With many clients now searching for salons virtually, online reviews have never been more important; in fact, nine out of ten consumers say that reviews play a role in discovering local businesses (Podium, 2021).
More often than not it is consumers that have had a positive experience that are most likely to leave a review, meaning that online reviews hold great potential to boost your business. In fact, 34% of consumers say they would only leave a review after a positive experience, whereas 7% would only leave a review after a negative experience (Brightlocal, 2022).
To help you score 5* salon reviews from your clients, HJ spoke to Zamaine Ismail, Managing Director at West and Hunter, to get the low-down.
Discussing the value of online reviews, Zamaine explains: “Since launching West and Hunter we’ve found that online reviews give the public assurance that our salon is respectable and reliable. We’ve also found that positive reviews can also boost your salon's visibility in search engine results, increasing your salons potential reach.”
But what exactly makes a positive review? Zamaine says: “We would hope to see reviews mentioning the professionalism of our staff, and the quality of service our clients received; they should feel that they are being treated with respect and that their needs are being met.”
Zamaine also adds that many of their positive reviews mention the overall atmosphere of the salon, and touch on details such as ambience, music and the overall vibe of the environment. As such, this could be a great starting off point if you’re looking for areas of improvement within your salon to help boost your reviews.
While creating an enjoyable experience for your customers is certainly a great way to help achieve positive online reviews for your salon, the most important factor will be the outcome of the service they booked in for, whether this is a cut, colour, styling or treatment. Zamaine explains: “Clients should feel that they got the results they were looking for and state it in the review.”
On the flip side, the worst reviews would be ones which express unfulfilled expectations and unexpected outcomes, so ensuring you are able to communicate clearly with your clients is essential. Conducting client consultations is a great way to establish a clear communication with clients, new or old.
Unfortunately, there may be occasions where your salon receives negative online reviews, and while some of these may be just, this isn’t always the case. Zamaine notes: “There is a risk that clients, competitors or the general public may leave false reviews, and because of this it is important to monitor your salon's online reviews.”
A key aspect of monitoring your online reviews, and your online presence in general, includes responding to customers. Whether positive or negative, responding to reviews shows that your business values its clients and appreciates the time they have taken to share feedback. Zamaine explains: “When responding to reviews, it's important to be respectful of the client's perspective, even if you disagree with their feedback. A well-crafted response can demonstrate your business’ commitment to client satisfaction and could potentially attract new clients who appreciate the salon's dedication to customer service.”
Zamaine’s Top Tips to Generate 5* Salon Reviews:
- While you can encourage or incentivise clients to leave positive reviews, you cannot force them to do so.
- Make the process simple – clients are more likely to leave a review if they can easily find the review platform and navigate the review process.
- After a new client has visited the salon, we send a personalised follow-up email or text message thanking them for their business and asking them to leave a review and tell us about their experience. We include URLs or links to make it easy for them.
- Salons and barbershops can differentiate themselves by offering unique services which make people want to review them and talk about it online.
Plus, if you're hoping to reach new clients in 2023, why not check out our advice?
