How to improve Sales for Black Friday and Advent (plus Salon Tracker Black Friday Offers)

One month till Christmas. We bet December is one of the busiest months for salons and spas. Plenty of opportunities packed into the run up to Christmas. One of the biggest sales opportunities in recent years has definitely become Black Friday. Year after year, businesses throw out the best deals they can possibly think of this time of the year. The increase in popularity is hard not to notice since they are designed to boost sales and everyone seems to get on the bandwagon.

In case you forgot, it’s Black Friday this week, followed by the first of Advent on Sunday. These days, not just retail shops participate, but many other businesses are involved. Meaning, especially for those working in the beauty industry, it’s just another opportunity to market your salon and pull some discounts out of your sleeve. The secret is to know when and how to get discounts out, in order to improve your salon sales. Sometimes, it’s unavoidable, especially when everyone around you is competing for the best deals. Luckily, the run up to Christmas is full of potential opportunities to boost sales. That’s why now is the time to really focus on your sales campaigns. You’ve got a busy month ahead of you that you should use to its fullest potential. So, to stay focused and not get lost in the discount jungle I’ve compiled some ideas that can help get the most out of the next few weeks, but also prepare you for any other upcoming events.

First of all, you’ll have to get the word out

This is an obvious one. People won’t know about your discounts unless you advertise it. This can be done through your favourite marketing tool. Over the recent years, social media has become one of the best ways to market your salon and deals. It’s easy to use, most people are familiar with it and best of all it’s free. It can be a very effective marketing tool and improve your sales over the festive period.

Post events and updates on your Salon’s Facebook and Twitter.  As most of us do, you probably own a smartphone or have a computer with internet access at home or in your salon. Posting on social media is an easy way to keep your customers engaged and spread the word about any weekend incentives quick and easy.

However, if you prefer reaching out to customers differently, there are other ways such as promotional material in your salon window and reception area or SMS and Email campaigns, which are popular as well. All you need to do is gather your customer’s information and you can create targeted campaigns to be send directly to their phones and email addresses. As long as you let them know you don’t risk missing any opportunities.

Run fun incentives for customers and staff

This can involve both staff and your customers. The options are endless, such as anything from a 'Christmas themed Selfie competition' to an 'advent calendar'.

This can be easily linked to your social media outlets, where you can post winners and updates. This, not only motivates existing customers to claim their gift but also new ones to participate in order to win something.

An advent calendar is an all-time favourite and is such a fun thing to do. Give clients the chance to put their name down and you choose a lucky winner each day. You can give discounts away or products all together. This could include things such as 30% off your next treatment – any treatment, free minutes (if you do tanning) or retail products. It’s up to you. Offering free things leaves customers happy and they might share their experience with friends and family. It’s a good way to work on your client retention.

Invest in Salon Software

Salon Software is designed to help with managing your salon. It is far more than just an appointment scheduling system. This is certainly important if you are looking at boosting any last minute sales and want to target specific groups.

Most software’s have features built in that can help you to store important information and ways to improve client retention, or simply reach out to them at special occasions. There won’t be a need for a pen and paper appointment book. Salon Tracker for example is an easy to use software. The calendar view helps you to keep track of general appointments, upcoming bookings and no shows. You can access it from your salon PC or laptop or on the go on any portable device. Especially during December, when your salon is busy, our software can help track last minute slots and cancellations in order for you to fill the gaps. 

Our Marketing feature is so simple to set up and a very easy way to engage with customers. Salon Tracker supports email as well as SMS marketing. It’s an easy way to spread the word about offers and incentives without the lengthy process of planning numerous marketing campaigns. Therefore, you can create specific Black Friday and Christmas offers to be sent to everyone in your database to promote your sales.

Through our subscription service we give clients the opportunity to choose the package that suits them best. We offer three packages starting at just £30 per month.

Last but not least we’ve got some Black Friday Offers at Salon Tracker over the next two weeks:

We are offering 30% off Hardware & SMS Messages to all EXISTING customers, and 20% off Hardware, as well as three months free on software packages for NEW customers!

Make sure to claim your offer now! Just give us a ring on 0113 350 8230 or send us an email to info@salontracker.co.uk

Salontracker x 

Social Media Marketing is so important to Salon businesses, and here's why!

You may recall back at the beginning of the year we shared our social media predictions with you and also a few tips on how you could implement certain features in to your social media campaigns. As 2016 is drawing to a close, we just wanted to re-visit these points again so you can evaluate how you have used our pointers over the year and also, so you can use them during your Christmas marketing before forward planning for 2017! You’ll find below our points from last year (in pink) in which we have gone on to expand on these a little bit further, just to reiterate how you can apply these methods to your marketing over the festive period and the coming year…

- A picture speaks a thousand words so it’s no surprise that 2016 is set to see some huge growth for businesses on various platforms including photo based apps such as Instagram and Pinterest. Any business can make themselves visual but you need a plan to find success using these apps.

Instagram and Pinterest are two of the best way to tell a story through photographic media, and for salons this is imperative, as the majority of your marketing is visual due to the nature of your business. With Pinterest, their popular categories and national events are a great way to get your content out there for the consumer market to view, and with Christmas just around the corner, Pinterest is a fantastic social channel for you to upload and share your festive-style treatments!

- Speaking of Instagram; although Facebook purchased Instagram just under 4 years ago, it is only until 2016 we will see a huge merge in the advertising element of the platforms. Facebook ads are now pushed to coincide with Instagram ads meaning that now strong visual content is imperative for successful lead generation. Instagram now offers the ability to pay for sponsored content but also a “shop now” button meaning the platform is completely taking out the middle man, ‘the search engine’. You can even share audio and video footage on most platforms now such as ads, tutorials or web casts. Think about what you can offer to the market to promote brand awareness.

Whether you take advantage of the Facebook and Instagram advertising tools or even if you just have your company social pages to share content on, Facebook and Instagram are impetrative accounts for all business to have of the hair, beauty and tanning industry. Especially over Christmas and in to the New year, you can upload imagery, audio and video footage to users, and even boost these posts so that audiences with a similar like range will pick this up on their newsfeed. Boost posting doesn’t cost much at all, and you can put a daily budget on this so that you’re not over-spending, meaning it is a manageable form of marketing. If you’re still new to this, head over to Facebook ads manager where there are lots of step by step posts to help you along the way.

- Julie Ellis (Social Media Week, 2015) confirms the point above by stating that many users “are skipping the search engine and performing their searches directly on social media”. Obviously search engines are still a popular way to find information but this is a huge point to highlight since many people put their trust into accessing sites where they can see using customers of the chosen brand. Twitter, for example allows an advanced search to see product “problems” which means businesses are more accessible than ever, as are reviews.

The above statement is still very true, businesses need to make sure that they are active on all social sites and with a strong page for each channel at that, so if consumers are searching for you through either ‘Facebook search’ or ‘Pinterest’ for example, when they land up on your social page they need to be able to see that everything is up to date and that your content is regularly refreshed. This adds value to your company and deems you more trustworthy, in which bag yourself a few client reviews on there and you’re at the top of the game!

- This leads us to the importance of social media reviews. The searches conveyed through social media will be focused on finding product and also reviews on product, which means you need to ensure there is a business push on engagement and/or reviews. Even if your business has backlash, you need to learn how to deal with it. Micah Soloman (Forbes 2015) lists the 5 best practices to use when handling social media complaints or issues, in which everybody should be taking into account now on verbal based platforms. Especially on the likes of Twitter and Facebook.

According to econsultacy.com 77% of UK shoppers consult reviews online before making a purchase, in which the same applies to buying a service. The more reviews you can generate from clients to appear on your social feeds, the bigger the increase in your brand awareness and company value. It’s like going back to basics, ‘word of mouth’ promotion was one of the main methods of marketing a couple of decades ago, and reviews have the same concept, except this type of verbal feedback is on a bigger scale by being viewable online.

- According to Statista (2015) there will be an increase by 16.7 million on smartphone users in 2016 is the US compared to 2015 and a further 12.6 million increase into 2017- though this point isn’t only relative for social media. Have you noticed the amount of retail giants that are mobile optimised? It should have hit home before 21st of April 2015 when the Google Algorithm came into play but we cannot stress enough the importance of optimising your phones for your consumers. 2016 is only going to grow with the amount of users accessing sites with their handheld smart devices, which means you need to up your game before you lose the potential customer. 

According to Google, the majority of Google searches are now carried out through a mobile device, which this proves to all businesses that the switch to mobile is even more apparent and probably is going to be the preferred search method moving forward. It is therefore very important that if you have a website, you make sure that this is optimised for mobile, as also then if a link to your website is shared on a social media page you then have the comfort of knowing that your website is easily accessible and viewable to consumers on their mobile devices.

- Facebook Ads will improve their targeting reach which means you NEED to know your customer. You might think you already do but what are their stereotypical interests, what do they read, buy, watch etc.? How are they accessing your site? This can be sourced through Google Analytics as long as you are using a URL builder to measure every type of marketing activity you partake in.

A great way to find this information out is to have little feedback cards for clients to fill out at the end of a treatment, or even maybe a questionnaire for them to fill out online. And we can fully appreciate that getting people to fill these things out can be quite difficult, so maybe even offer a small incentive or run a competition for every person to be automatically entered in to if they provide you with feedback? Once you have gathered this info you can then use it to help you target a specific area of interests on Facebook when you are using their Ad creator or boost posting, to ensure that you get the best ROI through the targeting reach.

- According to Chuck Frey (Content Marketing Institute, 2015) Twitter has “255 million active users” that “send more than 500 million tweets a day” however, it doesn’t make it right for everyone because the stereotype is much younger. So you’ve researched Twitter, tried our Twitter Top Tips guide and set-up and run an account for a year and still just aren’t feeling it…That’s okay. Not every platform was made for your business. Invest your time in areas that you are succeeding. Don’t get us wrong it’s important to have an active profile across the platforms but if you invest your core chosen platform whether this be Facebook or Instagram you really will see growth.

Twitter is a great platform for those quick fire messages to be posted as and when you think them up. However, it is still true that with 500 million tweets a day, it is easy for messages to become lost among other tweets very quickly. Therefore, have an active account on there, but in terms of your visual and advertorial content, it may be that Facebook and Instagram are your best ports of call to really determine growth.

- Did you know that “49% of people aged over 65+ are active on social media sites”, (PewInternet 2015) with a huge 89% of 18-29 year olds also active. It is therefore by far quickly becoming the fastest and most efficient way in which to reach anybody, whether that be your friends, family, companies or clients of a business.

This quote still speaks for itself and is the main reason why all businesses should have active and regularly refreshed profiles on a wide range of social media channels. In this day and age, social media helps to create brand awareness, provides consumers with a place to instantly communicate with you and also builds up company credibility…so if you’re not already on social media, after reading these points it is definitely the next step for your business!

Salon Tracker x

Boost Sales by playing the right Music at your Salon

What do you do at your salon or spa to motivate clients to spend more? You are probably running the occasional marketing campaign of discounts and seasonal incentives to encourage customer to spend just a little extra, but what about music? Do you play any at your salon? And if so, what is your favourite to play? Are you more of a classical person or do you simply prefer the radio? You’re probably asking yourself: ‘why all these questions about music? What difference does it make what I play at the salon?’ Well, let me tell you, according to business and consumer studies, the choice of music you play at your business does have an impact on your clients buying behaviour.

Music creates an atmosphere as much as your salon interior does. Studies suggest that music can influence your mood both ways, resulting in influencing your spending behaviour. Many supermarkets and retailers are using this strategy. Therefore, this can be applied to any business that welcomes customers, such as salons and spas, with the intention to boost their revenue. And yes, your music choices (playing no music is a choice as well) can influence your client’s mood in a positive or negative way. While some stores play or don't play music without a second thought, the significant effects of music have been identified in dozens of academic studies, according to Business Insider.
You might want to consider what image you want to create when clients come in for their appointments. Determine what shop you run will be crucial to this. Think about what type of customers visit your salon and adapt your music choices to them. If your business attracts a more elderly community they might not appreciate you blasting Bieber through the radio. Therefore, your salon brand should be considered when choosing the right music. For example ‘Classical music makes people think of a shop as more expensive, and this isn’t right in all contexts,’ especially if you have a lot of students as clients.

If your Salon or Spa brand is the image of a relaxing oasis then you might be more comfortable playing comforting or classical music. If you want to create an atmosphere that suits more a trendy beauty hotspot in town, then more upbeat and contemporary pieces might be in order. You can also spice up the selection from time to time with special playlists suiting a specific time of the year. In December, for example you play Christmas songs, in the summer you play positive, uplifting tunes. Especially with Christmas approaching fast, many business owners create special holiday playlists that are designed to get the customer into the right mood; meaning the feel encouraged to think about additional presents they could purchase from the beauty salon or spa. Many providers such as Spotify, Google Play Music offer subscriptions, where you can create your own playlist or use the ones that others created. Don’t forget, you might need a licence for some of them to play in your business. ‘There is an art to optimizing the background music for the sort of shopping experience that you want to create and there is no one size that fits it all.’ (Soundjack)

Here are some tips to consider when choosing music for your salon:


Tempo & Style is everything
If you choose slow or upbeat music, make sure it suits your salon style. Research has shown that slow music makes people slow down as well, but they also buy more. Customers feel more relaxed and might not feel the urge to rush out of the salon after all. A relaxing environment could have the effect of customers browsing longer and therefore buying more.


Make your Reception Area look & sound welcoming
This not only applies to your décor and tidiness of your front of house. I mean fresh flowers and a neat looking interior will definitely reflect positively on your business, however make sure your music matches that image as well. When customers have to wait for their appointment, they are happier when they hear music they like, which makes the wait time appear shorter.


Work on Client Retention with the right music
Happy customers are more likely to rebook appointments straight away. Playing the right music is part of that. If a customer feels comfortable and relaxed it’s more likely they will form a positive image of your salon in their head. These are often the clients you will see again.


One key to remember is that every salon is different. Playing music at your salon or spa will help customers to establish what kind of brand you want to be. It creates a very specific atmosphere. From slow to fast, from classical to contemporary, every salon style is different. Overall, it has been proven that music influences our mood and therefore our buying habits. So don’t underestimate music as a potential sales tool, because its surprising effects on spending habits is not something you want to miss. Anything that will boost sales is great marketing for your salon and good for overall revenue.

Want to find out more about Salon Tracker and how we can help with your Marketing needs? Send us an email to info@salontracker.co.uk or simply call us on +44 (0) 113 350 8230. We would love to discuss your ideas with you.


Salontracker x

How our Salon Software Marketing Suite can help to promote to clients’ this Christmas

After Halloween and through to the start of Advent, you may notice a slight lull in sales and salon appointments, as clients are reluctant to book in too early before the festive period so that their treatment lasts them in time for Christmas day. But then you'll find, come December 1st you’re bursting with custom, having to turn walk-ins away and all of a sudden you are fully-booked when you had plenty of vacant appointments some few weeks earlier.

So if you currently have our salon software, great, this post will help you to maximise how we can help you to boost those sales with our marketing features. If you don’t have our software, listen closely as there may be something in here that you think may help your business, and remember you can always trial Salon Tracker free for a fortnight to try these tips out!

Through a few clever SMS marketing tips on the system, we aim to help you to alter consumer buying habits and ensure that you still, as usual, have a busy December, but also bag yourself a few more appointments in the run up to advent.

As part of our Professional package and above; our users gain access to an intelligent marketing suite, where we have created filters so that you can identify your best spending clients, customers that haven't visited in a while, people that have services due to expire..and so on. We have then created a range of pre-filtered messages that can be used to instantly send out quick SMS marketing messages to those clients, providing an incentive for them to book in at the salon. However, in the lead up to Christmas, you may want to take advantage of our custom campaign feature so that you can create particular marketing messages subject solely to your salon.

Obviously at Christmas everybody is on a bit of a budget, as they have to account for gifts, Xmas partying, work dos, festive food – the works! However, we’ve said before, it’s so easy to put some quick discounts on for over the holiday period, but then as soon as your prices return to their normality, services can seem less desirable all of a sudden. And so this is why we always say be careful with discounting, obviously run a couple of small cash value offers here and there, as a few every now and then doesn’t hurt. But just be careful not to be renowned for this. There are other options that you can give to clients that will still act as a great ‘value-for-money’ loyalty, like giving them a small reward off only selected treatments or allowing them to choose a discounted treatment from your ‘selective list.’

And so, we’ve come up with a few promotional SMS examples just to get you started below;


Hi <<Forename>>

[Want a bit of pampering ready for Christmas Party season? We’re offering <<%>> off <<treatment>> on <<date>> Book now to receive your discount!]

<<CompanyName>> <<CompanyTel>> T&Cs Apply


Hi <<Forename>>

[You have treatments due to expire! Call <<CompanyTel>> to book in today, and, if you purchase another treatment this month you’ll receive a £5 discount!]

<<CompanyName>> <<CompanyTel>> T&Cs Apply


Hi <<Forename>>

[Sparkle this Christmas! Book your appointment in November and receive <<%>> off!]

<<CompanyName>> <<CompanyTel>> T&Cs Apply


Hi <<Forename>>

[Present your great looking hair this Christmas! Book in for any cut or colour during November and receive a Christmas loyalty FREE!]

<<CompanyName>> <<CompanyTel>> T&C’s Apply


Hi <<Forename>>

[Christmas Special! Looking for gift ideas? Buy any 2 retail products and receive a third half price!]

<<CompanyName>> <<CompanyTel>> T&Cs Apply


Hi <<Forename>>

[Selection Box! As an early Christmas special we’re offering you to choose a FREE complimentary treatment from our selected list with every booking made this November!]

<<CompanyName>> <<CompanyTel>> T&Cs Apply 


Alongside those message examples, you could also promote your company gift vouchers for clients to purchase as Christmas gifts. Increase sales primarily by displaying these at your cash desk as an add on sale for when clients are paying for their servies, but again this can be promoted via SMS using our marketing system.

Salon Tracker has a built in feature that allows the selling and redeeming of gift vouchers as a retail product, and this can be created for any value amount for different vouchers. All you would need is a fancy design for the gift voucher to sell to clients and/or coupons for when clients are redeeming them. You could even come up with a selected Christmas design to use for over the Festive period, making this a 'limited' gift voucher service? 

Those are just a few ideas of how we can help and if you would like more info, or if you're new to us and would like a FREE demo & trial, please don't hesitate to contact our marketing team on 0113 350 8230...we're always happy to help!


Salon Tracker x

Halloween Look Book

Halloween is just around the corner so we have created a Halloween Look Book for you. As most of you probably know, Pinterest is full of inspiring Halloween makeup looks and costume ideas. Here is some inspiration, ranging from the classic, scary look to something a bit more contemporary. If you are looking for costume and makeup ideas Tess Christine is one of our favourite YouTubers, she runs a Halloween series every year, with some pretty epic ideas. Check her out http://bit.ly/2e3nnF4 

We have complied various different looks and ideas and hopefully there is something for everyone.

Salon Tracker x

Salon Tracker’s Tips & Tricks for Halloween Promoting

It seems that over the last few years, times have changed and the good old bin-bag witch’s cape and your mum’s old eye liner pencil for blemishes aren’t quite good enough for your Halloween make-over/ (scare-up)! Nowadays, everyone wants immaculate ghoul-themed manis/pedis, a professional ‘bad hair day’ and still want to have a top-contour underneath their scary facial!

With arts and crafts out of the window, this is an absolute winner however for salons and retailers! Everyone wants the most on-trend Halloween outfit with the senior make-up artist to complete their look, so what a great opportunity to put a few Halloween offers on and bag yourself some easy sales!

Want a few ideas of what you can be doing in the salon, here’s a look at what we’ve thought-up below…

In-House Promotions;

Obviously we always advise that you shouldn’t offer discounts and value-off promotions all the time, as you don’t want clients to become accustomed to cheaper services around every annual event! However, with Halloween, you’ve got to think about the market and the age-range in which this event appeals to, I think your big one here being college and university students! There are always Halloween bar crawls and parties going on around that time, especially if you are based not too far away from the campuses or college/unis themselves, therefore some ideas are:

-Increase the student discount slightly for Halloween services

-Offer a discounted re-booking for their next treatment, so buy one get the next slightly cheaper

-Visit the wholesalers for Halloween retail products that you could sell and put mini offers on

-Offer a small value off or discount for a limited period on certain Halloween treatments

These are just simple and easy things that you can be doing, as especially with the appeal of Halloween to the younger market, they all tend to have a lower disposable income and will therefore appreciate the little discounts here & there.

Atmosphere & Décor;

A big key to improving buying habits is the ambiance within the salon, and this doesn’t have to be anything extravagant nor extortionate.  Little Halloween trinkets to give out as freebies with services, some trick or treat buckets filled with sweets and some Halloween-themed bunting will do just fine! You just want to let clients know that you are part-taking in the festival fun and so a great way to do that is through decoration, evidently also providing good fun for your salon team in the process!

Social Media (Posting/Promoting & Competitions)

One of the easiest and most effective ways to reach your clients nowadays is through your social media networks! They can see your posts whilst on the move, on the commute home from work, during the before-bed Facebook scroll, basically whenever and wherever! So some key promo ideas could be;

- A Facebook competition; offer a value prize to spend at the salon for the best Halloween costume

-Halloween selfies; get clients to take selfies of their treatment, then upload and hashtag your salon

-Shout about your latest Halloween offers on Facebook & Twitter to promote social-sharing

A great benefit of these types of post is that you might also increase your client database, as the more people that share news about your salon, the better the chance of new potential clients also picking these up on their newsfeeds!

SMS

Another instant way to reach clients when they’re out and about is by text-message. Short-simple marketing messages about your salon offers, Halloween-themed retail products or competition alerts are all ideas that you could push through SMS just as easily as social media. I suppose the plus side to SMS is that your clients actually have to be on their social network to notice the posts at that time, whereas with a text they’ll get notified of a new SMS straight away.

Other-Fun

Further little fun things that you can do is perhaps a Halloween-themed uniform day, with Halloween being on a Monday this year this may boost morale and energy within the team for a great start to a new week. Also, come up with a playlist of Halloween themed songs, Thriller and Ghost-busters are always usually a couple of renowned ones! Then finally, have a couple of fun little tricks up your sleeve for if you have a few kids coming to the salon with their parents and they need occupying for half an hour. You can usually get some good little toy Halloween-tricks at places like pound land or B & M bargains, so they don’t have to be overly expensive either and then you’re keeping in with the Halloween spirit all the same.

Hope these tips have given you a couple of ideas and that you have lots of fun getting the salon prepped for Halloween, and if you do want any further tips please feel free to give us a call at the office on 0113 350 8230.

Happy Halloween!

Salon Tracker x

Why are Salon Reviews important and Tips to get them

It is no secret that online reviews have increased significantly over the past few years and can play an important factor for your business. But how important are they really? 

Nowadays, it is one of the most common things when looking for a new salon to check them out online first. It gives you, as a potential new client a better idea of the business and if it is the right fit for you. Therefore, hearing from previous experiences and what others think of the salon, is crucial for people these days, before making a decision. There are many review platforms out there: Facebook offers a review section for Pages, Yelp is overall popular for local businesses, but if you are looking for salon-specific review sites, SalonSpy in the UK is the way to go. But, remember if you do, it’s important to keep them up to date, make sure you have correct opening hours, contact details and pricing on there, to avoid disappointment, especially if you are using SalonSpy.

From a 1-star traumatic experience to 5-star raving customers, you will probably encounter both of them. Though customer reviews range in thoroughness and comprehensibility, they do hold a powerful effect on the behaviour of your audience and performance of your salon. Having an online culture, people being constantly online, it is no surprise that the number of online consumers who read and trust online reviews is increasing (Forbes, 2015). It is therefore important to keep an overall positive profile online, in order to grow and maintain your business.

 

Bright Local carried out a local consumer review survey and found out that 92% of consumers now read online reviews, and 40% out of those form an opinion on the 1-2 reviews they read. A further 68% say that positive reviews make them trust a local business more. (Source: http://bit.ly/29hKyhf)

As you can see from the statistics, online reviews are highly important in today’s culture.
Therefore, you need to invest time to protect and manage your online brand. Meaning, when you get a review you need to engage with your reviewers. If you skip on the reviews, or simply are not getting any you might be missing out on a great marketing opportunity. So why do we think online reviews are important? Simple, because word of mouth, if it’s online or in person, is still one of the best ways of advertising. It is honest, reliable and simple. We have compiled a few tips on how you can tackle online reviews.

Understand your client and encourage reviews

This is a good way to find out what clients think and it gives you an opportunity to improve and respond to your clients. However, convincing your clients to write you a review, isn’t always easy. Keep in mind that when you are reaching out that these are your paying customers and they are opinionated with either positive or negative feelings about your business. Listen to the feedback from your clients. Think about what they say might be true. There is always room for improvement, and if you adapt changes due to what clients say they feel like you listen to them and take their opinions serious, they feel valued as your clients.


Provide the best possible customer service 

If you provide first class service, people won’t have any reason for critique. Happy customers are more likely to agree on leaving you a good review, raving about your services. If you ask loyal clients, they’ll probably be happy to do so. After all, there is a reason they are loyal to your salon and services.


Dealing with negative reviews 

However, no matter how hard you are trying to achieve excellence, sometimes you just have one of those days where everything goes wrong and you are facing a negative response. You will always face the odd client who is dissatisfied with the service. But what is the best way to deal with negative reviews? Don’t try to hide your negative reviews. Respond to them as soon as you see them, which shows others you are listening and acting in a professional and civilised manner. It won’t get any better if you wait too long, or simply ignore the negative response. Take on any advice for improvements from the review, no matter how harsh it might be. A blend of good and bad reviews shows that you aren’t trying to hide anything.


Think about rewards

This doesn’t mean that you offer incentives in order to get reviews. It smacks of bribery if you do so. This will be more for someone that has left you a review, just as a little thank you. It might be someone has left a ‘positive-over-the-moon’ review, you might want to offer them a discount when they're booking their next appointment. It makes clients feel appreciated and simultaneously they might return to the salon sooner rather than later. Ask those clients as well if you can use it for promotional purposes. It might go well in salon testimonials or on your social media accounts and just creates a little extra advertising for your salon.



Make sure all of your Staff is on board

Consider addressing the topic of reviews in regular staff meeting. Make sure, everyone is on the same boat and understands the importance of that matter. Make sure everyone understands the ways of encouraging customers to leave a review but not to bribe them for them. However, you can run staff incentives and gifts for your employees, encouraging them to get client reviews.
Salon Tracker Software offers a SMS and Email feature, where the salon can send out an automatic text after a client’s appointment, asking them for a review with a direct link to your preferred review platform. You can enable the system to send this out to every single client or the ones you prefer.



Overall, studies have proven that people do read online reviews and it has major influence on their decision making. This is especially important for the Hair and Beauty industry since reviews are often personal and reflect the business accurately. Many people these days trust online opinions before booking an appointment at a new salon. The more reviews you have and the more honest they are, the more products you are going to sell. Just make sure the negative ones don’t overwhelm the positive ones. Therefore, it is important to take online reviews serious and to keep your salon profile up to date. Not only are they important to a vast variety of people, they’re also responsible for your business growth.

Salon Tracker x