When is the best time for a salon to ask for a review?

Two weeks after the visit, not at the chair. In the chair everyone says it looks lovely. Two weeks later the client has washed and styled it at home, and if they still love it their words are worth far more.

Should testimonials name the stylist?

Yes, if the client wants to. New clients often book a person rather than a salon, and a testimonial naming Monique gets Monique booked. It also helps a new stylist build a following faster.

How is a testimonial different from a Booksy or Vagaro review?

Those reviews belong to the app and leave with it if you switch. A testimonial on your own website stays yours, and you choose which ones sit on the page a new client lands on.

Do salons need written testimonials if they have Instagram?

Instagram shows the hair. It cannot show that you listened, that you were gentle with a nervous child or that the color still looked right a month later. That is the part a written testimonial covers.

What should a salon do with a testimonial that mentions a price?

Leave it in if the client wrote it, as long as the price is still right. A client saying the color correction cost less than she expected answers the first worry of the next person who has been burned somewhere else. If prices have gone up since, it is fair to leave that testimonial off the page rather than edit the client's words, because a testimonial is only worth anything while it stays exactly as they wrote it. Ask that client again after their next visit.

salons

Reviews for salons

Fill the chair that just opened.

A salon lives on regulars, and a regular only moves when a stylist leaves or a friend insists. The people who fill an empty chair read every word first. They are risking their hair on a stranger.

Right below is the text I would send a client, ready to copy.

Start freeNo card needed. Cancel whenever.

A text you can send

The text I would send after a good job

Two weeks after the appointment, once they have styled it themselves.

Hi Tasha, it's Monique at Studio Nine. How are the curls holding up? If you are happy with them, would you write a sentence or two about the visit? People with curly hair read these closely before trying somewhere new. Takes a minute: [your link]

Swap in your own names. The link comes from your dashboard.

Salon review examples

The kind of thing salons collect with Exalted. Each one is invented and labelled as an example.

Example

New to the city and dreading finding a salon. They asked about my routine before touching anything and the color came out exactly like the photo. I have booked the next three appointments.

Priya K. · Client

Example

I have curly hair and had stopped going to salons because every cut came out a triangle. They cut it dry, curl by curl, and explained what they were doing. First time in years I have liked it on day three.

Tasha W. · Client

Example

My stylist of ten years retired and I tried four places. This was the only one where the colorist wrote down my formula and asked what I hated about my last color. Same result every visit since.

Barbara N. · Client

Example

Booked my daughter's first real haircut here because she is terrified of scissors. They let her hold a comb and sit on my lap and did not rush her once.

Jordan C. · Parent

A new client assumes you can cut hair. What they want to know is whether you will listen to theirs. Every one of these names a type of client and what the salon did about it, so the right reader recognizes themselves.

How it works

1
Share one link
You get a single link. Send it by text or email to a client whose work went well.
2
They write it, in a minute
No account and no app to download. They rate you and write a couple of lines.
3
You approve what appears
Nothing is public until you say so. Approve the good ones and they appear on your website automatically.

When to ask

At the second visit, once the first cut has survived two weeks of their own styling and they came back anyway.

The single biggest reason salons have no testimonials is that nobody asks while the work is still fresh, not that clients are unwilling.

Questions that get a real answer

“Please leave a review” produces “great service”, which persuades nobody. Ask something specific instead:

What made you nervous about trying a new salon?
How was the consultation compared with places you have been before?
What do people say about your hair now?

Or an email

For clients who book online and get reminders by email.

Subject: How is the color?

Hi Barbara,

I hope the color is still where you wanted it. I have your formula saved for next time.

A lot of our new clients come to us after losing a stylist they had for years, the same as you. Would you write two or three sentences about what it was like to switch? They will want to know how the switch went.

It takes a couple of minutes, with no account to make: [your link]

Thanks, Monique

Swap in your own names and the details of the job. The link comes from your dashboard.

Where people check a salon first

Instagram
Where people look at the work itself. It shows the result, but not what the appointment was like.
Google Business Profile
Checked for stars and for words like "listened" and "exactly what I asked for" in the newest reviews.
Booking apps like Vagaro, Booksy and StyleSeat
Reviews there sit beside each stylist's calendar. Useful, but they belong to the app.
Friends' recommendations
Most new clients come from someone asking where a friend gets her hair done. Your site has to back up what the friend said.
Your own website
The place to show testimonials sorted by the clients you want more of: curls, color correction, children, men's cuts.

Questions salons ask

When is the best time for a salon to ask for a review?: Two weeks after the visit, not at the chair. In the chair everyone says it looks lovely. Two weeks later the client has washed and styled it at home, and if they still love it their words are worth far more.
Should testimonials name the stylist?: Yes, if the client wants to. New clients often book a person rather than a salon, and a testimonial naming Monique gets Monique booked. It also helps a new stylist build a following faster.
How is a testimonial different from a Booksy or Vagaro review?: Those reviews belong to the app and leave with it if you switch. A testimonial on your own website stays yours, and you choose which ones sit on the page a new client lands on.
Do salons need written testimonials if they have Instagram?: Instagram shows the hair. It cannot show that you listened, that you were gentle with a nervous child or that the color still looked right a month later. That is the part a written testimonial covers.
What should a salon do with a testimonial that mentions a price?: Leave it in if the client wrote it, as long as the price is still right. A client saying the color correction cost less than she expected answers the first worry of the next person who has been burned somewhere else. If prices have gone up since, it is fair to leave that testimonial off the page rather than edit the client's words, because a testimonial is only worth anything while it stays exactly as they wrote it. Ask that client again after their next visit.

Every testimonial Exalted publishes is written by a real person and approved by the business owner.

Your reputation, as a ladder

Each approved testimonial moves you up a tier, so you have a reason to keep asking. Visitors see the tier and know how established you are.

Friendly1+ approved

Honored5+ approved

Revered15+ approved

Exalted30+ approved

Pricing

Starter is $9 a month or $85 a year. Pro is $19 a month or $180 a year. Both are free until your fifth testimonial, and neither asks for a card to begin.

See what is in each plan

Worth reading before you ask

More on the blog. If you ask for Google reviews too, the free Google review link generator and the review request templates need no account. If you want a client quote as a picture to post, I made a free testimonial image maker.

Start collecting this week

Set up a link in about five minutes and send it to the last client who thanked you.

Start free