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“Having managed a spa for eight years, I have had to read my share of positive and negative reviews of our technicians. Of course, the positive letters greatly outweighed the few negative reviews, so I never doubted that the therapists were doing their job correctly. A person who has had a negative experience will become your most loyal customer if you take that bad experience and turn it around! Offer your sincere apology and another treatment of their liking. Make them feel like you truly care about how they feel when they think of your spa/salon. Be vulnerable enough to ask for input, and kind enough to accept constructive criticism. Put yourself in the client’s shoes, and think of how wonderful it feels to be treated like a fellow human being, and not just a number.”
Dasha Saian, vice president of SAIAN Natural Clinical Skin Care

“If someone posts a bad review, I publicly address the issue and try to find out exactly what made their experience a negative one. I will ask directly, refer to the post in their exact words (or lack of) and resolve it as quickly as possible to their (and my) satisfaction. There is no worse publicity than a bad review. However, when it is called out, the legitimacy issue is obvious.
Rachel Courtney, L.M.T., L.E., Courtney Skin Care Studio

If it is too silly (or foolish), I ignore it. Otherwise, I just try to
answer the concern that is contained in the bad review. So far, I am very fortunate. I only have three semi-negative reviews on Yelp. I have a 4.5 star rating. But, we all know you cannot please some of the people…”
Paulette Banoza, aesthetician and owner of Efectic Skin Care Salon

“I learned in my corporate career that feedback is a gift, whether it be good, bad, or indifferent, learn and grow from it. We strive to be 100 percent. Use the feedback to improve your business; take the negative and make it positive.”
Ellen Delaney, aesthetician and owner of A New Spirit Aesthetics

“If we receive a bad review on social media or a review website, I feel that a quick follow-up response is the best course of action. I always apologize and ask them to call me so I can rectify their experience. This has been favorable for gaining back the client and demonstrating to the public my business ethic. I will not respond, however, if we receive a nasty review. I report the review and ask for it to be removed. If it is not removed, usually a potential client seeing the review can read between the lines as we consistently respond to most every review.
The bottom line is that encouraging feedback has been a constant in our 18 years of business. Receiving client experience has been a valuable tool in the ongoing development of our protocol and standards of service. I often offer an unhappy client a refund and/or invite them back for a complimentary service. I feel it is a small price to pay for the client’s contribution to our success, and the building a solid reputation for great customer service and repeat business. You cannot put a price on that!”
Julie Mahoney, owner of Oasis Day Spa

“Always respond to bad reviews if it is offered on the site. Offer to help and be very courteous and professional. Remember this is business, it is not personal, so do not make it personal. To show humility in order to resolve an issue is a great strength, not weakness, and people will actually trust you more for doing so.”
Christina Winkler, owner of Arioso Day Spai