IS IT OKAY TO CUT YOUR CLIENT’S RIVALS?

Barber’s would you cut the rival of your client?

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

The barbershop is supposed to be like Switzerland. We don't get involved in anyone's problems. The barbershop is supposed to be a place of peace where anybody can come in and there will be peace for that moment. So, in saying that, my question to you guys today is Would you and should you cut one of the rivals of one of your clients? And specifically, I'm talking about your celebrity clients. So, welcome to another episode of The Slider Cuts Barber Business Podcast. And if you don't know who I am already, my name is Mark McIver, and this is the show where we talk all things barbering, business, and in between. So let's talk about it. Cutting one of your clients' rivals, specifically to do with celebrities. If you've got a celebrity client you cut, they could be an athlete, a musician, actor, entertainer, and they have someone in the industry who is their rival. You get a call one day and they say, Hey, can you cut this person's hair? And you're like, Oh wow, that's my client's rival. Now, in music, that could just be a genuine rivalry to do with they're both maybe in a similar field and they're both doing well, or it could be that they're batting heads against each other at the moment, so they're up front openly not getting along with each other. In sports, it could be someone that just doesn't like the other person, it could be someone like in a boxing fight where they're about to fight or they just have back and forths. My question to you being as the barber shop is supposed to be Switzerland, is it cool for you to cut the rival? Because, and I agree with this as a barber, I am not involved in your problems. And as a side point, new barbers, trust me, do not get involved in people's problems. Because what you'll find is you're cutting someone and they have a problem with this other athlete or this other musician. You decide to get involved by talking about it online, so now you're dissing the other person. Oh, this person's not good, or whatever it is, right? And then suddenly later on, they become cool. They're cool, but all this stuff online is still there from what you were saying about them. And now you slightly have a problem. Don't get involved. I'm not saying that you can't talk to your client about what's going on, talk to them, but don't be picking sides online. If somebody asks you in an interview, just don't get involved. Just say, look, whatever's happening between them is them. You know, I'm not here for that interview. I'm not here to talk about them. Speak to them about their problems, but don't get involved, trust me. That's just a side point. So look, would I cut one of my clients' rivals? Since I'm not involved in any problems, I'm not involved in your problems, I'm not getting involved, would I cut them? Truthfully? No. If the problem is serious, then no. And this has happened with me before. I've been approached with this, you know, problem. Or, you know, I've been I've been hit with this situation before, and I'll give you two situations where this happened. The first one was with Anthony Joshua. He was about to fight. I can't remember exactly who it was. I think it was it was either Dominic Brazil or Charles Martin. And I could be wrong, I just can't remember because if we're talking about like eight years ago, but it might have been one of those two people. He's about to fight them, and someone from their team contacts me. I think it's on Instagram as well, to get a haircut. It's not the fighter themselves, so it's not Charles Martin or Dominic Brazil, it's not like the manager, but it's one of the team, one of the trainers in the team. And I remember just being like, Oh ra, they're about to fight. You must know I cut Anthony Joshua because you know he's on my page and so on. So I spoke to Anthony Joshua about it. I said, Hey, someone from their team is asking me to cut their hair, and I think I even showed him who it was. And he just said to me, do it then. Like, and not even in a way of like he's being like fronting or being like, oh, sly about it, or he wasn't saying it in a way of like, oh, do it, let me see what you're gonna do. No, he was genuine. He's like, Yeah, make your money, do it. I was like, rah. I was like, nah, I can't do that. And he's like, Why, why not? So now I'm having a conversation with him saying why I can't do that, and he just he's just like, Why not? I'm like, ah, you know, I don't know, you know, you're about to fight, it's the other team, and so on. And he's just like, so what? Like, do it, man. So I don't think I responded, so I didn't do it in the end, anyway, just because I didn't want to get in the middle of anything, and I think they were genuine. To be very honest, I believed it was actually genuine, and they may not have even known that I cut his hair, they may have just come across me on Instagram, but I didn't do it because I just didn't, I just felt you're about to fight, it's the other team. No, not gonna do that. Another time it happened was with Lawrence O'Coley. Lawrence O'Coley was just about to fight Isaac Chamberlain, and they were having a lot of back and forths online, like they were going back and forth for real. So I get contacted by someone asking me to cut Isaac Chamberlain's hair, and I'm like, ah, nah. I just say no straight away. I'm like, nah, I'm not doing that. The guy's like, why not? I said, because he's about to fight Lawrence. You know, Lawrence is my client, they're about to fight. So how am I cutting his hair? The guy's like, you know, you're not involved, it's just a haircut. He wants a haircut. And I'm like, what's happened to his original barber? They're like, well, he likes your haircuts, he's seen your haircuts online, he wants a haircut from you. I'll just like no, and then I went on to say to be very real about it, is I don't want to put myself in that situation. One, it just feels a bit snaky, even though I'm not doing anything wrong by just cutting someone's hair. But two, you guys are having well, they're having back and forths online. Come on. The reality is it's highly likely that you are only contacting me for a haircut because you want to throw some shade towards Lawrence O'Coli. You want to come in here and either film some video and be like, yo, look, I got your barber. Your barber's cutting you my hair. Look, your barber doesn't like you, or something along these lines, right? So you're trying to use me to get at Lawrence. That is blatant. The guy said to me, nah, nah, nah, it's not that at all, it's not that at all. I said, Come on, it is, come on, it is that. You know, why would he just not go to his original barber? And the guy started laughing, saying, Ah, you know, because you know he likes your haircut, you're a good barber. I was like, Look, I'm not getting involved in that. I wouldn't want to get involved anyway, even if it was genuine, to be honest, at this stage when you're about to fight. But I know it's not genuine as well. And this is what's important for barbers to understand. Don't be used as a pawn in someone else's game to shame one of your clients. Because you're just gonna lose out twice. Because one, you could lose that client you've got at a time being Lonce Coley, and then you're gonna lose out because you've been used as a pawn, so you just look silly and stupid on camera now because down online they're like, yo, your barber's not even loyal to you. Your barber's this, your barber's that. You're gonna you're gonna be getting this, so you're being used. So so often, people just for the clout and the hype want to get involved and be like, Yeah, I'll do that. Why not? Why not? Why not? Why not? And just think about it. Why would they want you to cut his hair at this moment when they're just about to fight? Don't be used as a pawn in someone else's game. Yes, you're a barber and you're not involved, but don't make silly decisions that puts you involved and makes your client now look silly. Because that's also some of my thinking. I don't want to do something that makes my client look silly, and then that client there who's just used you goes off back to their original barber, and then you potentially lose your client. You've also made your client look silly, you look silly, and now they've gone off. So you've got to think. Another time this happened was David Hay, he's a boxer. His team asks me to come and shape him up for some shoot. And I don't I don't even think he I don't even think he knows this. And the reason why I don't think he knows this is because I actually um saw him somewhere, we had a conversation, uh, this is about maybe a year ago, something like that, anyway, maybe a year, two years ago. And we were in some place, and we actually had actually fun enough lunch together, and we were talking. We were in some place where mutual friends, and we just ended up talking, right? So he doesn't even know this, to be honest. But it was someone in his team, they were just looking for a barber, and they reached out to me. Now, at this time, he's still boxing, and there were talks and murmurs about you know, potentially him and AJ may fight one day. So when they called me, making it clear, it wasn't David Hay, it was just someone like from the shoot called me saying, Hey, can you do this thing? I spoke to AJ first, you know, Anthony Joshua. I spoke to him first and said, Is there anything going on between you and David Hay? And he's like, Nah. I'm like, is there any like you know, rivalry, anything like that? You know, because they've asked me to come and shape him up, you know. But I get to know, is there anything like with you guys? And he was just like, nah, and in true Anthony Joshua fashion, he was like, do it, like you know, you're getting paid, right? Type of thing. And I'm like, yeah, he's like, yeah, do it, go and get paid. But my thing was first of all to speak to my client first because my loyalty's got to be with my existing client. Now, this isn't like some real beef, this is all entertainment and sports and so on, but nevertheless, I don't want to be put in a situation where I'm making my existing client look silly. So, this is the reason why I've taken this approach and made these decisions. Now, I'm not saying that this is right and this is wrong, or this is like you know, the gospel where it's like, listen, this is how it is. No, I'm just explaining to you how I dealt with those situations and what my thinking is behind it when someone asks me when it's a rival. This is where I go to. Now, this could stretch to more serious situations where it's like you're cutting someone and they have a rival, and it's a real situation that's on the streets, and maybe someone from the other party, the other team, want to cut with you. And this is where it gets really serious because if you start cutting someone from the other team, they could see each other in the barbershop, things could kick off, they could try and use you to lure someone else in, and you've got to really think to yourself, do you really want to be involved in it? So when we say we're Switzerland, and we say things like, I'm not getting involved in anything, it's not my business. What you've got to understand is you will be drawn into situations, and by the decisions you make, like maybe cutting someone else, that decision may be the reason as to why something blows up and something kicks off. So being Switzerland, yes, being we're not involved, we're not involved, we're not involved, may mean that actually we don't cut certain people, and we just explain to them look, I'm not trying to get involved, I just want to be in you, just be honest. I'm not involved in anything, I'm not on their side, I'm not on anybody's side, but I just feel like doing this could cause something, and I just don't want that to happen, and that's the reason why I'm choosing not to. So make it clear when you're maybe turning away a client, it's not because you dislike them or because your team, this person, because that person who you cut can leave you and go to someone else. So you need to make it clear, it's not because of that, it's just because I don't think it's wise for me to be cutting your hair when you've got an issue with this person, and I just don't want this to really explode. So I'm cool with you, I don't have an issue with you, I don't dislike you, I'm just you know, it's no sides, I'm just thinking this is the wise and wisest decision. These are the things you've got to think about being a barber. But you guys let me know. What do you think about my take on it? Would you cut one of your clients' rivals? That's what we spoke about today. On the side of the cuts, barber business podcast, where I talk all things barbering, business, and in between. And if you're a barber and you want to learn more about the business side of barbering, then join my community group. The link is in the description where we talk all things business, break it down, help make you more money, run better businesses, think more deeper about some of the things I talk about on this podcast. So if you're interested, click that link and I'll see you inside.