How salons can get more Google reviews

TapStar guide · updated 2026-09-01

Salons sell trust, and trust is bought by reading reviews. A new client choosing between three salons on the same road is reading the recent ones, because staff turn over and standards move.

The trouble is that salons ask badly. The stylist feels awkward, the receptionist forgets, and the client is out of the door.

The mirror moment

There's a precise moment when a client is most positive about your salon: when they first see the finished result. Everything after that is a slow decline back to normal.

You can't hand someone a phone mid-blow-dry, but you can make sure the ask happens while they're still in the building — at the desk, paying, hair still perfect.

Where to keep the card

• Reception desk, beside the card machine. The default and the best.
• By the styling station mirror. Catches the reaction at its peak.
• The waiting area. Clients waiting for colour to process have nothing to do.
• In the stylist's apron. The ask lands hardest from the person who did the work.

What to say

"If you're happy with it, tap your phone here — it opens our Google page directly."

Stylists are often more comfortable pointing at a card than making a verbal request, which is exactly why a physical object at the desk outperforms a policy of reminding staff to ask.

Get the stylist named

Reviews that name a stylist are worth more than generic praise. They bring in clients who ask for that person by name, and they do more for staff morale than any internal recognition.

You can encourage this honestly: "If you mention who did your hair, it really helps them." That's not asking for a rating, so it's entirely within the rules.

Handling criticism

Hair is emotional and some reviews will sting. Reply anyway, within a day, and never defend the cut.

A short reply that acknowledges the disappointment and offers to fix it reads, to every future client, as a salon that stands behind its work. An argumentative reply reads as a salon to avoid — and future clients see the reply long after the original client has moved on.

Keep it steady

Two or three reviews a week is a better outcome than thirty in a fortnight. Steady accumulation looks like a busy salon, which is exactly what you are, and it keeps your profile looking current all year rather than for one month.