5 Proven Reasons Why Online Reviews Are Essential To Your Dental Practice

Online, consumers have been empowered to share reviews that, you would hope, concern actual experiences they have had with a company or product. With one click of the mouse and a submitted opinion later, a business can be on the receiving end of feedback that commends the establishment's performance or a paragraph of critiques and complaints. A patient who is researching dental practices can easily be influenced by these reviews, feeling that they are a strong indicator of the clinic's reputation. Our team at Dr. Marketing has summarized the importance of online reviews and how your dental practice can respond to them. 

What Are Online Reviews? 

Online reviews are a form of customer feedback, consisting of a consumer's thoughts relating to a product or service that they previously experienced. A consumer can offer an evaluation of the item, service, or company in question, which other people would then be able to read. Generally, there is also a star or rating system applied that tallies up all of the reviews and provides an average score. This gives visitors a quick summation of the company's overall level of customer satisfaction. 



Who Reads Online Reviews? 

The majority of consumers will pull up online reviews of a product or service before purchasing. According to research, 91 percent of people consistently or occasionally read online reviews, while 84 percent put their trust in such reviews to the same extent that they would for a personal recommendation. Of these customers, 68 percent will develop an opinion after scanning between one and six reviews online. While you might not consider your patients consumers, the typical habits of users online remain consistent. 

Why Online Reviews Are Now More Vital Than Ever

Propel Sales 

 Social proof is the psychological pattern that sees consumers finalize judgments and decisions that are influenced by the collective actions of others. After reading positive reviews from other customers who bought the product or service that is under scrutiny, they become more confident in committing to the same purchase. Much like these consumers, dental patients want to be certain that practice is reputable rather than just catchy advertising galore. Little wonder then that reviews are 12 times more trusted in comparison to other marketing materials, clear evidence of social proof's power of persuasion. 

Establish Trust

Before consumers step foot into a company's store or office, they first need some sort of incentive to consider the sojourn. Although utilizing the product and experiencing the service are the most effective ways to confirm quality, customers often require that first whiff of credibility and reliability to pique their curiosity. Reading dozens of reviews that emphasize these attributes will instill trust within your prospective patients and give your dental practice a terrific online reputation. Putting it into the perspective of percentage, customers are 63 percent more likely to trust and spend money at a business that has online reviews.

SEO Assistance

A high ranking in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERP) is an ambition for most dental practices, though it can be a time-consuming, finance-draining task. Online patient reviews can put your dental clinic in a prime SEO (search engine optimization) position, as consumers typically use keywords in their write-ups. If your product or service is specifically mentioned, you have free content on the internet that is associated with your name. Now, your dental practice, and the positive reviews it already accumulated, have a greater chance to pop up when web users search keywords connected to your establishment. 

Help a Customer Be Decisive

Online purchases, while convenient, do introduce complications in the decision-making process of a consumer. They don't provide the type of access that is available in brick-and-mortar stores; there, consumers can examine the material, size, and shape of a product up close. So, online shoppers invest plenty of time and energy into assessing products, reading reviews, and comparing items with alternative options. With online reviews, patients can better gauge a product or service, thus ensuring that the pending purchase is suitable to their demands. 

Invaluable Insight Into Your Business

Poor reviews should be treated as constructive criticism, a learning tool that dental practices can parlay into an upward ascension. All businesses have areas lacking something that consumers cherish, whether that is in the customer service department or the convenience section. A few reviews that highlight an identical flaw can help your dental practice understand the issue and thoroughly address it. An infuriating checkout process disparaged by several consumers, for example, should get your attention on that particular concern. Take our word for it; 94 percent of online customers have been deterred from shopping as a result of negative reviews. 

Can A Bad Review Hurt My Dental Practice? 

One bad review won't necessarily be detrimental to your dental practice, but once a handful of them pile up, it's time to institute some damage control. When you do encounter a negative review, acknowledge the consumer who submitted it and make a wholehearted attempt to rectify the situation. Demonstrating that you care about their experience and want to do right by them, your consumers will perhaps forgive, forget, and chalk off the previous events as an aberration. To better ensure that such an occurrence is unlikely to plague any future consumer, remedy the internal factors which led to those complaints in the first place. 

How To Get More Real Reviews From Your Patients 

Signs Around The Office

Make it known to your patients that you want to hear from them, using signs within the office that alert them of how they can submit a review. During their waiting times on appointment day, they have an opportunity to look around your office and see what material is there to be read. A sign at the reception desk, in addition to a few extra signs meticulously scattered throughout the office, can get patients predisposed to submitting a genuine review. 

Ask Verbally 

Asking your patients for a review, particularly after their consultation, is another way to get crucial feedback on how your dental practice functions. Their appointment is fresh in their memory and they are in the office; request that they consider sharing a review of the experience. Inform them of the various platforms that feature your dental practice and welcome feedback (Facebook, Google, Yelp!). Unless an online maze awaits them as they try to send in a review, you should be successful in gaining their feedback. 

Send Out Surveys

Following an appointment, you can send over patient surveys that solicit feedback on all aspects of your dental practice, from the consultation to the office environment. Quality feedback of this sort is only magnified when you include a comments section within the survey, whereas a generic multiple-choice questionnaire is less engaging for consumers. You can also set up an automated email that reaches your patients a week or so after their appointment. These tactics are often appreciated by consumers, who, in turn, reward you with good feedback. 

Try Our Review Booster Service

On average, patients are more likely to type up negative experiences in their reviews and there are even those who would stoop to presenting a fake review. Dr. Marketing's review booster helps your dental practice generate auspicious, genuine feedback from your patients. Why let the detractors have the last word when you can ensure that plentiful praise from your pleased patients wins out? 

A five-star performance rating doesn't have to be an anomaly; it can be the norm as far as your dental clinic is concerned. For more information on how your dental practice can prosper from a myriad of online reviews, contact our group at Dr. Marketing. 

Ready to Grow Your Dental Practice?

Let us help you, click below to call or get a quote online today.