For any business to develop and move forwards it must work on strengthening its weaknesses. Sometimes it is clear what area of the business needs to be focused on, but often some areas can be overlooked. Before looking to make an effort to improve the way in which your practice operates, you should consider first gaining an insight into where your customers feel you could improve. To do so you must receive feedback, and in this day and age it is often easiest to do this using online platforms.
Online review platforms are an excellent way of understanding how your patients feel about the service you provide and in addition they also show people who are potentially looking to use your services what experiences your patients have had in the past. This can be a key deciding factor and may be your competitive edge against your competitors. 90% of consumers read online reviews before visiting a business, and 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation.
Upon receiving reviews you can reply to the feedback provided; it is important the reviewer knows that their feedback provides some value. This is particularly useful for customers who may not have received a service they found satisfactory, as it gives you the opportunity to show publicly how you handle issues that arise. Potential customers who are deciding whether to use your service will actively look for these reviews to see how issues are handled within your company. So don't worry about the thought of receiving negative feedback, as this can reflect a positive influence on others reading your reviews if it is handled correctly.
Most online review platforms provide you with a rating score which you can display on social media platforms and your website. It is also possible to have your reviews shown on your website using widgets that are provided by the review company, this can help with converting customers who are browsing your website. These ratings can also help to make your website rate higher in search engines such as Google and Bing. Each positive review will help you rank higher and make your practice easier to find for potential patients. Window stickers are also available to put in your practice to signify you have a review platform you actively use, this helps to build trust amongst both existing and potential patients.
There are many online review platforms and it can be hard to know where to focus your efforts. The simplest way to establish this is to see through which platform the majority of your potential clients are finding you, and where most of your attention is focused. For instance if you find yourself posting onto a Facebook page a lot, then ask your patients to write reviews on your Facebook page. Many dental practices will work on their website to gain higher listings for Google searches, here a Google rating will help. Both Google and Facebook reviews are free to use and allow you to monitor and reply to reviews.
Third party review companies such as Trust Pilot have a subscription fee (price dependant on the package), but with this you have access to a whole platform that allows you to view, reply and analyse your reviews. With this you can also download snippets of code to embed reviews on your website, with several shapes, sizes and formats available. You can also invite your previous patients to leave you a review, and all reviews are available to view via your Trust Pilot profile page. If you're looking to obtain a significant amount of reviews this is a great way to do so!
We at Dental Sky use Trust Pilot as our review platform. We have chosen to use Trust Pilot as we feel it is a trusted brand for reviews and gives us the opportunity to ask every customer who orders with us to leave a review. We also chose Trust Pilot as it gives us the feature to integrate our reviews with our website. Check out our Trust Pilot Profile here.
Feedback forms are also an excellent way to gather feedback from patients. By asking the right questions before putting them into the chair you can gain a valuable insight on what it is the patient really wants from you. Questions such as "are you happy with your teeth?" could lead to not only a check up but also a whitening procedure for example. For more details on feedback forms and getting the right information from your patients check out our blog post: Finding the Best Treatment for your Patient.
