Two of the nail salons here answered every one of their last ten. Mia Nails and Spa, whose listing carries 645 Google reviews, replied to 10 of its 10 most recent. Tams Nails, at 454 reviews, also replied to 10 of 10. Sky Nails, at 715 reviews, replied to 7 of its last 10. Across the 20 nail salons we read, the median listing holds 335 reviews, against a median of 142 across the 20 hair salons and 132 across the 20 barbershops.
The hair salons carry the largest single review file in this group. Salon Elite & Spa holds 1,494 Google reviews and answered 9 of its last 10. Trendi Salon and Spa holds 551 and answered 9 of its last 10. Salon Ultimo holds 986 reviews and answered 3 of its last 10. The three most-reviewed hair salons in the set stand at 1,494, 986 and 551.
Among the 20 barbershops we read, the three most-reviewed listings stand at 855, 379 and 327, well above the trade median of 132. The barbershop answering the most of its recent reviews, Signature Salon Of Woodbury, answered 2 of its last 10; its listing carries 379 reviews. Those two kinds of number are not the same measurement: the review counts describe a whole listing, while the reply counts are drawn only from each business's most recent reviews.
A typical business among the 56 we measured in what a searcher in Woodbury is shown answered 78% of its recent reviews. That figure belongs to the 56 we measured rather than to any one trade, and the whole set is a catchment: what a searcher here is shown, not a register of what sits inside the city limits. On stars, the median rating is 4.85 across the 20 hair salons, 4.7 across the 20 barbershops and 4.45 across the 20 nail salons. A median is one figure for a whole trade, so it does not tell you which listing is which, and nothing here is ordered by stars.
What to do about it
Two windows are in play and they are not the same size. A review count is the whole file, which is why figures like 986 and 379 appear above, but the reply counts come only from each business's most recent reviews. So the job in front of an owner with hundreds of reviews is not the whole file. Start at the newest and work backwards, and answer the pleased customers as well as the unhappy ones, because an unanswered five-star review counts exactly the same in these numbers.
Write each reply yourself, in the words you would use at the chair. The same sentence pasted under every review says less than a line naming the service the customer mentioned. And catching up once is not the same as keeping up: the count is always taken from the most recent reviews, so it moves again as new ones arrive.
Barbershops
| # | Business | Answered | Reviews | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Signature Salon Of Woodbury | 2 of 10 | 379 | 4.4 |
Hair salons
| # | Business | Answered | Reviews | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Salon Elite & Spa | 9 of 10 | 1494 | 4.9 |
| 2 | Trendi Salon and Spa | 9 of 10 | 551 | 4.7 |
| 3 | Salon Ultimo | 3 of 10 | 986 | 4.9 |
Nail salons
| # | Business | Answered | Reviews | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mia Nails and Spa | 10 of 10 | 645 | 4.7 |
| 2 | Tams Nails | 10 of 10 | 454 | 4.5 |
| 3 | Sky Nails | 7 of 10 | 715 | 4.5 |