It’s common for practice owners to want good reviews and to fear bad reviews. Good reviews can propel your business to the top of local search results. Bad reviews can both bury your listing and turn away potential patients. We’re here to show you how you can implement actionable steps to get good online reviews. Before thinking about these tips, make sure that you have profile pages on popular review sites and social sites like Yelp and Facebook. You always want to claim your business so that you can respond to reviews and get important notifications about what people say.
Walk Through as a Patient
It’s a great idea to get a fresh perspective on patient interactions by walking through the process from time to time. Role playing can feel silly at times, but it helps make sure everyone knows how they should be addressing patients. Plus, it gives staff a chance to suggest how things could work better, or what could make things more pleasant for patients. In addition, this shows you effective places that you could show patients your request for reviews and feedback. For instance, most practices realize that patients will necessarily spend a few moments waiting in the waiting area, trying on frames, or waiting while their payment is processed at the front desk. These are places where you can employ signage requesting a good review for a positive experience.
Fix Wait Times
Long wait times are a big sore spot for patients, and with good reason. People are busy and they’re used to technology making healthcare more efficient. If you notice reviews or feedback from patients saying they had to wait more than 15 minutes to see the doctor, that’s too long. You need to fix wait times and allow longer time between appointments, space for eye emergencies, and have a policy on transparency. If you are running late, acknowledge this to the patient and apologize. Let them know the expected wait time and try to accommodate them however possible.
Address Any Service Problems
It’s crucial that all staff are trained appropriately and that they are the right fit for a position communicating with patients. It can be difficult to spot some potential customer service problems when the doctor may be busy with patients while other interactions take place. The best plan is usually to have an organized training period along with regular training follow-ups. Address any issues or complaints about service right away. Inversely, recognize good service. Patients will be driven to leaving positive reviews for staff that they like and feel connected to.
Ask for Reviews!
Let patients know that you appreciate their feedback. Say it would mean a lot to you if they could write you a review. Make it as easy as possible for happy customers to submit a review on social media, your website, or sites like Google. Positive survey feedback should link directly to these sources with a request to leave positive comments on your pages. You can also ask your happy customers for testimonials to put on your website. They don’t have as much weight as reviews left on public sites, but they are still helpful.
Make sure that you’re doing everything you can to deserve good reviews. Make it easy for patients to give feedback and politely remind them to do so. Respond to every review that you can—good and bad. Thank everyone for their feedback. Thank positive reviewers for their kind words. Tell people who wrote a negative review that you are sorry about their dissatisfactory experience. Say you would like to talk to them about how you can make the situation right. Then take the conversation offline. Many bad reviews turn into good reviews when handled appropriately!
Good luck and happy reviewing!
Business Tips, Social Media