Ep5: "Help! I just moved to SWFL" Looking for your New Salon Home Click to listen

Amy Button :
There are two things that you could do that are really helpful. The first is just like everything else, when you're moving, Googling restaurants in the areas school in the area crime rates in the area, you could also look up salons in the area. And then I would even do specific searches on either Google or Instagram.
Instagram is great, because it allows salons to post pictures of their work, in addition to the other stuff that they've got going on. And with that, they put hashtags. So if you have curly hair, you can search Instagram, using a hashtag that has something to do with curly hair, or if you have balayage, and you are looking for a blondeing specialist. 
The other thing you want to look at, always, is reviews. I trust the reviews on Google Maps. I know a lot of people use Yelp, not a huge fan of Yelp, because they pick and choose, making them inaccurate.  I think I have 25 five star ratings that Yelp won't even post or use. So you're not really getting all the feedback, I guess. Reviews are very helpful, and so are pictures. Reviews and pictures are the two places that I would start my research.
But one of the things that our salon does, and I know a lot of other salons do as well, is they'll have complimentary consultations, these are appointments that are like 15 minutes long. And they're super easy to fit in a schedule. So even if you're looking at a salon, but they're booked two weeks to a month out, then this is an appointment where you can at least get come in, sit down with the stylist, get a feel for the salon, and then talk about your hair and come up with a service plan. And if you're comfortable at that point, It's really helpful moving forward. It also gives you the out if you walk in and decide "this is not for me, this is not what I'm looking for." It didn't cost you any money. It just cost you time.