Making the most of online reviews

Online reviews are possibly the most important tool that you have for your business, says Valerie Delforge of salon consultancy Delfoge & Co. Customers habits have changed and one of the most influential aspect of making a decision is from the reviews that are now available. It is true that nowadays we make decisions after reading about the business that we want to invest in, whether it is a holiday, a restaurant and now the Hair and Beauty industry. As a customer, you have more freedom than ever to make up your own mind. Most of the time, we want to see “the bad ones” so we can judge the business as a whole: how did the business respond to the bad review and was the moan a reasonable one so I can decide whether to book with you or not? So managing your review becomes one of your main daily priority. Here is my advice for making the most of you online reviews:

• Positive reviews are great to drive revenue
• Negative reviews can be used to generate best practice
• Make it a priority to encourage my customer to leave a review, whether it is from your booking system, social media or a guest book
• If you can turn around a customer that has a negative experience they will become brand advocate
• Communicate at any opportunity - social media, emails, menus etc
• Get your team on it, they are great for helping persuade the customer to leave a review
• Share reviews them with your team, this is a great way to motivate them
• Don’t forget the good old fashion phone call - call the best to thank them and the worse to manage them
• When on holiday get someone responsible to deal with them, inactivity is not acceptable
• Keep on top of your reviews - a reply within 24 hours is the norm

Valerie Delforge - Founder and CEO of Delforge + Co Consulting agency and Business Academy specializing in the Hair and Beauty industry. www.delforge.co