Manage your online reputation so it doesn’t manage YOU
Virtually every piece of information about your practice is posted online, from its hours of operation to the latest patient reviews – both positive and negative. Ensuring that your practice’s online reputation is being well managed is crucial to your success. A key strategy is to respond to all online reviews of your practice. Doing so helps your practice monitor what patients are saying about your practice online, engage with patients, and gain the trust of potential patients. Here are a few strategies your practice can implement to protect your online reputation.
Always Respond, Even If You Don’t Want to
According to research by the Harvard Business Review, businesses that respond to online reviews, whether they’re positive or negative, increase their likability online. You may think that’s it only necessary to respond to a negative review, but responding to positive reviews is just as important. When potential patients read your response, they are left with the impression that your practice is very engaged with patients and cares about everyone’s experience.
When dealing with a negative review, your main goal should be to claim ownership of their dissatisfaction and show kindness. Whether you’re responding to a complaint about high prices or long wait times, it’s important to acknowledge their concerns. Additionally, research shows that other people who see a business respond to reviews are less likely to post complaints about a business in order to avoid meaningless confrontation.
Focus On The Patient
Crafting a generic response that’s unspecific to the patient will come across as just that – generic. Studies show that 41% of consumers feel empowered by a company that replies to a review. Better yet, 7 out of 10 people will change their mind about a company after they receive a reply to their negative feedback.
Needless to say, developing a careful, personal response that honors the patient’s main points of the review shows that you are taking the time to personally respond. Responding with a unique response that mentions details of their review makes it clear that your practice values patients. Your patient should feel heard, understood, and happy because of your response.
Get Them Offline and Back In Action
It’s important to remember that online reviews are public, so any back and forth replies between you and the reviewer can be seen by everyone. While this isn’t a big concern for a positive review, if you happen to come across a negative review, it’s best to resolve the issue privately offline. Defending your practice in a string of replies winds up being an ugly display of exchanges that repels potential patients. With that in mind, offer them a quick way to bypass the drama and move the conversation to a private space.
Offering a discounted price on future treatment, or issuing the patient a refund is a great way to regain trust and alleviate frustration. As a business owner, the trade-off for you is relatively small if it means they’ll return to your practice in the future. Plus, your gesture may even get them to update or take down the review after the fact.
Online Reviews are Genuine
Your online reputation has a strong effect on your overall success, so finding the right tools to manage it leads to positive growth. With Review Alerts from Demandforce, you’ll be notified as soon as a new review about your practice is published online and you can reply to it directly from your smartphone. From marketing automation to increased patient retention, you can rest assured that you’re taking active measures in scaling your practice, and most of all, keeping your patients happy.
For more information on reputation management solutions for your practice, please call 877-360-3869 or visit go.demandforce.com/MicroMD.
