Dental Reviews and Testimonials Will Equal To New Patients
Let Your Patients Speak For And Grow Your Practice
If you have recently gone out to dinner at a new restaurant or are planning a Black Friday purchase, then chances are you have consulted online reviews and testimonials. We all do it! It’s become the new word of mouth and an essential part of your dental practice marketing strategy. Studies show that a whopping 88% of people trust online reviews as much as recommendations from friends and family. So how do we go about securing these positive dental reviews and testimonials to equal to new patients? And, how can you make them work for your practice’s growth?
Testimonials and Reviews are two different things, and both are important for your dental business.
Testimonials
These are a personal expression of your patient’s experience, and you should display them on your website, with your patient’s permission. Some companies have claimed as much as a 34% increase in sales from having testimonials on their website.
➤ Written Testimonials: you should make sure to gather:
- the (first) name of the person
- the type of treatment they received
- what they liked
- the date
- patients’ picture (if they’ve consented)
A recently written testimonial is always a powerful social proof tool. By including the type of treatment, you increase believability and persuasion, while a photo shows your testimonials come from real people.
➤ Video testimonials are another format you can use on your website. They require more organization to obtain and record but can be very persuasive, especially for more expensive specialty treatments.
You can place patient video testimonials on your home page, as this is the most viewed page on your website. You can also use video testimonials for marketing campaigns or as part of your “waiting-room” streaming.
➤ Tip to improve your website’s testimonials
- If you have patient testimonials related to specific procedures, be sure to add them to the relevant website pages
- Before-and-after pictures speak volumes while providing visible results.
- Connect social media channels to your website so patients can “see & read more about you”
- Mix and match, if possible, between videos and written testimonials
Remember, a page full of only text is not only boring, but it makes your testimonials appear less genuine.
2. Reviews
These appear on third party websites and therefore seem more impartial than testimonials on your site. Still, you can connect all these third-party websites to yours to display the ratings and reviews. Besides helping your practice establish credibility and social proof, it will help your website with SEO.
➤ Review Channels
Google local business reviews is an example. Try searching for ‘best dentist near me’ or ‘top-rated dentist near me,’ and a handful will come up in the local search listings with an average star rating from one to five. Google automatically creates a profile for each business. Getting consistent positive Google reviews helps with your overall search ranking.
Yelp is another option and covers all types of local businesses and not just restaurants. In fact, restaurants only make up 18% of Yelp reviews. Yelp allows business owners to claim a free listing. However, Yelp is known to push customers to sign up for Yelp’s paid services. Another downside is that Yelp does not offer any clear terms on weighing the review’ and ratings. I suggest you stay away from Yelp, but if you decide to claim your free listing, do your homework to avoid unpleasant surprises.
Facebook comments and reviews are popular in this social media era. Leverage them to your advantage by connecting to your website. There are various apps out there that can connect social media platforms with WordPress, among other website platforms.
Third-party reviews such as 1-800-Dentist and Zocdoc, among others, can also help boost your social proof.
Nearly 9 in 10 consumers have read online reviews to determine the quality of a local business, and 39% do so on a regular basis.
-Semrush
What can reviews do for my business?
Positive reviews can help you generate new patients by creating social proof. At the same time, negative reviews can damage your credibility.
Did you know you might need anywhere from 5 to 20 positive reviews to undo the damage from one bad review?
The best way to deal with bad reviews is to respond, apologize, and offer a solution. Although encouraging the reviewer to contact you to discuss the solution specifics offline is the best response. A trail of responses and counter-responses will cause exponentially more damage.
The good news is people can overlook a bad review if the majority are positive, and you appear to have quickly addressed any bad ones.
How can you secure positive reviews and testimonials?
Securing these valuable endorsements is a job for the entire staff, but can be more effective if you follow a process.
- The person closest to the patient should ask for the dental practice review or testimonial.
- Plan out which patients to ask. You should already know the ones who like your service and your team.
- Ask the patient if they are happy with the experience and then ask if they wouldn’t mind reviewing your dental practice or providing a testimonial.
- Send an email with clear instructions on how to leave the review or testimonial. If you ask people to go out of their way for you, you need to make it easy.
- If you do not get a review after two emails, you shouldn’t persist. Don’t undo a great relationship by appearing to pester your patients.
- Your website could include a link or widget that allows patients to leave testimonials, or you could email them with a link.
When it comes to reviews on Google, you can share a link with your patients, but you need to be a little more careful with Yelp as their rules prohibit businesses from explicitly asking for reviews. Instead, if you casually mention to your patients that you are on Yelp, then you are fine. You can also include a link to your Yelp business page from your website.
Conclusion
Finally, remember that you earn good dental practice reviews and testimonials by consistently delivering an excellent practice experience. It is a team effort. With a little planning and training, you can put in place a review-gathering process that brings more new patients to your practice, supporting your dental practice growth.
About NGT Academy
We are one of the very few turnkey-Learning Management System providers that specializes in the dental industry. Our eLearning platform is easy to use for both employees and managers, with a library of more than 30 courses created for dental teams. E-learning typically costs at least 30% less than conventional training, making for a truly efficient solution for your dental organization.
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