How to handle negative client reviews

Every salon owner, beauty therapist or nail tech knows how important client reviews are, especially online. After all, they are the proof that your treatments change lives and make people happy. 

However, from time to time you may get a bad review from a client who was not satisfied with their treatment. This customer has decided not to mention it in the salon but on social media instead. What do you do?

How to deal with unhappy reviews? 

Firstly, apologise to the client even if you think they’re wrong and invite them to the salon for a fix up, or offer a gift card instead. 

Remember, your response online is public and potential clients will see how you dealt with the unhappy customer. Your actions could affect their decision on whether or not to book an appointment with you.

Secondly, talk to the customer again after resolving the issue, making sure they’re happy with the solution and apologise again for the inconvenience. It shows you care for their wellbeing and that they are not just a number. 

 

How do I approach fake reviews? 

After a long day at the salon, you check your reviews online and notice a negative post by someone you don't recall. Before writing a response back, discuss this issue with your staff – one of your therapists may have serviced someone new that wasn't pleased with the result.  

If this is not the case, invite the person to your salon or have them get in touch with you to discuss the reason behind the review. As the saying goes, prevention is better than the cure, but how do you prevent fake reviews?

Manage online comments with salon management software Versum – the system that allows only your clients to leave reviews, plus, you have the option to share their opinions directly on your social media pages if you want. 

Collect, share and manage client reviews with just a few clicks. See how easy it is with reliable salon software that does the job for you. 

Slawo Gawlowski is business development manager for Versum, which provides salon software management systems for 26,000 hair and beauty professionals.

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Read our articles on attracting millennials to your beauty salon, how to host a successful salon event and four ways to improve your business’s data security. 

Also, here’s why investing in a good software management system could help you carve out some me-time.