Halloween season is when we indulge our greatest fears! For some, this could mean movies about zombies or creepy crawlers. However, for a dental practice, this could mean bad reviews on your Google My Business page or your Facebook page. How should you respond to poor reviews, and what can you do encourage more positive ones?
How Do I Respond to Them?
First, don’t just delete reviews. Instead, reply to them in a clam and professional manner. Apologize for the person’s bad experience and invite him or her to contact you to discuss a possible resolution. Even if the person never responds, and it’s unlike he/she will, you appear as a mature professional. Even with a ton of positive reviews, people will want to look at what’s said in the negative one, and your response could turn around a person’s opinion on a good way.
Don’t Make Them Up!
Now, some practices have been tempted to simply have staff members stuff Facebook pages and Google My Business pages with positive reviews. Do. Not. Do. This. Google can tell when this happens and it can have a negative impact on rankings. You want real testimonials written by actual patients.
Encouraging Good Reviews
We suggest simply asking satisfied patients to leave their thoughts as they check out of the office and/or schedule a follow up visit. You can also try our Have a Cup of Coffee On Us campaign. We will provide a nice sign for your waiting room, letting people know that in exchange for a $5 gift card to Starbucks, people just have to leave their thoughts on their experience. We find people are more willing to go for an assured, immediate reward than a drawing to potentially win a bigger one. Having a number of positive reviews can help your SEO, and help people deciding who to visit in their community for their oral health needs.
Do you have questions about reputation management? Looking for new ways to help your practice grow? Then contact us today and let us help! Send an email to MDPM Consulting at info@mdpmconsulting.com, or give us a call at 972-781-8861!