Importance of Good Salon Reputation

Managing your salon’s reputation is hard work, but reminding yourself of how it boosts your business may help reinvigorate the efforts you put into it.

Reputation is not the final destination of your salon’s journey, but an important step towards success. It’s an element that can bring you many benefits for years to come, and we’ll tell you what these are.

To help you understand why exactly reputation matters, we’ll walk you through six benefits of maintaining a positive salon image.

Boosts Salon Credibility

When clients trust your beauticians, they’re willing to spend more and recommend the salon to others. That kind of credibility is closely linked to salon reputation; one complements the other.

If you’re running a newly opened salon, you can’t start with high prices and hope clients will come. They first need a guarantee that you’ll do a great job. This is why you have to work on your reputation from the get-go.

Once you prove that you can offer both quality and reliability, people will start trusting your business, and you’ll be able to justify higher prices.

One step to getting to that point is hiring skilled beauticians and letting their work speak for your business.

A 2022 Boulevard study analyzing client behavior in beauty salons has shown that the way stylists showcase their work plays an important part in attracting clients to them.

In fact, almost a third of the clients (29%) choose stylists based on their online portfolios and social media.

Source: Boulevard

This piece of data also tells us that clients want proof of quality. Credibility isn’t there naturally; you have to establish it.

The most straightforward way to do this is by showcasing your best work on social media—a favorite method of many salons.

Posting your work on social media is free, effective, and gets your name out there. Showing pictures of your results always works better than simply dubbing your salon the best one in the city.

Source: Instagram

An additional way to boost salon credibility is to show client reviews.

People trust online reviews, so why not utilize that valuable resource to let the new clients know why and how much others love your salon?

Enhances Salon Visibility

The more you establish yourself as a reliable provider of great beauty-related services, the more people will know about your salon.

The increased visibility will provide you with a steady supply of clients, so you’ll never have to worry about keeping your schedule full.

The internet has shaped the way we make decisions. Clients rarely walk into the first salon they see to get their nails done. Instead, they take time to research and find reputable salons on Google, review sites, and social media.

Source: Boulevard

If you want to see how likely new clients are to find your salon, we have a quick exercise for you.

Open your browser and type beauty salon + your city. You’ll see that the top results probably include established salons with great reviews.

If yours is one of those—great job! If not, don’t worry; there’s still time to get there.

Source: Google

Even though there may be plenty of newer salons with excellent services, search engines are oblivious to businesses without a proven reputation and numerous reviews.

Since relying on existing clients isn’t a sustainable strategy, you should utilize your reputation to make you visible to potential clients.

The more people talk about your salon online, the higher you appear in search results.

However, not all publicity is good publicity. A frequent salon reputation management mistake is not monitoring online mentions. So, make sure to check what people are saying about your salon every now and then.

While reviews and online mentions can help strengthen your reputation and visibility, you shouldn’t forget about word-of-mouth marketing, either.

People still ask friends and family for recommendations. Thanks to that habit, you’ll be able to gain more local customers once the word about your business starts spreading around.

Improves Client Relationships

The reason behind the success of reputable salons is that they listen to their clients’ wishes and communicate with them effectively.

When you know what your clients want, you can develop better relationships with them and improve the salon experience.

As much as salon owners like receiving positive comments, they aren’t the ones helping you improve and upgrade your business.

To illustrate the point, let’s take a look at a review of Pin Up Beauty Salon.

A client came to get their brows done. The client realized the treatment was painful only after it started, and they communicated the discomfort to the therapist, who immediately found a different solution.

Source: Google

Had the client complimented, say, the background music while holding back tears, the salon employer would have no way of knowing that anything was the matter.

However, the complaint allowed the beautician to provide a better experience for the client.

The same principle applies to all feedback your salon receives, regardless of where it comes from.

Pricing, treatments, booking, equipment—each comment or complaint you get can help you upgrade the salon experience for clients.

Tom O’Brien, the Co-Director of Baroque Hair, recognizes the value of feedback and always asks clients for it. He then shares the information with the team and they work together on implementing improvements.

“We share all feedback with every member of the Baroque Hair team, as everyone can learn and improve on the service they deliver. The whole team is involved with the feedback, and time is dedicated to listening to our clients’ wants, needs, and suggestions.”

Finally, being open to feedback doesn’t only show you which areas you can improve.

The sole fact that you’re receptive to feedback signals professionalism, which, in turn, boosts the reputation of your salon even further.

Helps Balance Out Negative Experiences

A major benefit of having a good salon reputation is that it helps maintain a positive image even when negative experiences occur.

For example, imagine you’re booking a holiday and are looking for accommodation.

If an Airbnb apartment only had three reviews, one of which was negative, you’d immediately skip it and keep looking further. But if a listing had tens of positive reviews, those few negative ones wouldn’t tarnish its image.

Salon reviews work the same way.

Mistakes happen to the best of salons, so it’s only rational to stay prepared for handling negative reviews that may follow.

For instance, a London salon called Oblique Beauty House has a level-headed approach to responding to poor reviews. The owner makes sure to get to the bottom of the problem and asks for additional information.

Source: Google

As you can see, the salon has a rating of 4.6 stars, despite the occasional 1-star review. That means that 5-star reviews still prevail, motivating new clients to book appointments.

If you are still concerned about the elusive 5.0 rating, let us do away with your worries.

It has been found that 85% of customers intentionally look for negative reviews, in the belief that those offer a more objective look at the service. In other words, they find businesses that don’t delete bad comments more transparent.

Remember that the way you handle negative experiences matters; your approach can deter or attract clients.

To keep your business looking professional, you should:

• Show both positive and negative feedback
• Respond to negative reviews promptly
• Follow through on issues
• Highlight positive reviews on social media

Overall, a negative experience won’t immediately tarnish your reputation if the general image of the salon is positive. It could even reinforce it if you handle the situation sensibly.

Makes Your Salon More Competitive

A good reputation allows you to charge high-end prices even if you offer regular beauty services. People are willing to pay for quality, so you have the opportunity to cash in on your image.

There’s nothing surprising about the fact that clients consider the price when looking for beauty treatments, especially recurring ones, such as manicures or waxing.

No one wants to go to salons that appear cheap; clients always look to get value for their money.

The Boulevard study we’ve referenced earlier has also found that value, reputation, and providing a high-end salon experience are the top aspects clients seek when looking for a new salon.

Source: Boulevard

However, it’s not easy to provide high-end experiences when your budget is constrained by the lowered income you get from charging so-called affordable prices.

Luckily, there are always those clients willing to pay more to get the royal treatment.

When you establish a reputation as a high-quality salon, you’ll be able to charge the services more than your competitors, even if the quality of the work is comparable.

If you’re on the fence about increasing the prices, you could go for a compromise by keeping the same prices for existing services, but introducing additional luxury services or products, as Townhouse did.

This acclaimed chain of nail salons offers manicures and pedicures at standard prices, but clients also have the option to upgrade the services with a luxury gel manicure, bespoke nail art, or other optional treatments.

Source: Townhouse

As we said at the beginning of the article, you first have to build a reputation and prove quality before introducing higher prices.

But once you do, you’ll be able to hire industry professionals, sell more retail products, innovate and introduce new services faster than the competition, all of which reinforces the salon’s reputation even more.

Sets the Foundation for Customer Retention

Reputation may be essential for attracting new clients, but it also plays a significant role in making them stay.

Customer retention is the holy grail of each business, and the beauty industry is no exception. Since clients can be finicky about where their loyalties lie, your reputation can motivate them to book services with you repeatedly.

For instance, a client may visit your salon for the first time because they’ve seen your work on social media.

By providing exemplary service from the moment they walk in until they leave, you’ll solidify their perception of the salon, thus motivating them to return.

However, many salons are a step away from perfection due to poor booking practices.

What good does it do to hire the best beauticians and use luxury products if clients struggle with making appointments?

Busy phone lines, receptionists forgetting to block out filled slots, double booking, an overflowing WhatsApp inbox; these are all issues you can avoid with online booking.

Zoyya, our booking solution, lets your clients select treatments and automatically books them into your schedule at their desired timeslot.

Source: Zoyya

Zoyya can also directly help you with client retention. The most secure way to ensure that a client returns is by offering to pre-book the following session.

Let’s say you’re finishing a waxing treatment, removing the wax residue, and chatting with the client.

You’ll probably mention aftercare and upkeep, which is a perfect opportunity to offer to pre-book the next treatment. That way, you can be confident that they won’t return to using a razor or visit your competitor.

Instead, they’ll know you care about them and gladly accept the invitation to return.

That’s how you get regular clients and grow your reputation at the same time.

Conclusion

There’s no long-term success without a stellar reputation. This hard-to-earn characteristic allows you to hire better beauticians, attract better clients, and charge more for your services.

It even diminishes the detrimental impact of those annoying, yet inevitable, negative reviews. Who cares if one client thought you rushed the manicure when there are hundreds of clients delighted with the treatment?

They’re merely presenting you with an opportunity to do better in the future.

Since clients are the ones who determine a salon’s reputation, salon owners have to do everything they can to provide excellent service.

So, if you want loyal clients and bigger profits, building a reputation should be your number one priority.