Everyone turns to the Internet to find the best hotel to rent for vacation, a top-rated restaurant for a special date, and especially when searching for the best dentist. What are they looking for? Reviews! You can have an attractive dental practice and offer an array of services, but it’s what patients say about you that matter most. In a post-COVID world, one of the most important, yet easiest ways that your patients can help you is to post online reviews about your practice.
One report states that 91% of people regularly or occasionally scourer reviews online. While 84% of the respondents trust online reviews as much as their friend’s word. None of this is surprising to you. The challenging part for most dentists is how to ask their patients for reviews. So, what’s keeping you from asking your patients for their opinions? Most patients would be happy to share their good experiences. You just have to ask!
Today on the blog, Bryant Consultants provides tips for asking patients for reviews post-COVID.
Automate the Process
An automated process involves sending a text message or email to the patient after they checkout following their procedure. If your practice already utilizes these means for appointment reminders and confirmations, it would be easy to add an automation request to review their most recent visit or interaction with your practice. A link would be included in the correspondence, which allows for a quick and simple way for patients to answer a few questions and provide feedback regarding their experience. If you don’t already have the capabilities to automate this process, contact Bryant Consultants to learn more.
Go Old School
Your patient base likely includes various ages, from children to the elderly. Not everyone has a cell phone or is as tech-savvy as others. Consider providing a printed questionnaire because not all of your patients are millennials. This suggestion is effective, but maybe the last resort, given the shift towards touch-less check-ins and less paperwork handed back and forth during patient interactions. If a patient insists that they are not tech-savvy, but would like to leave a review, you could ask them to verbalize their thoughts as one of your team members handwrites their response. Then, you can have the review published on your website.
Just Ask
Many dental practice employees tell us that they just don’t like to ask, but you will never get what you want if you don’t ask for it. But, it doesn’t have to sound or feel awkward when asking for reviews. Here’s are some examples.
Your hygienist just wrapped up cleaning a patient’s teeth, and the patient says, “Well, that wasn’t so bad after all!” or “I’ve always dreaded getting my teeth cleaned, but you made it so easy!” Maybe you ask how their experience was, and upon them providing their positive response, you extend gratitude and say, “I’m so glad that was a positive experience for you. Would you mind to take a few moments to share your experience online to help others feel comfortable visiting our office for their care? We would really appreciate it.”
These are merely examples of ways to “ask” for a review without feeling random and out of place. Most patients are happy to leave reviews when they have a positive experience, but they often forget to do it. Rest assured, you won’t ever have to ask a disgruntled patient for a review! Studies show that people who have an unfavorable experience with a business are more likely to tell far more people than those who had a pleasant experience.
What should I do with the reviews?
Once you collect patient reviews, you want to share them! Online reviews, such as Google or on social media, pretty much take care of themselves, but you still have a little work to do. Bryant Consultants recommends responding to reviews, whether they are good or not so good. If a patient took the time to say a few positive words about your practice, thank them! If they didn’t have anything nice to say, it’s even more important that you reach out to resolve the issue. Our dental practice consultants have some tips on handling patient complaints. If you were able to resolve their complaint, you could kindly request that they remove their review or update it to reflect that their issue was resolved.
Bryant Consultants utilizes a software program that auto publishes your patients’ online reviews on social media. Asking for patient reviews post-COVID is an essential part of getting your practice to thrive. Lots of people out there will be looking to change to a new dentist if theirs remains closed or unable to provide the services that they need. Don’t miss the opportunity to attract new patients to your practice!
Want to learn more? Call (877) 768-4799, and ask about our one-hour complimentary consulting service. Are you on social media? We are too! Please follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
