How long should a hair cut and blow dry take?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by luke sebastian vickers on March 11, 2010 at 7:33pm

I agree about an hour is a perfect time to be able to deal with any client that walks though the door, from start to finish (including meeting and greeting and the final payment) obviously if your prices are low, less time should be given!
the rule of thumb, 'a £ a minute" is an excellent rule of thumb!

We must remember getting return custom is all important, making people feel relaxed and not rushed.

many salon owner talk about the importance of good service, but don't give stylists the time to do so!

Vic you sound like a good boss

Vic Feferberg said:

Hi Laure,
I own a franchised salon in Sydney and we work to a rough rule of thumb target of $1 per minute for our services. We charge $25 for a cut and $25 for shoulder length blow wave. Therefore the expected time should be around 50-60mins.
Hope this helps.

Vic

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Permalink Reply by Linda Corey on March 11, 2010 at 9:04pm

Hi Laure,
I am on board with the folks who say 45 min. If you have stylist taking 90 min or more they will have to step it up or not make a living in this business. That is to say unless they are charging accordingly, there ar not too many people that want to dedicate 1.5-2.0 hours getting a haircut. In our salon we do book an extra 15 min for first time clients and make notes on files of clients who need extra time for length, thickness etc. These notes are set to pop up when our coordinators are booking the appointment. Hope that helps.

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Permalink Reply by Christian Awesome on March 11, 2010 at 11:33pm

I think it depends on the level of precision involved in the haircut. I think it also depends on whether or not there is an assistant involved in shampooing and styling. Anywhere from half and hour to 45 minutes is pretty common in the salon i work at.

Stay gold,
Christian

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Permalink Reply by ARROJO on March 12, 2010 at 5:50pm

At ARROJO we book different stylists at different time intervals.

Stylist: 90mins
Stylist Level 1: 60mins
Stylist Level 2: either 45mins or 60mins depending on the interval they feel most comfortable
Top Stylist: 45mins
Senior Stylist: 45mins
Master Stylist: 45mins

We do not charge more for longer or thicker. Hair is Hair. Would you charge someone less because they had less? We have a set ticket price for each level stylist. Man or Woman, you pay the same.

Hope this helps! We find it works very well for us!! Good luck!

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Permalink Reply by HairClubLive on March 13, 2010 at 4:09pm

Firstly - what kind of salon do you operate/work in? Where are you located? Who is your target market? What level of experience does the stylist have? Surely this all has an effect on how much you charge and therefore the time given to a cut and finish.

Personally when you cut your clients hair should it not be you who finishes your creation - not you assistants. The client is paying for your time not your assistance - the assistants i guess has supervised training nights in the salon by the experienced stylists?

Also, charging for consultations - come on thats part of the service that has to be expected by a client paying for YOUR time, just price this all into your column time - don't make something complicated when it doesn't need to be!!!!
Cathy Koursiotis said:

Bravo! Bravo! I have utilized an assistant program for quite some time, not only does it free up my time but it also not only educates the assistants but helps them build their clientele as well.

Gerard Scarpaci said:

i also agree that 45 mins is salon speed but i truly believe in having assistants involved in the process. i dedicate that time to consulting and cutting and use assistants for shampoo and blowdrying ,developing a rythm where one guests service wraps with another . it also serves as a great learning experience for assistants who are the future of your salon,it is imperative that they are well trained and can deliver these services at salon quality levels

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Permalink Reply by Patricia Robertson on March 14, 2010 at 10:48pm

Hi there...I am in a busy salon in Calgary Alberta. It is always a question. How long should I allow for a cut and blowdry??
Well as a rule most of us at a senior level book either 45 mn or 1 hour.
If the client has hair that needs more time for finishing we will put that information in the computer so that it is booked as an extra block of time and charged accordingly.
I know people that can do a haircut in 8 mn and spend the rest of the 45 finishing.
It really is up to the individual how much time they need.
Rule number one....the client satisfaction comes first and if it takes more time...of course it is an upgrade in the price.
Remember...we don't charge less for the client that only takes 20 mn ;-) or do you?

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Permalink Reply by Patricia Robertson on March 14, 2010 at 10:52pm

Thanks Gerard for mentioning the use of support staff to keep the flow of the salon on a profitable course! So many times I have seen people try to cut corners at the support staff and front line level. Not seeing these individuals as a revenue generating source.
However....a stylist behind the chair brings in a lot more money than they save washing hair and answering phones etc.
Amen brother to that!

HairClubLive said:

Firstly - what kind of salon do you operate/work in? Where are you located? Who is your target market? What level of experience does the stylist have? Surely this all has an effect on how much you charge and therefore the time given to a cut and finish.

Personally when you cut your clients hair should it not be you who finishes your creation - not you assistants. The client is paying for your time not your assistance - the assistants i guess has supervised training nights in the salon by the experienced stylists?

Also, charging for consultations - come on thats part of the service that has to be expected by a client paying for YOUR time, just price this all into your column time - don't make something complicated when it doesn't need to be!!!!
Cathy Koursiotis said:

Bravo! Bravo! I have utilized an assistant program for quite some time, not only does it free up my time but it also not only educates the assistants but helps them build their clientele as well.

Gerard Scarpaci said:

i also agree that 45 mins is salon speed but i truly believe in having assistants involved in the process. i dedicate that time to consulting and cutting and use assistants for shampoo and blowdrying ,developing a rythm where one guests service wraps with another . it also serves as a great learning experience for assistants who are the future of your salon,it is imperative that they are well trained and can deliver these services at salon quality levels

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Permalink Reply by Clinton Mr. Futuristic Jones on March 15, 2010 at 11:55pm

I think your post is right on. I have had success with that program as well. You have to get help to work to your full potetial. The rythem is so important for making money at it and the client getting the kind of service they are paying for.

Cathy Koursiotis said:

Bravo! Bravo! I have utilized an assistant program for quite some time, not only does it free up my time but it also not only educates the assistants but helps them build their clientele as well.

Gerard Scarpaci said:

i also agree that 45 mins is salon speed but i truly believe in having assistants involved in the process. i dedicate that time to consulting and cutting and use assistants for shampoo and blowdrying ,developing a rythm where one guests service wraps with another . it also serves as a great learning experience for assistants who are the future of your salon,it is imperative that they are well trained and can deliver these services at salon quality levels

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Permalink Reply by nicole ely on March 17, 2010 at 8:59pm

Working with assistants allows you to devote more time to your consultation and cut. A properly trained assistant will finish your look as well as you have trained them. Also, the client is paying not only for you but your assistant as well. 30-45 minutes should give you plenty of time with an assistants help.

HairClubLive said:

Firstly - what kind of salon do you operate/work in? Where are you located? Who is your target market? What level of experience does the stylist have? Surely this all has an effect on how much you charge and therefore the time given to a cut and finish.

Personally when you cut your clients hair should it not be you who finishes your creation - not you assistants. The client is paying for your time not your assistance - the assistants i guess has supervised training nights in the salon by the experienced stylists?

Also, charging for consultations - come on thats part of the service that has to be expected by a client paying for YOUR time, just price this all into your column time - don't make something complicated when it doesn't need to be!!!!
Cathy Koursiotis said:

Bravo! Bravo! I have utilized an assistant program for quite some time, not only does it free up my time but it also not only educates the assistants but helps them build their clientele as well.

Gerard Scarpaci said:

i also agree that 45 mins is salon speed but i truly believe in having assistants involved in the process. i dedicate that time to consulting and cutting and use assistants for shampoo and blowdrying ,developing a rythm where one guests service wraps with another . it also serves as a great learning experience for assistants who are the future of your salon,it is imperative that they are well trained and can deliver these services at salon quality levels

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Lauré Chicoine on March 19, 2010 at 1:07pm

Thanks for all the valuable feedback! Since this post, we have begun scheduling all new guests an extra 15 min consultation time with their first appointment. This allows our stylists to take their time getting to know their clients needs as well as allowing time for our Aveda Sensory Experiences which are preformed by our apprentice staff. We allow 45 min. for a regular/repeat guest and 1.15 hr for new guests at a Senior staff level. This ensures they have enough time to recommend products, perform added value services, and educate on styling. I do believe that time is money but in this economy, we are taking extra steps to ensure repeat business. Thanks again for the great response to this post and any new ideas on how to build repeat business and improve guest visits are also welcomed!!
Lauré - Owner/Stylsit of Nirvana

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Permalink Reply by mitchell on March 21, 2010 at 12:50pm

Hello Laure...
Interesting question...
I come from a Vidal Sassoon background where an hour was scheduled for a cut and blow-dry.
Over the years after I had opened my own salons I realized that while some heads do require that amount of time, many do not, especially during the warmer months when some clients leave with damp hair and forgo the drying entirely or simply that many clients have cuts that can be done well in just 40 minutes, thirty minutes or even 15 minutes, (depending on the individual head) and that scheduling a set time for the service was not good business sense except perhaps for first-time clients... so, I began to set a higher price for first-timers so that if I needed more time for the initial cut it I would be available, if not I could work more slowly but whatever the client felt that it was value for money. This is also effective as some clients will not be regulars but will come to get my cut once in a while and then go elsewhere and have the stylist follow my cut at a cheaper price.
Once I know the client and the time it takes to perfiorm the cut then I can tailor my schedule to more efficiently maximize profits.

The reason that an hour was scheduled at Sassoon's was due to a few factors, firstly we did tend to take many small sections and check and re-check the cut over and over. The stylist would cut the hair dry then it would be washed and the whole cut gone through again wet. That did take time. Also and more relevantly was the fact that in the early days of the cut and blow era, the early 1960's, Sassoon's still made the bulk of the income from weekly clients who had shampoo and sets. In those days the cut was a quick service taking perhaps 10 minutes and charged accordingly but the money came from the setting and comb-outs which the client had weekly, as opposed to the cuts, which they had only monthly.

When the cut and blow-dry took over from the weekly set it rocked the Sassoon salon business, (particularly once the clients began to realize that they could blow-dry their own hair at home), surprising as it may seem, in the early days they continued to come every week for a blow-dry just as they had for a set...unlike today, hand-held dryers were not readily available to the general public, particularly the Wigo Taifun model that we used exclusively at Sassoon...

Sassoon got a lot of criticism from other London salons who feared the loss of income as the weekly set business went away, but it soon became obvious that what Vidal had developed was going to be a success and the loss of the income from the 'setting-regulars' could be offset by the raising of prices for the cut, indeed, the cut, formerly the less expensive service, doubled in price, then tripled then quadrupled. However, during the initial introductory years to offset client reluctance to move away from the set it was felt that the point could be best made that the cost increase was valid if the service took a long time, so appointment slots for the cut went from 15 minutes or less to an hour and the blow-dry was not charged seperately as had been the set, but rather it was not rolled into the cut service which came to be known as cut and blow-dry.

The other factor in today's world is that women are not, for the most part, the ladies-who-lunch crowd that they were 45 years ago. Many of Sassoon's clients (it was exclusively female at that time) were women who had all day for personal grooming and often spent at least a morning or afternoon in the salon. Today most women lead different lives and want and need to be in and out of the salon as rapidly as possible, they appreciate a quicker service as long as it meets their service expectations and is value for money.

To be contd...

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Permalink Reply by mitchell on March 21, 2010 at 12:52pm

mitchell said:

Hello Laure...
Interesting question...
I come from a Vidal Sassoon background where an hour was scheduled for a cut and blow-dry.
Over the years after I had opened my own salons I realized that while some heads do require that amount of time, many do not, especially during the warmer months when some clients leave with damp hair and forgo the drying entirely or simply that many clients have cuts that can be done well in just 40 minutes, thirty minutes or even 15 minutes, (depending on the individual head) and that scheduling a set time for the service was not good business sense except perhaps for first-time clients... so, I began to set a higher price for first-timers so that if I needed more time for the initial cut it I would be available, if not I could work more slowly but whatever the client felt that it was value for money. This is also effective as some clients will not be regulars but will come to get my cut once in a while and then go elsewhere and have the stylist follow my cut at a cheaper price.
Once I know the client and the time it takes to perfiorm the cut then I can tailor my schedule to more efficiently maximize profits.

The reason that an hour was scheduled at Sassoon's was due to a few factors, firstly we did tend to take many small sections and check and re-check the cut over and over. The stylist would cut the hair dry then it would be washed and the whole cut gone through again wet. That did take time. Also and more relevantly was the fact that in the early days of the cut and blow era, the early 1960's, Sassoon's still made the bulk of the income from weekly clients who had shampoo and sets. In those days the cut was a quick service taking perhaps 10 minutes and charged accordingly but the money came from the setting and comb-outs which the client had weekly, as opposed to the cuts, which they had only monthly.

When the cut and blow-dry took over from the weekly set it rocked the Sassoon salon business, (particularly once the clients began to realize that they could blow-dry their own hair at home), surprising as it may seem, in the early days they continued to come every week for a blow-dry just as they had for a set...unlike today, hand-held dryers were not readily available to the general public, particularly the Wigo Taifun model that we used exclusively at Sassoon...

Sassoon got a lot of criticism from other London salons who feared the loss of income as the weekly set business went away, but it soon became obvious that what Vidal had developed was going to be a success and the loss of the income from the 'setting-regulars' could be offset by the raising of prices for the cut, indeed, the cut, formerly the less expensive service, doubled in price, then tripled then quadrupled. However, during the initial introductory years to offset client reluctance to move away from the set it was felt that the point could be best made that the cost increase was valid if the service took a long time, so appointment slots for the cut went from 15 minutes or less to an hour and the blow-dry was not charged seperately as had been the set, but rather it was not rolled into the cut service which came to be known as cut and blow-dry.

The other factor in today's world is that women are not, for the most part, the ladies-who-lunch crowd that they were 45 years ago. Many of Sassoon's clients (it was exclusively female at that time) were women who had all day for personal grooming and often spent at least a morning or afternoon in the salon. Today most women lead different lives and want and need to be in and out of the salon as rapidly as possible, they appreciate a quicker service as long as it meets their service expectations and is value for money.

To be contd...

• ▶ Reply

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