One of your greatest sources of organic marketing traffic into your practice is the acquisition of: Patient Reviews. Patients love giving back when they have had a truly great experience. Potential new patients will seek out top clinics in their areas through positive consumer experiences and visual representation of aesthetically appealing, friendly and professional environments. And Google will prioritize and boost in the search rankings businesses who obtain honest, routine feedback from customers.
Table of Contents
- The Most Obvious Problem
- Making Reviews a Priority
- Who Should Ask?
- Team Motivation From the Top
- Lacking the Confidence to Ask
- Making it Easy to Ask and Easy to Write
- Setting Goals and Playing Team Games
- Ready to get started?
The Most Obvious Problem
The first and most obvious situation is usually: Reviews haven’t been increasing much or if at all.
Often it is a discarded concern, obvious one moment and unimportant the next. Well, why is this important to address? Because your future expansion and new patient acquisition depend heavily upon it, if not almost entirely.
Reviews are not just nice to have; they are the representation of your practice on the completely raw public front. They are the front-facing image of you, your practice, your staff, your standards, and the impact you have (positive or negative) on your patients’ health and lives. It is therefore vital as a practice owner and for the team not to underestimate the importance of this activity.
Making Reviews a Priority
With that said, the paramount viewpoint to assume must incorporate the hands-down priority of new patient reviews daily in the office. This starts with the owner-doctor and filters down to the team members. Staff prioritize and consider important what the vision and direction of the practice owner reflects. You will come to find that necessity will mirror that of leadership, and is therefore vital to start with the assumption of this viewpoint.
RELATED VIDEO: 🎥 How My Dental Practice Got 1,600 Online Reviews!
Who Should Ask?
The question then becomes – Who is best to help you collect these reviews? And the answer speaks for itself – everyone. And yes, that includes Practice Owners. A loyal customer base most likely looks up to the business owners themselves more than any other person in the practice. But not just the Owner – what about the Assistant who is always there with a smiling face and calming words. Or the favorite Hygienist the family devotedly demands to be booked with. Or the Receptionist who knows every new and existing patient by first name.
As much as you and your hard-working team members might shy away from asking, your patients love your staff and practice and will be happy to share some positive words about their experiences. Not only does it help the practice become more prominent in your community, it brings about a big acknowledgement and recognition to you and your team for the hard work you do daily to better lives.
Team Motivation From the Top
The question that commonly arises however is – How do I keep my team motivated to get reviews for my practice? You might think they are unwilling or shuffling this off as an unimportant activity. This is commonly misconstrued however, as your staff are usually all the more willing to help your practice obtain good word-of-mouth and visibility. But that thought comes and goes and the reality is that if you don’t make it a priority on a daily basis your team members will simply forget or lack the intention to ask!
One of the most common reasons for failure to see consistency in your review traffic can be as simple as not reminding your team members on a routine basis to ask. Yes, failing to remind them, repeatedly and throughout the day!
Offices that set up and play games for their team members to reward reviews obtained daily with staff usually see the greatest participation. But those games end when leaders stop leading the charge, the team goes back to the usual, and it becomes an afterthought. The reality is, reviews should be one of your biggest priorities on a daily basis with the team and your patients.
Lacking the Confidence to Ask
Another common barrier will be that your staff lack the confidence to ask. They come up with all manner of reasons – the patient is in a hurry, it would be unprofessional to ask, we don’t want to sound desperate for reviews, etc. This is easily handled by setting up routine practice and drilling with team members, presenting various objections and working with them to help overcome their uncertainties and make this a comfortable and regular part of their daily interactions with patients.
Making it Easy to Ask and Easy to Write
You want to make this process as simple as can be for your team members and for your patients! With drilling being a routine action, your staff should have built confidence in asking. Now set up QR codes around the practice, at Reception, in every operatory, in your consult rooms, etc. Make it easy for patients to scan this code and write the review!
But don’t stop there, the patients will not usually write these reviews without the direction and step-by-step guidance of you and your staff. Everything from scanning that code to clicking on the right button to writing the review. It is all about positive control and appreciation – your patients will show their thanks and will be happy to have provided that exchange to you and your team!
Setting Goals and Playing Team Games
Incorporate goals and games into your executive planning and morning huddle meetings. Determine a goal for the week, a goal for the month, and a goal for the year. Let your team members know what this goal is. Make it real and make it fun! Give them games and rewards for the acquisition of three reviews in a week, and bigger games for the full team for milestones such as every 100 reviews.
Staff take pride in the results they obtain with practice patients. It’s a huge win to have a happy patient who refers others to the practice. It results in goodwill in the community and a growing patient base. Never underestimate the power that reviews have and the make-break point this truly is in a dental office in terms of your marketing and ROI.
Patients will leave the most rewarding messages when your communication, service and customer experience is top-notch. That is number one and precedes everything – so do not fail to make this a priority every day, hour, minute in your practice!
Before you know it, your practice will be the top-rated and sought-after location in your area! And to what cost? Great service and consistent reviews!
🎧RELATED PODCAST: How to Get Tons of Online Reviews for Your Dental Practice!
Ready to get started?
For more information on asking for reviews, review contents, responding to reviews, and the value this has in your practice, the DDS Success Dental Marketing gives your team everything they need: frameworks, video training, and the exact process outlined in this post. Use code “MGE269” for $20 off.
For any additional questions and information, please call 800-640-1140 or go to MGEonline.com
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