Among the nail salons someone searching in Lake Forest, IL is shown, Top Spa & Nail answered 10 of its 10 most recent reviews, on a listing carrying 280 reviews, the most of any nail salon we read. Among the hair salons in the same search, the business answering the most of its recent reviews, of those we could measure, answered 2 of 10.
We read 20 hair salons. The median one carries 28.5 Google reviews and a median rating of 4.75; the three most-reviewed carry 77, 62 and 54. Studio North Men's Hair Design answered 2 of its 10 most recent reviews, on a listing of 62 reviews, and OriMay Salón answered 1 of 10, on a listing of 54. Those are the hair salons we can name as replying. It says nothing about how the other hair salons we read handled their reviews, so we claim nothing about them.
We also read 20 nail salons. The median one carries 42 reviews and a median rating of 4.5; the three most-reviewed carry 280, 109 and 104. Beside Top Spa & Nail, Astra Nails & Spa answered 6 of its 10 most recent reviews on a listing of 92, and Euro nails spa answered 2 of 10 on a listing of 88. Among the named nail salons, then, the figures run from 10 of 10 down to 2 of 10, and the business with the largest listing is the one that answered every recent review.
Two windows sit inside these numbers. Review counts and ratings cover each listing's whole history. Replies cover only the 10 most recent reviews. For comparison, the reply benchmark measured across 25 businesses in this catchment is 58%, the share of recent reviews a typical measured business answered. Top Spa & Nail's 10 of 10 is the one figure in this section that answers every review in its recent window.
What to do about it
If you run a hair salon, the salons named in this section answered 2 of 10 and 1 of 10 of their recent reviews. Answering 3 of your next 10 would be more than either of them answered, and answering all of them would match what Top Spa & Nail did on the nail side.
If you run a nail salon, the standard among the named businesses is already set: 10 of 10, by the salon with 280 reviews. Treat every new review as one that gets a reply. Thank the good ones briefly and by name where you can; answer the critical ones specifically and calmly, saying what you will do about the point raised. You do not write the review, but you do write the reply. The 58% benchmark measured across 25 businesses in this catchment is a floor worth holding yourself above, and Top Spa & Nail answered 10 of 10 on a listing of 280 reviews.
Hair salons
| # | Business | Answered | Reviews | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Studio North Men's Hair Design | 2 of 10 | 62 | 4.9 |
| 2 | OriMay Salón | 1 of 10 | 54 | 5 |
Nail salons
| # | Business | Answered | Reviews | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Top Spa & Nail | 10 of 10 | 280 | 4.8 |
| 2 | Astra Nails & Spa | 6 of 10 | 92 | 4.6 |
| 3 | Euro nails spa | 2 of 10 | 88 | 4.3 |