It shouldn’t come as a surprise that customer reviews play a huge part when it comes to getting new clients to trust you with their beauty – in fact, over 90% of Treatwell bookings go to venues that have 21 or more customer reviews.
Reviews are an incredibly powerful way to promote your business to new customers, and even get more out of your regulars (did you know that clients are willing to pay significantly more for services when they’re confident they’re in safe hands?).
But how do you use them properly? Here are 5 ways you should be doing to make the most of your customer reviews.
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1 Promote great reviews
This one’s a no-brainer. Don’t be shy about sharing and shouting about a glowing review – it’s the ultimate seal of approval from a client. Not only did they enjoy their treatment, they enjoyed it enough to let you know. Share those stars with the world. New customers love to see a salon is trustworthy and professional before they book.
Social media is the perfect place to do this (bonus points if you can personally tag the reviewer to say thanks), but it doesn’t have to stop at an Instagram post. Try including your best reviews on your website, in emails, in your window display… anywhere a client might decide to make a booking.
Focus on reviews that say the most about your professionalism and positive vibe – these are the ones which will resonate the most with new customers.
Pro-tip: Try to choose recent reviews (within the last few weeks) to promote. Posting reviews from last year might actually have the opposite effect on building trust.
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2 Motivate your staff
It’s not just your clients who appreciate a good review. Share great customer feedback with your team, especially if they mention someone by name.
Recognising and celebrating good work is vital to your team enjoying their jobs and putting their best in – and it’s an easy way to let them know you’re noticing their hard work.
Want more tips for keeping morale high? Check out these 5 easy ways to keep your team motivated.
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3 Ask at the right time
When it comes to getting a great review, timing is everything. Too early and you might come off as pushy. Leave it too late and they’ll have already started to disengage, lowering your chances.
For salons, that perfect time is usually some time while they’re on their way out (maybe stopping past the front desk) after a treatment’s gone really well and they feel great.
Let them make the first move – when they make a positive comment in person or on social media afterwards, ask them politely if they’d like to leave you a review.
Pro-tip: Ask for honesty – don’t try and lead them on by asking for a ‘good’ review. That way they won’t feel like you’re pressuring them, which might hurt your chances of getting those stars.
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4 Make it easy
Asking at the right time is all well and good, but you’ve also got to keep the process as painless as possible so they don’t give up halfway.
Something as simple as a nice card they can fill out right there in-salon or a quick and easy-to-use form on your website will go a long way to pulling in more reviews – the fewer steps the better.
(Psst. With Treatwell, you can send all your customers automatic, easy review requests at the perfect time, so your online reputation grows faster than ever without having to lift a finger.)
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5 Learn from honest feedback (and respond publicly)
It’ll happen at some point – bad reviews are pretty much unavoidable for any business. Clients can be tough to please sometimes, and mistakes are a reality. But just because feedback is negative doesn’t mean it’s not valuable – quite the opposite.
Use bad reviews as learning experiences, and pay close attention to which problems keep coming up – then take action to fix them. Very often, the most important feedback you’ll receive isn't about what is working for your salon, but what isn’t.
There’s more than just an internal learning experience to be had, too. Responding publicly – politely and diplomatically – to bad reviews instead of trying to hide them shows other customers how seriously you take complaints and how invested you are in making sure they have a good salon experience.
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