Anyone with a dental practice knows how much reviews are important. Before people book any appointment, they first check the testimonials, reviews and ratings given about the practitioner they are about to approach. Most dental practitioners lose potential patients if they do not have any reviews or if the reviews do not portray a good picture.
A system which can be used to generate reviews is very critical for the future of any dental practitioner. All the reviews made are visible all over the world and they help patients during decision making. Anyone with a review generator which is working well will have so many reviews which are from either unsatisfied clients or happy clients.
People have different opinions and you might be experienced but one might not be happy with your services. Sometimes the negative reviews are the ones that will force you to up your game.
Which is the best way to develop a strategy aimed at generating reviews? There are several ways through which one can raise their reviews. This article will look at several ways in which you can have an influence in your reviews. If you begin incorporating these methods early enough, you will witness the results early too.
Being Online Always
This is the first method which is usually underrated by many professionals. Very few people will review you if you are never online. If you are online more hours in a day, you are more likely to get reviews.
You would like to see people mentioning you in most local directories and sites giving feedback like Google My Business and Yelp. If you are listed in such sites, patients will be able to tract you easily. You should be on such sites for patients to review you easily and give feedback. You can easily track each of your patients by using orthodontic practice management software.
If you have registered on these sites, ensure you respond to reviews immediately and that you have updated your profile. You should not restrict yourself by replying to the positive reviews only, the negative ones should also be responded to. You should show potential patients that you respond to reviews quickly and that you care.
Personally, ask the patients to review your dental practice
Many professionals do not think this is right. You should always ask all your patients to review you after you offer them your services. If you think you did an excellent job, you could still ask them to review while you are both in the office.
If you ask patients personally to review you, you get the opportunity to create a connection with your patients. Such a connection could help patients to follow the process keenly and always leave a review afterwards.
It is nice if you were honest with your patients and told them how important reviews are in your profession. If you tell someone that their review can make a difference in your profession, they are more likely to help. You should understand that most people do not know how important reviews are and they need to be told.
Constantly remind them
Even after asking some patients to review, some will forget, and they need to be reminded. The patient might not review as soon as you tell them. You can give them a review card or a bag when they visit in your dental practice clinic that will explain to them where they are expected to review and his they will do it.
By doing this, you will have helped the patient overcome the barrier of confusion on what to do and where to leave a review. The patient will even feel nice as they write about the awesome services you offered them. The card you give your patients should be clear and easy to interpret.
The card should explain which sites your patients should review you in and how you will benefit by their reviews. A quick tip that could come in handy is having a card which will give patients more than one option. While Google My Business is a must site since it is among the most powerful sites, not all patients will be using Google and you need to also consider them by adding more sites.
Be inquisitive
If your online reviews are specific, your potential patients will benefit more and end up approaching you. Asking specific questions to your patients in your reviews can help you in this. You can ask the questions based on the experience your patients have been through regarding the process of the dental practice.
An example is instead of asking your patients whether they are content with the services offered at your clinic, you can ask them how they felt during the root procedure.
Offline ways could help too
When giving your patients gifts, always ensure there is a link in the item you are giving them. The link should direct them to the review page. Also, the link should have the documents you will give the patients. In the walls if your dental practice clinic, you should also have sticky notes containing the link of your review page.
Postcards and snail-mails could also be used to promote the link. It would also be a nice idea if you printed some of the reviews made by your previous patients and place them at a place where patients can see them anytime, they visit your clinic. The star ratings should also be printed and included there. This will not only assure the existing patients of the professional care they are receiving but also convince new patients to also review you.
Conclusion
The dental sector is a growing one which is currently competitive. For a practitioner to get new patients, they must show the patients they offer excellent services. Despite having a small dental practice, online reviews can help in improving one’s odds.
The reviews help by showing the level to which you care and helps show people what you can do. Practitioners who incorporate the strategies above will witness a significant increase in their number of reviews. As if that is not enough, they will also attract new patients.
