We get it: it may feel awkward at first to ask patients to brag about you online. But positive reviews in this day and age are critical to a successful practice. According to Forbes.com, more than 60 percent of customers check Google reviews online before visiting a business. Consumers also often consult Facebook and Yelp for business reviews.
Reviews boost reputation, improve Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and afford people an unbiased look at what other folks think about your practice’s offerings and services. This means you and your team will always want to be on your A-game and strive for customer satisfaction.
Unfortunately, it’s widely known that people are more likely to leave a negative review after a bad experience than they are to leave a positive review after a great visit to your practice.
Your happy, loyal patients want to support, promote and help grow your business; sometimes, they just need to be reminded how much an online review will mean to you and the practice.
Enter your team members!
Our consultants have compiled a list of tips for how to encourage your team to ask patients to leave a good word for you online. Let’s take a look at a few:
Create a system
People are more likely to be enthusiastic and energized to leave a positive review just after having a delightful experience. Emails or texts after the appointment can be valuable and effective, but a lot of times they get lost in the shuffle when someone is drowning in communication from other people and places. Encourage your team to always provide top-notch service then ask patients to leave a positive review when they’re still in the dental chair or while checking out after the appointment.
Set goals, rewards
Opinions differ on the effectiveness of some employee incentive plans because they can — unless properly planned and executed — foster competitiveness and division among staff. So how about a team-wide, performance-based incentive plan to grow online reviews? Perhaps set a goal for the team to attain a certain number of new reviews, and offer a pizza party — or a night out bowling as a team — as a reward. What are some other sorts of employee incentives your staff may get excited about?
Hand out company swag
People love company swag, and what better way to both reward employees and grow your brand? Make it interesting and fun! In other words, go above and beyond a logo. Have an inside joke among your team? Want to recognize employees as rockstars or superstars? The more creative, the better. Don’t be cheap; remember that employees who go above and beyond to deliver quality customer service and ask for reviews for your practice are growing your business and helping your bottom line. They should be rewarded accordingly.
We encourage you to first set goals like:
- Ask each and every patient to leave a review.
- Respond to each and every review left for the practice online.
- Pursue a specific customer satisfaction rating.
Then, come up with creative ways to incentivize the staff and reward them for a job well done. This will encourage enthusiasm, leading to a happy team and an increase in positive online reviews for your practice. Win-win!
April Brogan
Director of New Business & Practice Relationships
