How to Respond to Negative Reviews as a Salon Owner
It's always a bit disappointing and stressful or confusing when you get negative reviews. But we're breaking down a system that you can put in place, so you make sure your team members know you've got their back + you know when to stand up for yourself if you're not in the wrong and keep new clients coming in despite any negative reviews.
Get Curious
Go to your team and ask questions. Get info on the guest. Find out if clear expectations were set from the beginning. Ask how communication was handled. Ask what they would’ve done differently, if anything?
Investigate
Look into dates of past appointments, if they’ve rescheduled or no-showed, if they were verbally told about guidelines for cancelation, notes from the stylist post appointment, and other notes after contact with the guest.
Who is Responsible?
It’s going to be you or the guest. Sometimes it will be your responsibility to make things right because you either dropped the ball or some error in communication transpired. Most of the time your team members will see it the same way as you, and if they don’t, as a team leader you can do your best to help them understand things from a new perspective that would be helpful to them in growing and improving.
If you’re responsible…
Say the words “I am sorry” and thank them for the feedback letting them know it’s how you improve. Say something personal that helps them feel that you understand and hear them. No need to defend yourself in any way in this context and let them know you will be calling them that day to make things right.
If you didn’t mess up…
You have your team’s back. Period. Reviews can come out of nowhere and oftentimes when the guest didn’t speak up at the appointment - and sometimes you may see the bad review coming so you will cross all your T’s and be above reproach but that won’t be enough. When you respond tastefully remind them of the appropriate parts they left out of their review. Share that you want feedback but this is the feedback you don’t accept. Communicate you’re not the salon for them and encourage them to seek somewhere that will be a better fit..
You have your team’s back
Make sure your team knows you have their back. Set clear expectations so they know how to set those clear expectations with clients. Train them on specifics from start to finish, appearance, communicating clearly and how to handle difficult situations. Trust that when you take a stand for yourself when you meet unfair and unjust reviews, people will respect that, too and not just come to you from the positive reviews but from the negative ones, too. How you respond will be a reflection of you and how they have responded is a reflection of them, if it’s wrong.