How to Manage Client Reviews
Client reviews are the backbone of your growth as a Lash Technician at any stage of your career. Whether you’re working in a salon renting a bed, own your own studio, or you travel as a mobile tech, you know the importance of your client feedback. Creating great lash extensions time after time helps you gain new clients when your previous ones promote your work. While building a social media following is a great marketing tool, it should always go hand in hand with client reviews and word of mouth promotions. Read more about the importance of social media and building your presence in this blog post, Or read on to find out how you can grow those important relationships and in turn gain client reviews.
How To Begin
Firstly, it’s a great idea to register your business on Google. If you’re not at the stage of opening up your own business website where clients can leave individual reviews, Google is your best friend. After all, most potential clients will search for you on Google and your business will pop up with its location and contact information. Here, your previous clients can also leave reviews of their experience. It’s an almost immediate connection between you and potential new clients.
Another way of getting reviews can be through social media, whether that’s Instagram or Facebook, you can encourage clients to leave a review on your page by posting about their treatment and their results. With Facebook, this will show up on your profile, and on Instagram, you can think about creating a story highlight of your most glowing client reviews. Getting permission from clients to post their lashes online is also a great way to encourage them to comment, share their results and in turn allow for more potential interest from their social media followers too.
Getting Reviews
To receive reviews from clients can be difficult. After all, life can be busy and more often than not we tend to ignore review emails or similar incentives, but if you have built client relationships with regular customers then encouraging them to leave a review will help your business to grow. After all, if they are happy with your services, the more clients you have, the better your business will be and thus your regulars can rest assured that you are a service that will stay open and provide care and treatments time and time again.
If you’re struggling for ideas, why not try some incentives? Giving your clients money off of their next session for a review is a great way to encourage them to leave you some lovely feedback. Or, if your clients have always wanted to try aftercare for eyelash extensions, then why not give them a complimentary Lash Shampoo with a Cleansing Brush as a reward for a review? Don’t worry, we’re not suggesting that you bribe your clients, but if you have a great relationship with them and you know they are trustworthy and honest, rewarding them with a discount, aftercare or a treatment can go the extra mile of providing an exceptional service which will encourage them to leave an outstanding review.
Social Media Reviews
As we noted, getting reviews is not just about paragraphs on Google or your business website, it can also be social media posts. Allowing your clients to post their stunning lashes online can be an amazing way to achieve word of mouth potential interest. Of course, while this isn’t a direct review in the traditional sense, it is still an important marketing tool. Having stunning and professional lighting such as the Glamcor Revolution X or Glamcor Multimedia X LED beauty lamp will allow you to take perfectly lit pictures for your clients (or yourself) to post and promote your exceptional lash extensions. Pairing nicely with your phone is the Clip On Lens which fits most modern phone cameras, turning your images from regular to professional photography without the need for expensive equipment. If you’re a mobile Lash Tech, you could also think about investing in a smaller LED Light for those stunning lash photos on the go.
Beauty lighting is not always accessible for clients at home, so it is a brilliant way to allow them to take amazing pictures which they can then post for their social media and in turn promote and review your work. Giving your clients the opportunity to take stunning photos is a great incentive to make their experience in your salon from good to stellar, whilst also getting your name out further afield.
Dealing With Bad Reviews
Rarely, a disgruntled client may leave a poor review, so how can you deal with this? Always keep a professional and calm composure. If you’re willing to reply, we encourage you to do so. It’s important that you don’t take a passive aggressive approach here – more often than not you can grow from their constructive criticism depending on their disappointment. Take some time after reading the review to think about what’s been said, and draft a thoughtful and considerate response. This may not win them back, but it will show future clients who are reading the reviews that you care and are happy to listen to them.
Sometimes, there may be a client who leaves an unreasonable review which does not reflect your service or the quality of your work. Approach this through an educational lens. Respond with what you may have told them during their consultation or aftercare advice, giving the client further information which they may have initially ignored. This will allow potential clients to see that you’re a caring Lash Artist who knows what you’re doing and talking about, and that the review is a result of a misunderstanding, or because the client simply did not follow through with your tips. Bad reviews are not always something to be scared of, in fact they can show readers that you’re educated, skilled and professional when dealing with difficult situations.
So there you have it – reviews are an important part of the lash community! While we’re here, don’t be afraid to leave us a review on any of the products you love from London Lash or post your next lash delivery in a video by tagging us @London_Lash_EU on Instagram! We thank you for every review you leave and the continued support you give us, so we encourage you to do the same with your clients.