If you want to grow your business, ask your customers for 5-star reviews. Reviews are important in several ways. They can showcase your services and prove you run an active, successful business. Most importantly, they can help potential new customers decide if your salon is right for them. So, ask for reviews often. The more often you ask, the more reviews you will get. But, like anything, there are tips to learn for asking for and handling reviews once you get them. To learn more, keep reading.
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Pro Tip from Tim
Over the years, I’ve noticed that the most successful salons have a lot of great reviews. And that’s the result of actively and consistently asking for them. I tell new salon owners to ask every customer for a 5-star review. I was working with a start-up salon recently, and we were talking about reviews. Everyone understands that they need reviews, but just how important they are, how to ask for them, and what to do with them after they start rolling in were all news to the owner. I figured if one person needed help, how many other salon owners could benefit from learning more? And that’s when I decided to write this blog.
Why Reviews Are Important to Your Business
Customer Reviews are vitally important to your business. That’s because successful and long-lasting businesses constantly bring in new clients and customers. Customer reviews and testimonials are among the most powerful forms of marketing. They are powerful forms of marketing because they provide social proof. Proof from actual customers that your services are good and your business is worth a try.
Before easy access to customer reviews, people relied on personal recommendations to help determine if a product or business would fill their needs. It was called “word-of-mouth” advertising. And it was long thought to be the most powerful advertising on the planet. But now that anyone can easily access customer reviews online, they have become almost as powerful. According to an article published by Nice Job, a reputation management company based in Canada, ” 88% of potential customers trust reviews as much as personal recommendations from friends.”
Recency is an important factor when people judge reviews. According to a survey published on the Trust Radius website, “76 percent look at the publication date as a measure of review — and in some cases product — relevance.” The shelf life depends on the industry because, in some cases, current experiences are more important than others. For example, the recency of restaurant reviews is more important than the recency of a review for a specific year and model of a car. The car isn’t going to change regardless of when the review was written, but the experience at a restaurant could change from day to day. For salons, there is a shelf-life to customer reviews and it’s important to continually collect new reviews to stay relevant.
How to Ask for 5-Star Reviews
Asking for 5-star reviews doesn’t have to be stressful. In fact, with a few tips and a little confidence, you’ll find that asking for and getting 5-star reviews can be easy. Timing has a lot to do with it. Just like the advice I gave in our recent blog post on asking for referrals, the right time to ask for a review is just after you finish a service. Your client is thrilled with their new look or how they feel. It’s the perfect time to ask for the favor of a review. Just come out and ask. “I’m happy you like your new style. Would you give me a 5-star review?”
Asking for a 5-star review sets your expectations and gives them direction. They will say yes almost every time. Then, while they are in front of you, help them navigate to your Google Business Profile or favorite review platform, like your booking site.
If they say yes but want to leave a review later, hand them a business card with the URL they need to leave the review. The card is a great way to thank them for their business, remind them of their next appointment, and provide the review URL. Since the card is a touch point to your customers, print it on heavy stock with your branding elements included. To learn more about branding elements and how to create a strong brand, read our blog, “How a Strong Brand Can Elevate Your Salon’s Success.”
Like almost everything, consistency is important. If you consistently ask your customers for reviews, you’ll get them. Over time, you build an impressive number of them, with the newest ones providing the recency prospects look for.
Why It’s Important to Respond to Reviews
Responding to reviews is just as important as asking for them. This goes for both good and bad reviews. Responding to reviews is expected by the people who leave them. If they leave a good review, they expect a quick thank you. If they leave a bad review, they expect an attempt to apologize and resolve the issues that led to the bad review. Additionally, responding to reviews demonstrates engagement and builds stronger relationships with customers. Most importantly, responding to reviews, especially negative ones, shows you care.
Repurposing Reviews Spreads the Word
When you receive a great 5-star Review, the best thing to do is repurpose it by posting it to your social media platforms. Create a new post celebrating the review and post it. Many current and potential customers will see, share, like, and spread the message that your customers appreciate your services and you are worthy of trying.
You can create a template for your post using your brand color palette and typeface. Here is an example of a social media post we created to repurpose a recent bello Salon Suites review. When a template is made, it’s easy to swap out the text to create a new post every time a new review gets posted. They are quick to create and in a shoret period of time, they are instantly recognizable to our followers.
If you post your testimonials regularly, it won’t be long before your feed will filled with testimonials that sell your service to new customers and enforce your brand.
Conclusion to Asking for 5-Star Reviews
Reviews are one of the most effective ways to build your business. People rely on them because reviews provide proof from actual customers that they are happy with your services. And they are more trusted than other forms of marketing messages, especially if the reviews are recent and relevant. Getting 5-star reviews is easier if you ask for them at the end of the appointment. Ask specifically for a “5-Star” review. If your customer wants to leave a review later, hand them a card with your Google Business Profile URL or booking platform to make it easy for them to find your favorite review site. Respond to every review you get, and repurposing them on your social media platforms helps spread the word about your great work.
If you need any additional help, ask the team at bello Salon Suites. We are here to help you thrive with the support and tips we’ve picked up from years in the beauty industry business.
bello Salon Suites is a collection of 83 custom, private salon suites for rent to hairstylists, barbers, and cosmetology professionals in Sacramento, California. Privately owned and locally based, our facility features four stylish lounges and an outside garden for a truly zen-like experience. On top of that, we offer more amenities than any other salon suites company in town, like ample FREE parking steps from our front door. Take a tour today and see for yourself. For income potential, perks, and value, nothing compares to bello.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tim Conner
Tim Conner is the Founder, Owner, & CEO of bello Salon Suites. He brings nearly 50 years of experience in operations leadership and has helped build successful companies by driving process optimization and creating an extraordinary customer experience.