his beauty and grooming regimes, he probably doesn’t want to smell like roses.
If you have created a male area or target men in a special way, we’d love to hear about it. Let us know in the comments section below.